On Tuesday, February 11, the Women’s Industry Network (WIN®) hosted its first webinar of 2020, featuring Richard Flint who discussed “Having the Greatest Year of Your Life.” Flint focused on the three D’s: Desire, Determination and Discipline, which “build the foundation to having your greatest year ever!” Flint said. Flint began the webinar by talking about how much he enjoyed presenting at the 2019 WIN Educational Conference and how he’d been looking forward to the webinar. “During this year, your life is going to go in four different directions, and one will determine how your year goes.” The four possible directions are growth, maintenance, retreat and self-destruction. Regarding growth, Flint…

On March 10th, the Auto Body Association of Connecticut (ABAC) held a membership meeting at the Seasons Restaurant in East Haven, CT with nearly 100 attendees. The meeting commenced with ABAC President Bob Amendola expressing gratitude to sponsors and welcoming new association members. “Please consider them when making your decisions to purchase anything that they offer. Remember to support those who support you,” he said. Attorney John Parese provided a legislative update regarding a recent Rhode Island law entitling consumers to OEM parts during the first four years of the vehicle’s life. Parese explained, “The ABAC sought to do something similar. Unlike Rhode Island’s law, which seemed to give insurers…

On March 25, the Auto Care Association (ACA) hosted a virtual town hall entitled “COVID-19 and the Auto Care Industry as an ‘Essential Service’” to address the daily disruptions to operations that the automotive and collision industries are experiencing as a result of the ongoing pandemic and the resulting government regulations. Auto Care’s Stacey Miller summarized the intention of the webinar and introduced Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association. Hanvey welcomed attendees to “our new reality, or virtual reality as it were,” noting that he’s been encouraged by the amount of collaboration within the automotive, collision and auto care industries over the past couple weeks as…

by Chasidy Rae Sisk CIECA’s June 30th CIECAstfeaturedErick Bickett, the founder of CIECA and the past CEO and co-founder of ACAB Automotive Group and FixAuto USA,who presented”Back to the Future of Collision Repair & How CIECA Brings All Industry Segments Together.” Paul Barry, executive director of CIECA, kicked off the webinar by welcoming attendees and introducing Bickett. “Today, we’re going to talk about the technological advancements that have powered much of the change over past years,” Bickett began. “I believe you can look back to predict the future; wisdom comes from experience.” Traveling back to 1991, Bickett recounted the early days of DRPs, when shops were required to subscribe to…

On March 19, long-time collision repair industry professional Frank Terlep presented an introductory webinar to the TestDrive CoPilot™ Platform, entitled “Test Drives Done Right! A New and Better Way to Perform, Manage, Document and Get Paid for Test Drives.” In addition to demonstrating how the platform operates, Terlep’s goal during the webinar was to introduce attendees “to the best way to perform, manage, document and get reimbursed for test drives.” After sharing his experiences and successes in the collision repair industry, beginning in the 1980s, Terlep explained why the Test Drive CoPilot Platform presents a realistic return on investment. “Test drives are becoming more complicated due to advanced technology in…

The March CIECAst webinar, presented on Tuesday, March 17, featured Michael Ortega, senior director of Application Development at Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. (IAA). Ortega discussed effective collaboration using the right technical tools, including Swagger, OpenAPI. CIECA Executive Director Ed Weidmann welcomed attendees and introduced Ortega who presented “The Key to Collaboration: Combining Technology and Communication.” During the webinar, Ortega strove to help information technology leaders better understand the Swagger, OpenAPI interfaces, including when to use this technology and how to align company teams. IAA “really sees technology as an enabler,” according to Ortega. “We drive to innovate to enhance efficiency in what we do every day and deliver value to…

On March 11, the Women’s Industry Network (WIN®) held a regional event in Fairlawn, OH, offering an informative presentation in collaboration with BodyShop Business, who hosted the event at Babcox Media’s headquarters and presented results from its recent nationwide study of tomorrow’s technicians. This was the first WIN event to ever be streamed live on Facebook as panelists explored why techs choose a collision repair career, what their priorities are when thinking of a career, and why women are becoming a significant presence in the industry. WIN Chair Cheryl Boswell kicked things off by welcoming attendees and thanking the event hosts. She introduced attendees to WIN as an organization, sharing…