The International Tool & Equipment Group (ITEG) and ATD Tools hosted their 2021 Expo on Aug. 26-28 at the St. Charles (St. Louis) Convention Center. Approximately 120 sales and marketing professionals from the ITEG member organizations attended the event, as well as 41 vendors.
ITEG President, Darrel Reuss noted there were two main goals for the event this year.
“Number one is camaraderie. Our member’s sales teams get a chance to get together face-to-face which they haven’t had to do for a year and a half so that was great to get them to connect as well as to connect with the International Tool & Equipment Group staff along with our vendors. And the second point and really the key to our event is the training. The one-on-one time with the vendors and attendees.”
Day one of the expo was dedicated to ATD Tools’ products and had attendees split into six groups and rotating through presentations on ATD’s hand tools, lighting products, shop equipment, and more. On the second day of the event, attendees spent their morning in extended training sessions. These training sessions included:
- Intelligent Battery Management presented by Clore Automotive
- Diagnostics & ADAS presented by Bosch
- Cordless Tools presented by Milwaukee Tool
- New Products presented by ATD Tools
After the training sessions ended, attendees went to lunch where guest speaker Bill Hanvey, president of the Auto Care Association gave an industry update covering some of the effects of COVID-19, electric vehicles, and right to repair.
The rest of the event was spent with attendees broken into small groups traveling from vendor to vendor.
“The feedback from the show has been very positive,” Reuss said. “The vendors are very appreciative of the one-on-one time with all of our members.”
Held every other year, the 2023 Expo will be again at the St. Charles Convention Center.
To view the photo gallery of the event, click here.
