The first round of speakers for the 9^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition has been released. I am very honored that I will be speaking at the conference on a topic that most car dealers have not heard about.

My topic deals with the fact that car dealers are under attack and their own inventory is being used against them. Unaware of the consequences, car dealers are participating in inventory publishing models that are hurting their direct website traffic!

I hope that all DealerElite members will mark their calendar and learn about this growing pandemic in the automotive industry.

Digital Dealer Conference Dates

The 9th Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition is scheduled for October 12 to 14, 2010, at the Mirage in Las Vegas. It will feature sessions, roundtables and a vendor exposition for dealership managers and directors who are interested in learning more about doing business on the Internet.

Seven automobile dealership managers have been included in the first round of speakers in addition to other top industry speakers:

• Broderick Alley, Internet Sales Director, Diehl Auto Group, on building an Internet department with a limited budget
• Todd Crossley, General Manager, Gary Crossley Ford, on how Crossley Ford became the #1 dealer in Kansas City
• Chris Fousek, e-commerce director for the Village Automotive Group in Massachusetts, on using business intelligence to sell more vehicles
• Tim Jennings, Tom Sparks Auto with YouTube video walk-around essentials
• Jim Flint, corporate director of Interactive Sales and Marketing for the John Eagle Dealerships, on building a team and processes so you can set up your own internet department
• Kevin Frye, e-commerce director, Jeff Wyler Automotive Family with real life dealership examples to become leaner and meaner in the market to drive money to the bottom line
• Shaun Kniffin, Director of Internet Sales and eBusiness Development for the Germain Motor Company on migrating from having an Internet department to becoming an Internet group

All dealership personnel presenting at the 9^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition will focus their presentations on real world examples from their experience at the dealership and include new insights and practices that session attendees can take home and implement immediately.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 9^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is the ideal learning and networking venue for general managers, dealer principals, internet sales managers, e-commerce directors, BDC managers, CRM managers, pre-owned managers, F&I managers and fixed operations managers.

More than 550 dealership attendees are expected at the fall event along with as many as 90 exhibitors and sponsors. For more information about the 9^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, go to www.digitaldealerconference.com or contact Susan Tyson at styson@dealer-communications.com, 312 558-1799.