ORLANDO, Fla. — Organizers of the annual Industry Summit announced that the Compliance Summit portion of the agenda will feature two panel discussions staffed by dealer counsel and senior dealership managers. The event, which also includes onsite Automotive Compliance Education (ACE) certification, the inaugural Technology Challenge, and the co-located P&A Leadership Summit, will be held Oct. 8–10 at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Fla. Registered attendees are welcome at any session.

Compliance Summit will begin with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 8, followed by “In Time of Peace, Prepare for War,” a keynote address by Terry “The Regulator” O’Loughlin, formerly of the Florida attorney general’s office, and “GAP, Spats, and Wiretaps: The Compliance Year in Review,” hosted by attorney Jim Ganther of Mosaic Compliance Services.

The first dealer panel, “The Bridge to Compliance: How to Build a CMS,” will begin at 11:35 a.m. Moderator Gil Van Over of ACE will be joined by Jim Cochran of Hendrick Automotive Group, attorney Randy Henrick of Mosaic, and Jodi Nicholson, financial services support manager for The Suburban Collection, which operates dealerships in the Midwest and Southern California. The group will offer a crash course in dealership compliance management system construction — including the core components of training, auditing, and complaint response — to the specifications set forth by the federal government.

The second panel, “Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” starts at 3:05 p.m., sandwiched by “How to Vet and Work With Compliant Providers,” a featured presentation by attorney and F&I product expert Robert Steenbergh, and “Is It Compliant?,” an open forum among Compliance Summit attendees and speakers.

“Where the Rubber Meets the Road” will be moderated by Tariq Kamal, associate publisher of F&I and Showroom and Auto Dealer Today magazines, and staffed by Lori Church, attorney and director of compliance for John Elway Dealers, Jason Heard, general manager of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) Honda and an ADT columnist, and Sue Wilke, finance director at RocketTown Honda and RocketTown Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Lompoc, Calif. The panel’s goal is to share hard-won advice for successfully implementing and enforcing new processes and controls, including credibility-building, ownership buy-in, and advanced auditing and coaching techniques, among other topics.

“Effective compliance education and training can be found at the intersection of the theoretical and the practical,” said David Gesualdo, show chair and publisher of F&I and ADT. “We appreciate all our speakers for their dedication to compliance and contributions to our event, but we owe a special debt to those who take time away from their dealership work to share their insights and strategies with our attendees.”

Registration for Industry Summit 2018 is open at the event’s website. Click here to RSVP for ACE certification on Tuesday, Oct. 9, for no additional charge.

To discuss sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, contact David Gesualdo at (727) 947-4027 or via email.