I had the great pleasure of being part of the AutoCON team this year for the first annual event. It was held at the Aria hotel and casino in Las Vegas earlier this September. During the conference, I was able to see all my automotive heroes speak and they all inspired me to become even better. Some of them include David Lewis, Dave Anderson, Jim Ziegler, Grant Cardone, Brian Pasch, and Tracy Myers to name a few. I also had a chance to meet some of my most loyal friends on DealerELITE such as Bobby Compton, Susan Givens, Stan Sher, Joe Little, Bill Hamlin, and Troy Spring. Being partnered with Chris Saraceno and Ralph Paglia and all the members of PCG and FCE has been a dream come true. If you didn't attend AutoCON this year, be sure to go next year. I assure you it will be a life changing experience!

During my stay, I was able to be a guest presenter on the first day. My presentation was called "I Hate/Love My Online Reputation" where I had the opportunity to speak about our customer's perception of our dealership network as a whole and the power they now possess to make or break our businesses. I found my presentation to be a big success in that at least 1 person showed up :) Of course there was more who showed, but was pleasantly surprised to see how many people wanted to learn more about the topic and how it affects their business and themselves.

If there was just ONE thing I have taken away from AutoCON this year, it is what it takes to be a leader; truly a leader! It seemed to be a common theme among all the speakers in some form or another, and I think that's because the high caliber of our presenters. They were not just some random people trying to get noticed, these speakers were all professionals in their area of expertise and exuded the highest level of leadership. Even my partner Chris Saraceno. He made get up at 5:30 every morning and role play out my presentation. That's not even counting all the times we talked on the phone, emailed each other, and met at his house all before AutoCON. He didn't do all that for me because he had nothing better to do, he did it because he's a true leader and does whatever it takes to succeed! I couldn't ask for a better mentor than him.

All this being said, I'm, thankful for all the people that made AutoCON 2012 what it was and grateful for being surrounded by so many automotive professionals that never stopped proving to everyone why they are so successful just by being driven. I also want to thank each and every person who attended AutoCON 2012 to make it such a huge success. It truly was the training jewel of the year and will be 3 times more spectacular next year!

For those of you who could not attend this year, and/or couldn't make my session, I have uploaded my PowerPoint presentation below for you to use. Please feel free to contact with any questions you have regarding the slideshow. Have a great day and a successful month!

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION

AutoCON 2012 Reputation Presentation