TORRANCE, Calif. — The 7th annual F&I Conference and Expo is proud to announce a first-class conference program for its event taking place September 14–15, 2010, at the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino.

This year’s show is bringing together some of the most recognized trainers in the business to lead more than 30 sessions on F&I sales technique and deal structuring. Mixed in this year are a host of panels that will address the biggest trends impacting the industry, many of which fall outside of the F&I realm, such as Internet sales and the mobile marketing phenomenon.

“Knowing that training budgets are tight this year, we’re transforming this year’s show into a two-day training summit,” said David Gesualdo, publisher of F&I and Showroom magazine. “But we’re also stepping outside of F&I a bit with several workshops and panels that will tackle other front-end topics. We think we’ve really created an agenda that touches all front-end departments, especially with lending guidelines and the Internet really cutting into margins these days.”

Dealers will also be represented in this year’s agenda. Along with Stephen Wade, vice chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, the event will feature Kevin Westfall, who returns as a keynote speaker after delivering an address at the 2007 conference. The senior vice president of sales at AutoNation has been a vocal advocate of the dealer’s plight under today’s still-tight lending environment, and will discuss the steps his dealer group has taken to address that issue.

But there’s something for everyone at this year’s show. Organizers have also added several workshops geared toward general agents. The goal is to provide them with information and material to help them better serve their dealer customers.

“The event has definitely taken a sales training angle, but compliance will also be well represented at this year’s conference,” said Gesualdo. “In fact, we’ve added a workshop on the risk-based pricing and new privacy notice rules. We understand that F&I profits are critical in today’s margin-compressed market, but these are two rules dealers and their front-end departments really need to educate themselves on.”

Additionally, the F&I Conference and Expo is staging a host of networking opportunities to allow attendees to exchange ideas with new and old colleagues. Those who register on or before Aug. 27 will save $100 on a full conference pass. Also, attendees who book their room at the Paris Las Vegas before Aug. 2 can take advantage of a Super Early Bird room rate of only $79 a night.

To register and for more information about the F&I Conference and Expo visit the Web site at www.fi-conference.com or call (800) 576-8788.

For exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, please contact David Gesualdo at (727) 947-4027 or david.gesualdo@bobit.com.