BETHESDA, Md. – Bucking national economic trends, the Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA) has said that distributor registrations for its 2009 conference, held in conjunction with AAPEX in Las Vegas this November, have already surpassed 2008 levels.
"This is tremendous news for AWDA and for the aftermarket industry," said AWDA chairman Rusty Bishop, Federated Auto Parts Distributors Inc. "It is more evidence of our industry’s resilience and the importance distributors place on their interaction and partnerships with top manufacturers."
Central to the AWDA Conference is its series of pre-scheduled business meetings. This year, AWDA’s one-on-one meetings return exclusively to private suites in The Venetian Hotel on Sunday, Nov. 1 and Monday, Nov. 2. By conducting these in-depth vendor meetings prior to AAPEX – without any scheduled overlap – distributors will be able to maximize their time on the AAPEX show floor.
"The one-on-ones are pre-arranged, personal and focused. AAPEX gives us time to ‘kick the industry’s tires,’ to seek out new products and services, investigate trends and identify new potential business partners," Bishop said. "Both are extremely valuable and truly compliment each other."
AWDA also reports an increase in distributor meeting "teams." Each team has the opportunity to meet with up to 19 different manufacturers. A distributor with two teams can meet with up to 38 manufacturers. Three teams can provide as many as 57 meeting opportunities. Manufacturers can also field multiple teams – the end result being an event that will host nearly 1,500 individual one-on-one meetings in the course of two days.
"Clearly, the AWDA Conference is the single most efficient venue for bringing together high-level players throughout the parts distribution marketplace," Bishop said. "Combine the one-on-ones with AWDA’s Executive Briefing, its various networking functions and of course AAPEX and you have the industry’s must-attend event for the year."
For more information on AWDA’s 2009 Business & Education Conference, click here or call 301-654-6664.
