Alan Bird, President and Chief Executive Leader SCI Marketview, Jason Dale, Exec. Director, ABSC, and Doug Wilson, ABSC Alumni Award winner.
Dartmouth Dodge Dealer Principal Doug Wilson was visibly shocked when his name was called out as the winner of the 2018 ABSC Alumni Award at a special VIP event hosted by SCI Marketview and the Automotive Business School of Canada. Wilson was in Toronto to attend the event and the Canadian International AutoShow but didn’t expect the honour. As an added bonus, his wife Karen, son Josh, and other family members were in attendance and were in on the secret.
Karen and Josh were both co-conspirators in helping pull together a special video tribute that was played at the event, with Josh, a current ABSC student, being interviewed for the video.
Doug Wilson, ABSC Alumni Award Winner and spouse Karen Wilson.
Also in attendance were many of Wilson’s raucous classmates from the class of 1989 — which was the second year of the program was offered, and when it was called the Canadian Automotive Institute.
That class of ‘89 also included James Braden, who was in attendance wearing the CADA Laureate jacket he was just awarded the night before, and whom Wilson said he expected to be called to the stage to win the prestigious ABSC Alumni award.
After some tributes from his classmates, Wilson gave an off-the-cuff and entertaining speech that gave the audience a sense of his character, why he is so widely respected, and a worthy recipient of the award.
Classmate and lifelong friend Alex Digenis, who was also interviewed for the video tribute, was also a key figure behind the scenes. He nominated Wilson and recruited a large contingent of former classmates to be at the event to celebrate with Wilson.
Click the image or link below to watch the video tribute. (Special thanks to Lara Appleton and SCI Marketview for providing the photos, and hosting the event.)
