ASA Affiliate Holds Successful Retreat

The ASA-Washington Semiannual Business Meeting was held June 24 at the Summer Retreat in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Reports were given from the units present, as well as from the board of directors. B.J. Johnson, director of membership development and affiliate relations, spoke on what ASA is doing at the national level to improve benefits for members.

Back by popular demand from the 2005 Summer Retreat, Steve Beck presented an informative and entertaining seminar on time management. With tips on time management for both personal and professional lives, Beck offered ideas on how to decrease the time spent working so we can increase our time away from the office.

The retreat was not all work and no play. There was golf, a trip to Silverwood Theme Park and evening hospitality suites. For the early risers, the Coeur d'Alene Ironman Triathlon was held June 25 right outside the hotel. Many retreat-goers got up early to see athletes from all over the world swim a 2.5-mile course on Lake Coeur d'Alene. While most went back to bed, the athletes went on to bike 112 miles and run a marathon to complete the Ironman.

ASA Conducts Annual Member Business Survey

The annual "How's Your Business?" survey was mailed in August to 1,500 randomly selected mechanical and collision ASA members. The survey results will be reported in the December issue of AutoInc. The survey enables ASA to track, record and report the state of the independent automotive service industry. All answers will remain anonymous. For those who have received the survey, we ask that you complete it at your earliest convenience and return it to ASA. Your participation is crucial to the validity of our annual survey, and we thank you in advance for your time.

ASA Calls for Car Care Events

To promote ASA's support of the national Be Car Care Aware campaign, many ASA chapters and affiliates conduct fall car care inspection events in October. ASA would like to assist in promoting these events and raise consumer awareness by adding the events to the ASA Web site.

Please provide ASA with any chapter and/or affiliate October car care events by calling ASA's membership department at (800) 272-7467, ext. 243. Or, e-mail the information to staciel@asashop.org or fax it to (817) 283-8950.

NATIONAL NEWS

• The national office recently completed an update of its consumer brochure, "Consumer Bill of Rights." The information is provided in a question-and-answer format and educates consumers on their rights when having repairs done to a damaged vehicle. Brochures are available to members for $13 per 100 (item number: BR-BOR) and can be ordered by calling (800) 272-7467, ext. 295 or by visiting ASA's Web site, www.asashop.org.
• Previously held during the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) and International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE), ASA's Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony and Automotive Management Institute's (AMI) graduation ceremony will be held May 3-5, 2007, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville at ASA's annual convention. Still in its planning stages, the event promises to have an education- and activity-packed agenda.
• Several ASA staffers attended an Advancing Women in Automotive Retail Enterprises (AWARE) event in Colleyville, Texas, July 18. The event launched AWARE's new leadership series and was the group's first meeting in Texas. ASA attendees included Robbie Addison, mechanical division manager; Denise Caspersen, collision division manager; B.J. Johnson, director of membership services and affiliate relations; and Angie Wilson, vice president of marketing and communications. Toni Slaton, executive director of the Automotive Management Institute, also attended.
• Colby Horton, ASA's manager of Web Operations, represented ASA at the sixth annual Aftermarket eForum held recently in Chicago. The eForum assembles experts in the automotive aftermarket e-commerce and technology fields. Although the core audience for this forum is parts companies and distributors, and technology providers, several ideas and solutions are brought back each year to help ASA members adapt to the changing technology in the industry.