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8 FEDA News & Views Association Highlights AutoQuotes…...Longtime Friend to FEDA Plus FEDA Education Opportunities Ray Herrick Executive Vice President ray@feda.com Need more information on how FEDA can help you? Contact me by phone at 800-677-9605 or by email. I n April, AutoQuotes will turn 26 years old. FEDA has always had a close rela- tionship with AQ, in large part due to founder Kent Motes' roots in the indus- try and his sensitivity toward the dealers' role in the channel. Today, that same level of sensitivity also is shared by President Michael Greenwald, who knows first- hand the challenges dealers face in try- ing to better serve their customers. As a result, AutoQuotes continues to work toward streamlining the process by strengthening the data flow among chan- nel partners, which of late has been underscored by its strong support of the FEDA Data Interchange Initiative. AutoQuotes is an important standard for our industry and FEDA has always been clear in its drive to promote its significance within the industry. As you prepare for 2016, consider these FEDA membership benefits and how they can help your business. …And wish the good folks at AQ a happy Anniversary this April! The AutoQuotes/ FEDA Advantage Are you using all your special FEDA "Members Only" features for AutoQuotes? FEDA members can export AutoQuotes product data (total of 660,000 prod- ucts) and use this data to update inven- tory prices or company web catalogs. The export includes model numbers, specifications, list prices, physical data (weights, dimensions), pack sizes and brand names. FEDA members also can export the entire database of color pictures. There are single shots and group shots for 436,000 products, which is a great addi- tion for web catalogs and point of sale systems. There are 200,000 exportable spec sheets/cut sheets, 160,000 catalog pages, and more than 22,000 owner's manuals. And now there is the new FEDA Data Interchange, a platform for dealers to track order status from all of their manu- facturers in one place. This will help reduce costs, increase productivity, and eliminate the mundane task of checking order status. The response has been posi- tive and enthusiastic, with support from NAFEM, MAFSI and all of the buying groups. To date, there are 158 manufac- turers that have committed to publish- ing their order status data to the FDI. FEDA supports AutoQuotes and deems this to be an important technological tool for the dealer community and the indus- try as a whole. Thank you AutoQuotes for your service to the industry! The 2016 FEDA Convention It's the people you meet and the rela- tionships you build that make the FEDA Convention a great investment. Plan to attend and network with fellow dealers and key manufacturers March 30-April 3, 2016, at the J W Marriott Starr Pass, Tucson, Ariz. I'm excited to share that our keynote speaker will be In Search of Excellence co-author Tom Peters, who will be speaking on "Re-Imagine: Business Excellence In a Disruptive Age." And closing the FEDA Convention will be legendary iconic sports figure Sugar Ray Leonard. He will share his thoughts on "The Power to Win." Check out page 14 in this issue for more details on many other terrific speakers. News & Views Digitial Edition If you are the key contact for your FEDA dealership, are you passing on the electronic version of FEDA News & Views magazine? Pass it along to your key staff, including sales managers, salespeople, and branch managers. It's a wealth of industry information for food- continued on page 41