Sept. 6, 2016—On Aug. 24-26, CARSTAR Canada hosted its annual industry conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This year’s conference focused on the unification of CARSTAR Canada and U.S. into CARSTAR North America.
Close to 600 attendees were at the conference, including franchisees, vendors and insurance partners.
The conference kicked off with the “Walk Lobster,” a walk to support Cystic Fibrosis Canada. The walk raised almost $8,000 for the charity and combined with other initiatives, including a silent auction and raffle, close to $35,000 was raised throughout the week.
“We are one CARSTAR. We have one vision, one mission and one core set of values,” said Michael Macaluso, president, CARSTAR North America. “This is year one for CARSTAR North America, as we are venturing into a new beginning and a new journey, built upon the same culture of excellence and fighting spirit. For CARSTAR, it is not only about being number one in our industry, it is about being a part of one community, having one united focus and driving forward as one CARSTAR family.”
The second day of the conference was packed with speakers, including Artemio Garza, chief brand officer, Driven Brands; Chris Moore, director of marketing, CARSTAR Canada; and Hannah Ross, director of marketing, CARSTAR US. In the afternoon, CARSTAR held expert break-out sessions and an interactive vendor expo.
The closing day of the conference featured Colson Cole and Melissa Miller, both vice presidents of operations for CARSTAR. The two discussed the six pillars of “The CARSTAR Way.” Jay Papsan, author of “The One Thing” closed out the morning.
“We are happy that, once again, our annual conference excited and educated our franchise partners while providing the tools, resources and contacts needed to grow their business and improve operations,” says Macaluso. “This is our largest network event of the year and was a total show-stopper.”
