AIA Canadas hosts 7th annual Student Aftermarket Day in Barrie, Ont.

Blustery winds and blowing snow couldn’t dampen attendance or spirits for the 7^th annual Student Aftermarket Day on November 18. Held at Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ontario, the 2014 Student Aftermarket Day attracted over 120 students.

Organized by the AIA Young Executive Society (YES), the day was an opportunity for students from the Automotive Business School of Canada at Georgian College to meet and network with aftermarket industry leaders.

The event was launched at 9:00 a.m. with remarks from chair of the AIA Board of Directors, Robert Pitt, who spoke on the importance of encouraging youth, the value of having strong networking skills and the role AIA plays in the industry.

The conference then quickly got underway with three panel discussions led by industry-experts interspersed with three student presentations. The student presentations were considered the strongest as selected by the College and focussed on one of the panel topics.  The first presentation was titled “The Connected Car,” the second was “Aftermarket Marketing Strategies” and the third “The Aftermarket and Sustainable Transportation.”

Industry leaders in attendance were asked to vote for the best presentation, with students Tyler Amouyal, Parth Handa, Jeremy Land, Al Srivastava and Prithvi Virdee who presented on marketing each winning a $500 scholarship from the AIA Ontario Division and a pair of Beats headphones. The students will also present at the Ontario forum this spring.

Between the panel discussions and the presentations, attendees had the opportunity to network and visit the Career Fair booths set up at the event.  And, although the weather conditions meant the popular trivia game portion of the conference had to be cancelled, students were still able to win great prizes such as a MAC book pro, headphones, iTunes gift cards and more.

“The goal of the event was to give the students a more in-depth picture of the Canadian aftermarket and a distinct idea of the many varied career opportunities available in this great industry,” said Robert Pitt, chair, AIA Board of Directors. “At the end of the day, it was clear the students and the industry members in attendance left feeling inspired and confident in the bright future ahead. On behalf of AIA Canada, I would like to thank the YES Committee, our panelists who donated both their time and expertise, and the students and staff at Georgian College.  The success of the event is a reflection on all their hard work and it was a pleasure to be part of it.”

The conference was followed the next day by the YES Workshop which gave over 45 young industry members an opportunity to hear presentations on leadership by renowned TED speaker Drew Dudley and Industry Mentor Ken Coulter from Speciality Sales and Marketing. Both speakers shared their knowledge, expertise and insights on how to succeed.