The Car Wash Show 2017 in Las Vegas was another record-breaking show for International Carwash Association. Produced in partnership with Western Carwash Association and Automotive Oil Change Association, this year’s show replaces last year as the largest show in 10 years.

More than 8,100 attendees visited The Car Wash Show 2017 in Las Vegas to take in 141,000 square feet of product and service displays — a testament to the power of partnership.

“We’re partnering to provide a larger trade show experience for both exhibitors and attendees, and it seems to be a massive amount of benefit,” said ICA President David Begin. “We’re really excited to be able to partner with them and look for other partnerships in the future.”

In the second year of partnership, AOCA President David Haney sees
real benefit.

“A lot of our members have car washes and a lot of car wash guys have quick lubes,” he said. “By combining, it gives both operators the opportunity to learn more about the other side of their business. And for people like myself, considering the car wash industry, the show is a great place to get information.”

And for the WCA, which is in the third year of partnership, the partnership continues to pay off by way of enabling them to focus their energies on local and regional efforts. “Since we’ve combined, there’s still the education and the chance for marketplace [with the show],” said WCA President Jason Johnson. “But it’s allowed us to spend our resources on the things that we need to do as a local organization to have the greatest impact.”

More than 1,700 people took advantage of show education this year with All Access Passes to the show. This is in addition to the on-floor education that came via 30-minute Quick Hits Sessions.

For Scott Patterson of Wet Willy’s Car Wash, the education opportunities are priceless. “We’re in the customer service business first and foremost,” he said. “Learning how we can appeal to customers, create repeat visits and raise revenues — it’s a priceless opportunity.”

With more than 17 hours of access to the trade show floor, attendees could see goods and services from exhibitors.

“You can get anything you want,” said Joe Marshall of Double Check Co. Inc. “From the business part to the marketing part to all the tools and equipment you could need. It’s a one-stop shop.”

For Steve Gunn of Wash Pointe Car Wash, he found exactly what he was looking for. “I’m looking at some of the drying systems with drying after the blowers,” he said. “I actually just purchased one today.”

Attendees at this year’s Show experienced a variety of activities beyond the traditional trade show experience. This year included a Welcome Celebration on the show floor as well as an Exhibitor Booth Bar Crawl… all in the interest of bringing the car wash community together.

And while the show was bringing the community together physically, the social media efforts this year also connected car wash audiences like never before.

The ICA State of the Industry was live streamed on Facebook for the first time, and the Association also streamed the presentation of the Brian Campbell Best Booth Award. This year’s award was given to Motor City Wash Works. The Best Booth Award is judged by attendees while onsite using the mobile app, and is named after Brian Campbell who was diagnosed with Williams’ Syndrome at just 6 months old and given a 10-year life expectancy. He is now 36 and has been attending The Car Wash Show since 1993.

In addition to catching live stream action during the Show, attendees built an online community using the hashtag #GoCarWashShow to post the reasons why they attend the Show.

This year’s Show also featured a number of new additions, such as the New Product Scavenger Hunt, where attendees scanned QR codes at various exhibitor booths and were entered to win a prize if all codes were scanned. Jennifer Ellis, of The Washhouse in Texas, won the scavenger hunt.

Additionally, The Car Wash Show offered industry seminars for new investors, emerging leaders and car care executives that provided car care professionals with, respectively, an in-depth workshop about the industry, knowledge about developing leadership skills and information on how to drive innovation.