Organizers
of the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) have overhauled
the 2009 program with fresh content and presenters in an effort to
capture last year’s record attendance. With a theme of “Winning
Strategies in a Changing Aftermarket,” the 14th edition of the Global
Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) will be held Wednesday, May 6
and Thursday, May 7 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare near Chicago.
“We listened to past attendees and their requests for topics and
issues, and the dynamic GAAS 2009 reflects their input,” said Dave
Caracci, GAAS chairman. “Industry executives are scrutinizing costs to
attend events and demand ROI of intelligence, insight and data that
they can transfer into immediate strategies. GAAS 2009 is built to
deliver actionable take-aways for great business profitability,
efficiency and competitiveness.”
Speakers already confirmed include: Bill Strauss, Federal Reserve Bank
of Chicago on “The Long Term Effects of Fuel Prices;” Dr. John Wormald
of autoPOLIS on “The Environmental Crisis, The Auto Industry and The
Aftermarket;” Rich Detskas, Automotive Manager, SGS Testing Company on
“Outsourcing to Third World Quality: The Good, Bad and Ugly;” and David
Portalatin, NPD Group on “Consumer Insights: Just Ask!” In addition,
two panel discussions are planned on “What Will The DIY Market Look
Like in the Next Five Years” and “Internet Business Model’s In Today’s
Aftermarket.”
Registration is now available for the symposium online at www.globalsymposium.org. Early-bird registration savings of $200 are available until March 20.