As I rounded the corner outside the ballroom at the Certified Collision Group Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, March 30-April 1, I spotted a familiar face, but one that belonged to someone I had not met before. I had been friends on Facebook with him for probably five years or more, but it had been the first time I'd seen Mike Brockway, owner of Dabler Auto Body & Collision Repair in Salem, Oregon, in real life.
We struck up a conversation about the latest challenges not only he, but others, we figured, are facing at the moment, and as we hurried to the next session, we promised to reconnect for a longer discussion, which we did for the April 22 CollisionCast.
My experience is not unique, I'm sure. Over the years and having attended dozens of regional and national events, I've met so many people I consider friends (and I hope the feeling is mutual,) faces famililar to me often quarterly or even more often as we travel to the same events.
It's not only the presentations and other sessions in which I've benefited, though. Although discussions may turn to project cars, motorcycles, or drag-racing (if you want to talk sports, I'm not your guy,) it's the discussions during breaks and at the receptions where the networking happens, where the off-the-record feedback and perspectives take place.
There is a wealth of information available at an event, and what we have the time and space to share is but a taste of that.
I know it takes a commitment of time and money for the travel. The attendance at the national events often is made up mostly of executives or vendor owners and representatives and does not include many technicians. Kyle Motzkus, who has contributed to ABRN and is a frequent presenter at conferences on repair planning, recently posed the question in the Facebook group Collision Repair Technicians United on why more repairers don't attend national industry events after he'd just returned from presenting at the Collision Industry Conference.
The responses varied, including the lack of available time or that their feedback to management at a large MSO after returning from an event would not be welcomed.
Another commented that he attempts to attend all the available training he can, but it's a challenge to instill the same takeways upon his return to the shop, since his crew is not able to experience the event firsthand.
I agree. But as someone who's been tasked with bringing back shareable lessons and been the trainer in the "Train the trainer" scenario, at least CIC offers a PowerPoint at no charge of each presentation. One idea would be to take notes at CIC on which one or two presentations were the most impactful and make a lunch-and-learn presentation of it soon after your return, when the information is fresh.
