WARRENVILLE, IL - More than 1,600 International and IC Bus dealer parts employees attended the new online "Power Up" Navistar Parts Virtual Conference and Sales Expo in June, according to the manufacturer. 

"In the current environment, incurring costs that would have been typical for previous year's annual sales conferences, didn't fit the lean, responsible model for business that we were striving toward," said Kathy Seegebrecht, vice president, marketing and brand for Navistar Parts. "Online participation was three times greater than last year's in-person attendance, at one-fifth of the cost."

Navistar Parts' conference sales exceeded 2008 sales by almost 30 percent, according to the company. Power Up, Expo 2009, allowed more dealers to participate in online education sessions and interact with suppliers in the virtual trade show environment, where participants could finalize their deals via chat rooms, fill virtual bags with product literature, and network with colleagues in real time.

"Normally, I would send maybe three or four staff people to the annual conference," said Malcolm Pierson, director of parts operations for Westrux, an International truck dealer in California. "This year, we had 21 people from our operation take advantage of online education through Power Up."

Available 24/7, Power Up allowed dealers to focus on their customers during the day and participate in training on their own schedule. More than 237,000 product information documents were downloaded in a single week, and 36,000 educational and speaker videos were viewed. The online platform availability has been extended through August, allowing participants the ability to continue to review materials or train new employees.