20th NRCC Hits the Mark !

by Suzanne Stansbury, Executive Director October 29, 2009

Despite a sluggish economy and erratic weather patterns attendance numbers at the 20th Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC), October 19-21, were strong, according to show facilitator Julie Stanton. “We were over 1300, down only slightly from last year’s numbers, and we were thrilled with that,” she said. “Many other shows in our industry have been down significantly, but we were able to weather the storm and provide our attendees with some great education and a packed show floor.”

Terry Powell, of Perry Powell Sign Consultants in Ft. Worth, TX, said the NRCC is by far the best show she exhibits at in this industry. “This show is better than all the rest, including the ICA (International Carwash Association) show. It just has a level of energy and quality buyers that we don’t always run into in other regions of the country.”

To celebrate 20 years as a convention the NRCC board kicked off the event at the Water Club’s indoor pool with an intimate cocktail party sponsored by ICS. “It is a great venue to hold an event and one that lends itself to networking and catching up with your fellow operators,” said show Co-Chairperson Walt Hartl. Mike Benmosche, Co-Chairman of the 20th NRCC, presents fellow Co-Chairman Walt Hartl with the 2010 NRCC Most Distinguished Person Award

Ron Bousquet of Randy's Car Washes is presented with the first NRCC Hall of Fame award. It was presented to him by Co-Chairman Walt Hartl of Hoffman Carwashes Also new to this year’s show was the addition of an award called the NRCC Hall of Fame Award which was presented to one of the convention’s founding members, Ron Bousquet of Randy’s Car Wash in Medford, MA. Bousquet has poured his blood, sweat and tears into helping make this the premiere regional in the industry. “Ron is so deserving of this award,” said Hartl. “He works tirelessly for the NRCC. I couldn’t think of a more deserving individual to receive our first Hall of Fame Award.”

Other award recipients included Tom Hoffman, Jr., of Hoffman Car Wash in Albany, NY, for his efforts battling the interpretation Walt Hartl, Co-Chairman of the show, presents Tom Hoffman, Jr. with the 2010 NRCC Association Advocate Award of tax law by the New York State Taxation and Finance Department as it affects in-bay automatic cash transactions. He received the NRCC Association Advocate Award. His brother-in-law and good friend Hartl, received the NRCC Most Distinguished Person Award for his vision with this year’s show and for his unyielding work on the NRCC board.

Industry veteran Fred Grauer presented an uplifting keynote titled, “Fiscal Health vs. Physical Health.” In addition to taking us through a history of the industry he was able to correlate physical health with the health and prosperity of your business. International Carwash Association incoming President Jeff Gheysens, a former Car Wash Operators of New Jersey (CWONJ president, updated the group on the ICA’s WaterSavers™ program (carwash.org).

Featured seminars included two Early Bird discussions on a variety of industry topics, Customer Loyalty 2.0 which revisited the topic and touched on radio frequency identification technology (RFID), bonus time and unlimited washing. The lineup also included a lively program on Essential Marketing in Today’s Society presented by WashIdeas’ Ryan Carlson. His program took marketing out of the traditional box and focused on the Internet and social networking like Twitter and Facebook.

The show floor included some 230+ booths in 45,000 square feet of exhibit space. Show hours ran from 2:30pm-7:00pm on Tuesday and from 10:30am to 2:30pm on Wednesday.

This year’s show, October 18-20, will move to the Trump Taj Mahal on the boardwalk. “This move is significant in many ways,” said NRCC board member Suzanne Stansbury. “Our contract is up with the Borgata and they will not be adding any exhibit space in the near future and we are bursting out of our current set up,” she said. “By moving the show to an actual convention facility our vendors will have an easier set up and tear down, larger show floor, and the overnight rooms and restaurants are more economical. We will also be able to run concurrent education and give our attendees more for their money,” she added. “Also, the Taj has been renovated since we were there seven years ago. It’s really lovely (trumptaj.com).

“We are all very excited about the move and think it will bring our show to the next level.”

For exhibit information for the 2010 show call Julie Stanton at 800/868-8590 or email.