Featured Presenters:

Gary Marcotte
Senior Vice President, Marketing and eCommerce
AutoNation, Inc.

Gary Marcotte is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for AutoNation, Inc. His responsibilities include the company’s marketing and eCommerce activities, including the AutoUSA lead distribution subsidiary. A 25-year veteran of the automotive industry with experience on the OEM side, Gary has been with AutoNation for seven years. During this time he helped to lead several strategic projects, including the Mile High project in Denver which pioneered the consolidation of an entire market to a common brand and common store processes. He was involved in creating the market branding strategy and the move to common process in other markets. During his tenure, he led our eCommerce department and AutoUSA lead distribution network from unprofitability to three consecutive years of profitability and consistent growth.

He has an a bachelor’s degree from General Motors Institute (now called Kettering University) and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

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Lindsay Duffield
CEO
BMW Group Canada

Lindsay Duffield joined BMW Group Canada as President and CEO in September 2004. During his tenure, Mr. Duffield has led BMW Group Canada, as the premium luxury performance automaker in Canada. In 2005, BMW brand sales in Canada topped 18,000 units and combined with more than 3,000 MINI sales, BMW Group Canada achieved its 15th consecutive years of increased sales.

Prior to joining BMW Group Canada, Mr. Duffield was Vice President, Operations for BMW Financial Services, Americas Region based out of Dublin, Ohio. He held this position from 2000 to 2004, and was responsible for Credit and Contract Processing, Collections, Customer Care, Process Improvement and Commercial Lending. Mr. Duffield joined BMW Financial Services in 1996 as Vice-President, U.S. Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining BMW Group, Mr. Duffield spent three years as Director of Marketing and Communications at Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation in Norwalk, Connecticut and fourteen years with IBM in Canada and the U.S. in various sales, marketing, operations and financial services positions.

A native of Guelph, Ontario, Mr. Duffield is the first Canadian-born President of BMW Group Canada. He holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.

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Al Babbington
CEO
CallCommand

In a career spanning more than 2 decades in the automotive industry, Al Babbington has developed a reputation as an industry expert in direct marketing, DNC compliance and business strategy. He has been quoted in top publications and news outlets including Automotive News, Ward's Dealer Business, Dealer Marketing Magazine, Dealer Magazine, Yahoo Finance, CNN Marketwatch and several DMA publications.

In 1999, as a founding partner and Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning for FirstAmerica Automotive (FAA), California's largest automotive consolidator, Mr. Babbington oversaw the marketing efforts for FAA's $1.6 billion in sales.

Prior to his position at FAA, Mr. Babbington served as both general manager and partner at Serramonte Auto Plaza, which was Northern California's highest volume retailer during his tenure. Mr. Babbington has also served on numerous dealer marketing and product advisory boards including General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Isuzu, Autobytel and ADP.

Before joining CallCommand, Mr. Babbington was Chief Executive Officer of Auto Town, an early provider of sales automation and CRM solutions for the auto industry. He remained as Vice Chairman until the company was acquired by Cobalt in 2004.

Al has degrees from George Washington University and Harvey Mudd College.

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Kevin Oliff
Managing Partner
Capistrano Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Kevin Oliff recently was hired as Managing Partner at Capistrano Chrysler Jeep Dodge in San Juan Capistrano, California. Kevin was most recently General Manager of Power Chrysler Jeep, Valencia (an AN company) which was named the fastest growing Chrysler Jeep Dealership in 2004. In an extremely competitive market, Kevin was able to maintain PVR, increase market share, and increase pre-tax net profit well over 100% year over year. While at Power Chrysler Jeep, Valencia, Oliff was elected President of the Santa Clarita Valley Auto Dealers Association who worked with community leaders to create a “Shop Local” campaign.

Prior to joining Power Chrysler Jeep, Valencia, Kevin was employed by the Shaver Automotive Group in Thousand Oaks, California. Kevin was employed by the Shaver family for over 12 years. During his tenure with the Shaver Automotive Group, he worked in almost every position in the store from salesman, CSI Facilitator, Service Manager, Operations Manager, Finance, and Sales Manager. The Shaver Automotive Group was consistently one of the top 10 Jeep dealers in the Western United States.

Kevin has achieved career success while also focusing on his family. He is the proud father of four children and has been married to his wife Joanna for 10 years. In his spare time he volunteers in his children’s classroom working as a teacher’s aid.

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Thilo Koslowski

VP & Lead Automotive Analyst

Gartner/G2

As Lead Analyst and VP for GartnerG2's automotive industry offering, Mr. Koslowski helps business leaders in the automotive industry to unlock the potential of technology to drive business growth and manage technology's impact on business models and processes. His research centers around critical topics related to the automotive demand & supply chains and in-vehicle information and communication applications.

Before joining GartnerG2, Mr. Koslowski was a consultant in GartnerConsulting's Executive Market Analysis Program, where he participated in customized domestic and international consulting assignments for vendors in the services and e-business markets. Prior to that, he worked in various marketing positions for a premium, European automaker. Mr. Koslowski graduated with honors from the Technical University (RWTH) Aachen, Germany and holds a master's degree in Business Studies with majors in Marketing, European Economy and Production Engineering.

As Gartner's lead analyst for the automotive vertical, Mr. Koslowski is regularly quoted in global publications, TV and radio broadcasts including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNET, BBC, Automotive News, Computerworld, ABC News and others.

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Sam Kapreilian

Partner, CRM Strategy Leader

IBM Global Business Services

Blair Skramstad

Director, Marketing Services

John Deere Credit U.S.A.

Blair Skramstad is the Director of Marketing Services for John Deere Credit, Inc. His responsibilities include the company’s marketing communications, call center, research, analysis, customer databases, CRM and eCommerce activities.

Blair has been with John Deere Credit for 20 years. During this time he helped to lead several strategic sales, marketing and customer focused projects, including continuing to transition John Deere Credit from a product to a customer driven organization. He has evolved the marketing services organization to becoming an integrated force in analyzing, developing and delivering high quality and targeted customer focused messages to the market. Blair has also been instrumental in forming cross divisional team which include the manufacturing divisions to share and drive for processes that will allow for a single few of the customer across all markets and products.

Blair has a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and a MBA from the Frostburg State University

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Bill Burris

Ownership Experience Manager - Lexus Division

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Bill Burris is the Relationship Marketing Manager for Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc.  In this role, Burris is responsible for Lexus marketing activities including direct and interactive marketing.  He also shares responsibility for marketing strategy, database analysis, and credit card marketing.

Since joining TMS in 1991, Burris has held a number of positions including Process Improvement Manager and Training Development Manager.  He also served as an executive coordinator at the parent company, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan. 

Prior to joining Toyota, Burris spent a number of years in dealer development capacities for automotive nameplates including Volkswagen, Porsche, and Jaguar.  He started his automotive career in a family-owned retail dealership environment.

A graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, Burris majored in biology and currently holds emergency medical certifications.  He is a motor sports enthusiast and is a member of the Direct Marketing Association.

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Ed Allen

Industry Director of Automotive

Oracle Corporation

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John Wisdom
Director of Customer Systems
PACCAR Inc.

John Wisdom has 20 years experience in the heavy duty trucking aftermarket parts business.  He has held positions of increasing responsibility in Business Planning, Pricing, Materials and Marketing.  John is known throughout the heavy duty trucking industry for delivering three industry-leading, high-impact collaborative customer programs – Managed Dealer Inventory (VMI with dealers), SupportNet (CRM case handling with dealers) and Connect Systems (collaborative fleet customer inventory control).

John is currently the Director of Customer Systems for PACCAR Parts.  He is responsible for general management, product development and sales operations for Customer Systems in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia.

John earned a B.S. at Northern Illinois University and an M.B.A. at the University of Washington.

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Sebastian Mackensen

Business Development Manager 
Porsche Cars North America, Inc.

Sebastian Mackensen is the Manager Business Development for Porsche Cars North America (PCNA), a position he has held since April 2004. In this role Mackensen is currently responsible for developing and executing PCNA's CRM strategy, in addition to leading a variety of special strategic projects.

Mackensen recently completed the successful implementation of a comprehensive CRM system. The system brings all relevant customer and vehicle information together into one database, which is the basis of all customer related activities, such as direct marketing campaigns, in- and outbound calls, complaint management, recalls, financial services information, and warranty information.

A native of Braunschweig, Germany, Mackensen has been involved with the automotive industry since 1992, when he started his undergraduate studies in business administration at the Berufsakademie, Stuttgart, Germany, in a special program with Mercedes Benz. Before entering Porsche to work in the Sales and Marketing Division at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, he earned an International MBA from Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain, in 1998. After leaving Porsche to join a start-up company in the customer loyalty and retention field and set up its Spanish subsidiary (webmiles), he returned to Porsche, where he worked as the General Manager for Porsche Financial Services in Madrid, Spain, until March 2004.

Rick Rogers

eCommerce Director

Keyes Mercedes-Benz

Rick Rogers is the e-Commerce Director for Keyes Mercedes-Benz. He brings the unique distinction of having been highly successful in the entertainment industry (having worked at Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros.) as well as having his own management and production business. He transitioned into the automobile industry as a result of developing a sitcom taking place in a dealership.

His first auto job was at Beverly Hills Mercedes where he soon became the number one Internet sales person in the nation. In this role, he developed and beta tested various CRM, Internet, and database software to strategically place his dealership and customer experiences among the best. He also created his own business that consulted with many dealerships to assist them in the development of e-Commerce departments.

Several years ago he joined newcars.com as the Southern California Director. In this role, he managed over 80 accounts, and was responsible for product and advanced training.

Rick’s current role is the result of the vision of Peter Boesen, VP and GM of South Bay BMW, Mini, and Lotus. Mr. Boesen invited Rick to help him achieve the goal of becoming the first dealership in the nation to leverage both Internet and CRM best practices. In his first year, Rick has created a brand strategy for each store and implemented tactics such as SEO and CPC to build showroom traffic. As a result, all three stores have increased sales, service and parts to record numbers and South Bay BMW has grown from 30th to 8th in the nation.

Rick attended Bard College and was graduated by Cambridge College with a degree in Communications.

David Harris

Advertising and E-Business Manager

American Suzuki

David Harris is the E-business and Database Marketing Manager for American Suzuki Motor Corporations Automotive Division.  David has been with Suzuki for the past 4 years during which time he has worked with Suzuki's various websites and Automotive lead generation programs as well as implementing Siebel into their Customer Care Center.  Prior to joining Suzuki, David worked with Doubleclick and Autobytel where he was involved with customer lifecycle management and sales.

David has over a decade of experience in the interactive arena with many years focused around the utilization of CRM systems to address and better manage revenue generation through out the customer lifecycle.  His recent involvement with the interactive side of the Motor Sports and Automotive industries has allowed him to blend motor oil and computers into a profession that makes everyday at work exciting!

David holds an MBA degree from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.