President Message 

At its most recent meeting, the ACC Board of Directors passed two important resolutions.  

First, to encourage companies to send multiple people to ACC events, registrants from a company can now register for events with a $100 discount for each additional registrant to the Spring and Fall conferences. More on this opportunity is in this issue of SPIN. 

Second, to honor past ACC president Doug Ferguson's contribution to the ACC and the aftermarket, under separate cover the board will seek your approval to name Doug an Honorary Lifetime member of ACC. As many of you know, Doug recently retired from Advanstar Communications due to health issues. We hope Doug will attend the Charlotte conference, if he is able to, so we can honor him at the event. ACC members will receive an e-mail next week asking you to vote on Doug Ferguson's honorary membership. 

We are anticipating an outstanding turn-out at the Spring Conference – thank you to Katie Noga and other board members for their commitment to bring you an excellent event! 

I am looking forward to seeing you in Charlotte April 28-30.

All the best,

Tom Marx
President, ACC

P.S. At the Spring Conference, we will be electing new members to the Board. If you are interested in nominating yourself or another ACC member, please e-mail me at tmarx@themarxgrp.com.

Register Now for the 2008 Spring Meeting

Spring is just around the corner and so is the 2008 Spring ACC Conference, being held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C. The meeting begins Monday, April 28 at 1 p.m. and wraps up Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 2 p.m. For board members, the board meeting starts at 11 a.m. and will end shortly before the start of the conference.

The spring meeting agenda will include speakers Greg Mayo discussing managing human capital and generation Next, a presentation focusing on financial trends and the impact on markets in an election year, a heavy duty panel, as well as the popular roundtable discussion. The roundtable will be made up of jobbers and moderated by Bob Barstow of Auto Distribution Network. Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Facility and to meet with JGR engineers and crew chiefs as well as NASCAR R&D representatives. ACC's fabulous networking opportunities will continue aboard a dinner cruise on Lake Norman as well as during the group break-out events taking place Tuesday afternoon. Click here to view the ACC Spring Meeting agenda. 

Register before March 21 and save $100 off your registration fee. Click here for the registration form, which includes contact information for the special AAIA rate at the Westin.

Spring Meeting Break-Out Activities

For the first time, ACC is offering the spring meeting attendees a new and exciting opportunity. At the spring meeting, ACC will be organizing group break-out sessions for the meeting attendees the afternoon of Tuesday, April 29. Attendees will have the opportunity to:
* Golf on one of Charlotte's great courses.
* Sip wine while touring a vineyard in Lexington, N.C.
* Spend the afternoon on your own conducting personal business.

We need your feedback in order to organize these planned events. Please e-mail Alexis Walters at alexis.walters@aftermarket.org with your preferred activity by COB Monday, Feb. 18. Your feedback is essential to planning the meeting, so please reply ASAP!

Spring Meeting Group Discount

In appreciation of our great ACC members, ACC would like to offer a discount to member companies with more than one representative attending the spring meeting in Charlotte. After the first attendee pays the member rate for registration, each additional attendee from that company will receive a $100 discount on their registration fee. For more information, or if you are an ACC member in good standing who would like to take advantage of this offer, contact Alexis Walters at  alexis.walters@aftermarket.org, or call 240-333-1089.

ACC Fall Meeting

ACC will be holding its 2008 Fall Meeting at the Westin Memphis Beale St. in Memphis, Tenn., Sept. 22-23. Please stay tuned for more information regarding meeting and hotel registration.

 ACC Tip-of-the-Month

In this day and age traveling for business does not mean you have to leave the office. We are connected by cell phones, Blackberrys, and laptops. With the ability to stay connected also comes the ability of hackers to easily access our personal information. This month, ACC is suggesting some tips when using wireless internet that will ensure you keep your private information, well, private.

Wi-Fi safety tips:
· Don't do anything you don't want anyone else observing.
· If you are trying to ensure privacy, make sure the Web site starts with "https" in the address bar, instead of the standard "http." The "s" means the site is most likely more secure.
· Use your company's virtual private network, or VPN. VPNs create secure "tunnels," in which all online communication is encrypted at both ends.
· Never use a public computer, like those in libraries or cafes, for e-mail or financial transactions. There's no telling what kind of software another user has installed on that machine. If someone snags your e-mail address and password, they can use that to hack into many other sites that you use.
· Use a computer and a browser that are less susceptible to attacks. Because the Windows operating system and Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser are the most common programs in modern computing, they also get attacked the most. Many security experts prefer to use Apple computers and the Firefox browser.

About ACC

The Automotive Communication Council (ACC) is a national, non-profit organization comprised of marketing professionals engaged in public relations, advertising, branding and other communication practices for automotive aftermarket companies. ACC provides a networking forum for the exchange of ideas, information and resources about issues, challenges and trends impacting companies and organizations throughout the aftermarket industry. Founded in 1941, ACC is the oldest continuously operating council in the aftermarket. Its mission is to provide a sophisticated, beneficial and supportive networking forum for marketing professionals engaged in public relations, advertising, branding and other communication practices in an effort to help them manage ideas, information and resources about issues, challenges and trends impacting the automotive aftermarket industry. Visit www.acc-online.org.