The K&M Tire 2021 Dealer Conference and Trade Show will be hosted virtually with a theme that reflects what 2020 has been all about: Keep on Rollin’. The trade show will take place from January 20-21, 2021.
The company made the announcement in a witty YouTube video that features shop personnel stoked about their road trip to the K&M headquarters in Delphos, Ohio, where they believe the trade show will take place. Instead, they watch a video announcing the trade show has gone virtual.
Dave Miller, director of marketing for K&M Tire, said the company decided to host its dealer conference virtually this year with uncertainty around travel and social distancing due to COVID-19.
“Our number one value as a company is to make the customer the number one person in our business, and that includes ensuring the safety of both our internal and external customers when it comes to our events,” Miller said. “Our annual trade shows bring in well over a thousand attendees from all over the country, so we feel that hosting a virtual trade show that still includes all of the awards, prizes and seminars is in the best interest of K&M Tire and our valued customers.”
Miller added the 2021 Dealer Conference will have much of the same elements of its in-person event—vendor booths, seminars, prizes, giveaways and networking—but on a virtual platform. He said K&M’s educational seminars from the event will be on demand so that guests can revisit them at their leisure. In addition, each vendor booth at the virtual show will come equipped with a chat feature to keep the lines of communication open, and the show will have a networking lounge, a space in which all guests can communicate and share best practices.
“We will be releasing our seminars, games, prizes and giveaways at certain times throughout the course of the show, but accessibility to all the assets of the show will be up on demand thereafter,” Miller said. “We at K&M Tire completely understand the demands and flow of business at the retail level, so this virtual platform creates an advantage for attendees by allowing the dealers to use our information from the show to continuously improve their businesses on their time.”
Miller said the company will open a registration site to its customers on Monday, Oct. 5, and customers will also receive a link to register through K&M’s online ordering platform, Weblink.
