The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) is reporting that exhibitors had their most successful showing in the Collision Repair & Refinish section of the SEMA Show to date.
"In a word, awesome!" said Frank Terlep, CEO of Summit Software. "I’m amazed at the level of growth that the Collision Repair & Refinish section of the show has experienced in a few short years. What’s also very encouraging is the steady increase in the number of collision players coming through. Every year, we meet more and more buyers and professionals directly related to the business of collision repair, and in terms of quality leads, this was our best year yet."
Part of Terlep’s enthusiasm stems from how SCRS has promoted the industry through the SEMA Show.
"As soon as I heard SCRS was taking a larger role [at SEMA] with the Collision Repair & Refinish section, I immediately said, ‘I’m in,’" he said. "They do an amazing job of promoting the industry and the collision repair pros who comprise it, between a strong presence at the show itself and a ton of awesome educational opportunities. As I’ve experienced, every year that SCRS partners with the SEMA Show is better and better. If you’re into cars and the business of repairing them, there’s no place like SEMA for you."
Added Tim Morgan, managing director of Spanesi Americas, "I can’t say enough good things about this year’s show. Everything about the event is so exciting – from the new products to the nonstop traffic of current and future customers. We don’t often get to meet all our customers face to face, so SEMA is a terrific opportunity for us to reach out to these people in person to thank them for their business, answer any questions they may have and tie together their experience as a customer."
The Spanesi team showed their support at the 2013 SEMA Show with various show specials to a celebrity booth appearance by television star Mark Boone Jr. (Sons of Anarchy) and educational support such as Morgan’s presentation, "Maximizing Efforts Through Blueprinting and Shop Layout." on Thursday, Nov. 7 as part of SCRS’ Repairer Driven Education (RDE) series.
"I’m completely blown away by how SCRS has helped bring an already fantastic event to the next level," Morgan says. "From a training standpoint alone, they’ve raised the bar immensely. As long as SCRS is a part of SEMA, we will be, too."
SCRS says first-time exhibitor The Hertz Corporation was also pleased with their participation at SEMA. As Off-Airport Operations Region General Manager Pete McGinnis reports, "We had a great showing and experienced a lot of quality booth traffic. SEMA has proven to be a great opportunity for Hertz to increase its presence throughout the industry, and we’re confident working with SCRS will prove beneficial to ourselves as well as our future collision repair partners."
NAPA Paint & Supply (NAPA) showcased their largest exhibit space to date at the 2013 SEMA Show, and NAPA’s Chris Nichols, director of PBE (U.S Automotive Parts Group), noted a return on their investment with increased booth traffic and publicity.
"We came to SEMA this year with a completely redesigned, expanded booth, and we experienced a great deal of traffic through our area every day of the show," Nichols said. "We’ve participated in SEMA as part of the Collision Repair & Refinish section every year since SCRS has been involved in its development, and this was without a doubt our largest presence, not to mention the largest show."
Added Frank Jemiola, global technical manager (pigments-solventborne) for PPG Automotive Refinish and a panelist at one of SCRS’ RDE additional free
educational sessions that were held on the Collision Repair &
Refinish (CR&R) stage, "The crowds here are different from those at any other event in the world. They are the most committed to being here, in my opinion. They expect to leave with solutions and understanding, and we’re able to provide them with informative solutions and quality products to take back to their businesses. We had a great show, and we’re so pleased to work with SCRS this year. They’re incredibly helpful not only to us as an exhibitor, but to the collision industry in general. They’ve taken an already great location and event and enhanced it even more with training opportunities and a ton of knowledge you can use in your shop tomorrow. We’ve received great support from SCRS, and have enjoyed our show greatly."
"We’re encouraged and pleased to be witnessing a steady build in both size and support of the Collision Repair & Refinish section of the SEMA Show," said SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. "Every year, we’re proud to welcome a number of new exhibitors to the CR&R section, all of which embody the mission of SCRS to ‘educate, inform and represent the collision repair professional in all aspects of the industry.’ This year’s supporting companies are among the absolute best in the industry, and we look forward to working with them as we begin planning next year’s event."
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