LAS VEGAS — Sources close to both organizations are reporting that F&I and Showroom and Agent Entrepreneur’s collaborative effort to launch an agents-only conference is nearing fruition. Expectations are high for the new event, which is rumored to have already attracted many of the top trainers in the general agent segment. 

Calls to the Las Vegas Hilton confirmed that Agent Summit 2011 is scheduled for March 8 and 9 of next year and will include both conference and exhibition space. The format of the show will likely follow that of F&I and Showroom’s F&I Conference and Expo. That event celebrated its seventh anniversary this September and featured its first-ever Agent Symposium. The one-day, pre-show event was a success, attracting 160 attendees with a slate of targeted workshops led by high-profile speakers and trainers. 

David Gesualdo, F&I and Showroom publisher and conference chair, hinted in the magazine’s post-show coverage that favorable returns from the symposium could lead to a standalone event. 

“General agents are a key partner to, and often a lifeline for, their dealer clients,” Gesualdo said. “We have always enjoyed the presence of our agent friends at the F&I Conference. If there is demand for an agents-only show, we would consider that the logical next step.”