The Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance concluded its 2019 Summer Shareholder Meeting at the Sheraton New Orleans on June 5. During the four-day conference, hundreds of channel partners as well as Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper shareholders attended committee and board meetings, panel discussions, shareholder workshops, a channel partner mixer, networking opportunities and more.
“Our summer gathering in New Orleans was an absolute success,” said Corey Bartlett, chairman of the Alliance Board of Directors. “We welcomed new members, planned for our continued growth, and raised nearly $50,000 for the Auto Care Political Action Committee.”
The shareholder meeting kicked off the morning of June 2 with an open Operations Committee meeting as well as a slew of closed committee meetings. That afternoon, the IT, Product, and Sales & Marketing Committees hosted open sessions, followed by an attendee reception in the evening.
On June 3, Alliance team members and shareholders presented updates on various Alliance departments, programs and more. The following morning, channel partners attended a general session, Latin American shareholders met privately, and the remaining shareholders picked two workshops from a plethora of offerings, including MyPlace4Parts, Technology Scorecard Metrics, Alliance Marketing Tools, Targeted Sales and more.
Tuesday afternoon, Tom Tucker of the Auto Care Association joined Bartlett on stage to encourage attendees to host hometown summits and to support the Auto Care Political Action Committee. The shareholder session was followed by a Mardi Gras mixer in which channel partners and shareholders mingled and networked.
The Alliance wrapped up the meeting with a short general session Wednesday morning followed by departures and a channel partner advisory council meeting to debrief the summer meeting and prepare for the Alliance’s next meeting in Miami this December.
Following the conclusion of the shareholder meeting, the Information Technology committee remained in The Big Easy for further meetings, presentations, collaboration with other committees and decision-making.
“This year’s Technology Strategy meeting is focused on delivering customer/centric solutions that support our shareholder’s business strategies, such as sales, marketing, product, etc.,” said Dale Hopkins, vice president of Information Technology at the Alliance. “We work diligently to clearly define our strategy and then execute each component with a sense of urgency.”
