From sexy to raunchy – does sex really sell at SEMA show?

From sexy to raunchy – does sex really sell?

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It is November 2010 as I write this and it is smack in the middle of Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week and I have just spent my second day at the automotive extravaganza known simply as the SEMA Show in Las Vegas; and I am immensely impressed with the professionalism and salesmanship of the vendors exhibiting on the SEMA show floor! (not to mention the amazing array of custom cars, state-of-the-art tools, techno, auto accessories, and my favorite – the auto body related merchandise).  However, being a father of a son and daughter I am appalled at the degree of raunchiness of some of the vendor “show girls”; enough so to write this short post about it.

Everywhere I looked; young girls were flauntingly sticking out their airbags and showing as much cleavage with their bum-cheeks by sporting the tiniest of mini-skirts or short-shorts.

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Maybe the Father in me got the best of me, but I found it overwhelmingly obnoxious and at times, felt embarrassed to even look in the way of some of the girls never mind walk into the show booth to get information – I passed several booths simply because I didn’t want to interact with the show girls.

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Going back to fatherhood, I can’t stop but to think that this overt T&A voyeur-show is demoralizing to women as well as to the “sex object” kid who quite possibly isn’t even old enough to vote.  On the other end of the spectrum, what message are young boys getting from this skin display?   This is wrong on so many levels…and while sexy girls and trade shows have been around for a long time, the shift from sexy to raunchy has left this red-blooded American guy blushing.

Sex may very well sell – but it comes with a high tax to society.

(this may not be my most popular post – but it has to be said)

The people behind I-CAR’s Professional Development Program

I-CAR has done a lousy job of giving recognition to the founders of I-CAR’s newly introduced roll-based training program (Professional Development Program) – here’s who should have received credit for getting this conceptualized and first-executed.

I-CAR’s Professional Development Program was first conceived and executed by CARSTAR as the I-CAR endorsed “CARSTAR Service Training Path” which was introduced during the 2007 CARSTAR Annual Conference.

These are the people who pioneered this program…

• Larry Montanez (I-CAR, now P&L Consulting)
• Jeff Poole (I-CAR)
• Dave Coffee (I-CAR, now Adjunct Professor @ Rochester Institute of Technology)
• Jeff Peevy (I-CAR)
• Daren Fristoe (CARSTAR, now The Fristoe Group)
• Bob Keith (CARSTAR)
• Rick Miller (CARSTAR)
• Larry Siembab (CARSTAR)
• Dick Cross (CARSTAR) the man who listened to my pitch for the program and approved and paid for it all
• Stacy Bartnik (CARSTAR) for approving my time and resources to head the project
• Chris Sheehy (I was with CARSTAR at the time and was a long-time I-CAR volunteer)

Since then a lot of people have given their input into the program and its current version is a fantastic resource, but here’s where it all started and recognition finally paid to the founders…

I-CAR often states they didn’t (don’t) do a great job at recognizing their volunteers – this is a case study for that.

Insurance industry setting auto repair standards; I just don’t get it?

An interesting (indeed provocative) reply was posted on FaceBook from John Parese to my friend Bob Skrip after the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) event this week…

“CIC was enlightening. I’m going to suggest the trial lawyers association also consider “partnering” with the insurance industry.

From an outsider’s perspective, I just don’t understand why the insurance industry (which is responsible for assessing risk and indemnifying insureds) would be involved in establishing repair standards. I just don’t get it.”

John – I can’t agree with you more!

I agree with what CIC has accomplished in the past, good stuff – but I don’t support this.

What are your thoughts: who should establish auto body repair standards for vehicles, insurance companies or repairers?

(full permission from Bob and John was granted for this blog post)

In response to being despicably “CARSTAR’D”

Did you see this from CARSTAR?

Celebrities can make great customers for collision repair centers, with frequent crashes in their cars and clashes with the paparazzi chasing them.

In their honor, collision repair experts null Collision Centers are kicking off the inaugural CARSTAR’D Awards to recognize the top of the charts in dings, dents, crashes and collisions. And the winners are…

This is horrid!

What a disingenuous proclamation of our industries professionalism and concern for customer privacy and well-being.

What does this say to the public of our industry?

That we salivate over the idea of a juicy crash story enough to award ranking!?  That’s horrifying.  That we classify good customers as those with “frequent crashes”, not for being good people?  Glorifying “clashes with the paparazzi” – are you kidding me – this is funny?

This is not funny, it’s cheap and sensationalism at its worst.

What about the victims?  The battered celebrities and third-party claimants, not to mention the often injured paparazzi?  Think this is funny to them?

We all work hard every day to break the stereotype of being uncaring, uneducated mongers who prey on the next wretched car to limp to our door.  This image CARSTAR projects here is barbaric and counter-productive.  They have hit all the media channels with this trash creating quite a BUZZ for themselves and of us as industry professionals.

CARSTAR stands atop many industry boards supporting professionalism and the highest degree of ethics.  How hypocritical of them to post this trash.

If you’re looking to brand an image of being unprofessional, cheap, tawdry, hypocritical, uncaring & unemphatic – by all means, get CARSTAR’d!