CIC Votes 99-98 to Locate Fall 2011 Meeting with SEMA

Although CIC has previously held its fall meetings in conjunction with Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW), which includes NACE, the group held its fall gathering in conjunction with SEMA in Las Vegas last year. That decision was made on the heels of NACE moving its dates to mid-October, away from the SEMA and AAPEX events, which are typically held the first week of November.

From BodyShop Business

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — At its meeting in Palm Springs, Calif., the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) voted 99-98 to hold its fall meeting in conjunction with the SEMA Show in November.

Aaron Schulenburg, executive director of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), which debuted the Repairer Driven Education (RDE) training at last year’s SEMA Show, was appreciative of the CIC body’s decision to stay with SEMA.

"SCRS is excited and humbled by the support from the industry, and from the CIC body, in its decision to again hold the 2011 fall meeting in conjunction with the SEMA Show," Schulenburg said. "It’s important to understand how much the feedback from the exhibitors and attendees that make up this body has meant to us, and that we’ve been working closely with SEMA on amplifying next year’s experience even further based on that feedback.

"We’re working through the logistics of what we know will be a much larger footprint in the collision section this year based on early feedback from both past and new exhibitors; the name of the section itself is changing from ‘Paint, Body and Equipment’ to ‘Collision Repair and Refinish,’ so that our industry’s identity within the show is further pronounced. And we’re working through the logistics to better and more easily identify members of the collision industry on their badges to help the exhibitors identify the industry on the show floor.

"These are just a few examples, but they’re indicative of the desire of SCRS and SEMA to embrace what our industry brings to the show and the feedback we receive from it. We have no goal greater than to provide the most unique, exciting and enhanced show experience that we can that will directly benefit the collision repairers who invest in attending it."

Ron Pyle, president of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), which sponsors NACE, was disappointed with the vote but said it would not derail his mission to make NACE bigger and better in 2011.

"CIC and NACE have a long, successful history together, but we understand the competitive nature of our industry and will be aggressively pursuing every opportunity to provide the best value for today’s independent collision repair professional at the world’s largest collision repair event," he said.

NACE will be held Oct. 6-8 in Orlando. SEMA will be held Nov. 1-4 in Las Vegas.