Networking Opportunities
Real Conversations. Real Connections.
AAPEX is where the aftermarket shows up for REAL — not just to walk the floor, but to talk shop, do business, and build the kind of relationships you can’t make behind a screen. From informal meetups to hosted events and community-wide gatherings, you’ll connect with fellow pros who live and breathe this industry every day.
Key Events
AAPEX Forum
The show floor doesn’t open until tomorrow, but the party starts tonight! New for 2026, the Opening Reception moves to the AAPEX Forum — giving you a first look at the impressive space while you reconnect with colleagues, meet potential new suppliers, and set the tone for three days of real business. This is where the week begins.
Free and open to all.
AAPEX Forum
Take a break with your team or chat with new connections. Exclusively open to buyers (denoted by a red badge), this lunch is a relaxed space for decision-makers to recharge and refuel.
The Venetian Expo, Palazzo Ballroom, 5th Floor
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — especially when it’s served across from one of the most decorated coaches in sports history: Mike Krzyzewski. Known as Coach K, this year’s keynote speaker built a legacy of more than 1,200 career wins, five NCAA championships, and three Olympic gold medals. He’ll share how the right mindset can help you lead through change, build trust, create a winning culture, and perform under pressure.
This is a ticketed event. Individual tickets and reserved tables are available for exhibitors and registered attendees. Click here for more information.
The Venetian Expo, Level 2, Joe’s Garage
Beers and Gears brings together service and repair professionals and their industry partners to talk shop over a cold drink. AAPEX’s popular custom hat bar and flash tattoos are back for 2026 — don’t miss grabbing your free souvenirs, sure to be conversation-starters.
Free to attend and open to all.
Flight Club Las Vegas
Connect with the world in one room. This international reception brings together 500+ buyers, distributors, and suppliers from 40+ countries, making it a must-attend for anyone looking to grow global relationships.
*This is a ticketed event. Register here.
The Venetian Hotel, Ballroom TBD
The Fabulous Networking Reception is the import nameplate community’s signature event, bringing together influential leaders and key players from across the import segment of the aftermarket. Whether you’re expanding your professional network or going deeper with existing contacts, this focused, high-energy room is where meaningful connections and new opportunities happen.
Ticketed event for Import Vehicle Community members, sponsors, and guests. Contact [email protected] with ticket inquiries.
The Venetian, Veronese Ballroom
Before the show floor opens Tuesday morning, the Women in Auto Care Breakfast is a moment to connect and be inspired as we recognize the incredible women making an impact in the automotive aftermarket. Don’t miss this year’s reveal of the Women in Auto Care Awards honoring outstanding achievement across the industry.
Ticketed event. $60 per ticket. Register at autocare.org or contact [email protected].
Venetian Expo, Level 2, Joe’s Garage
After a standout debut in 2025, the Student Engine Assembly Competition is back with more high-stakes action. Watch top technical school teams go head-to-head in a race to tear down and reassemble a small block V8 engine, live on the show floor. Last year’s winners took home a $1,000 Snap-On gift card, a premium Milwaukee Prize pack, and more. Drop by to cheer them on, witness the talent coming out of today’s vocational schools — and maybe meet your next great technician.
Free to watch and open to all.
The Venetian Expo, Level 2, Remanufacturing Section
Join reman professionals and anyone with an interest in the growing remanufacturing segment for an hour of liked-minded conversation, connection, and a closer look at one of the aftermarket’s most important and evolving categories.
Free to attend and open to all.
The Venetian, Titian Ballroom
The Women in Auto Care community is dedicated to connecting, empowering, and mentoring women within the auto care industry — and this reception is open to everyone who supports that mission. Join the community for an hour of real conversation, new connections, and industry-wide solidarity outside of the busy show floor.
Free to attend and open to all.
Venetian Expo and AAPEX Forum Show Floors
AAPEX’s popular Booth Crawls are back — and in 2026 they expand across both the Venetian Expo and AAPEX Forum show floors. Each day, participating exhibitors roll out happy hours, giveaways, demos, and moments you won’t see anywhere else on the floor. It’s the best way to discover exhibitors you might have walked past. Check back for participating booths soon!
AAPEX Forum Roadside Attractions
Daily | AAPEX Show Hours
AAPEX Forum Show Floor
Make a pit stop at the AAPEX Forum Roadside Attractions any time — it’s a perfect place to recharge and catch some AAPEXCITEMENT. This is where you’ll find celebrity appearances and autograph sessions featuring some of the biggest names in Hollywood and the world of sports, including Mark Wahlberg, Barry Sanders, Jimmie Johnson, Mia Hamm, Randy Johnson and Grant Hill.
Long day on your feet? Enjoy four massage booths and massage chairs to take the edge off, plus a Prize Wall and a chance to win a Ford F-150. Additional giveaways include his-and-hers Rolex watches, jewelry, two tickets to Super Bowl 61 in Los Angeles, a cruise package, and two tickets plus hotel and airfare to El Clasico in Madrid.
Here’s a few more “roadside attractions” you’ll want to pull over for:
AAPEX Forum Show Floor
Feel what it’s like to pilot a race car at full speed. A NASCAR simulator gives you a chance to get behind the wheel and put your reflexes to the test. Each day, the top racer will win tickets to the NASCAR race of their choice — and the challenge resets daily, so there’s always a new leaderboard to climb!
Free and open to all.
Venetian Expo and AAPEX Forum
Hunger can strike at any moment when you’re walking the show floor, so food trucks will be parked INSIDE both the Venetian Expo and the AAPEX Forum, ready to serve up a meal or snack. Grab a bite and a seat at one of the Rest Stops’ shaded picnic tables to refuel, get some work done, and connect with peers from near and far.
Open to all; food available for purchase.
Location TBD
Think you know your parts? Prove it. The AAPEX Escape Room is a hands-on puzzle experience built specifically for the aftermarket industry — one where the pieces are three-dimensional models of a turbocharger, a smart alternator, and an electronic throttle body. Work with your team to crack the code in under 10 minutes. It’s part brain teaser, part industry showmanship, and completely unlike anything else on the floor.
Free and open to all.
AAPEX Forum, Outdoors
Talk shop while taking in automotive art created by the AAPEX community — you included! This outdoor space is the perfect place to gather between meetings and sessions while indulging your creative side on a fresh canvas. Grab a marker and leave your impression on the Attendee Art Wall each day.
Free and open to all.
AAPEX Forum Show Floor
Walk through Illustration Intake – Where AAPEX Stages Come to Life and see AAPEX in a whole new way. The tunnel connecting the AAPEX Forum stages will be lined with art inspired by sessions happening this November. Artists will capture the ideas, the energy, and the conversation in real time — worth a walk-through every single day.
Free and open to all attendees.