AAPEX Uncovered: Updates, Insights & Winning Moves

Jacki Lutz: 0:00

I knew you guys didn't completely hate me for this.

Ted Hughes: 0:03

Oh boy, all of a sudden I get here. What's that noise?

Mark Bogdansky: 0:09

All of a sudden I got that like heavy accent in my ear.

Ted Hughes: 0:12

Yeah, that's right. We have the same accent, Ted.

Mark Bogdansky: 0:17

Yes, but yours is about eight octaves higher. So then, when you use the accent, it just gets that much higher than.

Ted Hughes: 0:23

Ted's, and the words sometimes trail one right into the next word.

Mark Bogdansky: 0:27

That's just me, that's a me thing, it's a little screechy every once in a while. Oh my God.

Jacki Lutz: 0:33

Way to kill my confidence If 4K was a sound, oh my.

Mark Bogdansky: 0:39

God, the only reason that we're willing to do this this early in the morning is, you know.

Jacki Lutz: 0:45

If 4K was a sound, I love that. Can that not become a meme?

Mark Bogdansky: 0:50

Isn't that Dolby Stereo?

Ted Hughes: 0:52

That made me snap too right there when she started talking on the microphone.

Jacki Lutz: 0:56

That is so rude Myself for doing this right now.

Ted Hughes: 1:04

Oh, we kid you because we love you.

Mark Bogdansky: 1:06

Jackie, believe me, neither of us would be here if we didn't love you. Yep.

Jacki Lutz: 1:17

Welcome to Auto Care On Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Carpool Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We're all headed in the same direction, so let's get there together. Welcome everybody to another Carpool Conversations. I have two of my teammates here with me today and we're going to talk about Apex. Why are you looking at me like that?

Mark Bogdansky: 1:50

Teammates, friends, colleagues. What's wrong with teammates?

Ted Hughes: 1:55

Two of the people I've known as long as anybody in my time in the aftermarket.

Mark Bogdansky: 1:59

Two people who helped bring me into auto care. No teammates.

Jacki Lutz: 2:02

I don't regret this at all, guys. I'm really glad we're doing that. How impersonal was that.

Ted Hughes: 2:07

And we're just getting started Buckle up.

Jacki Lutz: 2:10

These two obnoxious voices you hear are Ted Hughes, Executive Director of AWDA and Senior Director of Community Engagement. Welcome, Ted.

Ted Hughes: 2:19

Thank you, Jackie.

Jacki Lutz: 2:20

I think you get the world's longest title award Congratulations. And then Mark Bogdanski. He is the VP of Trade Shows and Community Engagement and largely responsible for the APEC show, which is what we're going to talk about today. So, just to kick us off, what are you guys' favorite? What is it? What's the favorite thing to do at APEC, or favorite?

Ted Hughes: 2:40

memory Before we get there. Jackie, can I also add that we're going to talk about the AWDA conference as well?

Jacki Lutz: 2:46

Yes, we will cover that as well.

Mark Bogdansky: 2:48

It's a very big part of it.

Jacki Lutz: 2:50

Mr AWDA.

Ted Hughes: 2:52

It's part of Apex. To answer your question, my favorite memory and I like to say I don't realize when I became the old guy around, when I became the old guy around. But you look back and this year will, I think, be my 23rd Apex show and I don't feel like I'm that old. I look like I'm way older. But looking back over that, there's so many great memories and to try and narrow down one memory, I think 2016,.

Ted Hughes: 3:26

I was working with Fermala at the time and we were launching a new major product and we really wanted to put it on the map and make a statement and we had the ability, through some great partnerships, to bring Richard Petty into a year-long promotion that was announced at that apex. And so having the king of really motorsports, but especially NASCAR in North America, in your booth talking about your company and the relationship that we had and to see that, just to see of people at the time, was that was the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people and more than any other, I think, over the last 20 plus years. Looking back on that, when it really stands out as something great and I'm really proud of it.

Jacki Lutz: 4:23

What was Richard Petty like?

Ted Hughes: 4:25

out as something great and I'm really proud of it. What was Richard Petty like? As cool as could be? Was he Cool as could be? Never, you know, never met a stranger. You talk to him for a minute and you feel like he actually knew who you were after you left and you know he makes you feel good.

Jacki Lutz: 4:40

And that was 23 years ago.

Ted Hughes: 4:42

No, that was 2016.

Jacki Lutz: 4:44

Oh, okay, so not okay yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 4:47

So mine's actually probably something a little bit similar, you know, thinking about it. And so when I started, one of the things that I had said to Bill when I started was I really want to kick off Apex with a big keynote. I want you and somebody from MEMA up there on stage as the stalwarts of our industry and everything else and you know, give an industry update to a big audience. And we did it for a couple of years and then I said, okay, now we're going to take a little bit of a leap and we're going to bring in President Bush and everybody's like that's crazy, it'll work. Walking in that morning and seeing a room full of 1600 people was awesome, like I I've met. You know I had used president Bush and had him speak before.

Mark Bogdansky: 5:31

But seeing that audience, that room as full as it was where it had never been that full before, you know, it was always we got three, 400 people maybe at a town hall breakfast or whatever 15, 1600 people there. And to me the important thing was that now Bill was going to be able to get up there and be the representative of the industry in front of all these people. And you know, like you were saying, just it was just really exciting to see everybody there for this. Everybody loved it. They've had a great time. They keep coming back. You know we get the same number of people every year, no matter who that keynote is, that it works well, and that's really, to me, probably been the best memory that I could think of as far as how Apex has gone.

Ted Hughes: 6:07

That would be memory number two. For me, that morning was unforgettable and it really has to make you feel good, mark, when still this many years later, when you look back and there's been some fabulous and magnificent guests to kick off the show, but everybody points to that one, yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 6:25

And to me it was yes. But also they keep coming back. Every year Tuesday morning that room is full. Now, yeah, you know it doesn't matter. You know we've had magic, We've had, you know, industry folks, Sports, it doesn't matter. Once we hit that point, everybody knew they have to be there and they don't show up when they know Bill and Paul are going to be done. They show up to hear them and then they hear them and they listen to them and then they see the next one. And that was really what we're trying to do and I'm really very proud of that and happy about that.

Jacki Lutz: 6:56

Those are good ones I don't have. Like. I'm trying to think honestly. I think last year was my favorite Apex, just because it was such a different world to me. It was the first time I was working for Auto Care Association at Apex and literally got to run around and do the part of my job I love the most. It never stopped Just doing media stuff like this. It was so much fun. I look forward to Apex every single year.

Ted Hughes: 7:13

And you've got to admit, coming over to the site because that was me three years ago, seeing all of the work that goes on behind the scenes that for your whole career, my whole career we were attending as exhibitors, suppliers, attendees, and everything is always so smooth and so well run and so well planned and well organized. But it's carried out by people and, just like the Las Vegas Casino Resort, the back of house there's so much work going on that people don't see and it's really a credit to the team that you have, mark, that's great to you.

Mark Bogdansky: 7:47

Yeah, couldn't do it alone.

Jacki Lutz: 7:48

And it's really like what. The perspectives around the table are really great. So Ted and I were members and I would say we were both exhibitors at Apex for several years before coming on this side. So we have a really good perspective and some advice to give for Apex exhibitors and Mark you're here, kind of the expert of Apex and to give some advice to basically everybody talk a little bit about the show, which is kind of what I want to lead off with is just kind of what's new this year? What can people expect that they haven't seen before?

Mark Bogdansky: 8:19

Yeah. So, as somebody described to me the other day, we are making the biggest change to Apex since we moved it from Chicago to Vegas 30-some years ago this year, so new. This year, like a lot of other shows in our industry, we are actually going to be segmenting the floor based on very broad product categories. So the companies that are competitors are all going to be more or less in the same area. So the companies that are competitors are all going to be more or less in the same area. When attendees need to go find a product, they know they can go find them in one area and not have to walk the entire floor to try to find every single fuel pump, manufacturer or whatever. They're all going to be in one area, which makes it much easier for them, makes their experience much better, and we're really looking forward to it. It's going to change.

Mark Bogdansky: 9:06

Everybody has said to me one of the challenges we have with Apex is that you come to Apex every year and you know the skin is a little bit different, but it looks the same because the same company has been in the same booths forever. Well, not anymore. 99% of the booths on the show floor are going to be in a different spot and it's going to change again next year and the pecs every year. So that's the most significant change we're making and it's something that our buyers and our attendees have been asking for really since the day I started the first meeting that I had with anybody, that was the first thing the attendee said is hey, can we segment the floor? I had people who had actually handed me maps that were color-coded, that they had done the work for us to say this is how we would do it Three or four different options.

Mark Bogdansky: 9:45

This goes back nine years and it's interesting because the exhibitors would always say no, absolutely not. They'd fight it. You know we don't want to do it. Last couple of years the exhibitors have actually started to say, hey, you know what? It might be a good idea if we try this. It might be a good idea if we do this. You know it doesn't affect their seniority. They still got to pick where they want to be within each section and they see the value in making it an easier buying experience for the attendees. So we're really excited.

Ted Hughes: 10:11

Every major trade show around the world segments at its core right and Apex, if I remember correctly hearing correctly, apex was the biggest show in the world that did not yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 10:20

I mean every other show that these guys go to, including SEMA, by the way, like every, literally every other show in our industry segments. So it's not something that people weren't used to.

Jacki Lutz: 10:29

Yeah, that's a huge change. So exhibitors are going to be potentially right next to their competitors, absolutely so. That's the big one, yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 10:36

And we have a lot of exhibitors who are really excited about it. They want to be able to show how they're different and better than their competitors. How they're different and better than their competitors and just because you're used to seeing something from company A, well, we're better, and now we have a chance to show it, improve it and everything else.

Jacki Lutz: 10:48

And there's also not like a. I feel like it keeps that facade about being in the back of the room right, because there is no back of the room when it's segmented like this.

Mark Bogdansky: 10:58

That is a phenomenal point. You know you're in segments now. There is no back of the hall, there is no great spot on the floor, because everybody is going to come find you, because they've got to come to that segment. Every segment is going to be busy, every segment has major companies, and so we're really excited about how this is going to work.

Jacki Lutz: 11:15

So what happens with some of the companies like Milo or some of these larger suppliers like maybe like a Bosch or a Dorman, who have like lots of different product categories?

Mark Bogdansky: 11:26

Yeah, so they. You know it's a great question. That was probably the number one question we got from all of the major companies was hey, you know, I do 15 different things. So we gave them options. We said, look, you can do multiple booths. We're not asking you to spend more money, but you can get multiple booths if you want.

Mark Bogdansky: 11:40

Or look, we're segmenting the floor, but the size of the floor hasn't changed, right? And so if you take Bosch or Mala or Dorman or whatever they are, people are going to find them, whether you're in the section right next to where they thought they would find you. And most of them, you know, they selected the section that they thought they belong in. If there was a one that we thought maybe didn't quite fit what we expected, we would call them and have a conversation with them, make sure they're in the right section, because we don't want them to be upset with the section they're in.

Mark Bogdansky: 12:10

And everybody's going to find you on that floor. Right, the floor is still the same size, so when you walk in it's still just across the hall, whether it's in a different section or not. So everybody's going to find Dorman, everybody's going to find Mala, everybody's going to find Mala. Everybody's going to find Bosch, everybody's going to find every company that they want. You know, and I think pretty quickly, there was a lot of trepidation. That was the biggest pain point, most you know, trepidation from the exhibitors and I think very quickly, when they started to see how the floor plan came together, like yeah, this.

Jacki Lutz: 12:35

This will work, yeah, and we're good. Well, that'll be interesting. What else?

Mark Bogdansky: 12:41

What else is new? We're bringing in food trucks. That's the exciting part. It's funny. Every time I go into a meeting and they're like what's new? And they're all ready to ask me all these questions. As soon as I say food trucks, everything else stops. Lisa Fauché was cracking up because we were in a meeting together and I said food trucks. She's like they lost their minds. They forgot everything else. They forgot everything else. You know. You know, one of the biggest challenges that we have being at the Venetian in Vegas is to get lunch and not have to eat the concession stand food in the middle of the show floor Always, only ever, done out of necessity.

Mark Bogdansky: 13:18

Exactly so in order to get lunch, whether you're an attendee or an exhibitor you got to get off the floor. You got to walk 10, 15 minutes, you got to wait in line because everything gets busy. You got to sit down and eat. Even if you go to the food court it's a mile, you know whatever. So we're actually going to be bringing in food trucks. We're going to have them on the show floor as part of level one and hall G, and what this does is now it keeps the attendees on the floor. So if an attendee wants to grab a quick lunch, they can go over there. We still have our free buyer lunch over at Caesars, but if they want to grab a quick lunch while they're at the Venetian, they can do that downstairs.

Mark Bogdansky: 13:48

And it's also really good for the exhibitors, because now you know you used to plan a booth. You have to plan breaks and lunch breaks for your staff. Well, instead of planning a half an hour or 45 minutes, hey, go grab a bite to eat, come on back. It used to be you'd literally have to plan an hour and a half for your staff to be able to go and grab lunch, which is a pain when you only have an eight-hour show to start with. So now it makes it a whole lot better for them. They can go downstairs grab lunch and while you're sitting in this food court area and we're going to have you know it's going to be fun we're going to have picnic tables and you know it's going to see there in the conversation. So the exhibitors are really excited about it, the attendees are excited about it, so that's really fun.

Jacki Lutz: 14:26

I might actually eat this year. I feel like most of the day.

Mark Bogdansky: 14:29

Okay, If you find time to eat them. We're doing something wrong.

Jacki Lutz: 14:34

Honestly, I feel like every year I have a liquid diet. I just never get to find food. So we'll see, maybe it's different.

Ted Hughes: 14:46

Those the We'll see. Maybe the series is different. The liquid diet let's save all circle bar talk for Auto Care After Dark Different kind of liquid diet.

Mark Bogdansky: 14:53

Yeah, we also were doing a brand new student competition this year. You know, one of the things that we are trying to do is really show. Everybody talks about the future challenges of getting more technicians into the industry and the future workforce and all that. Well, we're trying to show more and more students just how big the industry is and what is all involved. And you know, you go to a local VOTEC school. It's a lot bigger than just the shop or the dealership you might go work at. It's a huge industry, it's a global industry, it's whatever billions of dollars we are these days.

Mark Bogdansky: 15:24

And so we're actually doing a student competition and we're going to be flying in eight different teams of students from around the country putting them up for the week in Vegas. We have a competition Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. They're going to disassemble and reassemble an engine. We've got some celebrity judges. We've got some great prizes for them. Milwaukee Tools has donated some great toolkits to kind of help get them started in their career, to help let them save some money when they get started. So that's really exciting. We're going to be bringing in them, you know, so they can kind of see everything that's going on. So that's another thing, that's new.

Jacki Lutz: 15:54

Yeah, you mentioned something with the lobby.

Mark Bogdansky: 15:56

Yeah, so you know one of the things again, going back to that whole like we're trying to change what Apex looks like in the feel for it, one of the things again the exhibitors said stop taking the attendees off the show floor. And one of the draws off the show floor was we always had our stage in a lobby area and so we were removing that stage or bring that stage onto the show floor so that way if attendees want that content, they have to stay on the floor. And again, you know you don't think about it, but it's hey, if I go out to the lobby for a session that I want to do, well, I'm that much closer to my room, I'm that much closer to a Starbucks, I'm that much closer to not having to go back on the floor or whatever. And then you get distracted and you go away and you know the idea is we have three days of business. Right, it's a business show. Everybody wants to go do business.

Mark Bogdansky: 16:34

We're trying to keep people on the floor. So we're changing up the lobby. We're going to do it the year. It's going to be all product. It doesn't have to be new products. It's one of the things the exhibitors have asked us for Featured products. Exactly, it's one of the things the exhibitors have asked us for. They say it's new one year, but it's still a great product we'd love to be able to showcase.

Mark Bogdansky: 16:58

So we're going to have those out there for people to be able to look at and see, and they're going to do some different themed areas for different kind of seating because there are people who still want to be able to grab a bite of lunch and sit down or have a little bit more of a quiet conversation you can have standing on the trade show floor. You know there isn't a great place to sit and have a conversation on the show floor, so they want to be able to sit and have a conversation. So that's going on in the lobby. I feel like there's like a million new things Well.

Jacki Lutz: 17:21

The other one that I thought was really cool was the happy hour.

Mark Bogdansky: 17:24

Yes, Thank you. So again, one of the things you know we have a lot of exhibits. Mal is a great example. He used to do this every year.

Mark Bogdansky: 17:35

There's a lot of exhibitors who are doing happy hours in their booths every year, every day, or something you know, whatever it is, but not everybody knows about it. And you do them not only to try to draw your current customers, but you put a bar in your booth because you go okay, people are going to hear booze, liquid diet. I want to get to the. I want to figure out where they are. Well, we said you know what. You tell us we're going to do this thing. We're doing what we're calling a booth crawl from three to five every day on the show floor. You tell us you're going to have a happy hour that day in their booth. We're not. It doesn't cost the exhibitors any extra money. We're not asking anybody to do a happy hour if they weren't doing it. But if you are, let us help promote what you're doing, you know. Let us help sell what you're already out there, trying to get out there.

Jacki Lutz: 18:17

So that's a great change. Yeah, cause as a cause, like, even though I was always an exhibitor, I always would always walk around trying to find the happy hours too like the network part of it, and it is kind of just like you walk until you see one. Yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 18:30

And there's some other you know, small little surprise and delight things that we're doing, that we're still working through to make it a little bit special, whether you're an exhibitor or an attendee. We are bringing back the water. So, again, I drink a ton of water and every I drink a ton of water, and every time you go to buy a bottle of water to Venetian it's somewhere between 10 and $12. Well, we put in water stations last year and we're going to put in more this year. We're giving out free bottles. Fill up the water, go fill it up. Now. You're saving money, the company is saving money, everybody's happy. Better for the environment. Exactly, you know it was a big deal, so it was, it would. It's not new this year because we did it last year, but it's something that we're still out there magnifying because I think it's really important for everybody to know.

Jacki Lutz: 19:07

Yeah, yeah so, and then let's get into AWDA a little bit and then we'll talk about kind of some advice and tips and tricks for both exhibitors and attendees at both of these shows. But what's going on at AWDA? What do people need to know?

Ted Hughes: 19:21

What do people need to know? Yeah, coming off of what has been our most successful AWDA conference in years and special thanks to all of our friends at APSG for bringing their conference into the AWDA conference Very successful this year we just look to build on that success and I think that 2024 served as an excellent reminder for maybe some distributors or even some suppliers that may not have participated in the last few years or 10 years ago. When was their last time? It was all the same and it was a waste of time and meetings weren't good, and there was a lot of that over the last 10 years, I think mostly due to the distributors working with the suppliers to make the meetings better, introducing things like meeting scorecards and having advanced preparation, where you know fill rates, you know how business is, you know revenue up, revenue down, you know how programs have performed and things like that, and so having that advanced preparation over the last 10 years has grown to a level where now it is the worst comment you hear is it was really good.

Ted Hughes: 20:37

I mean usually it's better than ever so productive, excellent meetings across the board, and again, I think it's a product of the collaboration. But overall, the AWDA conference is the one place throughout the year where you can go as a distributor and meet with every single one of your key and major suppliers, and groups have events throughout the year and whatnot, and those are all great as well. But when you look at the timing the beginning of November, end of October and having that ability to talk about the year that was I mean fiscal year, regardless the year that was November is the perfect time. But it's also the perfect time to talk about the year that's coming, the opportunities to share and really dig into those on a one-on-one basis, exclusively for 45 minutes at a time.

Jacki Lutz: 21:36

Just for people who may not have a clue what AODA conference is you want to just like lay out what the event is like. You know conference is.

Ted Hughes: 21:43

You want to just like lay out what the event is like. You know, yeah, yeah, happy to. This year will be the 79th version of the AWDA conference. Ted's only been to about half of them, and so what it was designed to be was, at its core, exactly what it is today to bring in the industry's biggest and best suppliers, to bring in the independent distributor from across North America, to have, in one form, one setting the ability to have one-on-one meetings with all of them over the course of two days, and do it all in one place.

Jacki Lutz: 22:23

It's all in hotel rooms. Yep, Kind of like one or two floors right.

Ted Hughes: 22:27

Yep. The suppliers the supplier side, manufacturer side are the meeting hosts, if you will. They're the ones that have the suites and they're right in. We've, over the years, mark, worked to make it the most efficient as possible. It's on floors four and 10, strategically, because those are the two floors that every elevator in the Venetian can get to.

Ted Hughes: 22:51

So, you don't have to wait for one particular bank, because when it's meeting exchange time, the hallways and the elevator banks get really crowded. So having that ability to take any elevator is great and that's a change that's happened over the last few years. That was Leah Jones.

Mark Bogdansky: 23:07

I had nothing to do with that. That was Leah.

Ted Hughes: 23:09

Yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 23:10

But the only thing I'll say is you know we talked, apex is a business show, right? People come in If you're a distributor. Awda is a must attend event, absolute must say, because it gets your week started, right.

Jacki Lutz: 23:27

You have those business meetings where you can meet all of your current suppliers. What are the reasonings? Do we have any like specific reasonings why people might not attend, like what I just feel?

Mark Bogdansky: 23:32

like such an. I would leave that to. I would leave that to ted, because yeah, it's a no-brainer.

Mark Bogdansky: 23:36

But you know you start there. If you're a distributor, you absolutely have to be at awa, because you get to meet all of your current suppliers and then you can spend the rest of the week meeting all the new ones, and everybody who does this says it's, you know, if not the best part, it's one of the best parts of the week for them, and I think it is a huge thing. We started off and you said Apex and you said well, we're going to include AWDA. To me, awda is part of it, it's part of that whole week.

Ted Hughes: 24:09

It's right in. It gets everybody going in a really good level. Sunday money goes and then we kick off Apex Tuesday morning with the keynote yeah, and it speaks volumes. To answer your question, some of the things that we were, like I said before, I used to go up to 10 years ago and I stopped going because I thought it was a waste of time. And that's what I heard the most coming out of last year was people that had not had attended in several years couldn't believe the difference in efficiency and effectiveness of the meetings. You know, I've heard things like well, I'm big enough that if anybody wants to see me they come talk to me directly, and even people that have said that over the years once they do participate again over the years, once they do participate again. You're not talking about low-level, mid-level managers. Your AWDA meetings are C-level.

Mark Bogdansky: 24:53

And you're doing how many of them over two days? Yeah, over 20. Right, so you're getting 20 meetings? Yeah, the companies would come see you if you're that level Absolutely. But then you have to schedule it out and it's a whole day, and there's a reason that big companies still come to AWDA, even though. You're knocking out 20 of these really really high level, very important meetings in two days. And you're not going to do that anywhere else. I don't care who's willing to come to you, who's willing to do whatever.

Jacki Lutz: 25:22

It's going to be the most efficient way of using your time to plan correctly.

Ted Hughes: 25:25

It's time efficient, yeah, cost efficient and the other thing is, with technology and Zoom meetings and Teams meetings, I can meet with any of my suppliers virtually anytime I want. This is my favorite one to use. We're all on virtual meetings all the time. Yeah, across the industry around the world. How many times do you casually and look, I didn't bring my phone in for the specific reason of I don't want to get distracted. I said that before, right, so I didn't have my phone to get distracted. But think about it when you're on one of those calls, you get a message, whatever you know you're, you're on two monitors and you look at your email over here while you're on the call over here. That doesn't happen in person. So people that say I'm going to start watching 10 more of these meetings man?

Mark Bogdansky: 26:11

Clearly he's not paying attention to these meetings we have.

Ted Hughes: 26:14

When people say, as long as the backdrop doesn't fall, that looks like I'm in an office, but you know as much as people say that they're as effective when you're in person, you're not looking at your phone. I mean, that's a person carries a respect level where you are dialed in and you are paying attention.

Mark Bogdansky: 26:31

There's also conversations that just happen because you're in person.

Jacki Lutz: 26:34

And that relationship building, yeah, I mean the relationship building is a gimme.

Mark Bogdansky: 26:37

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a whole lot easier to build trust having a conversation with someone in a room. I mean, look, we were recording this and you said I'd love to do a while we're all together instead of having to record this virtually. But it's just a better conversation, whether it's something like this or a business conversation. It's a better conversation when you're actually sitting face to face and when you're trying not to, and you guys are actually kind of nicer.

Jacki Lutz: 26:56

Virtually I probably did this wrong.

Ted Hughes: 27:00

You weren't saying that before we started.

Jacki Lutz: 27:03

But you know, something we were going to talk about is some advice for these things and, ted, you kind of touched on one of them. That's really important and if anyone has attended AWDA and didn't feel like they got a lot out of it, honestly, on either side we mentioned prep.

Ted Hughes: 27:18

Yeah.

Jacki Lutz: 27:18

And how important that is to like. Truly take advantage of, you know, the APEC side of the show, but also AWDA. Take advantage of, you know, the APEC side of the show, but also AWDA. So is there any advice on just prepping, like what both either the exhibitor needs to do or the attendee needs to do, to really make sure that they make the most of this investment that they're making?

Mark Bogdansky: 28:01

I think from an attendee side. I'll let Ted speak to the exhibitor side. But from the attendee side, if you are waiting till you get on the plane to come to APEC to start prepping for it, you're already behind the April. It's a big show, you know, and it sounds like it's a lot. It's three days, it's not, and you have to figure out. You know I'm going for what your priorities are. So my priority is a fuel pump first, brake pad second, filters, third, whatever right, and figure out, okay, who do I want to see? I got to make sure I can see them.

Mark Bogdansky: 28:33

If you get an opportunity, reach out to the companies you want to meet and say, hey, do you have time to meet? I guarantee you any exhibitor is going to meet when you want to meet. If you're a buyer, right. If a buyer calls up an exhibitor, you guys are both exhibitors. If a buyer called you up and said, hey, can you meet Tuesday at 10 o'clock or Wednesday at one o'clock, you're going to absolutely Yep, absolutely Prep. So that way you know, and they know then that you're interested. But figure out who you know. Take a look at the list. Who's going to be there, prep, not only who you want to see if you can schedule meetings, that's great. The other thing is don't schedule out every single waking moment of the day.

Mark Bogdansky: 29:06

There are things that are going to happen during the day that you just want to be able to check out. New this year we have a band in our lobby. Right, it's going to be a live band playing the whole time. There's going to be times where people can go and sit in with the band. If you play an instrument, you can sing. If you want to do karaoke you know fun things Leave time for a few other fun things.

Mark Bogdansky: 29:25

Leave time to walk the floor. You know you want to be able to go hit the companies that you know you want to hit, but you got to be able to walk the floor and see what else is out there. Also, leave time because you know there's going to be conversations. Right, I'm going to run into Jackie. I haven't seen Jackie in six months a year. Whatever, I want to have a conversation. If I've scheduled every single minute, it's not going to work. But prep before you go in there to know who you want to do. These are the ones I don't Because, again, if you get to the airplane, if you get on the airplane and you're like, all right, I'm going to download the app right before I get on the plane, I'm going to start. It's just you're not going to. You're going to run out of time quickly.

Jacki Lutz: 30:00

I could have used that scheduling advice last year I felt like I was running. Well, you know, we figure out if I should stick around. We'll help her out.

Ted Hughes: 30:18

What you did. Any advice that comes to mind? Yeah, I think I think Mark hit on it with with preparation. But preparation from an exhibitor side can be a little bit different. Wda and and you know, distributors want to walk in and sit down for 40 minutes with a supplier of theirs. That's on the ball, even if the even if the performance level isn't. That's the reason for the meeting. We're going to talk about performance level or we're going to talk about marketing programs, we're going to talk about discounts and rebates and any of that stuff and rebates and any of that stuff. But if the factory, the manufacturer, isn't prepared and doesn't have copies of the numbers there, then the meeting is not going to be productive. So the preparation for 21 AWDA meetings is a little bit different than trade show booth preparation. So typically it's done by the sales team account managers. The companies that are on top of it are reaching out two months ahead of time making sure that the individual account managers that may or may not be attending the show, but they call day-to-day on the distributor, they're getting the full issues list and they're able to tackle those in advance. So it's a more productive meeting. So that's the AWDA side. Advanced preparation is quintessential to success.

Ted Hughes: 31:39

I think on the exhibitor side, on the Apex show floor again, you know we talked about some people or some companies do a prep meeting, a booth worker meeting on Monday night before the show starts in the booth to go over talking points.

Ted Hughes: 31:57

Others do a meeting two, three, even a month out ahead of time to make sure everybody has all of the talking points.

Ted Hughes: 32:05

So when you're in the booth, regardless of the size of the booth, whether you have one, two or 50 people working in the booth, everybody's operating out of the same playbook and when that's the case it makes for a better show. The other thing is companies have to do a good job implementing rules, so to speak. That you know there is a structure to the workers Again, and whether it's one, that that you know there there is a structure to the workers again, and whether it's one, two, 30, 50, knowing that everybody isn't going to lunch at the same time. You know there there's always people in the booth and the most common one that happens especially later in the day is employees or booth workers talking to booth workers. You know that's, that's very it's, it's human nature, it's natural they just kind of gravitate to one another and start talking about customers in the industry, and then it moves to family and kids and, before you know it, this conversation with four or five people that are standing in the middle of the booth has essentially blocked.

Jacki Lutz: 33:08

Yeah, right.

Mark Bogdansky: 33:10

It also makes it very uninviting. It also makes it very uninviting. Yeah, there is an etiquette that needs to be taught, oh there is I've had conversations with exhibitors where exhibitors will come to me and say we're not getting anybody in our booth. I don't know what's going on. All right, let's go take a look. Well, the booth next to them is busy. Everybody in the booth has what's going on between what's the difference between your booth and the?

Mark Bogdansky: 33:32

next one. What do you see? What do they do? There's a guy on his laptop in the back. Are they on their phones? Are they talking to each other? No, they're out there, they're engaging, they're trying to talk to people. Everybody in your staff, they're all looking down at their phone. They're all sitting, they're all doing work. They're all talking to each other. You have to, like Ted said, you got to tell everybody, there's got to, how to work in a booth. The prep goes the same way the schedule meeting. If you can't reach out to your current customers, reach out to potential customers. Hey, come meet me. Even if you don't have an exact time, I'll be in the booth, come find me. You know, everybody's always saying honestly, everybody always says to the show what are you doing to bring people in? No-transcript, but I can't force everybody to your booth. I'm getting people to Vegas, I'm getting people to Apex. So they're there, they're interested, they want to know more about your product, more about your booth.

Ted Hughes: 34:27

But you've got, and that's the next thing too is to raise the attention, to raise the awareness of your booth we talked about at Malawi. We were big on race car drivers, not just Richard Petty. Over the years we had John Forrest, kenny Schrader, vaughn Gittin Jr, casey Curry A lot of stars on four, two and four wheels bring people in when you're in the automotive world. And so having that attention grab was last year I think it was Miley did the license plates the European, the German license plates that they would do custom for you. They had a line in their booth. And so great the lines at the booth. Are they just getting the giveaway or do you have a staff member there to walk them through the booth? Okay, you got this, you know.

Mark Bogdansky: 35:15

Let's talk about and don't put the giveaway right at the very front corner of your booth.

Mark Bogdansky: 35:24

If you're going to do a great giveaway, put it in the back of the booth where they got to walk through your booth to get to it Because, again, you never know what somebody is going to see and if they don't need it now, they might need it in six months, they might need it a year, they might need it in three years, but they're going to go. Hey, I saw I was going to pick up a you know a license plate and I saw some two years ago. Let me go find that company.

Jacki Lutz: 35:36

Make the brand impression.

Mark Bogdansky: 35:37

Absolutely.

Ted Hughes: 35:38

And the details, the details matter. This will be the last, the last thing for me. On the, on the advanced preparation, how to make it successful, as details matter. If you're going to be part of the happy hour, have a koozie with either your product or your brand on it, or something that is the extra mile, Because every reception the bartender wraps a napkin around the drink. Well, that's a branding opportunity, and so those little details and understanding how the minutiae works is where you really make a difference and make memories.

Mark Bogdansky: 36:10

And that's where you don't have to be a big company to do a lot of this stuff. You know okay I don't know how much it costs to do branded you know license plates that might have cost a little bit of money. But there are very simple things that smaller companies can do also.

Mark Bogdansky: 36:21

You know it really is figuring out what you can do within your price point, within your reach and everything. The other part it's not prep, it's the other side of it is the absolute need for follow-up. So there is a ridiculous statistic out there that in trade shows not Apex, but in trade shows 89% of leads are never followed up upon. Well, the exhibitors. If you say to an exhibitor, what am I doing there, the number one thing they're going to say it's either going to be you know, meet my current customers or try to meet new customers. Well, if 89% of the potentially new customers are not being followed up on, then you're not doing your job either. And I can't tell you as I'm walking through the show at the end of the day, apex is still very heavy business cards.

Mark Bogdansky: 37:02

We have the scanner and you can scan a badge and get that information, which I always think is great, because if you scan them, you can have an email go out to them every night, the night that you met them, right? If it's Tuesday night, you have a simple email go, hey, great to meet you, we'll follow up next week. Or you put in some notes and you follow up the following week. But even if it's a business card, I cannot tell you how many business cards are left on the show floor when we're walking around and we just see booths getting rolled up with tens of thousands of Right, honestly, and it's every trade show. And I do not understand why. If you're going to invest the money to be there and again, I don't care if you're in a 10 by 10 or a hundred by a hundred if you're going to invest the money as a company to be there, why aren't you making sure that you're following up with the people who actually want to do business with you and so, when their order is going to be Just a simple note hey, saw Jackie interested in fuel pumps. Follow up next week. If it's a business card, same thing. Take the business card, write on the business card. Met you know, interested in fuel pumps or whatever it is. If you don't do that, even if you know people run out of business, cars, whatever take a small little notepad. You can get them now in stables for 50 cents and you just keep it in your pocket. Jackie walks away. Met Jackie crazy lady, but she wants fuel box and just things that'll help you remember so you can follow up with them later on.

Mark Bogdansky: 38:24

But again you have to. Again we can only do so much as a show. We're going to bring these people, we're going to get them. These buyers want to talk to you. If they're coming to your booth it's not just to get a chashka. They're coming to your booth because they want to get to know who you are as a company, whether it's something they're going to buy right now or something they're going to buy in three years. It's a long process, right? This is not an immediate. Well, I don't want to use Mala, because they always follow it up. But if I go, if I, if I, if I'm a buyer and I go to a booth and I have a really good conversation with the sales guy and I say great, you know what, follow up with me next week and you know we'll talk, and then I never hear from him again. Well, I'm not going to reach back out.

Mark Bogdansky: 39:06

You know the buyer you're supposed to be kind of trying to sell me, right.

Jacki Lutz: 39:10

It tells you everything you need to know about doing business with that company.

Mark Bogdansky: 39:16

Exactly. And if they're not going to follow up with me, great. So then when I actually want to go buy it, I'll just take them off the list and I'll go to a competitor who's going to follow up with me. And if you're not following up your competitor well and well usually, but again it is absolutely crucial, I don't care how big a booth you are have some kind of plan in place to follow up with the leads within a week. So this way they know you're important. You met them last week. Again, it can be an automated email the night after the show. It can be something the Friday when the show's over. It can be something Monday when you get back, because it was a long week. Whatever it is, start the conversation, keep the conversation going. You know there's a lot of really good business that can be had. People are just not doing it for some reason yeah, and I would.

Jacki Lutz: 39:53

I would just add, like some sales advice is don't feel like you talk to. You know, there's all kinds of people walking that show big, big guys and little guys right, the little guys are important too, um, and that all adds up to a lot of sales and guys are going to be big the way exactly the way that things are being acquired and stuff. Like you never know what could happen from those relationships and that follow up.

Mark Bogdansky: 40:14

So I had a conversation with somebody who is now pretty high up in a company and I said do you work with this company? And he said no. And I said why not? I said they said because when I got started they wouldn't give me the time of day no-transcript.

Jacki Lutz: 40:57

Impression is that that whole company and then he starts talking.

Mark Bogdansky: 41:00

You know, and they everybody talks, especially in this industry, right, yeah? Exactly right you do business with company a no, why not? You know they have better pricing because you know, and they tell them what happened. Well, you know, you don't know who's going to hear, you don't know where this person is going to go the next company or whatever and you know, follow up and be a polite person. I think yeah. You know it's a common courtesy.

Ted Hughes: 41:21

And if you're a global company, have a translator.

Mark Bogdansky: 41:24

Well.

Mark Bogdansky: 41:24

So that's a great point.

Mark Bogdansky: 41:25

Also and that goes back to the prep you know, one of the things that we've heard the last couple of years is you know, it's a very heavily international show and one of the things we heard is you know, I really wish that we, as exhibitors could know what languages or who, what company, what countries people are coming, because we would always say we're having the following countries, but they say what languages do you think people are going to be coming from, or what language, so that we can have people in the booth that can speak to that language.

Mark Bogdansky: 41:50

So new this year, we added a question on our registration what is your preferred language? So this way, we can say on our website and as we're getting more information, we're putting it up on the website hey, we're expecting to have buyers who speak in a language ABC, whatever. Again, not every company is going to be able to have a translator for everything, but if you're a company that does a lot of business internationally and you're wondering who's going to be there and they say, okay, you know what, it might not be such a bad idea to have somebody who speaks. You know this language. I'm talking about like-.

Jacki Lutz: 42:19

Get your sell sheet in a couple of different languages.

Mark Bogdansky: 42:21

Exactly, at least Exactly, or at least have a business card there for somebody who can you know, like okay, you know what? We don't have anybody here who speaks Russian, but you know John does and here's John's card and he is expecting your call.

Jacki Lutz: 42:35

There you go.

Mark Bogdansky: 42:35

Yeah. And then you tell John hey, reach out to this person, john's back in the office, reach out to him today, you know, because he wants. So I think that's also crucial.

Jacki Lutz: 42:44

Yeah, and before we wrap up here, let's talk a little bit about some of the you know after show, I guess activities, some of the networking available, community events. There's educational events, anything specific that we want to make sure.

Mark Bogdansky: 43:02

Yeah, I mean I would say I'll let Ted talk to it, but we have all of our auto care communities, you know, are meeting in some way shape or form during the course of the week. You know we have a great booth on the show floor where we have all of our communities and we have. It's really the central place for everything from auto care. We have our government affairs folks talking about the latest stuff on the Hill, we have our standards and our technology stuff there. We have all of our communities there. It's really a central place for everybody to come hang out and learn more about auto care. We have our member center where you can go and if you need to make meeting space again, you can reserve those meetings. Talking about prep, you can reserve those meetings Usually about two months before the show we open it up. We have seven or eight rooms there, different sizes. So if you know you need a meeting for two people or a meeting for six people you're an auto care member come use our member center.

Jacki Lutz: 43:47

There's coffee there.

Mark Bogdansky: 43:48

There's coffee there, tip. Yes, it's part of the liquid diet that Jackie's on. There's as much coffee as possible, but then there's a lot of the community stuff going on also.

Ted Hughes: 43:56

Yeah, yeah, I mean some of the communities have mainstays to the show week, like the import vehicle community and the fabulous networking reception. Which show week, like the import vehicle community and the fabulous networking reception, which really is fabulous. It really is fabulous and every year I walk in and think, my gosh, this is a large community, so many people here, but it's one of the most popular of the receptions. So there's still consistency. Women in Auto Care Wednesday.

Mark Bogdansky: 44:29

They're changing up their schedule a little bit. They are they're doing the awards at the breakfast this year, which is going to be an exciting change.

Mark Bogdansky: 44:34

Yeah, okay, yeah and once again Breakfast has really grown, but again it's also a matter of they're saying okay, you know what we were doing the awards during the day. And again, it's a whole lot of people who don't want to have to be off the floor. Whether you're an exhibitor or buyer, you don't want to be off the floor. So can we do this during breakfast so we can get to the reception at night?

Ted Hughes: 44:54

Yeah, no, and as good and well-located as the Apex stage is, you know, there's so many people that want to see those awards and they're so popular that to get close enough it was was getting to be a challenge. But you're right, jackie, the breakfast is grown every year and no matter how big the venue is or the room is, it sells out. So make sure if you want to attend, you get those tickets early, because it it has sold out.

Jacki Lutz: 45:20

I think each of the last that was a shock to people this past year or two because it used just be a small like get-together at a restaurant, right, and then it keeps morphing.

Ted Hughes: 45:31

And then the awards, as Mark mentioned, move from the afternoon that led into the reception. The reception is still there. Okay. Still same time, I think, same place. So they'll have the breakfast in the morning, have the awards at the breakfast, which is going to be awesome for them, and then the women in auto care reception after the show ends, and and then you know you can count on a Yang event.

Ted Hughes: 45:53

Oh yeah, working on some, some details for that. Even on the AWDA side there's there's going to be a big announcement coming soon, something to kick off AWDA that we haven't done before. So that's kind of you know, when you look at, you go to Apex for products, you go to Apex for processes, but you also go to Apex for people and, whether it's AWDA conference or the Apex show, taking advantage of meeting opportunities. Mark you mentioned, you know, just walking to your booth, if you're working in a booth, you'll see so many people and it'll take a 10 minute walk to an hour long walk. So those are things that you have to allow for, but you have to take advantage of them as well.

Ted Hughes: 46:35

I mean every year throughout October for 23,. What will be 23 Apexes now I think, oh, apex is coming, apex is coming, apex is coming, apex is coming. I'm cheering, but the funny thing is, wait, I'm so surprised. But the funny thing is is when I get off the plane at Harry Reid International, what was McCarran Airport and the first person I see even at the airport. It's such a shot of energy. And that whole few weeks I spent thinking about Vegas for a full week and, oh boy, the grind and all of that. It is a grind. And the week or so after the recuperation and the recovery is another story. The industry will kind of quiet that next week, for being a part of an industry that's over half a trillion dollars and represents over 5 million people annually, and over the years you start to know them all. You make a lot of friends. I mean we were friends long before we worked together and that's through experiences like that. And so throughout the week it is not you don't feel the grind.

Jacki Lutz: 48:03

Right, you have some adrenaline pumping.

Mark Bogdansky: 48:05

It's also. It's this is a very, very uh. It's an industry that loves to hang out and chat and meet new people. You know, it's not just about the trade show. There's stuff that goes on off the floor, you know, joking on the circle bar before there's a cigar bar at the Plaza. Every bar that you go to around there's going to be people there from the show and they're very inviting Everybody. You know, have a conversation, you know. Hey, jackie, do you know Ted? You know, come on, grab it. You know, and it's just a great opportunity.

Mark Bogdansky: 48:35

One of the best things about Apex is it really is the best place that everybody gets together every year and you get to see people. You might not have seen them in a year, but you get to catch up and and it's a very inviting, very friendly, believe it or not, very friendly community. The other thing I would add along the same thing is the keynote breakfast. So I mentioned before, you know, president Bush, we've had Magic. This year we're having Wayne Gretzky and he's going to talk about, yeah, a great one, A great one. You know there are a lot of people who are very excited about this, right. That's very cool.

Mark Bogdansky: 49:04

And it's going to be a little bit different than magic. It's not so much the audience interaction and Q&A, but he's going to talk a lot about what it takes to become a Hall of Famer. You know, not everybody can be gifted with the talent that he had, but he also worked incredibly hard and he's going to be talking about what it takes to become a Hall of Famer within your industry. And we're actually going to be doing some stuff where, on social media, you can ask him questions that we're going to record ahead of time. So look out for that. So if you have a question for Gretzky it doesn't have to be business related Any question you want, take a look at that. You'll be able to ask him a question.

Jacki Lutz: 49:34

And I'm just assuming you also put in the contract to be on the podcast. So that's going to be really exciting for us.

Ted Hughes: 49:41

Is there an edit function that we can delete this question out?

Mark Bogdansky: 49:46

All of a sudden, my mic stopped working.

Jacki Lutz: 49:47

I don't know what happened.

Mark Bogdansky: 49:48

I'm very excited to meet you, wayne, so it's very exciting.

Jacki Lutz: 49:52

Yeah, that's great.

Mark Bogdansky: 49:53

But again, and so you know, like you were saying, just having conversations, right, it's a conversation Tuesday morning for breakfast. So if you're at AWDA, it's a wrap-up. If you are just getting there, it's a great way to kick off the week and meet people, you know. And if you have a table, great. If you need a table or you know you need a ticket, there are always people who have tickets, you know, there are people who have seats and it's just another great way. It's 1,500, 1,600 people in the room. You get a chance to everybody. The first hour is literally everybody waving to to go around the room and just get your one takeaway.

Jacki Lutz: 50:28

But one more tip that we kind of touched on in our pre-meeting is kind of around the lines of just taking care of yourself that week. Don't try the liquid diet.

Mark Bogdansky: 50:37

Wear different shoes, try to eat something.

Jacki Lutz: 50:38

Wear different shoes. Every day was your good one.

Mark Bogdansky: 50:40

Do not wear one pair of shoes all week. They don't have to be every day different pair or whatever, but there's some physical. It's actually been scientifically proven and I don't know anything about it. But if you change shoes every day, even if you just alternate, it's supposed to help with by the end of the week you're not crippled.

Mark Bogdansky: 50:58

And it's a desert, so hydrate use those water stations, use the water, please. We have them there. We have them there for a reason. Use the water. It gets dry quickly. You don't realize that. It's another thing you don't realize it until you're in the worst.

Ted Hughes: 51:09

It's too late.

Mark Bogdansky: 51:10

Exactly, and you wake up in the middle of the night and your whole body feels like a raising. You're like what's going on? You got to make sure you're drinking a lot of water.

Ted Hughes: 51:21

Yep, get some sleep, but get the humidifier. Yeah, humidifier in the room makes a huge difference. Every hotel has them, and even if they happen to have given them out for the night or sold them for the night or whatever, if I'm not mistaken, I think Walgreens or a store, there's a place on the strip that sells them, probably even cheaper than the hotel runs it for.

Mark Bogdansky: 51:43

I don't think Jackie knew about that, because you said humidifier. She was like oh, I got to do that. I was like we're here to help you. We're here to help you also.

Ted Hughes: 51:50

Unfortunately, we just told all of the many listeners.

Mark Bogdansky: 51:53

You're too, Jackie, I told you you're too.

Ted Hughes: 52:08

We're all going to help you out. Now. We had to make sure you could handle it on your own, and now you know you can go get that check from Walgreens now. So, yeah, and and those are. Those are absolutely valid. You know, hand sanitizer, all of the all of the things is. It is a grind, but it's a.

Mark Bogdansky: 52:16

It's a hell of a lot of fun, and I think that really sums it up. Well, it is a. It's a rough week, whether you're doing AWDA and then Apex or just Apex, or whatever it is. It's a rough week, but it's a fun week.

Jacki Lutz: 52:27

Yeah.

Mark Bogdansky: 52:27

You know, everybody this industry really defines play hard, work hard and it's a great week from a business standpoint, it's a great week from a hanging out and having a fun standpoint, and everybody's just you know, enjoying themselves.

Ted Hughes: 52:39

Yeah, Yep, Yep, and, and you know, whenever you're listening to this right now, and whenever you're listening to this right now, rest assured that the AWDA conference will be here before you know it. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the excitement for the AWDA general session every year Sunday night after the first day of meetings. It's one of the most well-attended events of the week and it's getting more popular every year.

Jacki Lutz: 53:09

Because, Ted headlines it.

Ted Hughes: 53:13

The prince of the aftermath. I think it's because Ted's committed to keeping it to 45 minutes. But in that 45 minutes we have four prestigious AWD awards, some of the biggest ones in the industry, and having that signature event, so to speak, to kick off, really kick off. The week is, uh is one of the best nights of the year for me.

Jacki Lutz: 53:32

Well, let's uh take it around the room real quick. So people probably took away. They took. Take away one thing from this conversation. What does everybody hope? That that is Um most important thing for everyone.

Mark Bogdansky: 53:41

But honestly, if you're an exhibitor, make sure you're following up. Make sure you follow up, and I cannot stress that enough. You know the exhibitors are always looking for ROI and value and everything else. Number one thing help yourself and make sure you're following up.

Ted Hughes: 53:54

Yep, for me it'd be keeping open mind. I mean, you know every it's. It's common for people to say, oh, apex is the same every year. Well, this year you described a huge change to the, to the, the framework of Apex. And you know, in a world as you talked about at the, at the front with collaboration, you know, having the ability to come together and work together only happens if you have an open mind. There's so many consolidations, there is so much technology that rolls through that, when you think about it, uh, it's nowhere near the same show that it was even five years ago, let alone 10 or 20 years ago. And and if you say that it is the same, then that means you're lacking the open mind. And so something that you think makes no difference at all, uh, is what your competitors are doing. And, and the next thing you know, you're spending the next one, three, five years looking up at them because they had the open mind.

Jacki Lutz: 54:53

And I think mine is just for anyone who goes, whether you're on the exhibitor side or the you know just more attendee side. Take advantage of it and make sure your employer knows what you got out of that. If you want to be able to go again, take advantage of it. Use these networking events. Get up early, go to the breakfast, meet the people, make sure you kind of summarize that up for your manager too and just say this is what I learned.

Jacki Lutz: 55:16

This is everyone I met, such a good experience. Thank them for sending you. Maybe they'll send you again.

Mark Bogdansky: 55:22

Yeah, I think that's a great point also.

Jacki Lutz: 55:23

Yeah, well, thanks guys, this was a good one.

Ted Hughes: 55:26

See, Jackie, you got through this.

Jacki Lutz: 55:27

This was so bad yeah you guys were, you got through this. You guys, your picking on me was minimal, it was more in the pre.

Mark Bogdansky: 55:33

Once you heard the camera, you know we kind of had to, you know, be a little more professional.

Ted Hughes: 55:39

But thank you Jackie, thank you Jackie.

Jacki Lutz: 55:42

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Auto Care On Air. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode, and don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It helps others discover our show. Auto Care On Air is proud to be a production of the Auto Care Association, dedicated to advancing the auto care industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit AutoCareorg.