At this year’s The Car Wash Show in Nashville, I had the opportunity to witness several special moments.

It was hard not to be in awe as you walked the nearly 170,000 square feet of Trade Show Floor. Everywhere you turned you were making a new connection with one of the 9,600 attendees in Nashville. And there was more education than any individual could get through in a day.

All of that is special, and part of the power of International Carwash Association’s marquee event: Bringing people together to make personal and professional connections for the betterment of the car wash industry.

But for me, there were two that really defined what it means to be part of the car wash industry.

The first was being present for Tom Essenburg’s induction into the International Car Wash Hall of Fame. I watched, camera in hand, as ICA CEO Eric Wulf shared Tom’s story. That rolled into a video from family and members of the Tommy’s Express, Quality Car Wash and Tommy’s Express Car Wash Systems family talking about Tom. I’d seen every clip from the video several times, but still got goosebumps watching it in that room. Essenburg humbly accepted the honor, gave a few remarks, and returned to a touching interaction with his wife and family. Essenburg, and the culture and company he’s worked to build over the years, is exactly what being in the car wash industry is all about. He’s spent his entire career spinning up new ideas, helping other car wash professionals, and treating others as though they were part of his family.

The second is something I’ve seen several years now, but still sparks great emotion. Each year the Brian Campbell Best Booth Award is given to the booth judged as the attendee favorite. The award is named in honor of Brian Campbell, car washing’s number one fan. Brian has been attending car wash shows for more than two decades and there is no one on this planet who enjoys car washing more than he does. This year we got to witness (and record) Brian getting to give this year’s award to Sonny’s Enterprises. The juxtaposition of car washing’s number one fan presenting his namesake award to one of the most well-known car wash professionals in the industry was pretty great to watch.

Special moments. Special people. That’s what this industry is about.

In this issue of CAR WASH Magazine, we take our turn at reliving those special moments and the special people in this industry. There is a great recap, complete with plenty of photos, from this year’s The Car Wash Show, as well as profile stories on the 50th anniversary of Autobell, and Phil D’Agostini from Utah Auto Spa. You’ll also find a bevy of content created to help you market your business in more effective, efficient and profitable ways.

As always, if there’s a story you want to see highlighted, don’t hesitate to drop us a line at mdewolf@carwash.org.