Top five social media influencer and MINI USA marketing head close DSES and open JDPA events; discounted combo-ticket pass for the consecutive events available

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – August 7, 2012 – DrivingSales and J.D. Power and Associates today announced that Scott Stratten and Tom Salkowsky will keynote a special session, sponsored by Cars.com, that bridges the 4^th annual DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) and the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable. Stratten is a best-selling author and Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing expert – and was named one of the top five social media influencers in the world by Forbes.com. Tom Salkowsky is Head of Marketing at MINI USA and is responsible for all Marketing Communications in the United States.

The joint session, scheduled for Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas, closes the DSES and opens the J.D. Power event and is included in the ticket price for all DrivingSales Executive Summit and Automotive Marketing Roundtable attendees. The companies also announced that they are partnering to offer discounted tickets for dealers wishing to attend both events, which run consecutively.

“We are proud to join with J.D. Power and Associates to offer this exciting joint keynote session! Scott and Tom will provide fresh and provocative points of view on digital and traditional marketing which will leave attendees not only inspired, but with actionable strategies to apply to their 2013 business plans,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton.

Formerly a music industry marketer, national sales training manager, and a Professor at the Sheridan College School of Business, Scott Stratten ran his “UnAgency” for a nearly a decade and now solely focuses on speaking at events for companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross, Cirque du Soleil, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Fidelity Investments when they need help guiding their way through the viral/social media and relationship marketing landscape. He has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN.com, Inc.com, and Fast Company, and was named one of “America’s 10 Marketing Gurus” by Business Review USA. Stratten has over 117,000 people following him on Twitter.

His book, UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging became a national best-seller before it was released, and recently became a Globe and Mail #1 Business best-seller, National Post, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon UK best-seller. It was also named one of the top business books of the year by 1-800-CEO READ and one of the top 10 books by Under30CEO.com. 

As Department Head, MINI Marketing, Tom Salkowsky is responsible for all brand communications, advertising, media planning/buying, national and dealer communications, digital, market segmentation/research and social media for MINI in the United States. Salkowsky began his automotive career as a Sales Consultant in a BMW dealership, later joining BMW of North America as the Department Head of BMW Corporate Communications, where he led the Consumer Events department for BMW, served as M Brand and Motorsport Manager, and held the position of Retail Operation Training Manager within the Professional Development Department.

“The DrivingSales Executive Summit and J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable focus on bringing the most compelling, leading-edge and thought-provoking presentations to our industry, and Scott Stratten and Tom Salkowsky are that and more – two great speakers to kick off our event,” said Arianne Walker, Senior Director of Media and Marketing Solutions for J.D. Power and Associates. “We are also very pleased to be able to offer a special discounted rate to those who wish to access the full wealth of content available at both events.”

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers and the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable is the industry’s top marketing event for automotive retailers, OEMs, agencies publishers, dealers, and automotive Web sites. While the two events remain separate, each with a distinct personality and target audience, the combo pass makes attendance easier for dealers who want exposure to each conference’s signature OEM-focused and dealership-focused content.  Combo passes grant ticket holders access to both events at a discounted rate and can be purchased through August 31^st. 

"Cars.com is dedicated to giving our dealer partners and advertisers the tools they need to grow their businesses and connect with today’s consumer in a fast-changing digital landscape,” said Mitch Golub, Cars.com President.  “Events such as the DSES, which has a strong track record of bringing in dynamic, powerful speakers like Scott and Tom, are crucial in helping auto industry professionals expand their knowledge base to best connect and engage with car shoppers.   We're pleased to be a sponsor and an integral part of this exciting keynote session."

The 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit will commence Sunday, October 21^st at 3pm and conclude Tuesday, October 23^rd, after the joint keynote presentation from Scott Stratten. J.D. Power & Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable program will begin with the joint keynote presentation from Tom Salkowsky, move into their welcome reception and conclude on Friday October 26^th.  Both events will be held at the Bellagio Las Vegas. 

To register for the DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference, to take advantage of early bird registration through August 15^th, or to purchase a combo pass which grants access to both the DSES and the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable, now through August 31^st, go to: http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/registration/.

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com.  Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on www.facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

To register for the J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Marketing Roundtable, or for more information, visit http://businesscenter.jdpower.com/Events.aspx.

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