(Unless There’s Still Room in the Truck)

By Jeff Loy, ASA Web Specialist and first-timer to CARS and NACE

After years of traveling, I’ve come up with a fairly simple process for packing for a trip:

Step 1: Grab a bunch of clothes.
Step 2: Shove them in a duffel bag/suitcase/backpack.
Step 3: Walk out the door.

Last week, the staff at the Automotive Service Association headquarters quite literally packed most of the office to ship it out to Las Vegas for the upcoming Automotive Service and Repair Week (ASRW). Thankfully, though, their packing technique was a bit more thorough than mine.

When you think about it, gathering up most of your workspace to relocate it more than 1,200 miles away is pretty daunting. You must go through a mental checklist of every little thing you’ll need that is usually at your fingertips day in and day out: Pens, paper, computer mice, the gallon drum of antacids … you know, the essentials.

I’m proud to report that everything made it on the truck with little drama. (Okay, there was a pretty heated discussion on what size paperclips to bring, but a mediator was brought in at the last moment and the matter was settled with minimum bloodshed).

Seriously, though, I’m in awe at how easily the ASA staff  — your ASA staff — put everything together. In the short time I’ve been a part of this group, this type of efficiency and professionalism is something that I see every day. And it’s what I believe makes this a premier organization.

I’m so inspired that I might even fold my clothes before packing them this time.

See you in Vegas.