I’ve got good news and I’ve got great news. I know where the next Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is going to be held. This fall, November 1-3, the 7th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition will be held in...Nashville!

That’s right y’all, The Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is coming back home to its roots, Nashville, Tennessee. Don’t know if you recall, but the first two events were held in Nashville in the spring of 2006 and spring of 2007. I remember it well...the cozy Nashville Airport Marriott being too small to put all the exhibitors into one hall; squeezing too many people into the session rooms; the smelly cab rides downtown to hit the honky-tonks.

The Digital Dealer Conferences have grown considerably since then, so this time in Nashville we won’t have any of those problems. We are holding the sessions and exhibit hall at the Nashville Convention Center, which is connected to our hotel, the Marriott Renaissance Downtown, and it's right across the street from Legend's Corner, Tootsie’s, The Stage and all the rest of the honky-tonks.

We’ve got more than enough hotel rooms, more than enough room for our sessions and workshops, and easily enough room for exhibitors with one-third of the entire exhibit hall at the Nashville Convention Center.

Besides being home to the Digital Dealer Conferences (and me), did you know that Nashville is within 600 miles of 70 percent of the population of the United States? That’s one of the reasons we're holding the event in Nashville. Also, Nashville has always been well-received and well-thought of by attendees and prospective attendees. Plus we had to get out of the Orlando-fall/Las Vegas-spring rotation, because Florida can be just a little risky during hurricane season.

And honestly, another big reason for Nashville is that I’m following my own advice re: the economy and the retail automobile market: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We were able to get a very flexible agreement with the hotel and convention center here. I really stuck my neck out in Las Vegas last April. The hotel room nights guarantee and the food and beverage minimum had me risking over half a mil. Maybe it was dumb luck, but the 400-plus registered dealership attendees surprised even me (I know it surprised some past exhibitors who didn’t exhibit). The deal we made here in Nashville cuts the risk considerably but still will allow us to hold as big of an event as we’ve ever had. It’s just good business.

So, now you know when and now you know where. So what are you going to do about it...right now? How about this...go to www.DigitalDealerConference.com and take a look. And don't forget...it's never too early to register for the early-bird discount.