Automotive professionals of the Pacific Northwest attended this one-day educational workshop, taking advantage of learning opportunities and showcases only offered at much larger, national events.
Over 150 dealers and managers converged on the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, at the Seattle Airport on Wednesday, March 20th, to learn the latest digital strategies to engage, convert and retain more customers. Industry professionals and sponsors joined the large number of influential dealership personnel to gather a total attendance of more than 220.
The unique, one-day learning-and-networking event was produced by the Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition and the Washington State Auto Dealers Association. The organizations delivered sixteen sessions and a keynote address by Google’s Peter Leto. A group of select sponsors had intimate access to one of the largest gatherings of Washington State dealers and managers ever assembled for an educational conference. Attendees visited from Oregon, California and all over Washington, with great numbers representing dealerships in Spokane, Vancouver and Bellingham.
“We are committed to helping dealers and managers across North America sell and service more vehicles more profitably” stated Michael Roscoe, CEO of Dealer Communications. “By bringing high quality education directly to Seattle in a one day workshop, we were able to offer local dealerships a glimpse of the scope of our national events. We plan to host a series of regional events across the country so more automotive professionals can experience the benefits that Digital Dealer events deliver.”
Dealership personnel raved about the cutting-edge education. Content previously only available at enormous national showcases was now available in this convenient, local event for Pacific-Northwest Area Dealers. Sue Byers, dealer principal of Bob Byers Volvo, Seattle, stated “Thank you for bringing the Digital Dealer Conference to Seattle! The local venue enabled us to bring most of our management team who learned a ton of valuable information and new strategies across departments. We are actively putting the ideas we learned into action.”
The educational curriculum was segmented into four tracks: digital marketing & social media, data & analytics, reputation management & customer loyalty, as well as sales & fixed operations. Within each track, four sessions were offered by workshop leaders with direct experience working with successful dealerships. The event concluded with a powerful keynote address by Google’s Peter Leto, outlining how dealerships can simplify their approach to digital marketing to harness the power of the Internet, and generate more business.
“WSADA is dedicated to helping its membership base be more successful,” commented WSADA Executive Vice President Vicki Giles-Fabre. “We were pleased to offer such a quality educational opportunity right in Seattle, which made it possible for more of our members to attend. The Digital Dealer team made a great partner; they were able to help us craft the right content that offers solutions to the most pressing issues facing our members today.”
Special thanks to DealerOn, PGIAuto, Digital Air Strike, Cobalt, ELEAD1ONE, AutoTrader, KBB, Edmunds, VinSolutions, DealerSocket, DealerTrack, MyPostwire.com and Motorwebs for their support in making the event possible.
The Digital Dealer Workshops program began in Houston, TX, in January 2012. Future regionals will continue to bring a taste of the industry’s ultimate digital strategy conference to select local markets across North America. For more information on the Digital Dealer Workshops, Seattle visit Seattle.DigitalDealerWorkshops.com.
