Chris Gardner, MAAP, is Vice President of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association He manages all technology areas for AASA members, including the AASA Technology Council and the AASA Technology Conference. The AASA Technology Conference is the leading technology event in the North American Automotive Aftermarket industry. He represents members on the Aftermarket Telematics Task Force, AASA Telematics Working Group, NASTF’s Equipment & Tool Committee, and the AASA Vehicle Data Work Group. Gardner also provides executive oversight for all major events including AAPEX. He also manages the association’s Intellectual Property Council and manages internal staff operations.

Chris has more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, has received two automotive component patents, and has written dozens of articles and white papers on various automotive materials and processes. Visit Chris’ previous episodes HERE.

Mark Bogdansky is the Senior Director of Meetings and Events for the Auto Care Association. He is responsible for strategic planning and tradeshow management for the Auto Care Association, including the AAPEX and HDAW shows. Prior to joining the Auto Care Association, he was VP of exhibit operations at the National Retail Federation. While at NRF, he oversaw several nationally recognized and awarded trade shows, that were consistently among the country’s biggest and fastest-growing. He is an active member of multiple industry advisory boards and committees and has spoken at several industry events.

The Auto Care Association is the voice of the $392 billion-plus auto care industry. They provide advocacy, educational, networking, technology, market intelligence, and communications resources to serve the collective interests of our members.

Key Talking Points

• AAPEX is co-owned by The Auto Care Association and the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA). Auto Care CEO is Bill Hanvey and Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association CEO is Bill Long.
• Auto Care and AASA are valued partners working together to meet the needs of the industry and stay ahead of the curve.
• SEMA and AAPEX work well together. AAPEX is aftermarket week.
• The Keynote session has become more valuable. It is a big event feel and is so important to kick off AAPEX. This year’s Keynote speakers were Karl Rove and John King.
  • Get involved was the resounding message.
    • Your senator/congressman wants to learn about aftermarket  
    • Write, call, email, invite, attend a local fundraiser
• AAPEX has grown important programs for the service professionals. There are more and more service professionals appreciating the training that AAPEX is focusing on.
• The culture  of both associations working together to make AAPEX successful
  • More keynote sessions- kicks off AAPEX, big event feel, just under 1,000 attendees
  • Finding the next big thing each year- mobility garage as an example this year
  • Both associations have show committees that share feedback  
  • Collect information/data from board members, visit other trade shows
  • Survey attendees/exhibits
• Trends
  • Technology developing at a rapid rate- used to market product, digitization of processes/data/ordering, digitization of parts of products (sensors/software in parts)
  • More technology showing up in the AAPEX booths. A lot of ADAS showing up at AAPEX.
  • Data access/SVI (Secure Vehicle Interface)
• Service professional key part in industry
  • The power of the end user communicating to suppliers and manufacturers.

Resources:

• Thanks to Chris Gardner, and Mark Bogdansky for their contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Link to Automotive Aftermarket Supplier Association (AASA) HERE.
• Link to The Auto Care Association HERE.
• Link to the ‘BOOKS‘ page highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.

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