A few months ago, Used Car Week began rolling out its social media plan, including the introduction of our official conference hashtags.
And if you read this post on Used Car Week’s “Behind the Scenes” blog summarizing that plan, you may still be recovering from laughter fits, courtesy of this Jimmy Fallon clip.
(So are we, by the way).
But we hope you’re also spending some time sharing your excitement for the Used Car Week conferences on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and all of the niche social media sites that no one’s even heard of yet but will be the Next Big Thing.
And as you share and like and post and tweet, be sure to be a responsible hashtagger and use our official conference hashtags:
CPO Forum: #EliteInventory
SubPrime Forum: #SpeakingFinance
Re3 Conference: #RevUptheTurn
National Remarketing Conference: #GreatIdeas
In addition to our hashtagging, Used Car Week has also rolled out its official, new-and-improved Facebook page.
Be sure to check it out for great attendees photos from 2013 (see if you can spot your pic!) and must-have info for this year’s event.
For even more daily updates on conference speakers, tips from industry insiders, fresh analysis and more, be sure to keep tabs on @UsedCarWeek on Twitter.
And stay tuned for even more social media fun throughout the various Used Car Week social media campaigns, presented by Equifax, as we get closer to November!
Social Media at CPO Forum
For those of you particularly interested in the CPO Forum, social media expert Kathi Kruse will be moderating a general session titled, “Top 10 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Your Store and Create a CPO Sales Champion" at10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 during Used Car Week.
Kruse is also hosting a workshop at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 10 during the CPO Forum as well.
Similarly, Cory Mosely of Mosely Automotive and Paul Potratz of Potratz Advertising will be sharing a discussion at the CPO Forum on “Advertising and Marketing CPO” at 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 11 that looks at integrating digital, social and new media strategies to attract, keep and satisfy more CPO and pre-owned buyers.
The CPO Forum will run Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 as part of Used Car Week — a series of four conferences being held Nov. 10-14 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas.
For more information, visit cpo.autoremarketing.com or www.usedcarweek.biz.
And remember: early registration ends Oct. 10, so act quickly and register now to get the best rates!
ServNet Auctions have been making moves in the remarketing industry during the summer months.
DAA Northwest presented its Rock & Roll Sale in the middle of July, bringing dealers from the U.S. and Western Canada to Spokane, Wash. for the event. The sale featured consignments from Ford, Harley-Davidson, Avis and Toyota, among others, and brought 1,000 dealers to the auction's lanes.
Additionally, Credit Acceptance Corp’s Dealer Exchange Meeting was held in conjunction with the sale, catering to 60 dealers.
Across the country in Township, Mich., the Flint Auto Auction began its expansion with 27 acres of parking and 8,000 square feet of office space. Bill Williams, one of the auctions owners, said gaining the property and beginning construction could not have happened at a better time.
“The timing on the property acquisition was ideal, allowing us to prepare additional acreage for the lease returns which are showing increases and will continue to expand into the coming year,” Williams said. “In addition to making way for additional vehicle storage, we were also able to add 118 more spaces for customer parking, to accommodate the increasing numbers of people who attend the auction every week to buy and sell in the lane.”
To the Southeast, it was Christmas in July at the Carolina Auto Auction, who hosted over 700 dealers and over 1,400 consigned vehicles at the annual event. One thousand snow cones, provided by Black Book and CAA, cooled the summer event, which featured $30,000 in cash and prizes.
Brasher’s Northwest Auto Auction will host their Anniversary Sale and Corn Roaster on Sept. 17 in Salt Lake City, which will feature fresh-roasted corn on the cob and several other promotions and prize drawings throughout the day’s events.
Manheim announced that six of its auctions wiill celebrate fifty or more years of business this year. Manheim Area Illinois, which opened in 1949, will celebrate its 65th year of business on Sept. 16, when it will host a 65-inch television raffle and other assorted giveaways. Manheim locations in Seattle, Chicago and New York will turn 60 this year, as well with locations in Toronto and Albany turning 50.
Moving along to a few ServNet auction members, KCI Kansas City, which created a community outreach program, KCI Cares, three years ago, continued their history of giving back to their community with a voluntary trash pickup via the Adopt-A-Highway program. Adorned in orange vests and gloves and wielding pokers along a mile-long stretch of I-29, the KCI staff spent three hours cleaning the area, filling 70 bags of trash. KCI members also spent time a few weeks later at Camp Quality, a week-long camp for children suffering through cancer.
Moving southeast to the Sunshine State, Florida’s own Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange have partnered with Ally Remarketing/SmartLane for a ten-week promotion that includes a raffle, with chances to win one of ten Wolfe RX50 scooters. The promotional event kicked off on Aug. 5 and will continue through Oct. 7.
Dealerships from all over New Jersey have raised over $500,000 for The Valerie Fund. Currently 177 different dealerships have come together to collect donations for the fund, whose mission is to raise money to support the comprehensive healthcare of children with cancer and blood disorders.
The campaign, titled New Jersey Auto Retailers Unite, began June 1 and will run through September 30, with a celebratory event on September 14 to reveal its “My First Car” coffee table book, featuring first car stories from various New Jersey athletes, celebrities and public figures.
Those that test drive a vehicle between now and August 30 at a participating dealership will receive a voucher for a car giveaway sweepstakes, with nearly 2,000 registrants already tallied for the event. Three additional vouchers are given to those that purchase a vehicle.
James Appleton, the president of the New Jersey Coalition of Auto Retailers, applauds his organizations charitable donations to its community.
“Auto retailers contribute millions of dollars to hundreds of charities every year in virtually every community throughout New Jersey,” Appleton said. “The New Jersey auto retail community has come together like never before to support the thousands of children with cancer and blood disorders and the tremendous care they receive from The Valerie Fund.”
For more information about the New Jersey Auto Retails Unite campaign, The Valerie Fund, and the New Jersey Coalition of Auto Retailers, visit their site here.
In an effort to recognize its customers and celebrate a significant milestone, Manheim Tampa will host a 25th anniversary sale on Thursday.
More than 2,500 units are expected for the regular weekly consignment sale at Manheim Tampa beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday. The auction will be giving away rock ''n' roll gift baskets, iPads, large screen TVs, Xbox systems, Hard Rock Cafe gift cards and more prizes during Thursday’s sale.
On Wednesday night, the auction will host a “social hour” from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the auction with live entertainment for dealers and commercial clients.
“We would like to thank all of our employees for their dedication to our auction,” Manheim Tampa general manager Mark Willey said.
“I also want to extend appreciation to our loyal customers who continue to buy and sell vehicles at our operating location,” Willey continued. “We want to pay special tribute to our customers this week.”
Manheim Tampa, which opened in 1989, is located at 401 S. 50th St., in Tampa, Fla. It is among 78 auctions in North America that are part of Manheim. The auction features 14 lanes, a paint and body shop, and offers mechanical shop and reconditioning services.
The Tampa location employs 187 people.
It’s not uncommon for conference attendees to make travel plans for their arrival and departure to be scheduled as close to the event’s start and finish as possible.
Tony Long, executive director of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance, suggests that executives and managers from auctions, consignors, finance companies and dealerships use a different approach for the organization’s 2014 Remarketing Roundtable, which runs from Aug. 19 through Aug. 21 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick in Chicago.
“This is a record membership year for IARA. Our membership committee has done a fantastic job. Our education and conference committee is working hard to bring all of the last-minute details together for this meeting. Many attendees are coming in a day early and staying a day late because of sidebar activities that are taking place in addition to the main program,” Long told Auto Remarketing.
“IARA is driven by identifying the needs and opportunities that exist in the remarketing industry. There’s probably going to be one or two surprise projects that come out of the meeting. We’re working on a number of initiatives as we speak,” he continued.
Along with series of committee meetings as well as certification seminars and testing, the Remarketing Roundtable has a trio of keynote speakers who will cover a wide range of topics.
The keynotes begin with Daniel Gemp, who has been the president and chief executive of Dreamscape Marketing since its founding in 2005. Dreamscape is a provider of professional business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing strategy, lead generation and custom digital campaign development.
Following discussions about multiplatform buying and selling — two hot topics that have dominated the remarketing world — IARA welcomes back Melinda Zabritski, senior director at Experian Automotive.
“Melinda Zabritski of Experian was with us last year, and she was so well accepted that there was a demand for her to come back as our luncheon speaker this year,” Long said. “We’ll be interested to hear her trends analysis and see how things have changed and what to expect in the near future.”
The keynote presentations wrap up with another appearance by Shama Kabani, CEO of the award-winning Marketing Zen Group, which has averaged annual growth of more than 400 percent since beginning operations in 2009.
For more details on the 2014 IARA Remarketing Roundtable, check out the Aug. 15 edition of Auto Remarketing. The digital version of this magazine hit email inboxes Tuesday and can also be found at digital.autoremarketing.com.
The Ford Motor Co. will host its 2014 Ford Neighborhood Awards for the eighth consecutive time this weekend. For the first time in Atlanta, the ceremony, hosted by Steve Harvey, will continue its tradition of honoring local leaders and organizations for their contributions to their neighborhoods.
For the second year, a $30,000 check will be given for the winner of the Community Leader of the Year Award, which will be used as a donation to the winner’s nonprofit organization of choice.
The Neighborhood Awards will kick off on Friday with Ford’s first-ever “Pink Friday,” which will raise money for breast cancer research via the Susan G. Komen local affiliate from the Ford Warriors in Pink, who will donate $20 for each of the first 250 test drives the company offers at the event.
Shawn Thompson, Ford’s manager of multicultural marketing, looks forward to continuing the event’s legacy of giving back to those who give to their communities.
“Our goal as a brand is to not only go further when it comes to our products, but also as it relates to our communities,” Thompson said. “With this award and donation, we are able to play a role in directly impacting the local community of this year’s winner – extending our involvement beyond the actual awards show.”
Thompson added: “For eight years, Ford has remained committed to this event and what it represents. We look forward to recognizing everyone who is being honored this weekend, in addition to sharing some of our newest products and technologies with attendees.”
Described as “the Oscars with an urban flair,” there will be a bevy of awards presented at the event. Ford will also be showcasing several of their new models on site including the 2014 Fusion and 2015 Expedition. For more information about the event, visit the 2014 Ford Neighborhood Awards website here.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the civil rights organization headed by the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., announced this week the organization’s annual automotive conference will be held in Detroit in October.
The 15th Annual Rainbow PUSH Global Automotive Summit will take place on Oct. 13 at the MGM Grand Detroit Hotel, featuring “over 500 automotive executives, entrepreneurs, suppliers, dealers, consumers, government and elected officials, advertising agencies, automotive manufacturers, media outlets and others,” according to the organization’s press release.
The event is held annually to discuss the opportunities for African-Americans in the automotive industry.
Jackson, who formed the organization in 1996 by merging People United to Serve Humanity and the Rainbow Coalition, believes that, although the automotive industry has made great strides to level the playing field for members of various ethnicities, there is still room for improvement.
“Progress has been made by some automotive companies who know and understand the importance of ethnic consumers and business owners,” Jackson said, “but more can and must be done to yield parity and growth for people of color.”
Ford, GM and Toyota are all three national sponsors for the event.
For more information about the 15th Annual Rainbow PUSH Global Automotive Summit, visit the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s website here.
Keep your eyes peeled this week for the all-new digital edition of the Aug. 1 issue of Auto Remarketing, which features the publication’s annual special report: The Power 300 — The Most Powerful Companies in the Pre-Owned Business.
The Power 300 is a compilation and listing of the most influential, innovative, impactful, and, of course, powerful companies doing business in the pre-owned market today (non-dealers).
Joe Overby, editor of Auto Remarketing commented, “The companies you will find listed and profiled in the Power 300 are the major players in the used-car and remarketing worlds.
“Some are well-known pillars of the business; others are just getting their feet wet, but they are nonetheless making waves. These companies have each made the list for different reasons, but they all have made a significant impact.” Overby said.
“We focus our June editions on the top pre-owned dealers, publishing one edition each for franchise and independent dealers,” said Bill Zadeits, publisher of Auto Remarketing.
“This collection of the industry’s heavy-hitters covers nearly every aspect of the used-car and remarketing business, from the certified pre-owned segment, the auction world and rapidly advancing technological firms to auto lenders, inspection companies, dealer associations and much more.”
The special edition will spotlight several of the companies with informative Power 300 features, which share more about what makes these players so influential in the pre-owned industry.
Many of the companies and executives listed in the Power 300 will also be participating in Auto Remarketing’s Used Car Week, Nov 10-14 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Used Car Week, www.usedcarweek.biz, provides executives and companies with four high-value conferences that serve as the industry standard. The events include:
For more information on The Power 300, Auto Remarketing, or Used Car Week, please visit www.autoremarketing.com or email Bill Zadeits, bzadeits@autoremarketing.com.
The 2015 National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Expo, which will be hosted in San Francisco from Jan. 22 through Jan. 25, announced a few prominant keynote speakers on Monday, including Jeb Bush, Jay Leno and Beck Weathers.
The NADA convention, in its 16th time in San Francisco since 1948, will have its first keynote address on Jan. 23 from former Florida Gov. Bush and current NADA chairman Forrest McConnell, III. The following day will feature keynote speakers Leno and NADA vice chairman Bill Fox, with Weathers closing out the keynote speeches on Sunday, Jan. 25.
Bush, brother of former President George. W Bush, currently runs a consulting business, Jeb Bush and Associates, and lives in Miami. Leno is a well-known former host of “The Tonight Show” and currently works as a stand-up comedian while also working on his popular Web show, “Jay Leno’s Garage.” The final keynote speaker, Weathers, is a pathologist who is best known for surviving a 1996 storm atop Mt. Everest, inspiring the Jon Krakauer book Into Thin Air and the movie still in production “Everest.”
For more information about the speakers or scheduled events, visit http://www.nadafrontpage.com/2015_NADA_Convention_Keynote_Speakers.xml.
Attendance and housing registration opens July 21. For more information, visit the NADA Convention website here: www.nadaconvention.org.
