Working closely with Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) staff, some of our team at Canadian auto dealer magazine are putting in the hours that go into planning the upcoming CADA Summit. Universus Media (publishers of Canadian auto dealer) leaders Todd Phillips and myself are proud to be the only non-CADA staff on the CADA Summit planning committee. This is a particularly exciting time in planning the event because the team is putting the finishing touches on the speaker line-up.
As you’ll recall from the past two years, the CADA Summit is a one-day event that takes place in Toronto just prior to the start of the Canadian International AutoShow. As an extension of CADA’s Industrial Relations committee’s work, the event has the mandate to provide attendees with an in-depth exploration of the issues facing new car and truck dealers.
THE BIG PICTURE
The CADA Summit is intended to tackle the biggest issues and opportunities this industry faces — to help car dealers survive and thrive on the road ahead as our industry undergoes dramatic transformation.
The event takes a tremendous amount of planning due in large part to the very high level of speakers we bring to Toronto. The names of speakers from the first two years of the CADA Summit are truly remarkable: Sergio Marchionne; Bob Lutz; Steven Rattner; Robert Kurnick Jr.; just to name a few.
As I look at the agenda for the upcoming CADA Summit (the event takes place on February 11, 2015) I think we have may our most intriguing speaker line-up to date.
This industry is facing massive change driven by technology, and I believe many of the most powerful drivers of that change will come not from the technology going into our cars, but from the technology that connects our cars, and the occupants within them.
A PROFOUND IMPACT
We are entering the so-called Internet of Things, where the tools and devices we use (including vehicles) use connected applications for purposes not necessarily directed by the user, and this will have a profound impact on the automotive industry and on you and your customers. Some of
our speakers will bring a level of expertise and profile to this discussion that is a first for a Canadian automotive event. You’ll want to hear it
for yourself, so save the date on your calendar.
I won’t reveal the speaker line-up here. I’ll let the event’s marketing kick-off handle that role. Suffice to say I think you’ll be very impressed, and find a day at the event time well spent. Please check out the video of highlights from the 2014 CADA Summit at www.cadasummit.ca.
Finally, I’d like to offer a quick note of recognition to the CADA Summit’s exclusive sponsor, TD Auto Finance. Without their support, an event of this caliber could not take place.
