Drawing the highest attendance in the history of its mid-year conferences, the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) 2005 Summer Roundtable featured discussion sessions, panel presentations, and a tour of Manheim’s high-tech DRIVE Center. The conference was held in Atlanta, July 27-29.
More than 129 attendees participated in roundtable sessions on vehicle values, moderated by Ricky Beggs of Black Book, and technology and selling best practices, moderated by Chuck Parker of Automotive Digest and Scott Kolb from The SKI Group.
A panel on benchmarking in the remarketing industry was led by Steve Houston, WFS Financial and IARA president, and included panelists Stuart Angert, RSA; Bob Graham, ARI; Steve Greenfield, Manheim; Tom Kontos, ADESA; and Carl Scandura, Toyota/Lexus Financial Services.
A popular dealer’s panel was repeated at this conference, featuring Layne Weber, Donlen, moderator; and three Atlanta-area vehicle dealers. Tony Moorby, an influential innovator in wholesale auction market and currently a partner in Flying Lion Dealer Services in Nashville, was the event’s luncheon speaker.
The organization honored board member Scott Kolb with a Remarketing Industry Recognition Award, for not only his contributions to the industry, but also his community activities in fundraising for children’s causes. Attendees were also asked to complete a survey of interest in a proposed IARA remarketers certification program.
