Mr. Bates Goes to Washington: My Experience at This Year’s Reynolds Retail Summit

As you may remember, I traveled to Las Vegas in February for my 23rd NADA Show. And in August, I found myself just a stone’s throw from NADA headquarters at the Lansdowne Resort for Reynolds Retail Summit: Amplify 2024. A lot happened during the 200 days between these events including a cyberattack that shook the automotive industry. That’s why Reynolds spent so much time at this year’s summit discussing hackers, cybersecurity, and what we’re doing to protect your data.

Speaking of “hackers,” my Reynolds Retail Summit experience started with some quality time golfing. I always enjoy getting to know our customers a little better, especially in a setting as beautiful as the Robert Trent Jones Jr. course at Lansdowne. On the par-3 13th hole, there’s a stone wall that dates all the way back to the 1700s! Joining me for my round were David Smith, CPA from the Newton Motor Group and Ryan Hensley and Foster Cook from Bill Penney Toyota.

This year’s event was well attended and our guest list included dealers, OEM representatives, and automotive industry influencers. There was a flurry of activity out on the expo floor. I saw a ton of engagement as people learned about new products, new enhancements, and how to better utilize what they already have in their dealership. Thank you to Ourisman Automotive CEO Edward Wheaton , Sheehy Automotive CEO Vince Sheehy, and NADA President Mike Stanton for sharing some great insights with Christopher Walsh during their keynote session.

Following our morning keynote, attendees split off and headed to one of three breakout sessions. As I mentioned up top, there’s been a big focus on cybersecurity over the last couple months and we’ve received a ton of questions. That’s why we set up a Q&A session with our Chief Information Security Officer Nikhil Kalani . Nikhil walked through our cybersecurity posture and provided insights on how and why Reynolds does things differently than some of our competitors. I received tremendous positive feedback from customers on both Reynolds’ approach and Nikhil’s ability to simplify a very complex topic.

In addition to Nikhil’s Q&A, our Chief Privacy Office and VP of Data Strategy Will Farley hosted a session focused on data security, privacy, and information security. Will did a deep dive into all the tools and resources Reynolds offers our dealers to ensure their protection. He also let Nikhil crash the party to talk about our Security Operations Center, cybersecurity training, and the services offered by Proton Dealership IT . And finally, Frank Abagnale, subject of Catch Me If You Can, shared how to protect yourself, your family, and your business from identity theft and other scams.

Reynolds Retail Summit is the perfect checkpoint between NADA conventions. I get to interact with dealers quite a bit, but getting everybody together in the same room is something I really cherish. We have a lot of exciting developments going on here at Reynolds and I think the automotive industry is poised for another fantastic year in 2025. Hope to see you all in New Orleans in a couple months!