I have been enjoying this post and the comments for too many reasons to list, but then Jon Groenig had to go and call me an "Arrogant Prick"! I really DID laugh out loud... Jon, thanks for the honorable mention, I've missed seeing you for a couple of years and you know that same conference you mentioned is where I met Tim Jennings.
It took me 3 years to get the deal closed, but I was successful in recruiting Tim to work on my team at ADP Digital Marketing last month. What connects the dots? That ol' rascal himself... Mike Roscoe.
I have a ton of respect for Mike Roscoe, Jared Hamilton and Jeff Kershner because, like them, having poured a lot of my time and energy into publishing, in my case the ADM Professional Community, I know what it is like to build up a base of readers, participants and people who contribute good content. It's a lot of hard work and all four of us have pissed off a few people along the way.
I am certain that there is someone out there who would nominate each of the four of us to the "Arrogant Pricks Club". Jon already covered my nomination (I love you, Jon!), and even if you can't find anyone to nominate the Oprah Winfrey of the car business and best politician amongst the four of us, Jared Hamilton, then I would step up to do so... Because even Mr. Nicey-Nicey can be an Arrogant Prick in his own sweet ass Utah style that just makes it a lot harder to detect than Mike Roscoe's in your face "All In" way of dealing with stuff...
One thing about Roscoe that I have learned to appreciate... You never have to guess what he is thinking or plans to do. He will tell you and make no bones about speaking the truth even if the truth is not what you want to hear. Whether the readers of this post like Roscoe's style or not, it is who he is and he never tries to pretend he is something else.
Since I happen to be really poor at the politically correct skills game, I have learned to appreciate Mike's integrity and full disclosure way of doing business.
Think about it... He could be more like a weasel and less like the leader he actually is by simply not saying a word to any of the people who have supposedly been banned.
Then, their Speaker Applications would get passed over and he would hit them for the full Associated Industry registration fee, which is quite steep. As for vendor booths, he COULD get away with saying he has them all reserved for other suppliers due to limited booth space, and probably get away with it. But that's not Mike Roscoe's style... Like it or not, if he has a bone to pick with you, well, you will probably hear from him directly.
Maybe I am displaying some of the low-brow roots of the Boston and Buffalo Italian neighborhoods where I grew up, but I still consider Mike Roscoe to be the type of man, and business professional I respect because he will seek out who he is pissed off at and then confront that person with his issue on a direct basis.
I know about this on a first hand basis because I have personally done many things that Mike Roscoe did not like... At which point he contacts me. Yes, sometimes it is a nasty-gram email or text message or a phone call, but regardless of how, he gets in my face, we then go toe to toe and work it out.
You have never seen me send his texts and emails flying around the web... Why? Because I respect the fact that instead of talking trash about me with third parties, he contacts me directly and we work things out.
Kinda reminds me of the old neighborhood where if you had an "issue" with another guy, you went to them directly and worked it out... One way or another. Of course we had a word we used to describe the people who would talk a bunch of trash and then avoid the person they were talking trash about... It is a 5 letter word that starts with the same first letter as my last name. I will not use it on Jeff's site because of my respect for him.
So, go ahead and trash Roscoe all you want, and you'll probably try to avoid making eye contact with him as well. We know the type... I personally believe he is good enough at what he does that Digital Dealer will continue to be successful.
As for me, I will continue to attend all three; Digital Dealer, Driving Sales Executive Summit and the J. D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable, unless Rowdy Roscoe, Hamilton the Hammer or those corporate pricks at McGraw-Hill ban me from any one of them. Or, I can no longer afford the time and money. Why? Because I learn things that help me make more money by selling more cars at all three events. Yes, I may work for a supplier, but I still earn a living by selling cars.
PS. Anything I post online DEFINITELY does NOT reflect the official position or policies of whatever company I am employed by at that moment! (unless so stated)
In the meantime, where's Charlie Vogelheim? Now THERE is a guy who has all the political talent in the world that I myself lack, and who should weigh in on this topic. Does Jared Hamilton have him locked up somewhere?
I'm telling you, that nicey-nicey routine Jared has is a disguise that masks the killer competitive instincts of the red headed Utah Slugger that hides within.
And where is Mark Dubis when you need him to chime in, especially after Ryan G. mentions Mark (I think) without stating his name.
And while I am at it, what about our host, Jeff Kershner? There's someone who has gotten in my face a couple of times for posting stuff he didn't like. But, we discussed the issues and we worked them out... Directly and not through third parties. I think Jeff would have been OK in the old neighborhood.
The conferences are all good, but none of them are perfect. Each of them have a different feel and a different agenda. I will say that I disagree with everyone who posted stuff about DSES being less vendor sales pitch than DD... Or, you simply attended the wrong workshops at Digital Dealer. To say that Kevin Frye's Digital Dealer workshop was a sales pitch is BS. To say the same thing about Shawn Raines Digital Dealer workshop is a lot more relevant, but that's why Digital Dealer has up to 7 workshops in each time slot to choose from!
Listening to Brian Pasch promote his "POD" Score at DSES was most certainly a sales pitch if there ever were one. But some people don't see that, which makes it a VERY GOOD sales pitch! There is genius to that type of approach.
None of us are without fault, and yes I saw the email that was sent to IM@CSWEB... I got a good laugh out of it because I have received messages from Roscoe when he didn't like something I wrote or did... Since he lives too far for me to walk down the street and knock on his front door, I would simply call Mike and we would discuss the issue and work it out. And, lastly... I swear it is not my imagination, but I think Mike Roscoe has actually become easier to deal with over the last two years than before. Either that, or all that direct communication has simply made it easier for Mike and I to understand each other's perspective.
I love this crazy car business and am thankful for people like Mike Roscoe, Jared Hamilton, Jeff Kershner and the like who keep us moving forward and definitely keep us from getting too complacent or bored!
