In news that will please everyone who has been looking forward to in-person events again, the popular Automotive Conference & Expo (ACE) event is back in full force this year. Taking place in Niagara Falls on October 19 and 20 at the Fallsview Resort, the event is put on by Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA), in partnership with Consolidated Dealers, to once again bring the automotive community together around this year’s theme: “Shift Forward”.
Canadian auto dealer had an opportunity to have a chat with TADA’s Liz Kearney last week to talk about all the exciting events happening at ACE 2022, and what makes this in-person event extra special.
“We’ve had our previous virtual events and they were great when we had to be virtual, but there’s something that you can’t replace with in-person events,” she said. There’s those quick catch-ups between sessions, for competitors seeing who’s doing what, and who’s looking where. It’s really something special when you have that in-person experience.”
The event layout itself will be familiar to previous attendees, with the comprehensive trade show section leading into the keynote stage where the main speaker sessions will happen, and an area for the breakout sessions. “There’s two parts to it,” said Kearney, “There’s an exhibition part. And there’s the content part.
“This year’s theme is ‘Shift Forward,’ because the industry has been changing so rapidly in the past few years, with the pandemic, with inventory levels, with everything that’s been going on in the world. And so we are taking that and we’re embracing it,” she said. “We are shifting forward with innovation and with speakers who are going to bring you information you need for where your consumers are going.”
She said a good example of the theme is the opening session with Matthew Growden, Head of the Google Canada Auto Retail Team, who will be talking about “Google’s Think Dealer” information on the modern consumer journey, and consumer expectations. Another session is going to be with Tim Reuss from CADA, giving his unique perspective and expertise on a range of issues from lobbying efforts to the future role of dealer councils.
On Day Two, ACE features Janet Bannister. She’s one of the founders of Kijiji, sharing her experience on leaning into innovation and making sure that your business is overcoming barriers to moving forward. She’ll also be sharing her experience as a woman in the technology world, which is very similar to women in the automotive industry, as part of ACE’s ‘Women Driven’ programming.
Janet Bannister will open the day with her unique take on leadership and innovation as well as share her story as a female working in the male-dominated tech industry and the strategies she used to overcome obstacles while also supporting other women.
A panel in the main hall will focus on Dismantling Barriers, a discussion of how business leaders can encourage women to enter the industry and support their progress into leadership positions. Panellists will share their personal experience as well as their recommendations for what actionable steps business leaders can take to dismantle barriers – the conscious and unconscious. The panel is still growing, but includes industry notables such as Yolanda Biswah, Senior VP and General Manager of Canadian Black Book and Edith Pencil, Director of Employee Services for the Performance Auto Group.
Cat Coode, who was named one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cybersecurity 2021, will cover all things data protection and give dealers the instructions they need to train their employees on cyber security best practices.
Celina Caesar Chavannes, formerly a Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, is another exciting speaker in the lineup. During her term as a Member of Parliament, she earned several distinctions including a feature in the April 2018 edition of O (Oprah Winfrey) Magazine. In 2019 she was named Chatelaine Magazine’s Woman of the Year.
Currently she is a business consultant, author and Sr. Advisor of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Initiatives and Adjunct Lecturer at Queen’s University.
One of the most exciting sessions at ACE 2022 will be the keynote speaker, Chris Hadfield, the renowned Canadian astronaut and spaceship commander. “He will be speaking on leadership and how to manage through complexity and change,” said Kearney. “He’s going to share how he managed things that came out of nowhere, in his case, in life and death situations. And sometimes, you know, in the business world it feels that way as well.”
The ACE breakout sessions are more tactical and specifically informational, where dealers can choose to stream and then go learn in some more hands-on workshops.
“We’ve got breakout sessions, including Ontario’s market forecasts from DSMA valuations; and we’ve got someone coming in to cover cybersecurity, a huge pain point for not only dealerships, but in many different areas where the industry is vulnerable. So we’re bringing in an expert to talk about that. And also we’ve got Jeremy Reisler, who is from TikTok. He’ll be speaking about this whole new platform that has millions of people worldwide using it, so it’s a new arena that dealers can use to share their messaging.”
The event will also feature the full trade show floor, with about 60 different vendors covering all sorts of relevant products and services. “We’ve got your Hunter Engineering, we’ve got digital marketing experts. We’ve got Cox Automotive, with their suite of products, and CarFax, just to name a few,” said Kearney. “This is a great opportunity to reconnect with your current vendors, and to see what else is out there; to bring them your pain points and find the solutions that they’ve created.
“Demo Theatre is something that we have a lot of fun with at ACE. It’s an elevator pitch version of what our vendors are doing. There’s a great big count out clock and they only get two minutes, so they really have to be quick. It’s really fun,” she said. When you add in the cocktail reception, the performance by Tom Cochrane and Red Rider at the ACR Kick-off event at Margaritaville, along with a whole host of other interesting speakers and networking opportunities, this is one return-to-form event that is not to be missed.
