Scott Painter appears exclusively at October event for one-on-one discussion on industry innovation and dealer pain points with DrivingSales CEO

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – October 2, 2012 – DrivingSales today announced that Scott Painter, Chairman and CEO of TrueCar, Inc., will take center stage for a one-on-one interview with DrivingSales CEO Jared Hamilton at the 4^th annual DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES). The DSES, which is the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers, is the only auto conference Painter appears at this fall, and he joins an exciting keynote line-up that includes Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance,  prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google.

Painter’s interview with Hamilton takes place on the main stage of the DrivingSales Executive Summit at the Bellagio Las Vegas on Monday, October 22^nd at 2:00 pm PT. The question and answer session will cover Painter’s role with, and contributions to, TrueCar, including where the company has been, where it's going and what Painter sees in the future for the auto industry.  Painter will also take questions submitted prior to the event by the DrivingSales community.

“We are excited that Scott is joining us for the summit, his efforts have truly aimed to push the boundaries of our industry. All Scott’s auto-related businesses in some way have melded technology, data and car-selling – a theme that we are zeroing in on at this year’s summit,” said Hamilton. “We look forward to a provocative, stimulating and illuminating session with Scott, one that will be of great interest not only to our dealer attendees and community, but also to the industry at large.”

Painter’s career as an entrepreneur spans three decades. He is the founder of start-ups including SharesPost, PriceLock, CarsDirect.com, Zag.com and Brighthouse, and most recently founded TrueCar, which seeks to level the playing field of car-buying for customers and dealers alike by marrying shopping at a dealer showroom floor with online research and purchasing. Painter has received numerous awards and recognition for his business enterprises, including being named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010 and 2011. His outspoken and forward-looking views on the automotive industry have been sought by media outlets including CNN.com, FOX News, National Public Radio, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, The Economic Times and BusinessWeek. Painter attended West Point Academy for two years, where he studied political science, then transferred to UC Berkeley where he studied economics before leaving to lead his first start-up, INFOAccess, a car buying information website. 

“I am thrilled to be appearing for the first time at the DrivingSales Executive Summit, one of the most important events our industry has to offer dealers,” said Painter. “And I am delighted to have the opportunity to have this conversation with Jared and the DSES attendees - who are some of the most progressive dealers in our industry – as well as with the dealer community as a whole.”

The DrivingSales Executive Summit takes place Sunday, October 21^st through Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas and brings together the most progressive dealers in the country, along with world-renowned speakers, all focused on pushing the auto industry’s ‘innovation boundaries’ and translating the latest trends and business realities into solid 2013 action plans for every dealership department. The summit is 100 percent dealer-driven and has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio and is the only automotive conference where dealers decide the agenda, not the vendor sponsors. This translates into the highest level of learning for the dealer attendees versus other events where workshops are little more than glorified sales pitches. 

Last year's summit was standing room only, and although DSES 2012 will allow for an expanded number of registrants, it is expected to sell out quickly.  Register online for the DrivingSales Executive Summit.

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: www.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

About DrivingSales

Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

*Vendor Neutral Policy: Dedicated solely to making dealerships more profitable, while also providing benefit to automakers and the industry as a whole, DrivingSales adheres to a strict vendor neutral policy through each of its channels. This means the company only provides unbiased information, not ‘pay-to-play’ follow up services -- and never accepts payment in exchange for media coverage or lets potential advertisers dictate messaging or create bias in any of its channels.

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

Angela Jacobson (angela@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776