 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
What Lies Behind Future's Door?Posted 11/8/1999By John Mock, AAM So important is information and technology that corporate America has created a new executive position: Chief Information Officer. On the mechanical side of our industry, a term we often hear and use is information availability, referring to the availability of repair information from the manufacturers. This is a critical issue that ASA is addressing because we know that the future of the independent repairer is contingent upon the availability of information. Speaking generically, information availability has a much broader meaning for our industry. One of the ongoing missions of ASA is to make information available to its members so each one will be a winner in the information age. ASA packages information for its members in a variety of ways, including the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) for mechanical shops and, for collision shops, the International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE). ASA is the sole sponsor of these two premier events for the automotive repair industry. CARS is being held in Las Vegas, Nov. 4-6. NACE will be in Atlanta Dec. 2-5. In CARS and NACE, we've put together an incredible amount of information - information that will help ensure you and your business are one of the winners. Mission Possible is the theme for this year's NACE. It's equally applicable to CARS. Knowledge opens the door to the future. The knowledge one gains by participating in CARS and NACE makes the future a mission possible. When I look at where we've been and how this industry has progressed, it's almost scary to consider what lies ahead. Almost. I know that I'll be ready when the future becomes the present because of the learning opportunities I've had by attending these conventions and other ASA events. At the end of this issue of AutoInc. there's a guest editorial written by Ben Steinman, AAM. Ben is a leader in the collision industry who owns a body shop in Missouri. I've had a sneak-peek at his editorial and I encourage you to read it also. Ben has attended every single NACE ever held. In his editorial, he writes of the reasons he takes time every year to attend the convention. One of the points he makes is that he has gained incredible amounts of knowledge from his peers in the collision industry. This education often takes place informally, he says, while sitting around a lunch table or riding a bus between the hotel and convention center. What I like about Ben's comments is the fact that he is learning from his peers and he is learning from people who are often strangers, individuals he would have never met had he not attended the convention. Make your future a mission possible by taking advantage of the accumulated knowledge that's available at CARS and NACE. It is through these two shows that one can most easily see just how committed ASA is to the future of our industry and to the future of your success.
Knowledge opens the door to the future. When you arrive at future's door, what do you hope to find? If you hope to find success, let ASA help you get there.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright (c) 1996-2008. Automotive Service Association. All rights reserved.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How many times have you heard it said that knowledge is power? Or, the people who accumulate the most knowledge will be the winners in the information age?
