Your help needed: Recalling your favorite SSCWN stories/articles/covers

[Kate Carr]

Hello esteemed gentlemen and ladies of AutoCareForum!

I would like to feature your memories and fond recollections of SSCWN in our "debut" issue for 2014.

Did a tip from SSCWN boost your business or help you catch a criminal in the act? I'd love to hear about it!

Or maybe you were one of the original subscribers from the 1970s!

Do you still remember a conversation you had with JJ at a trade show and how it sparked a lightbulb moment for you?

Perhaps you have a framed poster of SSCWN on display at your office?

You can share your memories here, or you can email your thoughts directly to me at katec@sscwn.com. They'll be featured in our January 2014 issue. (You can subscribe to SSCWN by visiting our registration website: www.sscwn.com.)

Cheers,
Kate

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I have nothing earthshattering, but have read the SSCWN since probably before JJJ. I am a second generation car washer. My late dad owned or managed a car wash since 1969, and I have been reading SSCWN since the 70s. I have a couple of stories that aren't remarkable, but stand out to me.

I think I won a contest by locating a booth in an overhead picture of the convention floor. The prize was a frameable cover re-print. I picked the "Homer Simpson repairing a pump" issue. I was the one that suggested changing the names on the hat and shirt to mine and my washes name.

At another convention I was walking by the Extrutech booth and was flattered when I saw that they were using a picture of my wall that had been rehabbed with their product. Just a few minutes later I was at the SSCWN booth and saw that same wall in the current issue, but in the "before" state, pretty much showing people "What not to do". I grabbed a copy and headed over to the Extrutech booth and gave it to them. They displayed them side-by-side for the rest of the show.

Me being a lifelong resident of a small town of 10,000, I know a lot of people. My wife (from a city of 175K) thinks I know them all. The kicker was when we were on a canoe trip through the wilderness, 100 miles from home and someone shouted my name. Well, a few years ago I was sitting at a poker machine at Treasure Island in Las Vegas and heard a couple chatting directly behind me. I didn't pay much attention until the man said "Let's just sit next to Pat." I turned around to see JJJ and his wife Colleen. They sat down and within a few minutes my wife popped around the corner, to which I said "Look honey, I bumped into someone I know." I know that's not that much of a stretch since it was the last day of the convention, but we weren't at the convention hotel and most conventioneers had gone home.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Continued:

Anyway, the SSCWN has been a big part of my success, or at least for not failing miserably. This forum has been great as well, and on top of all of the business related benefits I have made some of my best friends in the whole world right here. I plan to retire in 6 years, but have no plans to vacate these two venues nor the friends that I have gained.

Thanks, JJJ, Bill, & now Jackson and Kate.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

registration website: www.sscwn.com.)

Just subscribed.

 

[jprb]

I remember an article on car wash security. It had pages of lock modifications, door security, and lots of great ideas on security issues.

 

[Washmee]

I bought it mainly for JJ's political editorializing.

 

[Earl Weiss]

The "Uncle Sam" photo. was great as was the layered lock feature. I also think there was something about what to have in a tool box / spare parts list.