F&I and Showroom, Industry Summit 2014

Letter From the Editor The editor talks about why he thinks this weeks compliance discussions will be a game changer He also breaks down some of the hot topics this years program will address By Gregory Arroyo I ts hard to believe Industry Summit is 12 years old Of course it was known as the F I Conference and Expo when the event was fi rst launched in November 2002 Im just proud to have been at the helm of F I and Showroom magazine for eight of those years The experience has been exciting fun and even a little challenging I just got off the phone with Mad Marv who was in attendance during that fi rst show It attracted 200 people half of whom served on the 14 to 15 panels listed on the agenda As he said the concept of having a dedicated event for F I managers was so new that no one knew what to think And many werent sure if wed stick around Well were still here And it seems the challenges we faced back then arent much different than what we face today Compliance like it was back then is still a hot topic Whats funny is when it was discussed at the fi rst F I Conference many industry insiders believed the F I offi ces days were numbered See if you recall payment packing was the issue of the day Thats because in May 1998 six months before we launched F I and Showroom magazine then known as F I Management and Technology the state of Washington settled three lawsuits against two credit insurance sales companies for allegedly encouraging dealers to hide costs of extra products in payment quotes I know we havent completely rid our industry of the bad actors and bad practices but a lot of good came out of those scandals Acceptance of the menu grew and accountability became more than just a buzzword Im just proud to know the magazine 2 F I and Showroom Industry Summit 2014 and our conference played a critical role in helping to bring change to the industry after that period allowing our industrys compliance and legal experts to get those best practices out into the market And thats what makes me excited about the future of F I and Showroom and Industry Summit See in the January 2011 issue I wrote about the Risk Based Pricing Rule I noted that I thought the requirement represented a chance for F I pros to uphold their commitment to their customers and create opportunities for real conversations about credit Well the attention our industry is getting from regulators like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB and the Department of Justice at least from my vantage point represents a real opportunity to show our customers how far weve come as an industry Yes the auto fi nance industry has gotten some bad press But op eds like the one The New York Times 18 member editorial board penned on Aug 8 offers us an opportunity to once again explain to consumers how the indirect channel works what our role is and why any comparisons to what happened in the subprime mortgage industry is completely off base In other words we have an opportunity to educate And again lets use this regulatory environment to showcase just how much better weve become Take this years F I Pacesetters see Page 10 After speaking with each organization Im more than confi dent that we have a good story to tell After all the F I segments very existence depends upon how well we protect our customers their families and their vehicle purchases We have a great program this year Former CFPB offi cial Rick Hackett kicks off the proceedings on Tuesday at 9 a m Dont miss it because as diffi cult as it may be to hear what he has to say about our business his address should provide us with some insights on how the CFPB may approach F I product sales So have an open mind listen closely and take notes But this years conference isnt all about compliance We also happen to have the industrys best F I trainers Greg Goebel and his team will also be talking about two very hot topics special fi nance and used vehicle retailing and from what I hear that 125000 mile vehicle is now an ideal candidate for the protections featured on our menus So dont forget to check those sessions out And dont forget about our newest educational track Dealership Sales Technology Well be talking a lot about todays Internet shopper but were capping off this new offering with a session on how trainers are equipping F I offi ces for the Digital Revolution Our On the Point columnist Jim Ziegler will be kicking off the new event with a state of theindustry address that is guaranteed to inform and entertain And for those of you who have been with us for the long haul you know thats been our mission since the fi rst conference So on behalf of the magazine and our speakers have a good show Opportunities Abound