March/April 201522 AutoInc.org

EDITOR’S NOTE: It takes enormous ad-vance planning to stage an event like this year’s NACE | CARS Expo scheduled for July 23-25 at Detroit’s Cobo

Center. The conference is scheduled July 21-25. To give you a head’s up what to expect, we turned to the two men most responsible for getting it together: Donny Seyfer and Dan Risley. As ASA’s new chairman, Seyfer led the planning for CARS, and Risley, ASA’s president and executive director, organized the NACE portion of the show. We asked them to offer their thoughts on presentations, prominent presenters and new features designed to make this NACE | CARS the best ever.

AutoInc.: Is there a particular area of focus or main theme for NACE | CARS this year?Donny Seyfer: With NACE, we’re continuing to build on the success of last year’s show in Detroit. The recipe seems to work based on the extremely positive response from the collision industry. I see NACE again being the show you cannot miss. CARS has been looking for its niche, and I believe we’ve found it.

AI: What were some of the challenges to getting ready for this year’s CARS?DS: The challenge our board had was twofold. First, how do you put on a program that resonates with those owners and managers and second, how do you avoid competing with the fantastic programs our af� liates stage? The new CARS is focused on short, meaningful programs that will help our at-tendees get the latest information on business and public poli-cy that could affect them, legislative activity and making their operation better. Not coincidentally, many of the teachers for these programs are our members. ASA has a treasure trove of talented members who are really the best in the business.

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AI: What important new features of this year’s show will make it even more relevant to attendees?DS: With CARS, we’re catering to the business owner and man-ager. We’re repeating our Telematics and Technology Forum, which was one of last year’s home runs. But we’re really focus-ing on technology. There are technologies coming out that are absolutely new and will result in a change in how we service vehicles. We’ve been able to arrange for experts, the engineers behind the technologies, to come and present an overview of these new technologies and how they will affect our members. This will put CARS attendees several years ahead of the rest of the industry in preparing and positioning themselves to be the leaders in their respective markets. These are offerings that no other program has for the service repair professional. 

AI: What about new programs?DS: We’ve added a new program called Service Ready July 22. OEs are going to show you their culture and help you under-stand the best ways to service their vehicle brands. This is an unprecedented offering, and it’s no surprise that VW jumped right into it.

Wednesday through Friday, we have a series of 30-minute programs that we’ve been referring to as “Speed Dating for Shop Owners.” We’ve asked experts in narrow topics to provide attendees with their best 30 minutes of material. For example: Robin Rayburn, editor of Interviewing.com, will give a program on interviewing technicians when they’re not technical. And our own Greg Buckley has a program on increasing sales using technology. Anybody who knows Greg knows he is the guru at blending his sales process with cutting-edge products like Google Glass. 

AI: Did you get any comments last year that contributed to this year’s show?DS: Based on feedback, we’ll have four panel discussions and a couple of television-style interviews that I think will be engag-ing. Our moderators are Sheri Hamilton, executive director of ASA-Midwest; Tony Molla, vice president of ASA; Bob Wills, director of ASA’s mechanical division; and Holly Miller, legisla-tive analyst, ASA’s Washington, D.C., of� ce. Can you really afford to miss a panel called “Girl Power: Attracting, Working With and Helping Women Succeed in Your Business.” Espe-cially when the participants include Bogi Lateiner, of TV’s “All Girls Garage” and owner of 180 Automotive; Carolyn Coquil-lette, owner of Luscious Garage; Trish Serratore, president of NATEF/AYES. Our other topics include: “Diversifying Revenue Streams,” “Growing New Talent” and “The Future: What Will We Be Working On?”

Also new: Our Service and Repair Leadership Forum is a � ve-hour session that takes place Friday. It’s intended to bring

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Round, Round, Get AroundIt’s easy to go lots of places in Detroit. Just get on board the Motor City’s famous People Mover and discover a visitor’s dream world of shops, restaurants, historic landmarks and architecturally interesting sites, all within walking distance of the city’s 13 People Mover stations. Better still, one of those stations is located right inside the Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center, on the third fl oor near Congress Street. For more information, go to www.thepeoplemover.com.

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together the best of the best from repair shop owners, parts sup-pliers, industry service providers and industry experts to learn about and discuss the most important topics in our industry. They’ll talk about things like parts quality issues, key business measurement techniques, marketing for this generation and multiple shop operations. We are excited to have Maylan New-ton and Bob Greenwood as our moderators/teachers for this event. We see this as an annual program for CARS. We’re lim-ited to 200 total attendees so our members need to look for the invitation in their email inboxes and respond quickly because we anticipate a sellout long before registration closes. 

AI: What are you most excited about?DS: I’m most excited about our second-year offering of the “Young Technician’s Symposium.” We’ve partnered with Bob Pattengale and Jim Wilson from Bosch to create a program that will help technicians with two to four years of real-world experience move from light, gen-eral duties to performing diagnostic services at a high level of competency. Jim’s teaching method is high-tech, fast-paced and really resonates with younger technicians. I can attest to the effectiveness of this program be-cause last year one of my technicians attended and came home with skills that he put to use diagnosing electrical issues on Day One. It was truly impressive. We only have 30 spots in this program, and they will fill up fast.

AI: We’ve heard there’s something else exceptional about this symposium.DS: Yes. What really sets this program apart is that starting with the ASA board members, who have created a scholarship out of their own pockets, companies throughout the industry are cre-ating scholarships to cover airfare and hotels to bring our future techs to Detroit. What makes me really proud is that we are put-ting our money where our future lies. Too many in our industry complain that there are not enough quality technicians. This is a fantastic way that the industry is working together to deliver a program that impacts these techs immediately. 

AI: Tell us about your involvement with the education track for the show.DS: With the recent retirement of our beloved Robbie Addison Haas, we needed someone to handle the education tracks for both NACE and CARS. It’s a big job, so the ASA board approved our president, Dan Risley, taking charge of the NACE program, and I took CARS. It’s so rewarding to pick up the phone and ask someone to participate and getting not only a “yes,” but also an enthusiastic “yes.”

AI: At last year’s NACE | CARS show, a lot of emphasis was placed on telematics. What will be happening in that area now? How will it be discussed this year?DS: Many of our members have questioned why we are so far out in front of this issue. The fact is, we recognize telematics as not only a technology frontier that our members will need to master but also a potential topic that could fracture the relationships that we have worked so hard to foster between the independent repair shops, the aftermarket associations and the carmakers if we don’t understand each other’s challenges and needs. We will continue to stay on the cutting edge of this topic and keep our members up to speed with recommendations concerning how they can be prepared and involved as these technologies hit the streets. It will become an issue for our collision members first, so I hope they consider attending our telematics and technology program. 

AI: What will previous attendees find sur-prising about this year’s NACE | CARS?DS: If you attended NACE last year, expect even more. If you did not, expect to be wowed by the work of Dan Risley, Stone Fort Group (the show management company) and the ASA Collision Division Operations Commit-tee. They have an incredible show with inter-active displays, the vendors you need to see and training that is Right Now. One word de-scribes CARS: new. We had to make it relevant to our members. If you show up and attend, I guarantee you will head home renewed and

excited about what you do.

AI: What are the most relevant new features that have been added to this year’s show? Dan Risley: New features this year involve training and infor-mation. We’ve worked very closely with the car manufacturers to provide training that will be offered for the first time during NACE | CARS. We are excited to have Volkswagen, General Mo-tors, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Toyota during this year’s event. Honda, Chrysler and GM will be introducing new classes that are tied directly to announcements they’ve recently made.

AI: Who are some of the top presenters this year? DR: We’re extremely fortunate to have a cadre of speakers, including our keynote speakers: NASCAR driver Brad Kesel-owski and NHRA Hall of Famer John Force. Industry trainers and leaders such as Bob Greenwood, Maylan Newton, Kurt Immekus, Bob Stewart, Chris Chesney, Kevin McCartney, Mike Anderson, Greg Buckley are just a few of the many outstanding presenters we have.

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Back in Detroit. And bigger and better than ever! That’s the promise of the Automotive Service Associa-tion’s NACE | CARS Expo & Conference 2015.

More than twice as many attendees have registered for ho-tel rooms, and this year’s event will feature even more training and education programs than last year. Expect some surprises.

The 2015 sessions will begin Wednesday, July 22, and con-tinue through Saturday, July 25. The industry’s best speakers have been lined up to cover the topics most relevant to the leadership in the collision repair and service industries. This year’s list of sessions is unmatched and covers business man-agement and technical programs.

NACE | CARS 2015 will also offer training programs from multiple OEMs on repairing their latest model vehicles. Some of these courses have never been seen before and will make their debut this year. No other event brings together this level and amount of OEM training under one roof.

In addition to the classes, the event will offer specialty programs, including the return of the MSO Symposium, the Technology & Telematics Forum, the Service Repair Leader-ship Forum and the Young Technicians Symposium.

The Expo, with live demonstrations, the I-CAR stage and evening reception will open Thursday, July 23, following the general session and continue through Saturday, July 25.

Now in its 33rd year, NACE | CARS 2015 presents numer-ous opportunities for technical training, business education, demonstrations, networking and technology showcases for stakeholders, owners, managers and technicians in the colli-sion and service repair industries.

The Show Must Go OnNACE | CARS 2015 unreels July 23-July 25 in Detroit. Expect the unexpected.

AI: We understand that the demo area will be moved up front this year. Why is this being done and how will it be integrated into the exhibition area, which has usually been located there? DR: The demonstration areas were a signi� cant change in our show last year and something we will expand in 2015. We incorporated this in our show to differentiate ourselves from competing trade shows and to rede� ne the trade show experi-ence. Attendees grow tired of walking by static booths. The demonstrations engage attendees and provide a level of en-tertainment not typically seen on a trade show � oor. In fact, we’ve seen a few trade shows try to mirror what we delivered in Detroit, which is a testament to the success we enjoyed. 

AI: We also understand that there will be more onsite demos this year than last. Tell us about some of the new ones and why you’ve added them. DR: We’re expanding the scope of the painting demonstra-tions because our attendees asked for it. We’ve received ap-proval from the � re marshal to showcase advanced technolo-gy in vehicles. Also, there will be a protected area on the show � oor where car manufacturers can have drivable vehicles and promote advanced driver safety features, as well as the con-nected car.

Don’t Wait ’Til the Last MinuteThere’s still time to register

for NACE | CARS and make hotel reservations, but hurry! NACE | CARS will be held July 23-25 in Detroit.

You can register for the event at the show, but it would be wise to make hotel reserva-tions in advance of arriving in Detroit.

Make hotel reservations by going to the travel section of www.NACEexpo.com or www.CARSevent.com. These sites will also provide additional event information.

The Detroit Marriott at the

Renaissance Center will be the headquarters hotel for NACE | CARS 2015. There are nine ad-ditional hotels in the downtown area, with reserved blocks for the event, that offer a range of prices.

Many of the hotels are within walking distance of the COBO Center. Hotels a few blocks away will have shuttle service, or visitors can take the Detroit People Mover, a monorail sys-tem that drops passengers off right at the COBO Center.

The very best rates have been negotiated at the 10 hotels in the downtown area and Travel Planners/OnPeak will manage these hotel blocks.

May/June 2015

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NASCAR Sprint Champion Delivers Keynote AddressBrad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR

Sprint Cup Champion, will deliver the keynote speech at the general session prior to the opening of the 32nd NACE | CARS conference and exposition Thursday, July 23.

Having started his racing career in 2004 in the Craftsman Truck Series, Keselowski began competing full time in the Nationwide Series in 2008 and was eventually asked to drive for Dale Earn-hardt Jr.

Keselowski secured his first Sprint Cup victory at Talladega in 2009. In 2010, he joined Team Penske, and in 2012 he won the Sprint Cup Championship in the No. 2 Miller Lite car. He continues to be a force in Sprint Cup; making the chase in 2014 and with a 2015 win at Fontana, he has a guaranteed spot in the chase again this year.

PPG will sponsor the general session, and he’ll appear at the PPG booth after he speaks to greet attendees and sign autographs. The No. 2 Team Penske Ford Fusion will also be on display.

“Brad’s Michigan background, along with his automotive and racing experi-ences, makes him a perfect candidate for the event,” says Dan Risley, ASA president and executive director. “Working with Team Penske, a Detroit-based business, will add even more local excitement to the program. Brad is a great example of the caliber of speakers NACE | CARS pro-vides for the industry, and we encourage attendees to make plans to meet him.”

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All New! All Girls! One of the Expo’s most anticipated special

sessions has been titled “Girl Power: At-tracting, Working With and Helping Women Suc-ceed in Your Business.” That pretty much sums it up, with a lineup of speakers that promises a spirited exchange of ideas about women’s place in the automotive industry. Must see? Judge for yourself.

The list includes Bogi Lateiner, founder and master mechanic of 180 Degrees Automotive in Phoenix; Carolyn Coquillette, president of Luscious Garage in San Francisco; April Her-nandez, manager of Hernandez Collision Center in Savannah, Ga.; Trish Serratore, president of National Automotive Technicians Educa-tion Foundation (NATEF) and Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES); and Holly Miller, a legislative analyst with the Automotive Service Association in Washington, D.C.

All have recognized street cred within the industry, but as a brief refresher:

Bogi Lateiner: writer and speaker, she teaches automotive basics to women around the country and consults and teaches classes to repair shop and other small-business owners. If that weren’t enough, she’s also a TV star, as co-host with two other women mechanics of the Velocity Channel’s “All Girls Garage.”

Carolyn Coquillette: earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and English. She specializes in hybrids, focusing her energy on both the envi-ronment and technology. She recently launched a startup called Shop-Ware that provides LG’s innovative software to the industry.

April Hernandez: manages two shops, one founded by her parents, Danny and Marsha Hernandez. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a major in information

system management. She serves on the ASA Collision Operations Committee.

Trish Serratore: received Automotive Hall of Fame’s Young Leadership and Excel-lence Award in 1994. She works with all the organizations in the ASE Industry Education Alliance to provide the

qualifi ed automotive professionals the industry needs now and in the future.

Holly Miller: served as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill before join-ing ASA. She works with congressional offi ces and federal agencies to ensure that ASA’s inter-ests are represented at the national level.

Don’t miss what promises to be an enlight-ening and entertaining event. The session is scheduled from 3:50 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 24.

2015 EXHIBIT HALL HOURS

Thursday, July 23: Noon-6 p.m.

Friday, July 24: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Saturday, July 25: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

SHOW FEATURESHOW FEATUREHow’s Your Future Looking?Even Madame Zumi and her crystal

ball couldn’t offer a better look into the future of your shop than the TECHNOLOGY & TELEMATICS FORUM, sponsored by ASA and the Auto Alliance.

ASA has taken a position of leader-ship in the industry, working with both aftermarket and OE representatives to ensure that our members will be an integral part of the connected vehicle. All CARS and NACE attendees should be there.

On the agenda is an update from across the industry on OE and aftermar-ket telematics/connected car activity; a connected car panel discussion moder-ated by Bob Redding, ASA’s legislative representative in Washington, D.C.; information on cameras, GPS and other driver-assistance technologies, address-ing how they work and their service requirements; a discussion of apps and how aftermarket software will help drive telematics innovation, moderated by Tony Molla, ASA’s new vice president; and a presentation by Bernie Porter, head of Calibration & Controls for MAHLE Powertrain LLC about SENT, the new unidirectional communications protocol that’s replacing the analog volt-age output of automotive sensors.

In the words of Bogi Lateiner, “Get so much new content, you can’t even Google it yet!” From 2-4 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.

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Leadership Forum Announces ModeratorsMaylan Newton, CEO and senior

director of ESi, and Bob Greenwood, president/CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket E-learning Center Ltd., will moderate the inaugural SERVICE REPAIR LEADER-SHIP FORUM beginning at 7:30 a.m. Friday, July 24, at Detroit’s Cobo Center. They’ve also been chosen to lead training at the event.

The Service Repair Leadership Forum includes leaders from all segments of the automotive service repair industry. It gives attendees an opportu-nity to discuss issues, share knowledge, network with decision-makers and gain insight into the future of the industry.

Though limited to 200 attendees, the forum is open to all individuals and companies interested in advancing the automotive industry. Also, make plans to attend a private reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 23.

MSO: Always Popular, Now Even Better The Multi-Shop Operators (MSO) symposium, scheduled for Thursday, July 23 at NACE | CARS,

will incorporate a broader group of collision repair executives this year, allowing it to be more inclu-sive of some of the best operators in the collision repair industry. It will also feature some changes in content, including a focus on participation from insurance company executives presenting informa-tion on trends. And it will offer education and networking opportunities. Mike LeVasseur will serve as master of ceremonies, with Dan Risley, Darrell Amberson and Russell Thrall as co-producers.

Sponsors include Car-O-Liner, BASF, PPG and BodyShop Business.

AMI Honors 21st Class of Graduates The Automotive Management

Institute will honor more than 30 members of the 21st class of Accredited Automotive Managers (AAMs) in a for-mal ceremony the evening of Wednesday, July 22, during Industry Week 2015.

Held in conjunction with the Auto-motive Service Association’s “Celebra-tion of Excellence” at the GM Heritage Museum, the event is ticketed and by invitation only.

Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car Cham-pion John Force and NHRA top fuel racer Brittany Force will serve as keynote speakers for the event. Force ranks as the most successful driver in funny car history. In addition to racing his own car, he owns and manages a team that includes two cars driven by his daughters: Brittany and Courtney.

Brittany � nished the 2013 NHRA season as rookie of the year. In 2014 she raced her 10,000-horsepower top-fuel dragster to 10th in the NHRA point standings. She ranked eighth in points af-ter the � rst few races of the 2015 season.

PPG will be the gold sponsor of the

“Celebration of Excellence,” where John and Brittany will address the audience prior to the recognition of AMI gradu-ates. They’ll also greet attendees and sign autographs. Attendees can view the many rare cars in the museum’s private collection.

The prestigious AAM is awarded to automotive service professionals after they successfully complete a course of study and earn 120 credits of manage-ment education. About 100 trainees graduate each year.

“Graduates of the program worked hard to obtain this level of certi� cation and recognition,” says

Dan Risley, ASA president and executive director. “John Force certainly appreci-ates hard work, since he owns and man-ages a four-car championship race team and continues to drive — and win. And we are proud to work with our industry partners at PPG to bring this caliber of speakers to NACE | CARS 2015.”

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NACE | CARS Program HighlightsJULY 22, 20158 a.m.-noon: Vehicle Technology and Trends 2015

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Volkswagen Presents: Service Ready

1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Honda Pres-ents: Service Ready

3:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: Complimentary Course! GM New Vehicle Technology

JULY 23, 20158 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Complimentary Course! Debuting at NACE | CARS! Honda & Acura High Strength Steel Repair

10 a.m.-11:45 a.m.: Opening General Session

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Complimentary Course! Debuting at NACE | CARS! GM Presents: Cadillac CT6 Collision Repair

2 p.m.-4 p.m.: Technology & Telematics Forum

JULY 24, 20158 a.m.-5 p.m.: Young Technicians Symposium, Powered by Bosch

1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Complimentary Course! Debuting at NACE | CARS! GM Presents: Cadillac CT6 Collision Repair

3:30 p.m.- 5 p.m.: Complimentary Course! Debuting at NACE | CARS! Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Presents: Carbon Fiber

3:50 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: Girl Power: At-tracting, Working With and Helping Women Succeed in Your Business.

AutoZone Booth 1329

CCC Information Services Inc. Booth 500

Certifi ed Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) Booth 1200

Meadowbrook Insurance Group Booth 925

Mitchell1 Booth 1024

Automotive Management Institute (AMI) Booth 822

Automotive Service Association (ASA) Booth 822

More Training Than Ever Off ered At NACE | CARSOpportunities to view new-model cars

will just be part of the draw for NACE | CARS attendees at this year’s event. They’ll also have an up-close connection to train-ing on the vehicles from seven original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), includ-ing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Honda, Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen of America Inc.

Dan Risley, president and executive director of the Automotive Service Associa-tion (ASA), reports that the car manufac-turers’ participation represents a “sig-ni� cant, historical development” in the OEMs’ launch of new training programs.

“Although they’ve provided training in the past,” Risley says, “the industry has never experienced so many classes being introduced for the � rst time at one event.

Service and repair professionals will ben-e� t from attending and learning directly from the car manufacturers on how to repair the cars of today and tomorrow.”

Of particular importance, the OEMs have taken this new opportunity to serve several segments of the automotive in-dustry at one event. Leaders representing the collision, service repair and insurance markets will gain insight into recent de-velopments in carbon � ber, high-strength steel and aluminum repair, as well as service-ready techniques and telematics. And better still, many of these OEM train-ing programs are complimentary with the purchase of an Expo Pass.

Speci� c training sessions include GM New Vehicle Technology, Ford 2015 F-150 Repair Information and Toyota Presents: Repair Planning the Toyota Way. New pro-grams this year will feature the Fiat Chrys-ler Automobiles, Carbon Fiber; Honda and Acura, High-Strength Steel Repair; GM, Cadillac CT6 Collision Repair; Volkswa-

gen, Service Ready; Honda, Service Ready; I-CAR, 2015 Ford F-150 Structural Repair Training Course and Alumi-num Repair on the Corvette Stingray.

Of course if you only want to ogle the new models, you’ll � nd plenty of opportunities to do that too. H

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Exhibitor Spotlight We appreciate the support of the following exhibitors at CARS | NACE that are also adver-

tising in this special show issue of AutoInc. Be sure to stop by and pay them a visit!

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