Hanley Wood Takes Wheel
-- Tradeshow Week, 6/23/2008
Hanley Wood Exhibitions has taken over management of the Congress of Automotive Repair & Service (CARS) and will collocate it with the Intl. Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE), which it has managed for the past 26 years. Both shows are owned by the Automotive Service Assn. ASA previously managed CARS itself.
The collocated shows will be held Nov. 5-8 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In 2007, NACE was held Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at Mandalay Bay while CARS was held Nov. 1-3 at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
The shows will overlap with the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo and SEMA Show, also held in Las Vegas Nov. 4-7.
“(ASA) approached us a while back to see if (we) could take over the NACE event also,” said Ellen Pipkin, show manager for Hanley Wood's NACE and CARS. “(We will) bring it into the same building and benefit from our staff being available.”
Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive, added, “This is a watershed moment for the automotive service and repair industry. Our longstanding CARS and NACE events will be even better with expanded opportunities for education, training and networking.”
Pipkin said the collocated shows will cover more than 160,000 net square feet. She added that she expected more than 450 exhibitors for NACE and more than 100 for CARS. In 2007, attendance for NACE was about 25,000 while CARS attracted more than 2,000.
“Such strong results further support the decision to collocate these longstanding events, allowing us to further expand the expos, available education and training, as well as the unparalled networking opportunities, reaching the collision and mechanical sectors of the entire industry,” Pyle said.
Adding to the draw will be keynote speaker Archie Manning, who will speak at the combined shows' opening general session. Manning is a former college All-American quarterback and NFL most-valuable player.
