The organizers of Ontario Dealer Day have decided to change things up — a lot. The trade show event normally held in April in the Greater Toronto Area has been blown up and completely reinvented, and given a new name and location. Now it’s the Automotive Conference and Expo — or ACE for short — and it takes place from April 11-12, 2018 at Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, Ont.
The event, run jointly by the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) and Consolidated Dealers, will now also combine the conference format from the Auto Dealers` Innovation Series with the full trade show and networking event with 80 vendors that was once Ontario Dealer Day.
The organizers have brought in some heavy artillery too, with a keynote presentation from Peter Mansbridge, former anchor of CBC’s the National, and musical entertainment at the ACE kickoff party with Canadian rock icon Kim Mitchell at Margaritaville.
“We were hearing from our members that there are too many conferences taking place in Ontario and they are having challenges fitting them all in,” said Todd Bourgon, TADA’s Executive Director. “Dealer reaction has been positive. Registrations are up.”
Bourgon says the organizers also wanted to ensure that they were offering strong Canadian content so that dealers don’t have to leave Canada for top-level speakers and content. “It’s also a destination event, something a little different where they could also have a little fun,” said Bourgon.
The event offers something for people throughout the dealership, and not just the Dealer Principals, including: general managers, general sales managers, fixed ops managers, F&I managers, BDC managers, Internet marketing managers, social media managers, HR managers and more.
“People are also very excited to hear from people like Peter Mansbridge about leadership and the things that he’s seen around the world that would be applicable to people who run and manage a store,” says Bourgon.
Bourgon says the trade show has already sold out, and it offers attendees a chance to meet the leading suppliers who are active in the Canadian market. Sometimes at NADA, dealers meet suppliers who don’t serve Canada.
Apart from Mansbridge, other confirmed speakers include: Doug Stephens, Retail Futurist, Mike Stollery, President, MJS Holdings and Management, Kevin Gordon, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Convertus, Kristin Williams, Dealer Relations/Marketing, DealerPRO Training, Kevin Baumgart, VP Business Development, Hireology, Alan Bird, President and Chief Executive Leader, SCI Marketview, industry expert and Canadian auto dealer columnist Chuck Seguin, and more.
“We are excited about bringing this all together,” said Bourgon. “For $99 you can’t attend any conference in North America for that price and get the value and the things that come with it, including the food and entertainment and cocktail reception.”
To register, visit: https://www.automotiveconferenceandexpo.ca/
