The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) will hold its fifth annual Affiliate Leadership Conference Sept. 22 and 23 at the Gulf States Toyota Training Center in Lewisville, Texas.
"Our affiliate ranks recently have grown at an accelerated rate and we expect event participation to increase significantly as a result," says SCRS Chairman Barry Dorn. "It's exciting, because for the first time many collision repair professionals will get to witness the effective strategies that are forged when SCRS' national perspective intermingles with the local, grass roots focus of the affiliates."
The "ground level" industry view of the affiliates forms the bedrock upon which SCRS is formed and keeps the organization attuned to membership needs. The Affiliate Leadership Conference is perhaps the ultimate reflection of this aspect of SCRS. Attendees gain exposure to, and learn from the experience of, their affiliate peers in other states as does SCRS. Local initiatives often contribute to the formation of solutions that can be applied elsewhere, including on the national level.
"The conference features collective insight to address issues you won't find anywhere else, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to foster it," says SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. "Our affiliates and the thousands of businesses that support them want workable solutions to trying issues. The Affiliate Leadership Conference provides the content, context and analysis to provide those answers through candid discussion bred from a forum structured specifically for our affiliate associations."
The conference will maintain a similar proven format to previous years, with the first day featuring a focused review from each association in attendance. Local market issues and successful approaches to resolving those issues will be reviewed and analyzed through candid peer discussion.
Day two will feature updates from SCRS on its most recent national level activity, targeted discussions on prevailing industry issues, and a conversation on how SCRS can better help assist the collision repair industry. Toyota will make a presentation on Auto PartsBridge™, an electronic parts ordering system that allows body shops to send parts orders to Toyota dealers through a Web-based application. In addition, CEICA Executive Director Fred Iantourno will join the group to share content from the CEICA Implementation Conference being held the two days preceding the SCRS conference.
"This dynamic forum for experienced affiliate leadership generates an incredible amount of useful content over the course of two days," adds Schulenburg. "I advise anyone that hasn't previously attended to bring a pen and the biggest notepad you can find-you will be taking a lot of notes!"
For information about the upcoming Affiliate Leadership Conference, please contact Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg at (302) 423-3537 or via e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact the SCRS administration office at (877) 841-0660 or via e-mail at [email protected].
About SCRS: Through its direct members and 38 affiliate associations, SCRS is comprised of 6,000 collision repair businesses and 58,500 specialized professionals who work with consumers and insurance companies to repair collision-damaged vehicles. Additional information about SCRS including other news releases is available at the SCRS Web site: www.scrs.com.
