Auto Glass Week 2024 Sets Record With 3,000 Attendees as Jorge Sandoval Wins AGTO Gold Medal

Auto Glass Week, the most concentrated professional development event in the auto glass calendar, drew a record 3,000 attendees to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando in September 2024. The event was widely characterized within the industry as a landmark year, with AGSC President Jacques Navant describing the attendance figure as "earth-shattering."

The Auto Glass Technician Competition (AGTO) was a highlight of the event, with Jorge Sandoval winning the gold medal in an emotionally charged finale. Sandoval, who had competed at multiple previous Auto Glass Week events without a top-tier finish, was moved to tears by the win—a response he connected to a professional journey that had included doing chip repairs for $25 to put food on his family's table. The win represented, in his words, an achievement he had never imagined possible.

James Chapman, the 2023 AGTO gold medalist, served as a competition judge at AGW 2024, giving him a perspective on the evaluation process from the inside. Chapman also participated in a live windshield replacement demonstration on the show floor, an educational component that gave attendees direct observation of professional-level installation technique. He went on to join Fix Network's apprenticeship program as a national trainer after the event.

Beyond the competition, Auto Glass Week 2024 featured product launches and demonstrations from calibration equipment manufacturers, glass distributors, and adhesive suppliers. Educational sessions covered ADAS calibration best practices, state-level legislative developments, and business management topics for shop operators.

The record attendance reflected two converging trends: the industry's growing complexity, which makes trade event learning increasingly valuable, and the post-pandemic appetite for in-person professional community. Shop owners who attended reported that the networking value alone—conversations with peers, suppliers, and insurers in a concentrated two-day window—justified the cost of attendance.

For shops that did not attend AGW 2024, the record attendance and the legislative discussions that took place there suggest that AGW is an increasingly important part of the industry's policy and standards conversation, not merely a trade show. Shop operators who can commit to a day or more at AGW 2025 will have access to information and relationships that are difficult to replicate remotely.