NTDA Conference 2002

There was a new look to the conference of the National Tyre Distributors’ Association, held at the Valparaiso Palace Hotel in Palma, Mallorca, in September. Entitled “InTyreActive”, the conference was designed so that the delegates set the agenda and discussed matters that they felt were important to the industry, rather than listen to a string of speakers. Having said that, the keynote speech was retained and association Chairman, Martin Rowlands, opened the event by introducing the speaker, Sir Tom Farmer.

New format gets people talking as delegates debate a series of issuesThe NTDA conference promised something different, with the delegates deciding what was important and what they wanted to talk about. InTyreActive, as it was known, was a new concept to many attendees and it was run by a facilitator, who explained what was going to happen over the two sessions. Anyone could suggest a topic, the title of which was written on a piece of paper and stuck to the wall.

Delegates added their names to the topics in which they were interested. In fact, the wall played a crucial part in proceedings, as notes taken at the meeting were pinned up for general reading, plus it was used for charts, comments and suggestions. By setting the agenda, the idea was, as the NTDA publicity said, “to explore the key issues facing your industry now and in the future.