NACE and CARS Expands Conference

NACE and CARS have developed an expanded 2009 conference program for collision and mechanical repair professional this fall, without a price increase.

The Las Vegas events will deliver a total of 84 sessions (or 138 hours) of education for industry professionals for the same cost as 2008.

Topics that teach facility owners and managers how to stay ahead and focus on their businesses during the current economic climate. The NACE and CARS conference delves into topics that are dealt with by both the mechanical and collision segments of industry professionals on a daily, weekly and annual basis.

Sessions will be offered in both 90-minute and 3-hour timeslots.

Tracks include management, vehicle repair (collision), technical (mechanical), women’s professional development, train the trainer, estimating, jobber, auto glass, and the all new tracks for lean and heavy duty truck – due to the overwhelming interest noted in post-show attendee surveys from 2008.

There are NACE-specific and CARS-specific sessions, but any registered attendee has access to any session they wish to attend. The entire conference program was designed to meet the educational needs of today’s professional. With this in mind, all CARS technical sessions have been assigned to 3-hour timeslots since more detail and instruction is required in order to achieve the level of expectation. Additional timeslots were added to the Thursday, Friday and Saturday overall schedules to provide more choices to fit individual agendas.

Management sessions are expected to be the most universal selection among both collision and mechanical professionals. These subjects generally cross the boundary of industry segmentation and pertain to both business-models in a similar fashion.

Both the upcoming International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) and the Congress of Automotive Repair & Service (CARS) are sponsored by Automotive Service Association (ASA) and co-located at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 4-7, during the second annual Automotive Service & Repair Week (ASRW).

“Each year the conference development and direction is created with the attendees’ needs as the foremost catalyst. But with the economy impacting this industry – from both negative and positive standpoints, special emphasis was given to 2009 topics that would help them keep their businesses vital and competitive,” said Ellen Pipkin, show manager, Hanley Wood Exhibitions. “We’ve added five new timeslots to the schedule offering an additional 7.5 hours of education. It is our top priority to provide real knowledge and skills, delivering participants with an immediate ‘take-away’ that makes their businesses work smarter, better and more productively.”