Memories of Mobile Tech Expo 2024
Friday, March 15, 2024
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Posted by: Alex Rudie
By: Dave Reed, CD-SV, 2024 IDA Board Member, IDA UK Chapter Board Member MTE 2024 – another motivating, inspiring, and value-added event – was a blast from start to finish!
MTE 2024 was held on 1-3, February at the Gaylord Palms Resort, a vast convention hotel facility in Kissimmee, FL.
The event was preceded by the 2024 inaugural global IDA Board retreat held on Wednesday, 31 January. The board retreat ran for a marathon 8-hour session from noon until 8pm. The first half of the meeting reviewed progress on the IDA’s 2023 goals and then discussed and set the delivery strategy for achieving the 2024 goals. The second half was centered around the global committee leads presenting their committee goals and areas of focus for the upcoming year. Thursday, 1st February, kicked MTE off with the hugely popular Education Day. Thursday was also booth setup day for the exhibitors in the main exhibition hall. Education Day is an absolute must! You have a choice of more than 60 seminars to attend covering a wide range of subjects. With a little planning, you can peruse the education itinerary and attend up to 8 educational seminars on a wide variety of detailing, specialist, and business-related topics. Four in the morning and four in the afternoon, with lunch and a MTE 2024 t-shirt provided. The quality of speakers and content is next level and at the top of our industry. Each seminar attended is also eligible for one continued education credit towards your Certified Detailer Certification Maintenance. You can find out more information about the IDA’s Certification Maintenance here. Craig Brigham, CD-SV, and I volunteered time during Education Day to help set up the new IDA stand (booth), which looked amazing. Friday, 2nd February, saw the opening of the show floor. I spent the morning volunteering at the IDA booth, talking to existing members, recruiting new members, and discussing certification opportunities (CD, SV, MC, WC) with new and existing IDA members. The drive to become certified is so strong in the USA. Detailers were approaching me at the booth and consistently asking, “How do I become certified?”, rather than, “How do I join?” or, “What are the benefits of membership?" As Craig succinctly put it – the conversation is different! Friday afternoon, I spent some time walking around the show floor and talking to exhibitors, catching up with industry colleagues, and networking while also catching up on new products being launched into the industry, having a play with the new cordless machine polishers, and spending some time watching the PDR technicians working their magic in the Dent Olympics (MTE is half PDR and half detailing all in the same (VERY BIG) room). Friday evening soon arrived. It was time for the 2024 IDA Annual Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony! The 2024 Board was called to the stage and sworn in by the membership present to diligently carry out our board responsibilities per the Commitment to Serve agreement. I can’t wait to work together with IDA President Shad Stoker, CD-SV, MC, WC, RIT, this year. His energy is on another level. Following this an IDA business update was shared before moving into the highlight of the evening - The Awards Ceremony. The categories and winners are detailed (excuse the pun) below: Detailer of the Year Award Marine Detailer of the Year Award (new category) Detail Operation of the Year Award IDA Supplier of the Year Award IDA Outstanding Service Award
The IDA Hall of Fame is a significant honor for all those who are nominated and inducted. Nominations are from IDA peers, and the honorees are inducted for significant and lasting contributions to the professional detailing industry in areas of innovation, advancement, education, and leadership. The business meeting was delighted as the whole room rose to their feet to give a well-deserved standing ovation to the class of 2024: Saturday, 3rd February, started with lots of certification opportunities. Numerous IDA RITs volunteered their time to carry out Skills Validated testing, and IDA members sat for their Certified Detailer (CD) exams, Motorcycle (MC) exams, and Watercraft (WC) exams. Saturday was also the final show day and the last opportunity to network, make purchases from exhibitors, arrange follow-up meetings, and say goodbyes. Until next year! If you are thinking about attending MTE in 2025, it is taking place from Thursday, 30th January to Saturday, 1st February 2025, back at the Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee, FL. It’s an event that is motivational, inspiring, and one not to be missed. So much value takes place over three days. It is an experience you’ll never forget, and I guarantee you will come back buzzing with ideas and developments to implement in your detailing business and, if you wish, scale it to the next level!
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the IDA.
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