PRESS RELEASE
Date: May 20, 2002
For Immediate Release
Contact: International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA)
Matt Marks, Executive Director
Phone: 973/398-2274
info@iaraonline.org
IARA to Hold Vehicle Remarketing Conference in Denver
The International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) has announced its first in a series of grassroots-level roundtable discussions for the management of the vehicle remarketing industry. The IARA inaugural Remarketing Roundtable Series, scheduled July 24-25 in Denver, Colorado, at the Hilton Denver Tech. The conference will focus on three topics: Vehicle Inspections, Reconditioning, and the Marketing of a Sale.
"The remarketing community and its associations are diligently working towards continuous improvement in key areas such as marketing, information and reporting standards. The IARA Roundtable
Series is an inclusive series allowing all participants to contribute to the program content and the development of ever improving industry wide best methods," said IARA treasurer and chairman of the education and conference committee, Doug Richards, who is also the assistant vice president for Triad Financial Corp. in Huntington Beach, Calif.
“Our objective is for each and every participant to walk away from topic specific discussions with a broader understanding of the industry and a clear strategy, addressing priority issues in their specific remarketing arena,” added Richards.
What sets the Roundtable series apart from many other industry conferences is the format. The Roundtable Series breaks away from traditional speaker/ Q&A to intimate, face-to-face dialogue between remarketing professionals. Each participant is part of a group, and each group rotates from one topic to the next throughout the morning sessions. Moderators will guide the discussions, affording all series attendees the unique opportunity to discuss the topics in depth in an intimate workshop setting. These groups will encompass a balanced cross-section of industry expertise including senior level management from auctions, manufacturers, financial institutions, fleet/lease and rental companies, trade publications and remarketing service providers.
IARA President Dave Langley, who is also the national manager vehicle remarketing for American Honda Finance Corp., said, "Within our membership, as well as within the remarketing community at large, we have tremendous intellectual capital to take on challenges shared by all. remarketers . The roundtable series is designed to be a powerful and collaborative format for remarketers to target and prioritize industry goals for maximum remarketing performance."
Series highlights include a luncheon with Tom McDermott, regional vice-president for Adesa Corp., the nation’s second largest automotive remarketing chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. McDermott shares his insights on the auction industry from an auctioneers point of view. Immediately following, participants will hear the results of the series discussions, compiled by the workshop moderators. A hard copy of the results will be mailed to each participants immediately following the Roundtable Series.
Roundtable Series co-sponsor ServNet president, Steve Marlow, who is also the president of the Idaho Auto Auction in Boise, Idaho, said, “ ServNet knows these issues are best addressed through the collaborative efforts of the whole remarketing community. Therefore, this series represents an opportunity for auctions and all remarketing service providers to raise the collective bar and deliver more value to the clients we serve. We view this event as a beginning to even better business practices."
For detailed information on the IARA and Roundtable series, check out our website at www.iaraonline.org.