Day two of the 22nd Annual PRI Trade Show was not a day to slow down any, and attendees worked diligently to fit visiting 1100 exhibitors into their schedules in just three days.
"The quality of the Show is very good. I think the quality of the attendees is probably more true buyers rather than people who just came to just see what it was all about. The quality," said Gordon Steffens, Performance Plus Business Solutions, Saint Charles, Missouri. "The quality is up, and it has caused us think about 2010 and how we're going to position our company and our products for the Show.
"Everybody was here that we needed to see."
Despite the challenges of the current economic climate, suppliers of racing products met again with the big volume buyers of racing products as the industry organizes its distribution pipeline for 2010. Deals made on the Trade Show floor on Friday will result in major inventory changes for racing retailers, engine builders, WDs, car builders and others. And these new parts will be putting racers into the winner's circle this spring when racing sales start going full throttle.
The day began with PRI's management seminars. Every year at the PRI Trade Show, racing entrepreneurs can count on the slate of management seminars for tips about how to improve the productivity of their businesses. And this year's lineup filled the bill with plenty of valuable and practical business advice. Engine builders packed two seminar rooms to hear Ron Hutter, of Hutter Racing Engines, present "Success Strategies For Your Race Engine Business." Racing retailers were treated to industry veteran Bruce Kindberg of Bruce's Speed Shop with "Merchandising Tips For Racing Retailers," as he discussed the importance of properly selecting and stocking inventory and the value that e-commerce offers his business. The third and final seminar of the day was "Hot Tips For Email Marketing," by Lisa Sparks of Constant Contact, who explained one of the most powerful and affordable new tools in marketing today–email marketing.
A highlight of day two at the PRI Trade Show occurred when the Road Racing Drivers Club in conjunction with the FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund presented its first Young Drivers Symposium. This workshop was organized to offer programs designed to benefit young drivers as they graduate from karts, and raise their awareness of safety by teaching them to effectively manage their cars as well as themselves.
Bobby Rahal, Indy 500 winner and Rahal Letterman Racing principal, led the lineup of motorsports professionals to help young drivers jump on the right track to a successful career in all forms of racing through SAFE is FAST–Skilled, Assured, Fit, Empowered. Topics covered included safety, setup and driving skills, mental preparation, physical fitness, sponsorship/branding, career management, and more.
The Road Racing Drivers Club is led by president Bobby Rahal, and has been dedicated to racing safety since it was founded in 1952.
Roughly 200 attended the symposium, leaving the meeting room with barely a single seat still available.
Rahal said, "In the Road Racing Drivers Club it's a way to take all the insight and knowledge that our members have gained over the years. We have Indy 500 champions, Formula 1 champions...you name it. So, there is a lot of expertise. And our job these days is to educate young drivers coming up.
"Racing entails a lot more than just driving the race car, so this is a chance to take all that knowledge that we've got, along with real experts in the field, and put together a symposium to educate these young people and hopefully this will give them more insight into what to do if they want to get to the to," continued Rahal.
Other speakers scheduled for the symposium included IndyCar driver Townsend Bell; Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D., founder and president of Performance Prime; Jim Leo, C.S.C.S., president of PitFit Training; Stephen Olvey, MD, associate professor/vice chairman for clinical affairs in the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine; and Michael Zimicki, president of Sliderule Motorsport Inc.
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