Since DR is the only forum NOT sponsoring a conference this fall...

[crmsales]

The 1st DD had 5 exhibitors I think. In April 12, there were probably in excess of 50. At the same time the format for speakers early on at DD was "NO" shameless endorsement of your company, even though you had to pay to speak. That has gone largely unchecked in recent years as both attendees and speakers will attest too. That has diluted the quality of the message, and the influence on the attendee. So what do they do, they look elsewhere for quality information delivered in a non biased way, and there seems to be multiple choices. All of the sudden we have 10 conferences, no clear winner, and a bunch of sheep who don't know where to go, or what to do with all the choices created by competition. Digital Wolfington, (did I say that) should show some marketplace dominance and crush the competition, or some of the smaller players should come together to take out the competition. Users should be vocal in their need for 1, or MAYBE 2 conferences per year. How many of you attendees, can afford 3 or 4, 3 day trips outside of the store per year? How many exhibitors can pay the crazy fees to exhibit and call it "worth it" at the end of the year. As an attendee, you have to ask "did I collect actionable information that lead to more sales?", and as an exhibitor you have to ask "did I see enough opportunities to offset some of my costs?"

I'm interested in DR feedback

 

[kevinfrye]

Great topic to bring up, one which I have discussed with several others already...

As a dealer, I am torn between choosing which conferences to attend, as the choices continue to grow. By default, I have been loyal to Digital Dealer as I have attended those since the very early conferences, and the biggest value I draw from attending something like this is meeting with the other people I know in the industry. I have a great network of people that I respect highly and am great friends with from the early DD conferences, and I know that when I attend Digital Dealer, I will typically see most of them (though many of these same people are now hosting/speaking at other conferences, etc.).

I have also been a speaker at several of the most recent Digital Dealer conferences, which has been a great experience. From the speaking side, the message of "NO SALES PITCH" is preached so heavily by DD organizers that it gets tiresome, and I have not really found this to be a major problem at the DD conferences (with the exception of maybe one person). I think this is blown up to be more of an issue than it really is.

If you know me, you know that I am very candid, and there are times when I look at these other conferences and wonder if some are a result of "wanting to get a piece of the action" and politics between people not agreeing with each other. Enough said on that - but I know that for me, the people running the other shows are held in high esteem by myself. As a dealer, there are some speakers that I see over and over again at all of the shows that I don't necessarily think bring great value to the table, so I wonder if it is just the same thing/different place... (and I certainly hope that I am not that person to others!).

So back to the original topic. This past spring I attended the Google Summit and absolutely loved it. Smaller environment, top notch speakers, and info straight from Google. As the eCommerce market has started to settle down more, I am wondering if attending Digital Dealer once a year and choosing another conference similar to the Google Summit would make the best sense for me in the future.

At the end of the day, my foremost responsibility is to the dealership I work for, and all of the people that count on me. I cannot be in Vegas for 2 weeks attending multiple conferences. I can get away for a short period of time for continuous education that builds value in what I do, so at the end of the day, my choices will likely only be 2 continuing education conferences a year.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Great feedback Kevin!

I often wonder how many conferences can our industry truly handle?

 

[Blake Arbogast]

I'd love to get some feedback around a DealerRefresh conference. I've been close a few times to pulling the trigger and hosting a smaller conference.

I picture a Dealerrefresh gathering more as a meeting of the minds than a conference. Even if we had it in Jeff's living room, I would attend. Let's get it going son...

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I picture a Dealerrefresh gathering more as a meeting of the minds than a conference. Even if we had it in Jeff's living room, I would attend. Let's get it going son...

I've been tossing around the idea for awhile now. And yes, it would be less "conference'ish" and more about the sharing of great ideas amongst a smaller group of great minds. Very much like the Digital Summit at Google I co-hosted last month.

Back to the original topic... ( added a poll to this thread asking how many conferences would you/could you attend each year)


I'll be attending DD, JD and DSES this fall - due to being on the vendor side. IF I had to choose between all available and was representing the dealer. For myself, I would most likely keep it to DSES and then find a conference from another vertical to attend.

It will be interesting to see how AutoCon shakes the tree and how much of an impact it will have (if any) on Digital Dealer this fall.

Anyone else thinking the same?

I do have a feeling that AutoCon could be a love fest for ALL things Sean Wolfington. Just a thought.

 

[mcampo2501]

Much like Kevin, I have to consider the dealership that employs me and sends me to these events. I can't rationalize, even to myself, going to several conferences in the same year. I actually think that going to DD every 18 months makes the most sense for me. I'm going to go where there will be the most vendor participation, and only as often as the digital landscape truly changes. Any notable changes going on in the industry between March and September I would assume I could catch up on right here, so the need to hear it at a conference is really marginalized.

I would make an exception and meet with the DR group on a regular basis. This has certainly been the most productive community I've belonged to, and my expectations would be different than that of the other conferences.

 

[Eley Duke]

I am going out on a limb here probably, but does anyone think AutoCon2012 will = "TravelLikeRalph to AutoCon2012 and watch me take pictures of myself" and this is what you'll see every 20mins in your FB and twitter feeds?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Eley, stop picking on Ralph. Ralph already thinks I don't like him. Lol

But, he should run a contest challenging AutoCon participants to tweet, retweet, like, post, share, checkin, re-checkin, pin, re-post, tumble, re-re-post, re-pin, buff, and plus about the conference more than he and potentially win your registration and travel to the next AutoCon at no charge.

 

[Kelly Wilson]

Many people (vendors) wind up speaking at most/all of the large conferences - some hardly change what they have to say it seems. I was blessed to have a local "education stop" here in STL and to get my DP there. The sad thing there is the mostly one sided opinions.
DD was a great for FaceTime and building Social relations. However it looks like for the best value I'll be spending my hard earned dollars (& vacation time) to head out to DSES this year. Roomies anyone?

Jeff: WHEN you DO get a DR gathering together I will be there as long as you give enough notice. (saving my pennies now)

 

[Eley Duke]

I agree with Kevin and the others that its tough to choose, and also be away from your stores more than probably 2x's a year for a digital conference. Especially for a smaller dealership that might have someone wearing several hats. I know we all work crazy hours, and that we want our time off, but another thing is they are in the middle of the week most times, what happened to weekends?

One of the annoying things about these conferences is that while there is great content, your limited to what you can attend. There may be 3 sessions you want to attend that are all at the same time, you cant be in 2-3 places at once.

I've been tossing around the idea for awhile now. And yes, it would be less "conference'ish" and more about the sharing of great ideas amongst a smaller group of great minds. Very much like the Digital Summit at Google I co-hosted last month.

Jeff, I heard awesome things about the Digital Summit from Jason at Haystack, Jim Bell, and you, I wish I could have made it.

I have thought for a long time that someone needs to come up with a 20 group style summit that is not dominantly vendor based but that is dealer best practices based from the people in the trenches that are doing these things daily. Bounce ideas and have open forums on the hottest topics that drives traffic to our sites and into our showrooms that SELL cars. Not BS like how to get 143K Facebook likes (sorry for my rant over on Dealers Buying FAKE Likes) or other non-DISC as Uncle Joe would say.