St. Petersburg, Fla.Payless Car Sales has announced that they will hold their 2008 National Dealer Conference in Dallas on June 22–24 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel Grapevine. The conference will immediately precede the 62nd NIADA Conference & Exposition, which is scheduled to be held at the nearby Gaylord Texan Resort on June 25–28.

Payless dealers from across the country will meet in a theatre-like classroom setting to learn more about recent and future systemwide company initiatives. Attendees will also be introduced to a number of newly acquired “preferred partners” from industry-leading companies and will be invited to discuss their current and future plans, both as individual dealer franchisees and as part of a nationally branded system.

“Historically, recessions are only temporary downturns which last, on average, somewhere between 12 to 18 months,” said Mike Harley, Payless president and COO. “Yes, they can be painful,” he added, “but if you put them into perspective, take the larger view and come at them with the right tools and perhaps the most essential thing — a positive attitude — they can present huge opportunities too ... While most companies will choose to follow the practically universal gut reaction of their executives to draw down wherever they can, we will be meeting to discuss current and future innovations which will help us to further differentiate our brand.”

The conference’s keynote speaker and master of ceremonies will be none other than the "Car-Diologist,” D.J. Harrington, CSP, who is well-known throughout the industry. His topic will be “A Checkup from the Neck Up,” a process Harrington believes every dealer should be performing on his or her store in the current economic climate.