- Oct 15, 2014
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- Bill
As one of our Internet directors put it, "when you've seen the same slide three times, from three different 'experts,' what's the point?"
How Many Auto Conferences Do We Need to Attend?
- Thread starter kevinfrye
- Start date
This is a tough one for me because I have recently been noticing far more overlap between the conferences, far more repetitive (or uneducated) sessions and a general shift in the conferences. I was at DD in Vegas and I didn't come away that impressed - the speakers were repetitive, the vendor floor seemed smaller or less exciting (and I heard multiple vendors complaining about the new schedule for the floor) and I didn't find it very well organized this time around (especially the sessions that were at the other hotel).
I enjoy the conferences, I love meeting other vendors and dealers and seeing what everyone is up to, but I think Digital Dealer could be 1 time a year and I'd be alright with that - there didn't seem to be "new to the last 6 months" sessions that included much content that had changed since the last DD. I also noticed that almost all the sessions I attended were vendors talking very specifically about the performance of their latest product or how they used their latest product to discover something that we should all know. I prefer the sessions from a dealer who is there to genuinely share his/her ideas and help other dealers improve on their own operations.
I enjoy the conferences, I love meeting other vendors and dealers and seeing what everyone is up to, but I think Digital Dealer could be 1 time a year and I'd be alright with that - there didn't seem to be "new to the last 6 months" sessions that included much content that had changed since the last DD. I also noticed that almost all the sessions I attended were vendors talking very specifically about the performance of their latest product or how they used their latest product to discover something that we should all know. I prefer the sessions from a dealer who is there to genuinely share his/her ideas and help other dealers improve on their own operations.
Even better, I saw 3 different slides from 3 different experts all showing contrasting "facts".
- Oct 15, 2014
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- Bill
- Sep 30, 2010
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- Bill
Great hard hitting question @kevinfrye and thanks for starting the thread. Maybe it is different in some dealer groups but in mine, my dealer principle does expect a return on the expense of sending me to conferences. Whenever I get back from being out of town we meet to discuss what lessons I learned and strategies we can put in place. I have absolutely no problem with his expectations! I am personally skipping the Fall conferences this year because, quite frankly and hard to admit, I still have not been able to get lessons and strategies learned at the Spring conference put fully into place yet. So for me it sometimes boils down to "is our personal house in order already" before I try to put in any new systems, processes, or products that I could learn about at the next conference. And yes, I do see a lot of overlap in content being shared which plays into my decision to attend also. Besides conference travel, I'm fortunate enough to be on a couple of dealer advisory boards and councils with some of our vendor partners. For these meetings travel expenses are not the problem because they are usually comped, but time away from the store certainly can be. So for me, in order to stay active on those boards I may choose to skip a conference so that I can justify being away from the stores to serve on them. And yes, to your point about self promotion or personal branding, I do believe that some of our dealership peers are walking a fine line between giving back to the industry and personal future gain. Personally, I believe that we can "fly under the radar" and still exhibit leadership by sharing advice/experiences in our industry forums like this one rather than being front and center on a speaker podium at a conference. I could also justify being away a couple of years ago when both Fall conferences ran back to back of each other. Thats a bit harder now, for me anyway, to convince my dealer principle that travel expense to Vegas twice in one month is necessary. Thank you for the conference recap and I appreciate all that you do for our industry.
@kevinfrye I am really struggling with this topic. I do not find a lot of value in the conferences I have attended in the past. I do see a lot of value in exchanging ideas with non-competing experts in the dealership space. There is just not enough lateral thinking in the conference presentations I have seen. Kevin, you have done a great job of being an educator in the space. I applaud your efforts.
I am starving for a 20 group that deals with big issues: Third Party lead and attribution decline, Tier Two (what is is good for), Internet privacy and how to walk the grey line in using what you can to be a better marketer, why Google treats most of us like local plumbers, etc... I am fortunate enough to spend time on two dealer boards for vendors. The networking makes it worthwhile. If there was a a different format for best practices then what I see today, I would be all in. But most of "what I see in Vegas, stays in Vegas", because it is stale.
I am starving for a 20 group that deals with big issues: Third Party lead and attribution decline, Tier Two (what is is good for), Internet privacy and how to walk the grey line in using what you can to be a better marketer, why Google treats most of us like local plumbers, etc... I am fortunate enough to spend time on two dealer boards for vendors. The networking makes it worthwhile. If there was a a different format for best practices then what I see today, I would be all in. But most of "what I see in Vegas, stays in Vegas", because it is stale.
- Apr 7, 2009
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oooo.... awesome topics Scott! I can tell a leading edge topic when it has no clear answer! I can think of a dozen pioneer dealers like @Bill Simmons, @Stefan, @kevinfrye, @skutchhenks, @paulray, et al. are going down the same road you are. If you have time, pick a topic, they'd make great discussions on this forum![/USER]
Third party lead attribution? Privacy? You are speaking my language Scott! These are some leading issues and I can understand why it is difficult to find more information at these shows on these topics. I like that you bring up some of the "Dealer Advisory Boards" for some of your vendors as those can be some excellent platforms for continuing education and networking. I don't necessarily classify those in the conferences category though - I consider that more of managing your relationships with current providers.
As per content being "stale" in Vegas (or elsewhere), I think that perception/reality is because of the same content being presented again and again at the different shows. If you are going to one to two shows, this content can be valuable to you. But once again, if it is the same content/speakers at eg. 6 shows you attend, where are you getting your value/ROI for the cost of attending 6 different shows?
Bill Simmons summed it up well when he talks about the networking aspect. I have been a strong supporter of networking at these shows, as these are the same folks that I communicate with through the year as we work to become better. Don't confuse that with "I need to see these folks in Vegas 7 times a year to get the best value for my dollar though"
Great insight from all on this.
- Oct 28, 2014
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I think it's because those are topics that vendors can't immediately justify as profitable, especially at conferences which have some big expenses tied to it.
I've done both vendor and dealer side a few times in my career and attended all the conferences from both perspectives. I do think they are useful in general, and agree there is always redundancy in topics. The most value I come away with isn't always the latest tech or product, speaker presentations, as much as the networking and conversations I have with people I connect with from both sides. I get more inspiration from those conversations, and always walk away with extremely useful ideas.
I would love to see dealer only conferences, but I think the industry is to competitive to openly share.
But do we really want dealer only conferences? We get better with better partnerships. Plus, the reality is that vendor participation in shows picks up most of the cost of a conference, making it more affordable for dealers.
Btw - yes, we are very competitive. 20 groups are often a great platform for more sensitive info to be shared.