ARMO - Spring Is Back!

SEMA Member News - March/April 2010

Time for Elections, Shows and the New Products Showcase

By Jim Barber

	It’s time for the ARMO annual elections, and members should have received their ballots. There are six seats up for election this year—five currently held by incumbents, and one open. Be sure to vote; make your voice heard.

For most members of the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), business slows somewhat at the end of the year, allowing us time to catch up on various projects and plan for the upcoming New Year. This same concept is true for the ARMO Select Committee. Having just completed our Long-Range Planning meeting in January, we now look forward to carrying out the various tasks scheduled for 2010.

Up first is the annual Hotrod & Restoration Show to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 11–13, 2010. Our sister council, the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA), presents the educational forum held all day on Thursday. HRIA primarily focuses on product training, while ARMO continues its focus on business training during the Saturday morning sessions.

From 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m. on Saturday this year, ARMO will present a panel on social marketing, featuring Gigi Ho from Digital Performance and Tom Myroniak, SEMA vice president for marketing and market research. The panel will guide attendees through topics, such as how to explore social marketing for your company and understanding the costs and benefits. Beginning at 9:15 a.m., ARMO will present “The Art of the Deal: Customer Creation Starts From Within,” by Dick Dixon from Indiana University. Dixon will discuss topics, such as “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,” as they relate to sales and your business, and he will also look at “Understanding Generational Marketing and Sales.”

	ARMO will present a panel on social marketing at the annual Hotrod & Restoration Show to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 11–13, 2010. Gigi Ho (shown) from Digital Performance and Tom Myroniak, SEMA vice president for marketing and market research, will guide attendees through topics such as how to explore social marketing and understanding the costs and benefits.

Spring also means that it’s time for the ARMO annual elections. By the time this article is published, members should have received or will be receiving their ballots. We have six seats up for election this year. Five are currently held by incumbents, and one is open. The open seat is the result of Jeff Broadus from Car Collector completing three two-year terms and therefore retiring from the Select Committee.

Broadus served well and actively participated during his tenure. Please join me in thanking him for his service to our industry.

As in years past, we have a great list of nominees for the Select Committee elections. However, it is not too late to nominate someone new. Please watch for the ballot form in your mail, or contact the SEMA office directly for information about how to cast your vote.

I want to personally thank those of you who participated in the process and, as always, I encourage you to take the time to vote. Your voice really does count.

One last item is to remind you to participate in the annual ARMO New Products Showcase, which will be held at the Spring Carlisle Collector Car Swap Meet & Corral in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on April 21–25, 2010. The format was changed last year from judging members’ products to a focus on promotion. In addition to being on display at the Carlisle event, information about the member’s new product was permitted in the display, and photographs were taken for display on the ARMO website. The photos were then digitally shown in the ARMO booth at the 2009 SEMA Show.

The 2009 ARMO New Products Showcase set another record, with 64 new products being introduced by ARMO members. It’s just one more way in which the Select Committee is attempting to promote ARMO members.