OEMs commit to Washingtons 2015 Auto Show as they have for 3 decades: By space draw

OEMs commit to Washingtonês 2015 Auto Show as they have for 3 decades: By space draw

Though not entirely at random, WAS space allocation is a drawing just the same

–Itês fair and it works for our OEM exhibitors,” said Bob Yoffe, Washingtonês Auto Show manager, referring to the Space Draw process for the event WANADA produces annually in DC. –Drawing for space in the Auto Show here was going on before I came — and thatês been a while. But I can say, without hesitation, that the draw gets the job done with the floor space the OEMs lease year in and year out, and thatês where our business begins.”

In fact, WANADA dealers began using a space draw with the Auto Show that was the first event to open the first Washington Convention Center in DC in 1983, which was 31 years ago.

So how does the Auto Show Space Draw actually work?

1) Shortly after the winter conclusion of the Auto Show, as spring is beginning to blossom, each OEM exhibitor is invited to commit to space in the next yearês show, with all then being grouped from the largest to the smallest by WANADA show producers.

2) As summer is under way, WANADA invites all OEMs that committed to the next Auto Show to come to Washington for a Space Draw meeting, which is a full-fledged, out-in-the-open drawing for space officially conducted by the Washington Auto Show Committee.

3) Once a participating OEM at the Space Draw meeting acquires its position in the space selection rotation, determined, once again, by the size of the space commitment it made the previous spring which can be amended on site by any OEM deciding to take more space than its original commitment those OEM representatives step up to a show floor blue print, displayed on white boards, and choose where their exhibit will be in the next Washington Auto Show.

4) In cases within OEM exhibitor groupings where two or more exhibitors are requesting the same amount of square footage, those exhibitors, then and there, are asked to step forward and draw lots which, indeed, becomes a random drawing to determine the order of rotation in space selection between them.

5) While there isnêt much random selection at work in a WAS Space Draw, each OEM exhibitor vies for space against competitor OEMs, without knowing with absolute certainty how others will proceed.

–Itês simple and straightforward, which are at least two elements any successful process must have, and our Space Draw does,” said Kevin Reilly of Alexandria Hyundai, Auto Show Chairman. –Iêm setting out to chair my second, successive Auto Show in 2015; but like Bob Yoffe, Iêve participated in my share of Space Draws in Washington over the years, and they always seem to go off without a hitch.”

2015 WAS floor plan mimics and expands upon 2014

As has been the case for the past two Auto Shows in Washington, 2015 will feature the ever popular Luxury Lane Pavilion where 9 OEMs will exhibit their high end, state-of-the-art brands, all together, in one convenient location on the show floor. Luxury Lane will be situated at the southern most part (nearest L Street) of the first level of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Once again, too, Toyota will join the Detroit 3 Chrysler, Ford and GM on the top, or upper, level.

At the opposite end from Luxury Lane, on the first level of the 2015 WAS, will be an expanded grouping of exotic brands, that is to say, those nameplates, the likes of Rolls Royce, Lamborghini and Bentley, which are typically associated with the lives of the rich and famous from across the world. In addition, there will be a special display of classic vehicles in furtherance of the partnership forged last year between the WAS and the Historic Vehicle Association, when HVA secured the Department of Interiorês listing of the automobile for the first time on the U.S. Historic Register, a landmark event that occurred on site at the WAS with the classic 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.

Other significant departures, expansions and improvements that will roll out at the 2015 WAS will be a luxury lifestyle event that will include a number of exotic OEM brands working in tandem for a special evening event; a U.S. GSA conference co-locating at the WAS on federal procurement of fleet vehicles in much the same fashion SAE International has; and, finally, a unique promotional program, taglined Made across America is planned to tie into the WAS Public Policy Show, the global industry, and Americaês unrivaled number one status in all things automotive across the world.

More on these new and exciting developments will be forthcoming as they come together in the weeks ahead.

Of significance was what appeared to be a record number of high level OEM senior executives attending this yearês Washington Auto Show Space Draw Meeting, to include the likes of David Tillapaugh, Fordês chief of global auto shows, who WAS producer staff and Auto Show Committee leaders have long regarded as the –dean of OEM auto show executives.”

–David has consistently been a thought leader in determining how auto shows fit into the industryês overall direction, in the U.S., no less than across the world,” said WAS producer John OêDonnell. –He has been especially helpful to WANADA in its quest to develop Washington into the Public Policy Show on the industryês global circuit, for which we are extremely grateful.”