Albany, N.Y. – September 27th, 2016 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today that its National Customer User Summit was its largest yet, spanning two full days and offering many new events, classes and workshops for the auto dealership employees and managers who attended. This year's User Summit was held September 19-21, 2016 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center.

"The energy and feedback from everyone at this event was amazing," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. "One of my favorite sessions was the presentation from our DEV team. Our customers could not believe they were actually talking to the people who develop the software and that those people were listening to them and taking notes. All of our employees who worked so hard to make this event happen are absolute rock stars."

Auto dealership employees and managers from all over the United States attended the User Summit. Previous User Summits were smaller, regional events but for Auto/Mate's first National User Summit the event was extended to two full business days plus a half-day check-in and registration.

Auto/Mate offered dozens of classes and presentations for customers to attend, including workshops on new DMS features and break out sessions for individual departments. According to the post-event customer survey, the most popular events were the "Unified Name Database Management," "Applied Accounting Update," Open Accounting Lecture and  "History of Payroll & Its Future." Attendees also enjoyed the User Summit Introduction with Mike Esposito, the Monday happy hour and Tuesday night dinner.

"I am very excited to return to Shenandoah Ford, Buick & GMC to share my knowledge with all my team members," said Angela Burnett, Customer Care Manager with Shenandoah Ford & Shenandoah Buick GMC in Front Royal, VA.

"You have great people, they are the best, just so you know," said Bob Vine, Controller with Valley Sales, Inc. in Apple Valley, MN. "I especially liked the two-day format and the outside speakers that gave us updates on a few topics outside of Auto/Mate software. Have a great year, and see you next year!"

For the first time this year Auto/Mate included industry speakers in the line-up. Fifteen speakers presented on a variety of topics ranging from sales training and digital marketing to information technology (IT) issues and customer loyalty.

Seventeen industry sponsors supported the event, including the following eleven exhibiting sponsors:

• etfile
• CRMSuite
• RouteOne
• DealerSocket
• Innovative Programming Systems (Parts Scan It)
• DealerOps
• CarFax
• myKaarma
• 700Credit
• One-View
• Total Customer Connect

Additional, non-exhibitor sponsors included:

• Traffic Control
• Vantiv
• Halo Branded Solutions
• Miller Printing
• AIB Integrated Dealer Services
• Great America Financial Services

For information on the 2017 National Customer User Summit, send an email to jjoralemon@automate.com or call 877-829-7020 and ask for Jessica Joralemon.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. Our Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,200 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate has received DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 940 years of combined experience working in franchised auto dealerships, the foundation of its “Designed By Car People For Car People^TM” slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning its customers’ business each and every month with no long-term contracts and free software upgrades. For more information follow us on Twitter @AutoMateDMS and subscribe to our blog at www.automate.com/blog.