Las Vegas, Here I Come!
Attending the NADA Show is one of the highlights of my business year. It will be great to be back after the necessarily enforced absences resulting from the global pandemic.
Yes, I recognise that flying off to Las Vegas may seem to be an enjoyable excursion – and I fully expect this to be the case. Over many visits, the opportunity for networking and creating many long-term friendships with retailers, OEMs and fellow suppliers has proved invaluable. It is also a fantastic opportunity to take in emerging trends and technologies, and assess threats and opportunities.
Engage with the show fully – there will be more than 100 workshops and education sessions, and over 550 exhibiting their wares at the massive Expo. It goes without saying that attending everything is impossible, but I’m busy using the dedicated app to schedule the workshops and events I want to attend. Between these, Booth 6007N is the International Visitors Lounge – the ideal meeting point for people from around the world to catch up.
So, what am I looking forward to this year? My top three priorities are:
- The EV Solutions Center
- TED-style talks at the Learning Lab
- Sessions of retention and digitisation.
However, for newbies, it is essential to build in flexibility and take in the recommendations from other attendees. Some of the best and often unexpected highlights have come from fellow attendee recommendations.
Finally, it would be disingenuous not to reference the fun parts of this event. NADA puts on a great show, and it will be great to see what they do in the new venue, home to the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team. We are being encouraged to wear our NFL team shirts, so I’ll dust down my 49ers top. There are also numerous suppliers, franchise events, some highly entertaining speakers and, of course, Las Vegas is a fun city with plenty going on – the Grand Canyon is also a very worthwhile visit.
So yes, I will be working and playing hard, and I look forward to meeting as many people from the UK as possible. As I said at the top of this blog, these meetings, friendships and the chance to reflect on strategy away from the daily cut and thrust are invaluable.
If you’re going to NADA 2022, let me know.
