Secaucus, New Jersey — As the North American automotive aftermarket collectively wakes from winter hibernation it appears that convention enthusiasm has not waned one bit, as the AASP/NJ’s Northeast 2023 Automotive Services Show went off without a hitch this past weekend.
Featuring a trade show floor packed with familiar faces from across the collision industry, educational sessions from some of those same experts, and even a friendly bodywork skills competition, this year’s Northeast show had something for everyone.
Charles Aoun, CEO of Quebec-based CamAuto Pro, told Collision Repair that this year’s show was a true return to form following several years of postponement and poor attendance, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I believe things are getting back to how they were in previous years,” he said.
“Northeast is the second-biggest show after SEMA, especially for collision repair, so that is why we come.”
Aoun said that his company had its entire suite of products on display for show-goers to take for a spin.
“We did a glue-pulling demo on a used door. We made sure to let everyone use, touch and feel the glue pull tools so that they know how they work.”
For the managers, industry experts like Mike Anderson and Dave Luehr were in attendance, dishing out their invaluable advice for running an effective body shop in 2023.
On the technician side of things, this year’s Northeast show saw the debut of the Bodywork Bowl Skills Competition for welders, painters and estimators.
Technicians squared off for $500 cash prizes in a variety of collision repair competitions, including a virtual reality painting competition where the top three winners also came away with gift bags from AkzoNobel.
Additionally, winners of the welding competition received, in addition to cash prizes, a new welding mask and smart TV donated by Spanesi Americas, with the top performing tech earning a brand new welding unit.
The AASP/NJ’s Northeast 2023 Automotive Services Show ran from Friday to Sunday at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Check out Northeast’s Facebook page for play-by-play video coverage of the weekend’s activities.
