AOCA Brings Regional Meetings to the Industry

By Leanne Stump

Without engaging with our peers, we limit our ability to learn, advance and lead. During our current economy, industry professionals and/or their organizations may decide to cut their budgets for participation in industry shows or attending meetings. This is exactly what we shouldn’t be doing, because meetings are where we learn from industry colleagues and engage with our peers to help us strategize through this economic storm. Advancing your career and your organization takes effort and dedication. And in times like these, it takes more focus, energy, and engagement than ever before.

To that end, the Automotive Oil Change Association has created a series of regional meetings: Baltimore, Maryland – March 21-22; Reno, Nevada – April 4-5; Fort Worth, Texas – September 12-13; Skokie (Chicago), Illinois – October 3-4.

I encourage you to attend at least one of AOCA’s upcoming regional meetings. It will be here and only here that you can connect with other fast lube operators from around the country, apply their challenges and successes to your own needs, and build relationships to carry your business through whatever the future holds.
Leading is difficult. To continue to be a strong leader you need to continuously seek knowledge, input and wisdom because the role grows in direct proportion to the difficulty of the times in which we live.

A recent study by researchers at Cornell University found in-person events are better than other forms of communication at capturing attendees’ attentions, creating positive emotions, and building relationships and networks. The study found that face-to-face communication works best in these three situations because:

1. To capture attention — the range of stimuli at an in-person event, from speakers to meals to meeting new people, creates novelty, which helps people be more open-minded and creative.

2. To inspire a positive emotional reaction — an event that involves interacting with other people in the flesh creates a positive emotional experience.

3. To build networks and relationships — research shows relationships forged in personal meetings are stronger; according to the study, “Trust is built more effectively face-to-face.”

I believe these same findings apply to every meeting — even those made between just two people. You can email, tweet and even talk on the phone all you want, but there’s no substitute for the kind of energy and connection that happens when you actually get together with another person.

That’s why, no matter how busy I get, I always make time for face-to-face meetings. In my experience, they’re invaluable for building relationships that last — and that help grow your business.

Each meeting is designed to maximize interaction with fellow operators while minimizing time away from the shop. The meeting events are scheduled to kick off shortly after lunch the first day (allowing operators who are “in the neighborhood” to possibly fly to the meeting location that day). After a full afternoon of meetings, attendees can enjoy dinner and a full display of exhibits (all in the same room) from leading fast lube vendor companies. This will allow exhibitors and attendees to have dinner, network, and discuss products and services in a relaxed setting.

The second day will kick off with more meetings, educational seminars and round-table discussions about the issues facing the industry, with events scheduled through noon, once again easily allowing attendees to travel back to their home bases.

And who knows? A single idea picked up at a regional meeting may be worth many times the price of a plane ticket and admission.
Plus, since each meeting will be regional in nature, lube operators will have the opportunity to attend the one (or ones!) closest to them, further minimizing the cost of attendance.

LEANNE STUMP is executive director of the Automotive Oil Change Association. For more information on membership in AOCA, call 800.331.0329 or visit: www.aoca.org