When I was a kid, there was nothing more exciting than school field trips. Getting out of that musty old school building was liberating. It almost felt illegal, like a jailbreak. And when you go to a Catholic grade school, those field trips – regardless the destination or boredom factor attached – gave you that extra jolt of “freedom.”
In our business, we get to do a good bit of traveling during the course of the year, and while all of the trips are great, some are just more better than others. Liberating like those old school field trips.
Like last week when I got to travel to Monroe, N.J., to break bread and share thoughts and information with members of the New Jersey State Tire Dealers Association. I and my colleagues from down the dial had been invited to participate in a panel discussion with member dealers, titled “The State of the Tire Industry.”
By anyone’s recollection, that meeting was the very first time (at least over the last 12 years) that all three editors of all three tire publications were on the same program on the same stage at the same time. Not that we don’t like each other or anything, it’s just never come up. And (though you shouldn’t be surprised), no one was hurt!
Held at the Crowne Plaza in Monroe (hard by Exit 8 of the N.J. Turnpike), the event included a fabulous meet-n-greet cocktail party and even better dinner.
Not that any of us wanted (or needed) the additional pressure, but NJSTDA board member Al Breese, of Jack Williams Tire, informed us that the 150 attendees marked the largest association gathering they could recall. Yep, no pressure looking out at that standing-room-only crowd and trying to sound intelligent!
Fortunately, they took it easy on us, asking insightful, important questions about tire pricing, imported tires, potential consolidation among distribution and tiremakers, customer service training, car dealer tire sales, warranty programs, sales taxes on Internet sales, and a lot more. Hopefully we returned the favor with intelligent responses.
The program was organized by Breese, along with fellow board members Irwin Steinlight (who got me on board after grabbing me at an airport in Jamaica), and Bud Mullaney. It was a fantastic evening, and I want to thank the entire group and association and all of those who attended.
