Billy Beane of 'Moneyball' Fame to Keynote 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit

SALT LAKE CITY, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DrivingSales today announced that Billy Beane, the focus of the recent Academy Award nominated film 'Moneyball,' will keynote the fourth annual DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) scheduled for Sunday, October 21st through Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. Beane is renowned for his "Moneyball" methodology style of management and leadership, which involves identifying undervalued assets to create and sustain a competitive advantage; and he is considered one of the most progressive and talented baseball executives in the game today. Beane's keynote address and appearance is sponsored by Cobalt, an ADP Company.

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"Last year's DSES keynote speaker was not an automotive industry expert by any means, but never before had I seen a standing ovation at an automotive conference. He brought a new perspective on our business, something I have no doubt that Billy Beane will deliver to the hundreds of 2012 DSES attendees," said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. "Billy had an American dream and implemented a winning, albeit unorthodox, strategy to the game of baseball, which has inspired not only his colleagues, but executives in various industries around the country. His message will resonate with the progressive dealers at our conference because they are always the first in our industry to embrace the innovative strategies that move our industry forward. Billy will leave DSES attendees not only with actionable new strategies, but also motivated and pumped for the year ahead!"

Billy Beane, a former baseball player and first round draft pick, has shaped the Oakland Athletics into a perennial postseason contender since assuming the general manager's duties following the 1997 season. Under Beane's watch, the A's have compiled an 1132-972 (.538) record over the last 13 seasons, which is the fourth-best record in the American League and sixth best in all of baseball during that time frame. The A's have won four American League West titles and secured one AL Wild Card spot during that span. Beane and his former Assistant GM shattered outdated MLB beliefs that big payrolls equated wins by implementing an unconventional methodology that inevitably led one of the worst teams in the American League with one of the lowest payrolls, to three American League West Division titles.

Best-selling author Michael Lewis chronicled their journey in his 2003 best-selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which became an Oscar-nominated motion picture starring Brad Pitt. Beane was named The Sporting News' Executive of the Year in 1999 and earned Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year honors by Baseball America magazine following the 2002 season. Beane was also named one of Street & Smith's Sport Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and in 2004, he was rated 16th on their list of Baseball's Heavy Hitters.

Early Bird registration is now open for the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit Automotive Conference.

For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit, visit: DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact [email protected].  Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

About DrivingSales

Founded in 2008 and dedicated to the dealer community, DrivingSales is a business intelligence and data company that delivers unbiased*, profit-building information to make automobile dealers more successful through three distinct channels: DrivingSales Data, DrivingSales University and DrivingSales Media. DrivingSales Data houses the largest database of cross-vendor, dealership performance data in the North American auto industry and provides dealerships with the most statistically accurate performance benchmarks and metrics for their marketing and technology investments. DrivingSales University is a fully interactive online university that offers advanced profit-building strategies to automotive professionals through hundreds of classes taught by world-leading experts. DrivingSales Media connects dealers to peers and information through its global media assets, including DrivingSales.com, the world's largest automotive social network; The Dealership Innovation Guide, an industry leading quarterly publication; DrivingSales Executive Summit, the top automotive conference for progressive dealers, and DrivingSalesTV, Web TV covering everything car-dealer related. Approximately one in every three dealerships in the United States has a registered member in the DrivingSales community.

DrivingSales Media Relations:
Melanie Webber ([email protected]), mWEBB Communications, 424.603.4340
Angela Jacobson ([email protected]), mWEBB Communications, 714.454.8776

SOURCE DrivingSales