Delivering quality education with compelling topics and expert speakers is the main goal of the 2009 NACE and CARS Conference Program. By offering 138 hours of education, the NACE and CARS conference presents topics that both mechanical and collision industry professionals deal with on a daily, weekly and annual basis. Both the upcoming International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) and the Congress of Automotive Repair & Service (CARS) are sponsored by Automotive Service Association (ASA) and co-located at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nov. 4-7, during the second annual Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW).
Education is available in 90-minute and three-hour sessions with specialized tracks including management, vehicle repair (collision), technical (mechanical), women’s professional development, train the trainer, estimating, jobber, auto glass, and the all new tracks for lean and heavy duty.
“Value is the key component required for today’s professional. Time away from their shop is harder to come by than ever. Session content must provide valuable take-away information, techniques and skills that attendees can put into play that very first day back in the shop after attending the event,” stressed Lindsay Roberts, director, Hanley Wood Exhibitions. “We want to provide an unmatched educational opportunity – an opportunity only found at NACE and CARS.”
WIN — the Women’s Industry Network — is sponsoring the entire Women’s Professional Development track, which features four compelling topics like time management, success tips and conflict management. Kim White, district sales manager of FinishMaster and WIN’s 2009 chair states, “WIN’s sponsorship of the Women’s Professional Development Track at NACE and our booth at the Expo provide us a great opportunity to reach so many people throughout the industry. It is a great alignment with our goal of empowering and educating women across all facets of the industry.” Other session sponsors include: ACDelco, Pace Software and DuPont Performance Coatings.
Some of the more popular sessions for NACE include Understanding Insurer Needs & Pressures (Lean track) presented by John Sweigart and Josh Moore of The Body Shop @; New Vehicle Technology – Arriving at Your Shop Soon! (Vehicle Repair track) featuring Bill Haas, AAM, Automotive Service Association; Estimating Best Practices – back by popular demand! (Estimating track) with Mike Anderson, AAM, Wagonwork Collision Center; and Avoiding & Resolving Insurance Disputes (Management track) with experienced panelists sharing advice on resolving insurance disputes and what can be done to avoid them.
CARS features hard-hitting sessions such as:
– Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – Advanced Variable Valve Timing Technology (Technical track) presented by Mike Militello and sponsored by ACDelco;
– Thinking Outside the Box to Expand Your Profit Centers – Become the Shop That Has “No Competition” (Management track) featuring George Witt and sponsored by Pace Software;
– Hybrid Technology – Principles of Electric Drives (Technical) with Jack Rosebro of Perfect Sky, Inc.; and
– Successful Service Center Ownership Panel – What Are Owners Doing Differently Today That They Weren’t Doing 18 Months Ago? (Management track) led by moderator Mitch Schneider of Schneider’s Automotive Repair/Babcox Contributing Editor and panelists Mike Brewster, AAM, Gil’s Garage Inc.; Terry Wynter, AMM, Terry Wynter Auto Service Center; and Diane Larson, AAM, C1, Larson’s Service, Inc.
There are NACE-specific and CARS-specific sessions, but any attendee registering for the conference has access to any session they wish to attend. The entire conference program was designed to meet the educational needs of today’s professional. With this in mind, all CARS technical sessions have been assigned to 3-hour timeslots since more detail and instruction is required in order to achieve the level of expectation. Additional timeslots were added to the Thursday, Friday and Saturday overall schedules to provide more choices to fit individual agendas.
Management sessions are expected to be the most universal selection among both collision and mechanical professionals. These subjects generally cross the boundary of industry segmentation and pertain to both business-models in a similar fashion.
For a comprehensive listing of all available sessions and event details visit www.NACEexpo.com or www.CARSevent.com.
About the Events
CARS — the premier event for automotive service professionals — projects an estimated attendance of 2,000+ industry professionals, features a comprehensive educational Conference and Exposition of 40+ exhibiting companies. To exhibit at CARS 2009, call toll-free 866.704.8069 or 972.536.6399. For more CARS information, visit the CARS website at www.CARSevent.com.
NACE — the world’s collision repair event — annually draws an estimated attendance of 20,000+ industry professionals from around the globe, featuring a comprehensive educational Conference and Exposition of 350+ exhibiting companies. To exhibit at NACE 2009, call toll-free 888.529.1641 or 972.536.6316. For more NACE information, visit the NACE website at www.NACEexpo.com.
Online housing can be booked through www.HanleyWoodHousing.com, along with additional travel arrangements for airlines and rental cars.
For additional information, contact Hanley Wood Exhibitions at P.O. Box 612128, Dallas, Texas 75261-2128 or call toll-free 888.529.1641 or 972.536.6444.
For additional information about ASA, go to www.ASAshop.org. ASRW, NACE and CARS are produced by Hanley Wood Exhibitions.