The 2016 conference season is upon us. Conferences are an excellent place for vendors to gain exposure and connect with dealers in a concentrated area over several days. They are also a definite (and not inexpensive) investment. So, it makes sense to do all that you can to optimize your ROI.

Dealers can get overwhelmed by all of the booths. And, unless…

In reflecting back on 2015, I would like to reach out and share my thoughts about how grateful I am to be in a career I love and for that career to be in an industry that I love!  Very few days go by without thoughts of how truly thankful I am to be involved with so many great companies – from the large mainstays to the tech start-ups. And I am also lucky to work with the…

As Digital Dealer wraps up and a brief lull occurs in the major automotive conference schedule, I'd love to take some time to reflect on what has been going on in the industry and where it's all headed. Over the last several months, really since attending a conference in November of last year, I've been putting a lot of thought into how to improve the conferences in…

As the fall conference season approaches for the automotive industry, many vendors miss opportunities for exposure. Owning a public relations agency, my job is to maximize my client’s exposure to their audience. Conferences offer more potential customers for my clients, concentrated in a single place at a single time, than just about any other marketing opportunity. However,…

How many dealerships do you know where only one person is budgeted to attend educational conferences/workshops designed for digital marketing, social media, or BDC operations.  How many people from your dealership attended NADA this year?

Have you known a dealership that relied heavily on one person to lead their online strategy only to see the new "hot" dealership down the road lure them away? In most cases, the dealership is left hanging…

I was having a discussion with a dealer over a nice vodka tonic and a nice cigar when the discussion turned to conferences. "There are just too many that it's hard to know which ones to go to and which ones to skip," he said.

This concerned me a bit. I've been on that side of the debate before but with the help of friends like Jared Hamilton, Brian Pasch, and Ralph Paglia I have come to the conclusion that the industry doesn't have enough conferenes. Before…

I wanted to share some feedback I received from our Chicago Pitstop.

One of the dealers said to me that not only was the education some of the best he received, but the fact that he could bring multiple people from his dealership for less that the price of going to a larger conference was priceless.

His team was able to attend all 12 workshop session and he was so excited for the knowledge his team will be able to bring back to their dealership and impact production…