The Automotive Warehouse Distributor’s Association’s (AWDA) 62nd Annual Business & Education Conference, held in conjunction with AAPEX 2009, offered attendees a variety of opportunities to connect with one another and their vendor partners on, and off, the show floor.
The week kicked off for AWDA’s member distributors with the General Session, held Nov. 1, where incoming Chairman Willi Alexander, of Uni-Select USA, offered an overview of AWDA’s accomplishments over the past 12 months and also looked to the future of the association. Outgoing Chairman Rusty Bishop, of Federated Auto Parts, served as master of ceremonies for the event, which was followed by AWDA’s Manufacturers’ Reception.
“It’s in honor of our manufacturer members of AWDA,” said Larry Northup, senior director, industry relations for AAIA. “It’s to thank them for their contributions, their work and assistance and their partnership over the year.”
New this year for the association’s member distributors was the AWDA Pavilion on the show floor. Centrally located on the Upper Lobby, the area offered refreshments and a lounge area where members could meet or just take a break during the show.
“The idea is to provide a central meeting point for distributors, specifically AWDA member distributors, on the show floor,” Northup said. “The show floor is huge, it’s expansive — it’s sometimes tiring getting around. So we thought this would be a place where the distributors could connect, not only with fellow distributors, but also with vendors if they choose not to meet in the vendors’ booths.”
Also new this year, and surrounding the lounge and meeting area, were booths staffed by companies that provide services specifically for warehouse operations, including GCommerce Inc., Nexjen Systems, Siggins Co., Strategy 7 Corp., Zurich and Trinpak.
“These are companies that sell services for warehouse operations, as opposed to traditional parts like radiators and water pumps,” Northup said. “These would be things like software programs, shipping systems, system integration and insurance. Hopefully in the coming years we can expand on that base of exhibitors.”
AWDA members had another new opportunity at this year’s show — distributor-specific education seminars that the association sponsored on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
“Our members and our board had called for additional education specific to distributors, so we worked with the AAIA Education Department and put together a distributor track on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings,” Northup said. “They were being presented by a couple of gentlemen who come highly recommended from the National Association of Wholesale Distributors and who are recognized experts in the field of distribution.”
On Nov. 3, Brent Grover, Evergreen Consulting LLC, presented “The Sacred Cows of Automotive Aftermarket Distribution: It’s Not What You Take In — It’s What You Take Home” and “Protect the Winners and Fix the Losers: Customer Profitability Analysis.”
On Nov. 4, Michael Marks, Indian River Consulting Group, offered insight into “Successfully Managing Distributor-Manufacturer Relationships,” and spoke on “The Recovery is Coming: Will You Be Ready?”
