On Saturday, July 24, some of our industry’s greatest hot-rod builders will square off in a one-of-a-kind race. More than 20 well-known hot rodders are designing and building their own small pinewood cars to be raced at the annual SEMA Pinewood Drag Races in Pasadena, California.

If you are reading the July issue of SEMA Member News, congratulations on maintaining your SEMA and council membership during the past two years of tough times. I am confident that the Light Truck Accessory Alliance (LTAA) and the industry are now on the upswing.

Kyle Fickler, the incoming chairman of the Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council (MPMC), and Vic Wood, incoming chair-elect, are industry veterans. Each has been active in a variety of SEMA and MPMC positions, and SEMA Member News recently solicited their views about the future of the council and...

As a kid, incoming Manufacturers’ Rep Council (MRC) Chairman Wade Cobb owned every Matchbox and HotWheels car known to man. When he grew older, he worked part-time at a speed shop in Pauline, Kansas, moving from the back shop to the front, selling carburetors, headers and superchargers.

A critical initiative for each council is its long-range planning (LRP) meeting. The LRP takes place annually and is designed to discuss industry issues and then formulate a strategy that will drive council goals.

RASR. You’ve heard of the acronym, but what does it stand for? Racers Against Street Racing. The program was created by a coalition of auto manufacturers, aftermarket parts companies, retailers, distributors, professional drag racers, sanctioning bodies, race tracks and automotive magazines.

As with most associations, SEMA’s strength comes from its members. Too often, however, a person joins an association without a meaningful understanding of how he can best benefit from the services and programs provided.

The Young Executives Network (YEN) will be 20 years old in 2010. While the creation of the group was discussed and planned in the late-’80s, the Young Executives Council (as it was known originally) didn’t become recognized as a member group until 1990.

In doing my research for this article, I started first by looking to see how women in leadership roles view themselves in other male-dominated industries. I also wanted to see how the leadership styles of men and women differ from each other and, given a male-dominated industry, if one or the other...