Award recognizes the most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2012; Finalists include Daniel Boismier, Alan Krutsch, Wendy Lowen, Matthew Smith, and Bryan Wilson

Salt Lake City, Utah – October 8, 2012 – DrivingSales today announced that five auto dealer finalists have been selected for the 2012 DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Awards. The awards recognize the most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2012 and will be presented at the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES), the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers.

The 2012 DrivingSales Dealer Best Idea Awards finalists are:

-          Daniel Boismier, Internet Director, The Suburban Collection

-          Alan Krutsch, Director of Marketing, Walser Automotive Group

-          Wendy Lowen, Internet Manager, Park Chrysler Jeep

-          Matthew Smith, Marketing Manager, Darling’s

-          Bryan Wilson, eCommerce Director, Ehrlich Group

“Each year, we are amazed and inspired by the innovative ways dealers are creating and implementing their ‘best ideas’ – and realizing great success as a result; and we were again impressed with a very competitive field of applications,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “This is where the best ideas in our industry come from: the progressive dealers on the ground who are innovating new processes in their dealerships every day. We are proud to recognize their achievements and to provide an opportunity for these smart ideas to be shared with their peers at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. Congratulations to the finalists!”

The dealer finalists will present their strategies onstage and compete head-to-head at the DrivingSales Executive Summit on Monday, October 22^nd. Prizes totaling $10,000 will be awarded to the winner of the 2012 Dealer Best Idea Award and runners up.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit will be held Sunday, October 21^st through Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. The Dealer Best Idea Awards are part of an exciting 2012 DSES line up, including the Innovation Cup Awards and high-profile keynotes from Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame; SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin; mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski; renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance;  prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer; an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google, and a one-on-one onstage interview between Jared Hamilton and TrueCar Chairman and CEO Scott Painter. Last year's summit was standing room only, and although DSES 2012 will allow for an expanded number of registrants, it is expected to sell out. Register online for the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers. DSES brings together the most progressive dealers in the country, along with world-renowned speakers, all focused on pushing the auto industry’s ‘innovation boundaries’ and translating the latest trends and business realities into solid 2013 action plans for every dealership department. The summit is 100 percent dealer-driven and has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning no vendor influence on presentation selection and adherence to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio and is the only automotive conference where dealers decide the agenda, not the vendor sponsors. This translates into the highest level of learning for the dealer attendees versus other events where workshops are little more than glorified sales pitches. 

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

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