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How In-Person Events Create Innovation And Collaboration with Greg Uland · Auto Collabs

0:00
Can you please, with this same level of enthusiasm, do the rest of this intro? [laughs] [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs.
0:13
[laughs] See, what I wish people knew is that when we drop in, when Nathan finally hits the record button, we've been winding each other up for, like, 10 minutes prior.
0:23
A solid 10 minutes, just to figure out who's gonna get angry- Not even that... or happy or whatever it may be. We do a talent show. We do- [laughs]
0:30
The 10, the 10 minutes usually involves an, an array of emotion- [laughs]... from anger to hysteria to laughter. [laughs] I mean, and so by the time we get into these intros, we're all wound up.
0:42
Today, I'm excited 'cause we have Greg Uland again. He is vying for the most, I think we... Do we say this? Like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna... We're tracking. Nathan's tracking. Most appearances on ASOTU so far this year.
0:53
It's a great spot to have. Greg is somebody who's always paying attention to a broad spectrum of what's going on in the industry.
0:59
And just by nature, I think, of being the, the CMO for Reynolds, you're probably privy to a couple conversations in a couple different areas of the... Do you know what I mean?
1:07
When you're a company that is as invested in this industry as Ray Ray, there's no doubt that he's... The, these conversations are much farther reaching than we probably could anticipate. So,
1:18
I hope you enjoy this one with Greg Uland. Uh, top contender or the number one- We're gonna have to-... most recurring guest... we have to check with Nathan on that. We're gonna have to fact check that.
1:28
But either way, hope you enjoy this conversation with Greg Uland. [upbeat music] Greg, welcome back to the show. I think you are definitely a front runner for, uh, most appearances- Good... this year.
1:42
Well, I was hoping so. That's what I've been going for. You know, it's only, um- There's a trophy and everything... Good. I mean, it's only August, so we got, you know, a few solid months left.
1:49
Um, if we can keep up with Keynes- [laughs]... we should be in good shape. [laughs] So good. So good.
1:53
Uh, the summer is always one of those times where, depending on who you talk to, you realize, like, they don't wanna talk to you at all- [laughs]... or they're actually doing a lot of work in the background, right?
2:04
So, like, in the dealer world, we were just talking about this on, uh, the morning show today, that, like, they're working. They're selling cars, right? Especially last day of the month. But, but they're, like, working.
2:14
Meanwhile, on the industry partner side, this is usually a time when we have a little bit of headroom to plan to invest in the client base and, and do things that bring people together.
2:23
So, um, I don't know how you feel about that. That's how I'm feeling. I mean, you have a- I, I don't know... event coming up, so. [laughs] I never, I never feel like I have time to plan, unfortunately.
2:31
You know, that's the, uh, you know, you run about 600 miles an hour, but that's, that's the world we live in, which is, is what makes- [laughs]... it fun, you know? Well, some people on your team have been planning.
2:39
Absolutely. You know, one of the things, one of the things that, that we talk about a lot in the ASOTU world is, like, what happens when you get people together, which always takes planning, right? Yeah.
2:47
It takes meals, lodging, getting people to, like, set time aside in their schedules. And, like, we're about to spend a little time together in, uh... Is it technically Virginia, or is it Maryland? Uh, it's Virginia.
2:57
Where we're gonna be. It's, it's- It's Virginia. Yeah. Yeah, so you have had team planning this Amplify event, and where you are bringing people together because you believe in the same thing that happens.
3:06
So, um, why did you start that event? This is the second year or third year? Uh, second year, yeah. So, well, first of all, um, you mentioned the team planning. I gotta give a shout-out specifically to Ashley Wrench.
3:16
So, I mean, you guys have- She's a crush... interacted with her a little bit. But, um, if anybody's coming, uh, first of all, everybody should come.
3:22
But, you know, if you're there, uh, find Ashley and, uh, at least meet her 'cause she is a rock star, and she's been making this whole thing happen. Um, a- and also Colleen Whalen on our team, too, I think.
3:32
So anyhow, you know, a team is such a, uh, vague term. Those two, uh, those two ladies are absolute dynamite rock stars. And, uh, any- anything we do doesn't happen without them. So anyhow, um, yeah.
3:44
With, with Amplify, very, very excited. August 19 and 20, uh, at Lansdowne Resort in, yeah, Leesburg, Virginia, which is the DC area.
3:53
Um, you know, we really do this annually to, um, to get people together to share, and it's kinda, it's kind of dual purpose, I suppose.
4:01
Part of it is best practices, and you guys, um, do a great job with this, obviously, with ASOTU CON and bringing people together and sharing best practices.
4:08
Um, but it also, you know, has different tracks where we can have, uh, Reynolds customers come, too, and we can do best practices and workshops so they can walk away with a lot of tangible fingers on the keyboard things.
4:19
Mm. Um, so it's a pretty diverse, uh, group that'll come in. It's a big group this year. Uh, really excited about it.
4:24
But, uh, yeah, i- idea sharing and, and having some things to walk away with, but also tactical fingers on the keyboard stuff, too. What are the- That's awesome. Were you gonna say something, Kyle? No. Oh.
4:34
I was saying that's awesome. But... And I was gonna a- I was gonna probably ask the same thing that you were gonna ask. [laughs] Like, where are the key topics- That's exactly what I was gonna ask...
4:43
kind of centralizing around? Yeah, because- [laughs]... you know, I... Like, I'm always interested. Like, what a- what am I gonna take away, uh, from, from any of these events?
4:50
And, and, you know, just me getting at- to attend, I'm always... I, I always get value out of it. So I'm, I'm kind of excited to hear your answer [laughs] 'cause I'm like, "All right.
4:59
What notes am I gonna be taking- The hot topics... when I show up," right? Yeah, I think, you know, the one that, um, is of, of probably the most interest to everybody is, is cybersecurity, right, and how to handle that.
5:10
And, and it's interesting because with cybersecurity, and, and you guys know this as well as anyone, right?
5:15
Our industry, like every industry, has these cycles where certain things are really important today, and then 30 days from now, we don't have time to keep them top of mind, right? And- You don't say. [laughs] Right.
5:24
It just, it's crazy. [laughs] You've been doing this a while. Um, [laughs]
5:30
so but with cybersecurity, it's one that you just, none of us, right, but dealers especially, you can't afford to not have it front of mind, or at least have somebody on your team have it front of mind. Mm-hmm.
5:39
Um, so this is one where, you know, we'll have our, uh, the Reynolds Chief Privacy Officer, Will Farley, will have a session. Um, we're actually gonna have Frank Abagnale there.
5:48
Uh, if that name doesn't sound familiar to you- Oh, my God, no. I totally know who that is. Yeah. Catch Me If You Can. That's right. That's right. So he'll be- [laughs]...
5:55
he'll be there talking about, uh, you know, privacy, cybersecurity. Wait, pause there for a second. Yeah. You guys know who that is, right? The movie Catch Me If You Can. I know.
6:02
It looks like some, some blank staresI feel like Leo- I mean, I know the movie-... Leo DiCaprio-... but I don't know the name in particular. Is this who the movie's based on? That's the guy. That's the character. Yeah.
6:11
That's the character. Gotcha. Leo DiCaprio's character. Yeah. Yes. They caught him, right?
6:14
The FBI said, like, "You're brilliant," and then he's just basically turned this into a life of, like, putting the white hat on, right? Yeah. Interesting. Wow. Wow, very cool. Yeah. So he's, he's great.
6:25
That'll be a fun one to have there. Um, we're ex- we're excited about that for sure. You know, entertaining if nothing else, but he actually does have some really good tangible takeaways.
6:32
Um, then we'll have, uh, Reynolds Chief Information Security Officer, Nikhil Kalani, there too for a Q&A. So a lot of focus, um, because there's been a lot of demand, a lot of ask for it.
6:41
So that'll be a big- Yeah, sure... a big topic, obviously. Um, I'm really excited about, uh, a bunch of new products and features that we're launching at, uh, at the show.
6:51
So a lot of it centered around AI and, and this artificial intelligence world, and new products and new functionality being available there. Uh, so that's...
6:59
I, I'm getting pretty, pretty excited to just see the reaction, right? You work so hard and your team, our team, like our product team, works so hard to get this stuff out the door.
7:06
And, um, being able to see it, uh, in the real world and, and getting that reaction and those interactions, I can't, I can't wait for that. So I'm, I'm excited to share that with, uh, with everybody.
7:16
Um, so we'll be, we'll be all over the place. You know, the, the thing that's new this year that I'm excited about, um, half of us on this, on this podcast are gonna be judges at the, uh, Automotive Amplifiers Contest.
7:27
Um, Michael, you and I are, are odd man out. Sorry. [laughs] I have a face for radio. It's just, it is what it is. [laughs] I don't think, I th- I don't think it was a beauty contest. [laughs] Anyway. Oh.
7:39
It definitely wasn't a beauty contest. Thank goodness. You know, I got made fun of for my gray hair recently. That was live- It was killing me... that was live re- like, sass that you were getting on a live stream.
7:48
Just ribbing, yeah. So it was unbel- Oh... just a full ribbing. Um, yeah, I'm excited about that.
7:53
We've been talking about that for a little while, and I, I love any of these, like, best idea, innovative practices, things that, you know... I mean, I remember as a dealer, like, 20 Group Best Idea.
8:04
It was always the thing- Mm-hmm... that someone would bring back because they saw it implemented, they saw it work, and then they saw the path to doing that similarly for themselves.
8:13
Um, and so I think that's gonna be, uh, you know, a, a really key piece of people's kind of takeaways is like, "Oh, I can grab that, take that back to the dealership and implement that," and potentially, like, in a couple days- Yeah...
8:26
really quickly and easily. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that- You know what's, like, circling around my brain? You know what grinds my gears, guys? [laughs] Come on. Like, what do we do- I'm gonna assess this...
8:35
what do we do, guys, to inject into our ecosystem, into our industry, this idea of like, you don't have to wait for a bad thing to happen before it's important. Doing a good thing.
8:50
Yeah, like, like, I, I mean, a- and actually kind of both of these things- Hmm... right? Like, uh, cybersecurity obviously. Um, I don't know if you guys watch the news, but like... [laughs] Just kidding. Try not to.
9:00
[laughs] But, but, like, we always, right? It, it's not just our industry. It's human nature, I think. We wait for bad things to happen.
9:06
I mean, I imagine you guys are probably gonna lean heavy into this and really kind of,
9:10
you know, take people by the, by the arms and, and say, "Hey, like, cybersecurity is something you gotta be not just waiting till something bad happens to you." And then the same thing with artificial intelligence.
9:20
With all the people out there that are talking about how it's gonna replace their job, it's like we're still in this grace period where you can do something about it. You don't have to wait- Right. Mm-hmm... till your...
9:32
Y- you know what I mean? Like, do you guys plan on... W- what's your thoughts around that?
9:35
Are you guys planning on kind of wrapping your arms around the, the attendees that way at this event and, and kind of helping them understand, like, you don't need to wait for bad stuff to happen before you take it seriously?
9:48
Yeah, for sure. You know, it's interesting. I was talking with, um, well, a friend of your guys, uh, Steve Greenfield, yesterday.
9:53
And, uh, we were chatting, and, and he was talking about how, you know, he really sees an opportunity for, for dealers to take costs out of the dealership.
10:03
He, he kind of framed this up as this idea of, you know, for so long we focus on, "Okay, how do I get more revenue? How do I get more profitable?"
10:09
Well, you know, the easiest way to get more profitable is to remove costs, right? And it doesn't have to happen all at once.
10:14
But taking steps, to your point, Michael, now, um, to, to be more automated, to have these AI tools that when the time comes where somebody's ready to retire or ready to move on, maybe you don't have to replace them, right?
10:26
And just, it's, it really meshed well with, I swear, every dealer that I talk to, especially the bigger ones that have scale. Um, the, the first thing that they're, they're focused on is, you know, doing more with less.
10:37
How do I sell more cars with fewer people? Mm. Um, and it's, it's really something that, that is an ongoing, ongoing battle.
10:44
I mean, I think, and you guys are probably familiar with this too, but, um, Glenn Mercer talks a lot about how, [laughs] you know, you go back 30 years, and how many cars did the average salesperson sell? Yeah. 10.
10:54
10, 10 a month, right? And, and last month, how many did the average salesperson sell? [laughs] 10. 10 a month. Two. [laughs] Right.
11:01
And, and you have all this software, you have all this- But the talent pool is drying up. It's not just, like, people retiring. There's a- Yeah... there's a clear gap in the talent pool. Yeah.
11:08
We've noticed that as, as an industry. Yeah. No, you're spot on.
11:11
So yeah, how do you, how do you make each person more efficient, more productive, and give them tools that actually help them do more versus just help them, instead of writing stuff down on a piece of paper, typing it into a computer, right?
11:24
There, there's a big difference between going digital and having things that, uh, artificial intelligence can do for you, which is where you're actually gonna see those efficiency gains.
11:31
So yeah, leaning into a lot of that, um, because... A- and not, not just, you know, standing on a soapbox, but I mean, I, I swear every dealer I talk to, that's, that's kind of top of mind.
11:41
Is this Reynolds' play to get out of printing 1.8 billion miles of paper a year? [laughs] Like, the real estate costs in these printing facilities, though. Yeah, right. You know. [laughs] That's great. That's great.
11:56
That's a good callback from earlier this year, Michael. That's good. It is. He's- That's great... he's good. So something for you guys- You know what I forgot to ask-... I'm just... [laughs] He's, uh, the callback guy.
12:04
I did forget to ask this, uh, before SodaCon last year.Um, when Kyle and I visited HQ and you, you brought out the scroll. Yeah. [laughs] It felt like the Dead Sea Scroll- Yeah... of a car. This is a car deal.
12:15
How m- how many feet is that? 39. 50-something? 39. 39 feet. Phew. I was gonna see if, like, we could ship that in, like, the golden arc that it goes in after you put it away- [laughs]...
12:24
to a So2Con so we could roll it across the entire stage. [laughs] Like, this is a... May- maybe next year's the year. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, we should do it.
12:31
And, you know, I- I feel like, yeah, I feel like we need to carry it in on an arc, right? Yeah, absolutely. And then you, like, open the lid, and then we un- unroll this car deal.
12:38
[laughs] This is, this is what regulations do to us, right? This is what, what's been pushed on us- Ooh... as an industry.
12:43
Um, but, you know, for next year we'll probably have to have, the, the way it's looking, and this isn't really, uh, you know, necessarily, uh, funny- Yeah... but, uh, you know, we're gonna have- So we have 75 feet. Yeah.
12:51
Yeah. We're gonna have a few more feet to add to that thing. It's crazy. Phew. It's crazy. It's wild. Yeah. I- is the... Do you think the CARS Rule will be a topic of conversation?
12:59
I mean, we're starting to get into, uh, you know, a, a session opening back up again. You know, political wars going, and CARS Rule- Mm-hmm... potentially becoming a little bit of a spotlight here in the fall.
13:09
Maybe a topic of conversation even in, just in the halls, uh- Yeah, I think it will be. At So2Con. I think it needs to be. Um, actually, we'll have Mike Stanton there also. Uh- Great...
13:18
he, he'll be on stage in the morning. So, you know, obviously this is something that he's very dialed into and has a, a, um, really passionate, um, interest in, in making sure that it's done right, um- Yep...
13:29
you know, if it's done. But, uh, yeah, so that it'll certainly be a topic that's, that's discussed. I think the struggle is, you know, for [laughs]...
13:36
You know, and kind of opened with this, where we have these cycles, right? But, um, you know, you hear, you hear about something for a year, and then it still doesn't happen, so it's like- Yeah...
13:45
all right, just let me know when it's actually gonna happen. [laughs] It's really hard to- Right. Yeah, yeah. [laughs] It's really hard to get- Yep... focused on it when it just keeps getting- Absolutely...
13:51
kicked down the road. Absolutely. Well, hey, uh, Greg, it's been a pleasure hanging out with you, uh, again. And I'm, I'm really excited about the, the, the event.
14:01
Uh, if, if people haven't, uh, gotten the opportunity to find out about it or make their way to it, uh, you said the room block is closing down, but how do they get more information? Where do they go?
14:13
Um, and, and who's invited? Yeah. Uh, reyrey.com/amplify, uh, has all the information there. You can register there. Um, you know, we do have a few rooms left probably in the room block, but, uh, not, not much.
14:25
So make sure if you need to stay, you get those. But, uh, definitely get registered, um, and, and come join us. It'll be a ton of fun. Uh, really looking forward to it. It is, it is a two-day event.
14:34
We talked a lot about the important stuff, the content. But also day one, uh- There's a little bit of golf. Yeah, a little bit of golf, a lot of fun. Um, you know, some, some shenanigans probably.
14:43
And then, uh- [laughs] Golf and shenanigans. Can, can... And that sounds like a great title for a vlog for this event. Um, can anybody go? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously it's, it's tailored to dealers. Um, but yeah.
14:55
That's what I meant. The, the- Like, they don't have to be a Rey Rey customer to go? No. No, no, no.
14:58
I mean, we're probably, right now looking at registrations, we're probably, I don't know, 40% non-current Reynolds customers, which is great. Oh, awesome. You know, it's, it's definitely an industry event.
15:07
It's not a, not a Reynolds event. So we'll, we'd love- Love that... love to have everybody. [upbeat music] Awesome. Well, there you go. Greg, thanks. Can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks.
15:14
And, uh, yeah, I'm sure we'll talk to you soon. Thanks for joining us again on Auto Collabs. All right. Thank you, guys. We'll talk soon. [upbeat music] Okay, so we got fact-checked.
15:26
Greg definitely, as his third appearance, is the most appear-- has the most appearances on Auto Collabs. We do have, like, 120 episodes. You think he's like- Wow...
15:34
I gotta up the an- like, do you think at this point he's just competing against himself? Like- No. Oh, right... how that was like- Like it's-... competing with him last time... right, it's a track star mentality.
15:42
[laughs] I don't know. You know what we need to do? We need to get back on his podcast, 'cause we got to do a podcast with him in person. That's right.
15:48
He never shared- And I wonder if anyone's ever been in studio for two episodes of that. Oh. Ooh. But we have, we have been on that podcast twice. That's true. You, you and me, Paul. That's true.
15:57
So- I remember the first- Wait, in the studio twice? No, in studio once. No. Yeah, so. Hey, hey, look, we're gonna be in person with him any- either way in just a couple weeks. I'm really excited about it. Me too.
16:08
One, I love w- whenever you get to hang out with a room full of dealers, industry partners, the, the conversation about just, like, what happens when you get in a room with other people that are thinking and dreaming about the next thing in auto, it's always good for me.
16:21
Um, but also, like, these topics are things because, uh, they are a technology company and individually focused on serving dealers in a particular way will be extremely focused, and I think that that
16:35
garners a lot of results out of just, like- Without a doubt... the things that are getting taken away. It's gonna be a blast. We hope you enjoyed this episode with Greg Uland. On behalf of Paul G.
16:46
Daly, Kyle Mountainseer, and myself, Michael Cirillo, thanks for joining us on Auto Collabs.
16:50
[upbeat music] Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
17:04
If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
17:11
[upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] [claps] Why are we recording? [laughs] Are we rolling yet?
17:29
Not yet