We bring in world renowned speakers from inside and outside the auto industry that have been requested by our dealer attendees. By paying meticulous attention, we can connect dealer requests with the best-in-class presentations and deliver the highest quality education for our attendees. We strategically choose speakers that will help dealerships leave the DSES with an actionable plan to increase their bottom line.
Our line-up for 2011 is starting to come together and we’re really excited about it! Here’s who’s on board so far:
Breakout Presenter
Ben Anderson
President, AutoMotionTV
Ben Anderson is the moderator for “Mobile Marketing and the Dealer”: A weekly video series interviewing key influencers in the dealership market on mobile marketing best practices. Ben is the president of AutoMotionTV and a nationally known marketing entrepreneur.
Breakout Presenter
Mark Beithon
General Manager, Rudy Luther Toyota
Mark Beithon has been in the retail automobile business for 33 years. He has been a general manager for 25 years. Mark has operated dealerships in North Dakota, Arizona and various locations around Minneapolis and the surrounding area, six for the Luther Auto Group.
Breakout Presenter
Patrick Bennett
CTO, Showroom Logic
Patrick Bennett, CTO of Showroom Logic, has been addicted to technology-driven online marketing for over 10 years. Patrick has been a speaker at popular marketing events, including SMX West & Digital Dealer, has been featured on popular websites such as Mashable.com and has been a featured speaker at Universities such as BYU, Weber State & Neumont. Patrick’s affair with the industry is continually renewed with the continual spark of new technology, the excitement of creating successful solutions and the constant battle of understanding consumer behavior.
Showroom Logic is a leading digital dealership marketing company that drives traffic to dealership websites through innovative and automated solutions. As an industry leader in PPC/SEM, organic SEO, Analytics and custom application development, Showroom Logic is continually focused on creating solutions that are platformVindependent, intelligent, and require very little oversight from dealerships.
Special Panelist
Mark Bonfigli
Founder & CEO, Dealer.com
Mark Bonfigli is the Founder and CEO of Dealer.com, the leading provider of online marketing solutions for the automotive industry. He brings over 20 years of automotive marketing, retailing, wholesaling, and service experience to the company helm, including 10 years as co-founder of a New England dealership.
Under his leadership, Dealer.com earned 2011 Best Overall Company and Fastest Growing Company of the Year honors from the American Business Association, and placed #14 on Outside magazine’s 2011 list of Best Places to Work in America. The company has also ranked on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies in America list for the last five years – success that helped Bonfigli take home the Ernst & Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2009.
Special Panelist
Larry Bruce
President & CEO, OnlineDrive
As President and CEO of OnlineDrive Larry has been working with his development team to build the Automotive industries first and only Inbound Marketing System and Optimization Platform.
“The future of marketing is in providing valuable content that will get you ranked by search engines, get the attention of your audience and have them choose your business when it comes time to purchase. The difference between the internet winners and losers will be the businesses that let their customers decide how they market & what’s valuable. That’s why I founded OnlineDrive to remove developers from the online marketing process, give marketers real visitor centric data to make sound decisions on and put the marketers back in charge of online marketing for the business.”
In 2.5 years at Reynolds and Reynolds Larry Bruce helped to modify the AIMData database marketing platform into what is now Managed Marketing Solutions (MMS). Larry worked with the Reynolds development staff to scale the AIMData platform from 100 dealerships to now working in over 1000 dealerships and integrating direct mail, email, voice and text marketing into a single multi-channel marketing system.
Over the last 10 years Larry has started 3 businesses in Automotive Sales and Marketing. AIMData, ClickBuyDrive.com, both were successfully sold. Now Larry is at it again with start-up OnlineDrive. While Vice President at Reynolds and Reynolds Larry oversaw day to day dealership marketing operations, development of the MMS platform, sales and marketing for the product and Production of the MMS product materials.
Breakout Presenter
Jeff Cryder
Marketing & Communications Director, Lebanon Ford
Jeff Cryder is the Marketing & Communications Director at Lebanon Ford, a rural Ford dealership found just outside Cincinnati, OH. Jeff is a recent graduate from Miami University (OH) who specialized in communication, political science and military history. He came onto the scene a year ago and has quickly become an industry leader when it comes to internal and external marketing & communication initiatives with a focus on social. In addition to his role at Lebanon Ford Jeff is a consultant, enjoyer of the small things in life and Community Editor for DrivingSales.com. Jeff has been quoted in Automotive News, Auto Dealer Monthly, Ward’s Dealer Business and Driving Sales Magazine.
Keynote Speaker
Jason Falls
CEO, Exploring Social Media & Social Media Explorer LLC
Jason Falls is one of the leading thinkers, strategists and public speakers in the social media marketing, digital marketing and online communications industries. He is the author of the noted industry blog SocialMediaExplorer.com, a fixture at or near the top of the AdvertisingAge Power 150 Marketing Blogs list and is responsible for ExploringSocialMedia.com, a learning community for digital and social media marketing, online communications and technology. His first book, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide To Social Media Marketing, co-authored with Erik Deckers, is due out in October.
Falls has worked with brands like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons, Humana, NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, University of Louisville Health Care, Backupify, SHPS, Bacardi, The National Center for Family Literacy, Expion and The Kentucky Center. He has also been cited and quoted in several notable books on the subject of digital marketing including Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers and Jay Baer and Amber Naslund’s The Now Revolution.
Breakout Presenter
Dennis Galbraith
Owner, Revenue Guru
Dennis Galbraith is the author of Sales Integration. Through his national company, Revenue Guru, Dennis delivers consulting, training, and analytical services to dealers and their vendors. Previously, Dennis ran the automotive internet division of J.D. Power and Associates and was Vice President of Advertising Products and Training for Cars.com. He earned an MBA from University of Southern California and taught marketing for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and NADA Academy.
Breakout Presenter
Greg Goebel
President & CEO, Auto Dealer Monthly, LLC
Widely recognized and respected by dealers, vendors and finance company executives as the authority on special finance in the retail automotive space, Greg has taught his proven methods of special finance success to more than 4,000 dealers since 1998. Greg was a dealer for 18 years, and first began utilizing special finance in 1990 . His dealerships delivered more than 11,000 subprime deals. He continues to consult with dealers through Greg Goebel Training and Consulting, the dealer training division of Auto Dealer Monthly, and pushes each client to their maximum potential. He is also the author of the auto industry’s only book dedicated to special finance, – “The Complete Guide to Special Finance”
Special Panelist
Mitch Golub
President, cars.com
As the president of Cars.com, Mitch Golub is responsible for the daily operations that have transformed the company into the leading online automotive destination. Golub’s primary focus continues to be on the development of Cars.com’s strategic direction, ensuring the company’s sales, finance, marketing, product development, media and business development areas are all closely aligned with the company’s vision and positioned for sustainable growth.
Golub joined Cars.com in July 1997 as the organization’s first employee after a successful 21-year career with the Tribune Co. While with Tribune, he leveraged his extensive background in editorial management to lead the company’s new business initiatives, including the creation and management of start-ups in print, broadcast and online. Golub also held a leadership role in Tribune’s emerging New Media Group, where key accomplishments included the national launch of Digital City South Florida in partnership with America Online. In recognition of his contributions, Golub received the Tribune Co.’s first Values Award, presented in appreciation of business achievements demonstrating creativity and entrepreneurialism.
As a result of his expertise and pioneer status, Golub has participated in a variety of industry leading panels, workshops and speaking engagements and provides frequent commentary to publications such as Automotive News, Auto Remarketing, NADA’s Auto Exec, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is currently serving his fourth term on the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Board of Directors.
Breakout Presenter
John Griffin
Senior Vice President of Performance Management, vAuto, Inc.
John Griffin brings a wealth of automotive retail experience to the vAuto management team. Griffin has more than 20 years of executive management experience at some of the most successful dealer groups in the country. Designing and implementing highly effective sales and operational management processes throughout his career, he has developed a specialty as an accomplished trainer, providing results-driven best practice programs for all levels of dealership personnel. Griffin has also provided consulting services to manufacturers, re-marketers, auctions and suppliers in the automotive industry. Griffin received his B.S. in economics from the University of Dayton, and his M.B.A. from DePaul University’s Graduate School of Business. He has also completed comprehensive management training through OEM executive and dealer development programs.
Keynote Speaker
Jared Hamilton
Founder & CEO, DrivingSales
Jared Hamilton is the founder of DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network. He is a 3rd generation dealer that grew up at working at his father’s dealership in Silicon Valley, Northern California.
Jared attended Northwood University where he studied Automotive Marketing/Management and graduated from NADA’s Dealer Candidate Academy and NADA’s Advanced Education Program at Babson Collage. Jared lead the industry’s largest private study of dealership business models and how they have changed due to the influence of the internet and filmed a series of documentaries to educate dealers about the online marketplace. He is a top rated international speaker educating businesses about how to tackle their online opportunity. Jared resides in Sandy Utah with his wife and 4 children.
Special Panelist
John Holt
SVP, ADP Digital Marketing Group
John Holt is one of the “founding fathers” of automotive digital marketing. Predicting the Internet would change how people advertised, bought and sold automobiles, he co-founded The Cobalt Group in 1995. Under his leadership Cobalt became the leading provider of digital marketing platforms and advertising services to the North American automotive industry, serving more than half the auto dealers in North America. Cobalt was acquired by ADP Dealer Services in August 2010 and John now leads the ADP Digital Marketing group of Dealer Services, encompassing BZ Results, Cobalt, and Dealix. ADP’s Digital Marketing solutions span the customer lifecycle, helping dealers and their OEMs spend marketing dollars more efficiently while providing a superior online experience to consumers. He holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Organization and Management and a B.A. from Bowdoin College.
Keynote Speaker
Jonika Hoomes
Head of Automotive Channel Sales Partnerships, Google
Jonika Hoomes is the Head of Automotive Channel Sales Partnerships for North America. Jonika has over 7 years experience in Online Display and Search. She works closely with automotive partners and consults them regarding their SEM business processes, shares in-depth market analysis and has helped both partners and dealers maximize their investment with Google AdWords. Jonika holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Masters in Business Administration and is fluent in 5 languages.
Google and Driving Sales are teaming up to offer an hour long discussion around the enormous opportunity that exists in online advertising. As an attendee to this presentation you can look forward to hearing the latest around Google’s Online Advertising Products (Google Display Network, YouTube, Mobile), Consumer behavior insights and understanding the evolution of Search Engine Marketing in Automotive.
Breakout Presenter
Bethany Johnson
Internet Manager, RBM of Atlanta North
Bethany combines a fifteen-year automotive background with an MBA to administer to the ever-expanding base of Internet sales clientele at RBM North. Bethany earned Top Producer in North American Internet Sales for VW as well as Sales person of the Year at Porsche before joining Mercedes-Benz in 2007. She joined RBM-North so as to start-up the Internet Department, and takes great pride in successfully navigating customers through the intricacies of the Internet sales transaction while managing Ecommerce Duties. Bethany has been featured in such publications as Automotive News, AutoSuccess, F&I Magazine, Automotive Digest, and New York Times among others.
Special Panelist
Jeff Kershner
Founder, DealerRefresh.com
Director of Marketing, Younger Motor Cars
Jeff Kershner is the founder of DealerRefresh.com and current Director of Marketing at Younger Motor Cars. Jeff has been working in the car dealer business since the age of 18.
While working in sales, he was able to combine his passion for online marketing and selling cars.
After finding success as an Internet Sales / Sales and Marketing Manager, DealerRefresh.com, the first blog dedicated to automotive internet sales mangers, was created.
DealerRefresh.com has grown into an automotive foundation not only for internet sales professionals, but anyone in a dealership wanting to leverage Internet for profit. Their online forum helps car dealers with Online Marketing and Best Practices in the industry.
Keynote Speaker
Tae E. Kim
Head of SEM/Platform Channel Partnerships, Google
Tae E. Kim is Head of SEM/Platform Channel Partnerships at Google. Upon joining Google in early 2004, he contributed to the launch of the Google Maps product from Mountain View, CA and managed various other Consumer Operations teams focused on Google’s Geo products. He then moved to the Asia-Pacific region to lead and manage Google’s organic Search Quality operations in South Korea and China for two years before eventually returning to the San Francisco Bay Area to join his current team. Being at Google for over seven years, Tae has had the opportunity to see Google grow at a meteoric pace, from under 1,000 employees to over 27,000.
Born in South Korea, raised in suburban Boston and now residing in San Francisco, Tae is passionate about all things internet-related and has a particular interest in propagating web-based technologies throughout rural regions of the world. He holds a BS degree in Information Systems and Operations Management from Boston College.
Breakout Presenter
Marc McGurren
Internet Director, Jerry Durant Auto Group
Marc McGurren is the Internet Director for the Jerry Durant Auto Group located in Weatherford, TX. He is a graduate of Angelo State University (BBA, 2001), Dallas Theological Seminary (MA/BS, 2003), and the NADA Dealer Academy (2010). He is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of North Texas. Most recently, Marc was awarded the Driving Sales Innovation Cup at this years Driving Sales Executive Summit for his mobile platform for engaging after hours customers at the point of sale.
Special Panelist
Eric Miltsch
Internet Director, Auction Direct USA
Co-founder, CarZar
Auction Direct is one of the fastest growing dealership groups in the nation and was recently awarded the prestigious “Independent Dealer of the Year” award for the second year in a row. Much of their growth is attributed to their advanced digital marketing strategies and social media efforts. Eric, who heads their online initiatives for the Rochester, NY based dealer group, helps dominate their respective markets. Eric is also the Co-founder of CarZar, the 1st location-based photo-sharing iPhone app designed for car enthusiasts around the world.
Breakout Presenter
Dan Moore
CEO, Smart Web Concepts
Dan Moore is the CEO of Smart Web Concepts, Inc. With his wide array of experience in automotive sales and management has given him a unique perspective: he’s a big-idea thinker with boots-on-the-ground experience in leveraging the Internet to increase sales for a number of dealerships and dealership groups all over Northern California. Today, Dan helps dealers create smart Internet strategies using social media, search engines, and online advertising to maximize dealer advertising budgets, and reach.
Breakout Presenter
Cory Mosley
Founder & Principal, Mosley Automotive Training
Columnist, Bobit Business Media
Cory Mosley has built a reputation as a go-to sales strategist, consultant and trainer by challenging the status quo. His new-school techniques and progressive strategies have helped dealers both large and small build and restructure profitable sales, BDC and Internet operations.
Cory’s company, Mosley Automotive was one of the early boutique training and consulting companies established to focus solely on Internet sales. His past and current clients include many of the Automotive News top 125 dealer groups and several OEM’s. Most recently, Cory’s work was profiled in F&I and Showroom Magazines. His monthly column “Sales Driver” is read by thousands of dealership personnel nationwide.
Keynote Speaker
Matt Murray
Director of Digital Marketing, Dealer.com
Murray brings more than 8 years of technical and software training to his role as Director of Digital Marketing. His expertise includes search, social media marketing, and best practices training for dealerships and manufacturers. In his five years with the company, Murray has helped thousands of dealers maximize their digital marketing efforts using Dealer.com solutions. Currently he manages Dealer.com’s East Coast Enterprise Sales team while assisting with ongoing digital marketing strategy development and implementation. Prior to joining Dealer.com, Murray spent 6 years in the United States Navy, serving in every major theater as both operator and trainer of forward deployed forces.
Breakout Presenter
Tracy Myers
Owner, Frank Myers Auto Maxx
Owner/Partner, The Uncle Frank Group
Dean, The Celebrity Academy
Tracy Myers is a car dealership owner, author, speaker and entrepreneur. He recently celebrated the opening of his newest business, The Celebrity Academy in Charlotte, NC. The Academy teaches professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners how to get noticed, gain instant credibility, make millions and dominate their competition by building their Expert Status.
Following these principles have helped Tracy gain enormous success at his own dealership, Frank Myers Auto Maxx. It was recently recognized as the Number One Small Businesses in NC by Business Leader Magazine, one of the top three dealerships to work for in the country by The Dealer Business Journal, and one of the Top 22 Independent Automotive Retailers in the United States by Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine.
Special Panelist
Mark O’Neil
Chairman & CEO, DealerTrack
Mark O’Neil began his career at Intel Corporation, where he first developed knowledge of the technology industry. He subsequently worked for McKinsey & Co. before moving to the automotive industry in the late 1980s. His experience in the automotive industry includes serving as President of Ertley MotorWorld, a dealer group based in Pennsylvania. From this traditional retail dealer group, he co-founded and lead the development and rollout of CarMax, Inc., a publicly-traded used automobile retailer. He has been Chairman of the Board of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. since May 2005 and its Director since August 2001. He also serves as Chairman and Director of Dealertrack Inc. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Breakout Presenter
Brian Pasch
Owner, PCG Digital Marketing
Brian Pasch is a 20-year veteran of the direct marketing industry. His career has spanned both management and technology roles. He is known for his expertise in consumer data warehousing models as well as search engine optimization.
Brian Pasch is an avid writer and blogger and his commentary on Search Engine Optimization and Digital Marketing can be easily found on the Internet. Pasch practices what he preaches. His published digital articles and commentary yields new clients every week for his growing enterprise.
Special Panelist
Chip Perry
President & CEO, AutoTrader.com
Chip Perry was the first employee at AutoTrader.com when he moved from Los Angeles to Atlanta to start the company for Cox Enterprises in August 1997. Previously he was a Vice President at The Los Angeles Times and The Times Mirror Company where he led the team that launched one of the newspaper industry’s first online newspaper services in 1993. Initially delivered via the Prodigy network, the service was renamed and launched as latimes.com in 1995. Earlier in his career Perry was a consultant with McKinsey & Company and an engineer and sales rep for Bechtel Corporation. During his 13+ years with AutoTrader.com, Perry has managed the growth and evolution of the business as it rose from a raw start-up to become the leader in the online auto space with over $700 million in revenues and over 2000 employees, including an 800+ person sales force and a $100 million annual marketing budget. Recently AutoTrader.com acquired Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com), vAuto, HomeNet Automotive, and VinSolutions to broaden its business scope and its ability to improve the car shopping process for consumers and create new marketing opportunities for auto dealers and manufacturers. Today AutoTrader.com is owned by Cox Enterprises and Providence Equity Partners which has a 25% equity stake in the company.
Breakout Presenter
Bill Playford
Vice President & Partner, DealerKnows LLC
A business development professional with nearly ten years of domestic and international automotive industry experience, Bill Playford focuses on business design, electronic commerce, product development, market cultivation, rapid implementation, and team advancement. Playford is adept at quick strategic development and execution while emphasising consistency in innovation, sales leadership, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. He is passionately committed to shifting the retail automotive paradigm.
Keynote Speaker
Paul Potratz
Owner, Potratz Partners Advertising
Paul is an Industry Leader and Speaker in Digital, Behavioral and Social Media Marketing for the Automotive Industry.
He has been interviewed by and contributed to The New York Times, NY Post, CBS, Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, and several regional newspapers and radio talk shows on topics specific to automotive marketing and digital, social media and consumer behaviors.
Paul presents real life examples showing how his dealerships are rated the top 100 in the country. Single-point and multi-point dealerships across the country have implemented his unique Social and Digital e-commerce techniques, resulting in tremendous sales success and cost savings.
He delivers his strategic digital, social, and behavioral marketing philosophies in a workshop style format so dealerships starting out with digital marketing and advanced dealerships can learn and
immediately start implementing these strategies with their existing staff. With his focus on education, Paul shares his expertise weekly through online workshops via his website and is also a trainer for Driving Sales University, PCG Pit Stops and speaks at NADA, NADA 20 and NCM 20.
Paul hosts the weekly video series “Think Tank Tuesday” which reaches over 39,000 automotive professionals across the United States, Canada, and the UK.
Special Panelist
Ken Potter
Vice President of Sales & Dealer Relations, CarsDirect
Ken Potter oversees automotive dealer referrals and dealer support for CarsDirect.com, the leading Internet car buying service. Potter also manages dealer relations for CarsDirect in the Western United States. Potter ensures that Internet shoppers can choose to meet with authorized dealers, each of whom can guide the buyer through the car purchase process.
Prior to joining the CarsDirect team in 2001, Potter honed his leadership skills as a general manager at Carmax. He was also an account executive for manufacturer Boise Cascade.
Potter was honorably discharged from the military after four years of the service in the Air Force.
Breakout Presenter
Shaun Raines
Director of Automotive, ReachLocal
Founder, Dealer Advisor
Shaun Raines is the Director of Automotive at ReachLocal and founder of Dealer Advisor. With 20 years of Automotive experience covering sales, parts, service and all things internet, Shaun delivers relevant presentations with a unique mixture of knowledge, conviction and humor.
Keynote Speaker
Kevin Root
Chief Product Officer, Dealer.com
Kevin Root is the Chief Product Officer for Dealer.com. He has worked in the automotive industry for over twenty-five years and has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as one of the original automotive ecommerce pioneers.
Kevin is an automotive digital marketing subject matter expert and has led the product strategy for major portals including DriverSide.com, MSN Autos/CarPoint and UsedCars.com. He is accredited for bringing over a dozen successful products to market. Kevin has consulted with and developed ecommerce performance improvement solutions for many of the major automotive OEMs and several leading dealer groups.
Previously, Root was the SVP of Product Strategy at DriverSide, VP of Strategy and Marketing at Dealix and the VP Products and Services of Cobalt’s Applications Group. He was responsible for product management, strategy, dealer performance improvement consulting and Cobalt’s industry-leading research initiatives.
Before Cobalt, Root worked at Microsoft as a product planner for CarPoint where he launched and managed the MSN Used Car Marketplace, led product strategy and conceived Microsoft’s DealerPoint lead management tool.
Kevin is a frequent keynote speaker on automotive ecommerce, digital marketing and dealer performance improvement at industry and OEM conferences.
Keynote Speaker
JD Rucker
Director of New Media, TK Carsites
JD Rucker is Director of New Media at TK Carsites, responsible for research, development, and implementation of dealership marketing strategies on search engines and social media.
JD is also President of Hasai, Inc, and a wholly owned subsidiary of TK Carsites that specializes in viral marketing campaigns in and out of the automotive industry.
His works, strategies, and quotes have been seen in hundreds of publications and news outlets including The New York Times, NPR, and Time Magazine.
Keynote Speaker
Rob Siefker
Director of Customer Loyalty Team, Zappos
Rob joined Zappos.com in January of 2004 and is the Director of the Customer Loyalty Team. He has spent his entire career with Zappos providing the very best service for both customers and employees. Starting his career with the company as a temporary call center employee he has helped the team grow from 30 to 350 employees.
Rob is a strong ambassador and promoter of the Zappos brand and is commitment to developing a world class culture. He has previously represented Zappos by speaking at conferences for IQPC, Frost & Sullivan, and Marcus Evans. He’s also been a guest speaker at Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality.
Rob grew up in Denver, Colorado and later earned a BA in History from Santa Clara University in 2002.
Special Panelist
Jack Simmons
Dealer Training Manager, Cars.com
Jack Simmons has trained more than 100,000 automotive professionals over the course of his more than 30 years in the industry, including both franchise and independent dealers as well as professionals from automotive manufacturers and industry organizations. A former dealer himself, Jack has been on the forefront of helping dealerships attract the online car shopper, from managing a store’s online reputation and optimizing new car inventory listings to winning with mobile. He is a frequent speaker at industry events including NADA, NIADA, Digital Dealer, the DrivingSales Executive Summit, the J.D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable and national BHPH conferences.
Previously, Jack served as a national dealer trainer for AutoTrader.com, where he managed and developed training programs for dealers, manufacturers and state automotive associations. He joined Cars.com in 2010.
Breakout Presenter
Todd Smith
CEO & Co-founder, ActivEngage, Inc.
Todd is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ActivEngage, Inc., the automotive industry’s leading live chat service provider. He has over 20 years of successful industry experience and has worked in every facet of dealership operations, including spending 2007 as the general manager of a Chevrolet dealership. Todd has developed some of the most cutting edge eBusiness, BDC and showroom sales strategies and solutions for a variety of clients including Ford, Ford of Canada, AutoNation, Budget Car Sales, Maritz Inc, Mazda North America, Toyota Motors Sales, ADP AutoTrader.com and over 1,500 dealerships across the U.S.
Keynote Speaker
Aaron Strout
CMO, Powered, Inc.
Aaron is the chief marketing officer at Austin-based social media agency, Powered Inc. At Powered, Aaron not only focuses on the day to day marketing activities but also provides a social voice for the company. In this role, Aaron continues with his speaking, blogging (recently syndicated on socialmediainformer.com), podcasting and social networking activities with an eye toward creating awareness and lead generation for the company.
Prior to joining Powered, Aaron was the Vice President of Social Media at Mzinga, a Boston-based provider of online communities for businesses. In his role, Aaron focused on tapping into the power of social media for business. In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and new media landscape, Aaron has more than 17 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing.
Before joining Mzinga, Aaron worked at Fidelity Investments in their retail division, with a focus on online and acquisition marketing. Aaron’s work at Fidelity revolved around Web strategy and marketing, as well as the development of interactive and print campaigns, including direct mail, e-mail, online ads, and event marketing.
Aaron is also a founding member and former president of ( BIMA) and a member and former board member of the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX). Aaron is also on the advisory board member of the prestigious Social Media Club.
Last but not least, Aaron and his podcast partner, Kyle Flaherty, host a weekly podcast called the Quick-n-Dirty every week on Thursday at 3 PM ET.
Keynote Speaker
Gary Vaynerchuk
Host, winelibrarytv.com
Co-Founder, VaynerMedia
Chairman, Corkd
This year, we are stoked to announce that Dealer.com has helped arrange Gary Vaynerchuk as a primary keynote.
Vaynerchuk grew revenue in his family’s wine business from $4 million in 1997 to $60 million in 2008 by harnessing the power of social media. He became one of the first to reach Facebook’s friend limit and accumulated more than 800,000 followers on Twitter. Well known from his guest appearances on programs such as CNN Your Money, Fox Business Your Questions Your Money, and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Vaynerchuk is also an author whose books include Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your Passion, which debuted as a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Conference Emcee
Charlie Vogelheim
Co-Founder, DrivingSales Executive Summit
Charlie Vogelheim co-founded the DrivingSales Executive Summit and is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at ResponseLogix. He has over 25 years of automotive industry experience including roles as VP at J.D. Power and as executive editor at both Kelley Blue Book and IntelliChoice.
As the Executive Editor at IntelliChoice.com he was responsible for all aspects of the ongoing success and growth of the consumer facing website. IntelliChoice created and provides cost of ownership information and identifies those vehicles that are the best overall value. IntelliChoice is part of the Motor Trend Automotive Group.
Prior to IntelliChoice.com Charlie worked at JD Power and Kelley Blue Book. At JD Power, Charlie was responsible for the International Automotive Roundtable, the premier forum for industry leaders and executives to share and discuss market forces affecting the automotive industry. During Charlie’s 20 years at Kelley Blue Book, he served as a key member of its management team and was instrumental in helping to change the Kelley identity from a regional trade publishing company to the Automotive Industry’s leading internet information provider.
Breakout Presenter
Joe Webb
President & Founder, DealerKnows
Joe Webb is the Founder of DealerKnows Consulting, an automotive Internet sales training firm specializing in assisting dealers with the advancement of their online efforts through hands-on/on-site and virtual consulting.
Joe has been called “the funniest guy in the car business” and has consulted nationwide, showing dealerships success by instilling proven Internet marketing practices. He has written for multiple publications, now dedicating most of his content to the primary automotive resource sites, and is a regular top-rated speaker at industry conferences.
Joe Webb also speaks at NADA Dealer 20 groups on topics from lead management, hiring for the Internet department, BDC and Internet Department structure, and dealership marketing, to social media. As a Chicago guy with a history of true dealership retail success, his primary goal, as he always states, is “to better the culture of car sales”.
In his (limited) free time, when not spending it with his family, he performs and films sketch comedy and improv throughout the Chicagoland area as well as writes screenplays, short films, and sketch comedy.
