The inaugural Aftermarket Distribution Summit (Amelia Island, Fla., Sept. 12-16) takes place in a few weeks and if you haven’t already made plans to attend, I encourage you to do so.
This meeting integrates three top industry events into a single venue, saving attendees money and time.
What was previously the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network annual meeting, HDX Technology Conference and Truck Parts & Service’s Truck Parts Seminar is now one must-attend meeting bringing together the best elements of the individual meetings it is replacing.
The lineup of general session speakers and panelists is guaranteed to deliver issue-driven content focused on helping distributors sort through today’s many challenges.
The theme is “Readying for the Rebound” and the agenda is focused on providing expert advice, open dialogue and takeaways to help ensure that when the market comes back, you will be poised to take full advantage of the opportunities.
In fact, we’ll have an opportunity expert there, best-selling author Steven S. Little. Randall-Reilly Publishing Company (publisher of Truck Parts & Service magazine) has been fortunate to have featured Little at a past industry event. Little, author of The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth and The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth, is a crowd pleaser and you will benefit from his take on customer service.
The state of the economy and a look at what lies ahead will be provided by Michael Bryan, a vice president and senior economist in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Bryan is instrumental in organizing the agency’s monetary policy process and will help put in perspective the tumultuous economic events of the past 18 or so months.
The keynote speaker for the HDX technology portion of the meeting is Steve Deist with the Indian River Consulting Group where he is a strategic planning and sales effectiveness specialist. Deist will explore how distributors can, and why they should, continue to strengthen their IT position, even during economic downturns. Deist brings practical advice to aftermarket professionals with 17 years of experience in the distribution field and will show how to maximize the return on every dollar of IT investment.
HDX also will present Steve Evans, a 22-year veteran with the PGA Tour and in charge of technology oversight for the tour’s employees, players, the World Golf Hall of Fame and others affiliated with the tour.
And that is just the speaker lineup for the general sessions. The Aftermarket Distribution Summit also will include panels with leading industry representatives from the distributor, supplier and end-user communities. Three panels – “What Customers Want,” “What the Channel Needs” and “Protecting Product Brand and Brand Integrity” – will be complemented by candid roundtable discussions. Additionally, the technology track features a “Bridging the Gap” IT panel and a session on “Prioritizing IT Projects and Maximizing ROI.”
Of course, the meeting will include plenty of opportunity to network and forge new relationships through the annual Tenneco Challenge Golf Tournament and deep sea fishing excursions.
It’s a great lineup and Truck Parts & Service is proud to have partnered with CVSN and HDX to help sponsor this event. I’m looking forward to learning from this exciting lineup, and Amelia Island is not a bad place to spend a few days. More information and registration materials are available at: www.AftermarketDistributionSummit.org.
I hope to see you there.
