Prizes totaling $10,000 to be awarded to the auto dealers who develop the most innovative strategies in 2012

Salt Lake City, Utah – July 18, 2012 – DrivingSales  today announced the call for entries for the 2012 DrivingSales Best Idea Contest which recognizes the most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2012. Five auto dealer finalists will have a chance to win over $10,000 in cash and prizes, and the opportunity to present their ‘best idea’ at the DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) taking place Sunday, October 21^st through Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. All U.S. dealerships are invited to apply.

“We are excited to see so many forward-thinking dealers and big ideas throughout the year which is why we are so proud to have the opportunity to shine light on the best-of-the-best ideas with this annual award,” said DrivingSales Founder and CEO Jared Hamilton. “The Best Idea award not only recognizes these hardworking innovators, but provides DSES attendees with a window into new and implementable ideas that are driving results for progressive dealers across the country.”

Last year’s award was presented to Mary Catherine Curry, Marketing Manager of Rice Toyota Scion who received the highest score for her ‘best idea’ of a sales and service alliance with a local hospital group. Click here to read more about last year’s award winner.

The DrivingSales Best Idea Awards are part of an exciting 2012 DSES line up, including the Innovation Cup Award and high-profile keynotes from Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google.  Early Bird registration for the DSES is now available through August 15^th for the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference.

About The 2012 DrivingSales Best Idea Award

The 2012 DrivingSales Best Idea Award contest is held during general session at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. All dealership employees are eligible to apply. Applications are reviewed by a dealer panel, which selects five finalists to be invited onstage at the DSES to present their ‘best idea.’ A panel of dealer judges reviews each strategy with each competitor, then determines the winner. The DrivingSales Best Idea Awards are given to one winner and runners up in the contest, with prizes totaling $10,000 awarded.

For more information about the DrivingSales Best Idea Award for dealers and/or to submit an application, go to http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/contests/. There is no charge to apply. 

The application deadline for the DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Award is midnight PST, August 31^st, 2012.

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 Executive Summit Media Relations:

Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340

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