IARA gearing up for summer roundtable

In a first for the International Automotive Remarketers’ Alliance and coinciding with its 15th anniversary, the annual summer roundtable meeting will be held outside the U.S. in Toronto this August.

Scheduled for the Sheraton Centre from Aug. 9 to 11, the international event is expected to see over 300 attendees from the U.S. and Canada gather to discuss all aspects of vehicle remarketing.

“The IARA Canadian Committee has grown and developed quickly over the last four years, all with the goal of assisting, educating and sharing knowledge with each other about the remarketing world,” says Steve Macaluso, managing director of Copart Canada and co-chair of the IARA Canadian Committee.

“We are very happy to see this event come to Canada.”

The IARA Canadian Committee roots can be traced back to one of these summer roundtables in the U.S. The last four years have seen the organization grow north of the border, which has sparked the desire for a Canadian operation-focused group.

“Members, both remarketers and consignors, really open up and share with one another during these roundtables. It’s an industry-focused event with great interaction and a real emphasis on current topics of interest,” Macaluso says.

John Paonessa, VP of remarketing solutions at GM Financial Canada and fellow IARA Canadian Committee co-chair, says attendance is traditionally made up of consignors like OEMs, captives and larger leasing and finance companies.

“Dealers are definitely welcome, but the show is more centered around the consignor space,” he says.

The agenda has not yet been finalized, but will focus on the kind of market-specific issues that appeal to executives on both sides of the border.

There are plenty of sponsorship opportunities available. Anyone interested in attending or finding out more information is invited to visit events.iaraonline.org.