After taking a year off, the 2024 Big O Tires conference and convention was held this year in New Orleans, LA, at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, March 18-20. The three-day conference featured a general session with presentations from Big O Tires and TBC Corp. representatives, highlighted new Standing O award winners and a Big O Tires Hall of Fame member. It also featured a trade show and included breakout sessions for members to learn more about fleet management and training tools now available to Big O Tires’ locations and staff.
Although the event wasn’t held last year, Gary Skidmore, Sr. VP and GM for Big O Tires, said the conference will remain annual from now on. Next year’s conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV.
Check out some highlights from this year’s event below:
Big O Tires kicked off the event and welcomed guests with a dinner and live music outside of the Caesars Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.
Darrel Jackson, Sr. manager of franchise learning and development at TBC Corporation, welcomed Big O Tires dealers to the Bayou before the general session.
Gary Skidmore, Sr. VP and GM for Big O Tires, discussed sales growth over the last few years, incentives for franchise expansion and investments Big O Tires will make in 2024.
Patricia del Aguila, VP of marketing and franchising for Big O Tires, discussed new partnerships Big O is taking on in 2024.
Skidmore (left) and Aguila (right) introduced the first of three Standing O award winners — Matt Story.
Tim Washburn, division VP at Big O Tires, discussed what it means to deliver “best in class” business management for Big O Tires dealers.
Washburn welcomed a panel on stage to answer some questions from Big O Tires dealers. From left to right: Washburn; Don Byrd, chief strategy and marketing officer for TBC; Darryl Maraj, chief technology officer at TBC; Chris Stearman, chief supply chain officer at TBC; Gary Skidmore.
Washburn revealed the second Standing O award winner — Jose Perez.
Skidmore introduced the third Standing O award winner — Jason Kassing.
During Scott Koldenhoven’s Big O Tires Hall of Fame speech, he discussed what the company meant to him on his journey to receiving the red jacket.
Keynote speaker Jay Baer discussed ways to be 15% better in multiple facets of Big O Tires location management.
During the trade show portion of the event, volunteers stuffed “back to school” backpacks for charity, supporting the Algiers Charter Elementary School in New Orleans.
Following the general session, the Big O Tires Conference trade show featured displays from various companies, like this one from Big O Tires.
Coats
Hankook Tire
Hunter WinAlign demo.
Live demo of Hunter’s Maverick tire changer.
Michelin
Myers Tire Supply
Nexen Tire
Pirelli
Sailun Tire
TireHub
Toyo Tire
On the last day of the conference, attendees were invited to participate in breakout sessions. This one, about fleet management, was presented by James Stock, national account sales manager for TBC. Panelists included (from left to right) Tony Fleener, maintenance call center supervisor-OEM relations manager at Emkay; George Albright, director of fleet services at Merchants Fleet; David Broadwater Jr., manager of fleet management services for Holman; and Shannon Alessi, national accounts administrator for TBC.
David Boyes, president of Today’s Class, gave a live demonstration of Today’s Class, a daily training platform available to Big O Tires this year designed to help technicians learn and train in small increments every day.
Schaeffler Group USA has expanded its parts offerings for vehicles in the United States and Canada, adding over 70 new parts to the INA, LuK and Schaeffler Bearings portfolios. These additions expand application coverage to an additional 30 million vehicles in operation, the company said.
New LuK products include nine different clutch kits, including traditional LuK RepSets and RepSet DMFs. The newly released clutch kits provide coverage to many common vehicle applications, including various Toyota, BMW and Volkswagen models, accounting for 4.3 million vehicles in operation, the company said.
