Used Car Week is returning to Scottsdale, Ariz., from Nov. 6-9, and Cherokee Media Group is once again thrilled at the opportunity to get the movers and shakers in the business together in person.

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and ban on large gatherings, the auto industry — which thrives on in-person conferences, shows and B2B events — did the best it could to transform auto’s leading events to a digital platform. Although this did serve to keep industry leaders connected during the COVID-19, some things just don’t translate online.

Like networking, making new connections, chatting with panelists after sessions, making sure to hit all the event’s receptions and after-hour events.

That said, time is money these days. And in-person events take you out of your comfort zone, and your office. It’s tough to get away from the desk for a few days, but here are a few reasons the in-person trip is worth your time — beyond a few days enjoying the luxuries of Scottsdale.

Used Car Week combines six different tracks in an effort to unite all corners of the used-car industry from the auction lanes to the dealer lot to the investment world and beyond.

Not only can attending conferences benefit you as an individual, it can also hold value for your clients. They can connect with your company in greater ways, visit your booth at the conference and potentially expand their services with you and your partners.

Jeremiah Wheeler, president of DRN and MVTRAC and long-time attendee, speaker and exhibitor at Used Car Week, says the biggest factor is “people and humans connect better in person than they ever will in any virtual setting whatsoever.

“I think that in order to really build the right relationships and do business together in the right manner, you have to be in-person, face to face, getting to know people and talking about common goals and interests,” said Wheeler. “You can’t really grab someone’s full and undivided attention in a virtual setting.”
Automotive is a relationship-driven industry, and relationships are better built in person.

“You can’t put a price tag on in-person events, especially that bring so many people together in so many different educational sessions,” said Wheeler. “And the networking opportunities are priceless.”

And for two-plus years, COVID slowed if not completely stopped those opportunities.

“It didn’t just slow down; it came to a screeching halt,” said Laurie Foster, president of Foster Strategies Group. “It’s like we went through the windshield and landed in a ditch, and were picking ourselves up like what just happened?”

Foster had been at the NADA Show a few weeks before the COVID pandemic hit in full force, and she knew something was bubbling beneath the surface. But no one knew yet just how big. Foster herself thought at first it would all be over in six to eight weeks.

“I started getting messages from industry friends in early August (2020) saying they’re going to roll it up (their in-person events),” said Foster. “And I think that right there, even though we’ve already been through months, it just hit me how hard it had hit the entire world. No one, nothing was immune. COVID didn’t care about business, didn’t care about politics, kids, people — didn’t care. It wasn’t just a disruption; this was a life event.”

The digital ‘Band-Aid’

Amanda Dunlap, executive vice president of marketing and events at UCW parent company Cherokee Media Group, says of digital conference efforts during COVID lockdowns: “I think that that was the great experiment of how it will never be done again.”

In other words, it was a “Band-Aid.”

“I think it’s anecdotally proven digital is not replacing what it is to be across the table from somebody, shaking someone’s hand, seeing someone that you have built a relationship with in business,” said Dunlap. “You just cannot replace that human connection. Business ideas and connections are really amplified by being face-to-face.”

And Used Car Week is known for bringing some of the used-car industry’s top leaders together in one place. They are showing up, said Dunlap.

“They’re the ones recognizing the value of being there. It’s not the marketing team saying, ‘Hey, you guys should attend this.’ The leaders know they need to have our name on this. They need to be present,” she said. “They need to be in front of this audience to have their name in front of these people.”

For Dunlap, she says it’s just always great to see everyone gathered together.

“I’m such a relationship-driven person, so I just always enjoy seeing everyone in person again,” she said.

Foster, a frequent speaker and attendee at Cherokee Media Group events, said of auto industry events going digital: “We taped it together being devoid of any other solutions. It was do this online, or don’t do it at all. And so I’m proud of us for what we did to make it work.”

Foster herself posted almost 50 online presentations during the lockdown.

While acknowledging, “We’ve learned a lot,” she said the beneifts of in-person events, are things like, “me running into you in the hall and saying, ‘Hey, let’s chat or stop and have coffee, have lunch.’ It’s sitting next to somebody that you’ve been trying to catch up with and absorbing the material together. I think that that sense of community is stripped away when you are literally not communing,” said Foster.

Momentum post-COVID

After missing only one in-person event in 2020 in exchange for a digital experience, Used Car Week was back on track, and Dunlap said the momentum seems to have only ramped up since then.

“In 2021, it was kind of like the reunion show, because it was like the first time a lot of people in the industry had gone to a conference for a while. It was the homecoming show that year,” said Dunlap. “So a lot of enthusiasm kind of derived from that.”

Now, Dunlap said she hears often that Used Car week is “the auto show to be at”, and she says this is largely due to the team behind the event.

“It truly takes everybody to make Used Car Week a success,” she said.

First and foremost, the event is built on the backbone of solid content and a comprehensive agenda.

“Our team is deliberate at putting such a rock-solid agenda together. The agenda itself is a huge draw,” said Dunlap. “And then of course there are the networking opportunities and after-hours offerings that create the perfect environment for your next deal.”

The role of innovation

Strategizing and innovation is also key at auto events, bringing leaders in the industry together to tackle current challenges and keep the industry moving forward.
Wheeler thinks this is vitally important, and one element that may have been lost during the COVID-19 pandemic in both the office, and at industry events.

“I think the thing that we’ve lost over the past three or four years is the speed in which we innovate,” said Wheeler. “Taking people out of the offices and allowing them to work remotely 90% of the time, you lose innovation, having people in the same room, on a white board, writing down ideas and connecting all the dots of the next thing you’re building.”

Wheeler contends that when you take that out of the equation, innovation cycles are slower. He doesn’t think the auto industry has begun to feel the negative effects of this trend yet, and thinks it will set the auto business back five years plus in terms of the ability to innovate prior to these office dynamic changes.

“So having those tracks and having people discussing that face-to-face in-person at an event like Used Car Week, honing in on having the right educational tracks around innovation and spurring new ideas,” said Wheeler.

“And then a lot of people connect with other people, and I think this is vitally important for the industry, because it connects so many firms and private equity groups with people that are looking for funding. Doing that through the electronic methods of Linkedin, you just don’t get the same response rates as when you have an in-person audience. There are a lot of deals made at that event (Used Car Week),” he said.

And granted, there have arguably been beneifts to a more hybrid, digital workplace, says Foster.

“I think there came a new level of transparency,” said Foster. “Kids jumping on the screens, dogs barking. And it was OK, because we were all in the same boat. There was more generosity and thoughtfulness and consideration for others and trusting the people that are virtual are still working and working on your behalf.”

Looking toward November

In terms of what Wheeler is personally looking forward to at Used Car Week 2023, he said it has the atmosphere of a reunion, echoing Dunlap.

And the diversity in sessions and speakers helps create a full-picture experience.

“I like the fragmented format to some degree, because it gives so many options for people in different arenas,” Wheeler said. “We (DRN and MVTRAC) actually have products that span the entire life-cycle of auto lending. And so it’s good to be able to start with that first event and then go through the week, because we touch all sides of the market.

“And so that’s what I really look forward to every year is being able to touch on and focus on all facets of the market,” he said.

Foster added: “The key is I think Used Car Week to me brings such a myriad amount of people from different segments of auto. So I think it’s just a beautiful mosaic. So I think that there’s the ability for people to cross-pollinate across auto sectors in that environment.”

There are a few new offerings at Used Car Week to stay tuned for as the agenda forms for 2023, one of which is a women’s leadership breakfast in partnership with Foster, who has been recently hosting a series of luncheons for women leaders in the industry.

“Intentional networking is what we’re after, including table conversations,” said Dunlap.

Attendees will also have new after-hours activities to look forward to this year.