PRO Gears Up for the SEMA Show

SEMA Member News—November/December 2013

PRO Gears Up for the SEMA Show

By Ellen McKoy

	PRO select committee members will be on hand at the PRO booth throughout the week to meet and greet current members and sign up new members. If you’d like to learn more about PRO, want to encourage friends to join and would like to meet council leadership, be sure to stop by.

	Network with industry icons, leaders and friends at the PRO Night Club Reception in the Oasis Lounge at the Las Vegas Hotel.

Quick question: What happens in Vegas that doesn’t stay in Vegas? If you said the SEMA Show, you’re right on the money. With all the new innovations, ideas and opportunities they spawn and the connections made and friendships renewed, the afterglow of the Show lingers long after everyone heads home.

As your thoughts turn to the 2013 SEMA Show, grab your smartphone and mark your calendar for activities that will be of particular interest to members of SEMA’s Professional Restylers Organization (PRO).

To kick off the week in gala fashion, PRO will host its 19th annual industry awards reception Tuesday, November 5. Billed as the social event of the season for the restyling community, the PRO Night Club reception will be held at the Oasis Lounge in the Las Vegas Hotel from 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. All PRO members, their employees and guests who are interested in joining the council are invited.

The reception is first and foremost an unparalleled networking opportunity—the ideal place to rub shoulders with colleagues and friends. Toss in hors d’oeuvres and libations to slake your appetite and thirst and an award ceremony saluting industry leaders, and it’s sure to be a night to remember. Join PRO as members toast the restyler of the year, manufacturer of the year and honorees for the Nat Danas Person of the Year and Jim Borré Lifetime Achievement awards.

Another recurring PRO activity is the council booth. A fixture on the Show floor since the early ’90s, the PRO exhibit—located in the North Hall, booth #12561—is a popular gathering spot for members. This year’s exhibit will include a looping PowerPoint promoting the benefits of council membership and a Toyota Tundra project vehicle dressed with accessories furnished by PRO-member manufacturers. PRO select committee members will be on hand throughout the week to meet and greet current members and sign up new members. If you’d like to learn more about PRO, want to encourage friends to join and would like to meet council leadership, be sure to stop by.

Education has always been high on PRO’s agenda, and PRO and the National Independent Auto Dealers Association will sponsor four seminars this year aimed at educating and informing auto dealers about the benefits of vehicle accessorization. The sessions include:

“Creating the Best Possible Sales Team”
“The New-Car Dealer’s Opportunity in Automotive Accessories”

With two panel discussions:

“Maximizing Dealership Profitability With Accessories”
“Used-Vehicle Accessorizing: the New Profit Center.”

Check the Show schedule for dates and times. Plan on attending, and invite your dealer clients who are attending the Show.

Also on tap: the PRO General Membership Meeting on Thursday, November 7. The early-bird gathering will run from 7:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center, room N232. The meeting is open to employees of PRO-member companies as well as nonmembers interested in learning more about the council.

“The meeting will give members an opportunity to learn more about the projects PRO has on tap as well as how participation in PRO can benefit their companies,” said PRO Chair Jeff Fink. “If you’re planning to be in Las Vegas, we urge you to put the meeting on your agenda and to invite your colleagues to join us.”

For more information, contact Gina Ledesma at 909-978-6692 or ginal@sema.org.