Vaynerchuk joins line-up that includes DealerTrack’s Mark O’Neill, Presidio’s  Erin Kerrigan and Markel Automotive’s Tony Caputo; “Most Valuable Insight’ competition applications open – deadline March 3rd; event focuses on latest trends/best practices to strengthen Capital, People and Brand

Salt Lake City, Utah – February 19, 2014 – DrivingSales today announced the full line-up for the second annual DrivingSales Presidents Club, designed exclusively to help dealership principals and general managers build the strategies they need to adapt to - and lead - a changing automotive retail market. New York Times best-selling author and marketing trailblazer, Gary Vaynerchuk, headlines a powerful slate of keynoters at the intimate and collaborative event, all of whom will provide fresh insights, data-based strategies and proven best practices focused on the three foundational elements of successful dealership operations: ‘Capital,’ ‘Brand’ and ‘People’.

The company also announced that applications are open for one of the most popular segments of the event, The Most Valuable Insight competition, which showcases original data/research that offers unique and actionable value for dealerships. The Presidents Club will be held on Wednesday April 16^th at The Grand Hyatt in New York City. 

“The DrivingSales Presidents Club returns with a bang for its second year, offering a dynamic, information- and inspiration-packed agenda for our elite group of dealership leaders,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “From Gary Vaynerchuk, who brought an entire audience of auto dealers to their feet at our 2011 Executive Summit, to Jay Rao who offers best practices from a wealth of research on successfully implanting innovation in the dealership, to DealerTrack’s Mark O’Neill, who will participate in an open QA, our attendees will have front row seats to some of the most exciting, high-level and productive thinking in (and outside) our industry.”

Last year’s Presidents Club hosted dealer principals and general managers from across the country and sold out weeks in advance. Said attendee Brad Hensley, Founder of Knoxville Auto Brokers “I'm leaving DrivingSales President's Club more inspired to be a trendsetter in our industry than ever! Thank you.”

The Line-up

• Gary Vaynerchuk “Build Your Dealership Brand With Clarity In This Noisy World” 

Already considered a quintessential maven of modern-day marketing, Gary Vaynerchuk is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author as well as a self-trained wine and social media expert. In 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business from $3 million to $45 million by 2005. Although Gary does not consider himself to be a ‘techie’, in 2005, he began video blogging and established himself as a true social media trailblazer. Gaining nearly 1 million Twitter followers, Gary was included in BusinessWeek’s list of the “top 20 people every entrepreneur should follow.”

• Jay Rao, “Leadership Skills Necessary to Implement A Strategy Of Innovation”

Rao is Professor of Tech., Operations & Info. Management at Babson College whose research and case studies have appeared in multiple pulbications including The Sloan Management Review, The European Financial Review, and the Journal of Innovative Management.

• Erin Kerrigan, “Buying or Selling a Dealership? Know These Important Trends”

Returning for a second year as a keynote, Kerrigan is Managing Director & Co-Head of Presidio Automotive

• Tony Caputo “Dealership Team Development For Bottom-line Results”

Caputo is Vice President of the Markel Automotive Group

• Jon Lancaster “Preparing Your Store For The Economic Pressures Of 2014”

Lancaster is Managing Director of Lancaster Investments, LLC

• Mark O’Neil  “Open Q&A” 
  Mark O’Neil is Chairman, President and CEO of Dealertrack Technologies 

The Most Valuable Insight Competition

The Most Valuable Insight Competition is a key element of the Presidents Club and encourages automotive professionals to illuminate something in the automotive industry that will impact dealership executives at the top. Finalists selected by dealer judges from online applicants have the opportunity to present their ‘insight’ on-stage at the Presidents Club. The presentation includes a Q&A with a panel of dealer judges who score each insight.  The finalist determined to have the Most Valuable Insight will have the opportunity to present findings in more detail at the Annual DrivingSales Executive Summit in October 2014. The deadline to apply is March 3, 2014. Applications are available at http://drivingsalespresidentsclub.com/application/

“The President’s Club sells out fast because we keep it intimate and collaborative,” continued Hamilton.  “We want dealer attendees to meet in an environment that nurtures truly productive dialogue and networking -- one that ensures they walk away with some of the most provocative and implementable ideas our industry has to offer.”

About The DrivingSales Presidents Club

Held annually on the east coast, The DrivingSales Presidents Club offers dealer principals a place where they can access the right, relevant information to lead their dealerships – profit-building information filtered through those who understand it best: innovative leaders from inside and outside the industry who have built great business strategies; progressive dealerships who are making a difference on the ground, and the forward-thinking general managers and dealership principals who not only know what information matters, but how it matters. The event, which is dealer-designed to cover the topics most relevant to the challenges of dealership leadership today, also emphasizes peer interaction and idea-sharing forums. Discussions and presentations focus on the three foundational assets of successful dealership operations, Capital, Brand and People and the event includes The Most Valuable Insight competition.

About DrivingSales

DrivingSales is a professional network serving the auto industry with dealer-driven news and information, online training, and performance data, all to enable dealers to make critical business decisions at their dealerships.  DrivingSales’ mission is to connect progressive dealership professionals to the people and information they need to maximize their success.  Founded by a third-generation car dealer, and opened up to the industry in 2008, today DrivingSales has registered users in over 50% of new car dealerships in the US and is active in several other countries around the globe.  To learn more about the DrivingSales community, training or performance analytics visit DrivingSales.com, DrivingSalesUniversity.com and DrivingSalesData.com

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Crystal Hartwell (crystal@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 714.987.1016