Committees eliminated

Refining and redefining the structure eliminated seven committees, going from 17 active CIC committees to ten in 2005. The new CIC committees now in place are: Electronic Communication; Estimating Task Force; Estimating Committee; Parts Legislation; Special Presentations; Market-ing; Industry Forum Group; Definitions; and Technical Presentation

All committees have a good slate of volunteers, but Chairman Tuuri reminded the industry that "these committees are always open for new members!" Co-chairs are being elected and committee work will be started by early this month. "We all are ruled by the tyranny of the urgent," Tuuri laughed. "Please keep your enthusiasm and support," he implored, recognizing the spirit of the moment.

Estimating task force

The Estimating Task Force is a joint effort of SCRS, ASA, and AASP to work on major issues related to the way the estimating database companies operate. This task force came about because so many inaccuracies are being found in today's database information. The task force will operate as a committee of CIC.

SCRS Chairman Lou DiLisio ex-plained that "the ultimate objective is to meet with information providers and work towards resolution. We will look at issues such as how large scale changes are made to the estimating systems and databases and introduced into the industry." The committee will seek a disclosure system for such changes so repairers don't have to find out about these changes by trial and error - or just dumb luck!

"This is one of the few times [these three organizations] have worked collectively. We feel we can offer a better solution to the industry if we work collectively on this than if we worked individually."

SCRS Executive Director Dan Risley emphasized that the group would seek input from the insurers and information providers. "For these sorts of changes to take place, everybody has to adopt them," he stated.

Legislative committee

A major task for the legislative committee will be to evaluate privacy issues, such as those generated by event data recorders - the automotive version of "black boxes." Who owns the information is of paramount importance to all parties involved in the repair process. Four states are considering legislation regarding use of undeployed airbags from salvage vehicles and the legislative committee will consider the implications of this new development.

Stay in your seats

The Collision Industry Conference is a significant industry force. Sometimes more business is conducted in the hallway than in the assembly. Chairman Tuuri would like to see more participation in the meeting room. He even admitted to spending some of his CIC time in the hall instead of in the room. This first meeting might be representing a sea of changes in the industry. The meeting had record breaking attendance, there was tremendous participation and on the second day of the meeting, at least 90% of the attendees were at their seats ready to work.

Tuuri ended the spirited meeting with the parting words: "The meeting is ad-journed - go make it a better world."

For further information from the Collision Industry Conference go to www.ciclink.com.

Janet Chaney has served in many facets of the collision repair industry. She is now looking after the best interests of her clients from Cave Creek, Arizona. Her email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it