As we prepped this issue of Canadian auto dealer, our editorial, sales and video teams were all knee deep in our plans for covering and attending the CADA Summit, the Canadian International AutoShow and NADA — all which happen within a week of each other this year.
For the CADA Summit, publisher Niel Hiscox and I have the pleasure of being part of the event planning committee, working alongside the leadership of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). The planning begins almost immediately after the show, so we’ve been watching the lineup take shape for many months.
It’s always exciting to see it come to life on event day, and I love to hear the feedback from attendees, as they assess the quality and content of the speakers and the choices that the planning team made on their behalf.
Sitting around the CADA boardroom table, I can tell you there are many in-depth discussions, and sometimes disagreements, on which topics matter most to dealers. The committee members all bring their own perspectives to the discussions, and we give particular weight to the conversations, interactions and feedback we’ve had from dealers.
We all have our biases and preferences, but on the whole the day ends up providing dealers a deep dive into the issues they need to know about to succeed this year — like the state of the economy, and economic forecasts — and things they need to know about to continue to succeed — like changes in consumer buying habits and demographics, and disruptions affecting auto retail in general.
The one thing that really sets the CADA Summit apart, is that those discussions are always based on what’s in the best interests of dealers, and aren’t influenced by the perspectives of sponsoring vendors or technology providers.
The CADA Summit, from its debut on Feb. 13, 2013 has only had one exclusive sponsor, TD Auto Finance, who has helped support many of the costs for bringing in top-tier speakers and making the event possible. They have also provided this support without exerting pressure on what the content should be — which gives the committee the freedom to create an event solely based on what we think is best for the dealers.
I say this not to knock other events — they are expensive to organize and dealers in particular are a tough group to attract — but to shed some light on why the CADA Summit is truly the event you don’t want to miss. It’s custom built every year from the ground up, based on the “best guesses” on what content is most relevant from a group of people who truly put the interests of the dealers first.
When it comes time to help plan the 9th CADA Summit for 2021, to some it might look a bit like the movie Groundhog Day, but it’s always a fresh slate, with a fresh set of challenges. So if you have any content ideas, please share them with me or CADA. I can’t wait to dive back in!
