DETROIT, July 30, 2014—With the 2014 NACE/CARS Expo & Conference set to get underway Thursday at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Automotive Service Association (ASA) president Dan Risley said he is “90 percent confident” the show will return to the Motor City in 2015.
“The last 10 percent for us holds a lot of weight, and that’s what the exhibitors say and what the attendees say,” Risley told FenderBender on the show floor Wednesday.
Risley said ASA will conduct a post-show survey to gauge exhibitor and attendee interest in returning to Detroit next year.
NACE made the move to Detroit for 2014 following a steep decline in attendance in recent years. Risley and representatives from the Stone Fort Media Group that is putting on the show for the ASA have touted this year’s event as an “all-new NACE.”
Risley said the early response has been positive, noting that pre-registration was up 40 percent from last year. Ultimately, though, NACE’s future in Detroit will come down to what the people say.
“We like what we have so far,” he said. “Ultimately it’s the customers—the exhibitors and the attendees that come through here, they'll be the ones who dictate whether we come back.”
