I wanted to let everyone know about a great training opportunity that will become available in September. It’s a two-day event that boasts a roster of some of the top trainers in the business, including George Angus (Team One Group), Luis Garcia (Safe-Guard Products), Gerry Gould (UDS, selected as the top training outfit seven years in a row by Auto Dealer Monthly), Heather Haynes (JM&A Group), Rick McCormick (now with Automotive Financial Services), Ron Reahard (Reahard & Associates), and John Vecchioni (United Car Care).

But that’s not all. David Johnson, social media strategist for Next Generation Dealer Services, will be at this event to talk about social media marketing. He’ll be joined by legal expert Brian Casey, who will talk about the legalities of operating in the social media realm.

Jim Ganther of Mosaic International also will be there to provide a dealer’s guide to digital compliance. This is a must-attend seminar in today’s digital age.

Also on the agenda is the magazine’s legal wiz Michael Benoit, who will provide an update on the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau it created and the new rulemaking powers the Federal Trade Commission will assume because of it.

Do I really need to go on? OK, the training-geared, two-day event also features the magazine’s Sales Driver columnist, Cory Mosley. He’ll talk about new-school training ideas, which I know is important for those of you out there struggling to grasp this new Internet and Gen-Y era of auto retailing. If you didn’t see him at our show last year, you’re in for a treat. The guy is dynamic.

I also heard this show has added Jim Ziegler to the agenda. Yes, “Da Man” will throw in his two cents about marketing in the digital age.

OK, so what’s this show I speak of? And where is it and when? Well, it’s the magazine’s 2011 Industry Summit, which is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

And just so you know, we continue to expand the reach of our annual show. For instance, as you’ve probably seen in recent conference promos, we’ve added Cory Mosley’s new sales seminar series, a one-day event that will take place on Monday, Sept. 26. If you have salespeople or Internet sales staffers that need some training, then get them signed up.

The event also is hosting Greg Goebel’s Special Finance Conference, which will start on Monday and will run concurrently with our Industry Summit. And if that’s not enough, we’re also staging what we’re calling the “Buy Here, Pay Here for Franchised Dealers” event, which will be led by Rod Heasley and Gary Pardue of Peritus Portfolio Services. Ken Shilson, founder and president of the National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers, also is helping to plan this event.

A couple of years ago we decided to make a change to our annual show. Because we know getting to our conference is quite an investment, we decided that our show needed to focus on training. And that’s why, like last year, we’re bringing out some of the top experts in F&I, sales and digital marketing.

Our goal is to provide you with new ideas, techniques and best practices that you can take back to your dealership. And hey, if your reading this column and would like a little help selling the idea of attending this year's conference to management, let me know. I’d be happy to pen a letter personally inviting you to our conference.

Now, I’ve only skimmed the surface of what’s going on at this year’s Industry Summit, so be sure to check out our conference Website, www.fi-magazine.com, for more details. I look forward to seeing you at this year’s show.