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philipzelinger · Mar 2, 2011

Tom ... I thought that was why G-D created commas? LOL! Seriously though, the word "constructive" came through loud and clear and I appreciate your advice, (I like that word better than criticism).

Atre all, that's what friends are for!

tomwhitejr · Mar 1, 2011

Phil... Love your stuff, but seriously - your second paragraph is ONE SENTENCE... Are you speaking to us dealers? This is the problem with current marketing efforts... Too complex and WAY TOO LONG... Give me some short and sweet bullet points because I can't wrap my brain around what you are saying... (and for the record, I get it)... Just say what's on your mind without the big words and long sentences...

Still love your stuff, just some constructive criticism...

philipzelinger · Feb 26, 2011

As far as adding my own inpit to this thread,

I don't want to open a dialogue that could contribute to any legal challenges, or even assert that there will be any since as Israel commented the real issue is the recognition of his initial vision.

That said, the value of the SiSTeR Video Production marketing platform lies in the scalabilty of their solution including human voice vs. text to speech, integrated full motion video clips synched with the audio for a more professional finished production, multi level interactive schema layers within the video allowing for linked info -- like a Carfax report, lead generator, graphics, etc -- a linked application called vShock which allows a dealer to establish business rules to select similar inventory on a micro-site linked to the dealer's site for added vSEO with the initial vehicle video serving as a place holder on the search engines, their established video channel and their dedicated API to You Tube as well as their automated distribution to all online marketing platforms, their backend tool that automatically advises SiSTeR and the dealer of any problems in the production or placement of the video, the ability to monitor the open rate and length of time the video played and a new mobile application that will serve as a new data collection point to take pictures on a PDA and start the production process with no need for a third party provider --- to name a few feature/benefits!

Again, this does not address the potential impact of the patent but hopefully you can understand why I decided not to address that issue on a public forum. Suffice it to say that the value -- or not -- of a patent is above my pay grade. However, the time, energy, effort and funds invested in acquiring it appear to have been worthwhile if for no reason than to say -- SiSTeR was recognized for their contributions to the automated video vertical which has become an integral part of any comprehensive online marketing plan and they have earned their position in the pages of automotive avertising history.

philipzelinger · Feb 26, 2011

Hellom to all,

As you know, SiSTeR Technologies is a valued vendor client of AdAgencyOnline.net and I have a personal vested interest in their success. I asked Israel Alpert, my friend, client and co-founder of SiSTeR, how I should reply to this post. I was proud of his answer so I saw little reason to edit or add to it:

"First and above all, SiSTeR's patent is a stamp of recognition and pride to the entire automotive industry – without the support and the loyalty of the industry SiSTeR couldn't have done it and we shall all be proud for having kept the innovation, productivity and "born in the USA" spirit while developng our video production/marketing platform!

Most of the other providers have been SiSTeR resellers and partners in the past. I assume that just as they chose to enter into an agreement with SiSTeR and enjoyed the fruits of such relations that they will honor the spirit of competition within the boundaries of the law and mutual respect of intellectual property.

In any case, SiSTeR's product and results are considered superior and the company always demonstrated its willing to share and contribute for the benefit of the entire dealer group."

My only additional comment is --- What are friends for!

Feb 16, 2011

Ask your new bosses, Alex...

Feb 16, 2011

Your mention of competing companies and the interactions they had with Sister Technologies is all speculation. IF letters are exchanged between attorneys and IF court cases/settlements are made then we'll know the outcome.

Feb 14, 2011

I'm hopeful that no one writing on or commenting on this blog is advising dealers or vendors on patent liability. The Sister patent is HUGE and anyone who is using similar processes and not bowing to them (like Dealer.com, Unity, Dealer Specialties, etc...) could find themselves in court.

You CAN patent a process, and that's what these guys did. As much as I am not a fan of Sister, they did try to work with all of the companies I named above and all of them told them to pound sand - "we can build it ourselves." Oops.

JohnScott · Feb 13, 2011

Im confused, it looks as if they're just taking an image and panning left to right with a voice over.

Couldnt that easily be done with a basic script?

Feb 11, 2011

Jay, you can patent a process according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Feb 11, 2011

It won't affect them at all. You can patent software but not a process. If a company creates it's own software technology then it's ok. Sister and Unity Works I believe have different software. This would be like me saying I am going to get a patent for giving customers test drives to try and sell the car. It can only be for the software...not the process.

Feb 11, 2011

I wonder how UnityWorks and AutoTrader will feel about this.

Feb 11, 2011

This one has come up a few times from different people this week. I'm no patent lawyer, but a slideshow with a voiceover isn't exactly velcro. Wonder what Ken Burns thinks - lol.

Feb 11, 2011

Heres a good post on Software Patent Absurdity - http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2010/05/software-...

bpulseadmin · Feb 11, 2011

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With more than 250,000 dealer reviews currently housed on its site, DealerRater remains committed to providing a central collection point for informative and legitimate dealer reviews. In addition to maintaining a Fraud Investigation Team, which investigates any reviews deemed fraudulent, this newly established Content Monitoring Team will thoroughly examine all reviews submitted to ensure that every review meets the DealerRater Terms of Use Policy.

All reviews posted by users will “go live” immediately, although DealerRater’s Certified Dealers will still enjoy the benefit of a two-week reconciliation period in which to work with any customer who has expressed a negative experience, prior to such reviews going live.   Any reviews that violate Dealer Rater’s Terms of Use Policy will be automatically removed by DealerRater.

“Our primary goal in expanding our review monitoring efforts is to ensure the validity and increase the integrity of every review submitted to our web site”, said Chip Grueter, president at DealerRater.   “We hope our registered user base and dealers represented on our site share our enthusiasm and commitment in our efforts for enhanced review integrity.”

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DealerRater was founded in 2002 as the first car dealer review website worldwide. With more than 250,000 people joining the DealerRater user community each month, DealerRater is fast becoming the world’s #1 online resource for anyone seeking third-party information on automobile dealerships.   DealerRater features more than 38,000 U.S. and International car dealers, 250,000 user reviews and over 1,000,000 classified ads. DealerRater attracts more than 3 million consumers every year who visit the site to search for car dealerships, read current reviews, write their own descriptive reviews, and find car deals – all for free. Car dealers are rated on the criteria of customer service, quality of work, friendliness, price and overall experience. In addition, DealerRater offers qualified car dealers a Certified Dealer Program as a reputation management tool to help them grow their online presence and achieve higher SEO rankings across the Web. For more information, visit www.DealerRater.com or call 800-266-9455.

Feb 14, 2011

Alex- What a blast from the past! Great catching up with both you and Jeff at NADA and, I must say that Dominion looks pretty darn good on your "one to watch" list. Thanks for including some of the standout products of the show as well- always interesting to see what got noticed at NADA and why. Hope you had a great show. Looking forward to your comments as Dominion "keeps doing stuff with all those product lines"

.

D. Rawls · Feb 13, 2011

Thanks Alex;

Superstar champion...

Among the comments from dealers you spoke with at NADA, there must have been concerns about the margins in the business, now. As I look out onto the horizon of our industry, I can't help but see the enormous rift affecting contemporary dealer/manufacturer relations. A dealer at NADA talked about it, a local dealer here in Atlanta is talking about it. Why aren't we? Please, share your perspectives on where you all see this going, and how it might be resolved.

All for us...

Your able professional,

D. Rawls
President
Auto Buyer Consultants, LLC
Atlanta, GA
404.661.7767 Direct
"We Help People Buy Cars" www.AutoBuyerConsultants.net

Feb 11, 2011

Alex, was a pleasure to meet you in person. This was the best, marketing conferences I have ever been to. I am very happy I made it. Thank you Brian.

Brian Pasch · Feb 11, 2011

I have business card metal envy....I have to see how I can create wine bottle business cards....equally as difficult to get through security!

Feb 11, 2011

I've done that twice Ed - both times with my own damn cards. When you've got a few hundred in your carry-on they have a tendency to catch some attention too.

I think we get those cards so we can laugh at all the people who get caught in security (including ourselves).....we're evil like that lol .....just kidding.

Feb 11, 2011

Alex - Welcome to Vendor World! And also thanks for stopping by the booth. I didn't have time to walk around much either - I didn't even step foot into the North Hall until things were starting to wind down some on Monday. The Dealer.com booth looked awesome!

We did have a few of your co-workers swing by on Monday for for a quick demo of some of our newest solutions for dealers. Of course I collected business cards from them (the metal business cards of Dealer.com must be the coolest in the industry). I filed them away in my card case.

Everything was great till I tried to go through security at SFO the next morning. I had cleared my pockets of coins and my Zippo and stepped through the detector - alarms went off! I took off my belt - alarms went off! They asked me to empty my pockets and then it hit me; the cards I'd collected from Patrick, Jai and Darren were about to put me on the Do-Not-Fly list! Make sure you thank them for me

Ed Brooks

Feb 11, 2011

No, I don't have any video of the Vette vs. Curb .....I wish.

Kevin & Jennifer - one of the big things this year was a lot of companies supporting iPad compatibility. For us 100% Mac users it was good to see that, but it was also good to see that in terms of better mobility. I was not a fan of the ones that aren't truly supported on Safari because the technology is so old or it is written on a Microsoft framework. I saw a lot of workarounds for getting stuff to work on iPads and I must admit that wasn't too cool.

With that said I liked FirstLook's new iPad tool. I find it to be a little unrealistic for everyday average dealership usage. Most dealers are not going to invest in iPads in an environment where things routinely grow legs. It is also difficult to get sales staffs to accept new process changes for long. It is a neat tool they built though.

I'm not going to name any other products (one of them I'm quite biased toward

) publicly. I'll just say that I didn't get to see everything I wanted to see, but what I did see was a step in the right direction.

Feb 10, 2011

Nice write up alex...any video of the Corvette vs Curb??

Feb 10, 2011

Thanks for the Dominion shout-out, Alex. I was glad to see you stopping by the booth. Sorry I didn't get to talk with you, but hope you were able to reconnect with some of our team members. As much as I hate to say this (for obvious competitive reasons), I'm glad your dealer.com event was a success. That type of relationship-building helps the entire industry become more flexible and engaged. Like Kevin above, I'd love to hear which products and services captured your attention. And, of course, I hope that one of Dominion's products was among them!

Feb 10, 2011

Alex

Thank you for attending and being an great educator at the event. We appreciate your comments and we are working hard to build on the success of DMSC for the upcoming Automotive Marketing Boot Camp in Orlando.

Based on feedback from DMSC, we will have both beginner and advanced workshops as well as extended workshops (2.5 hrs) so we can tackle meatier topics like CRM best practices, phone scripting, and microsite optimization which can't be done in 60-90 minutes.

Overall, we are striving to provide a unique learning experience that compliments existing conferences and programs run by other companies. Any member from DealerRefresh that signs up for the Boot Camp by Friday the 11th can save $100.

Details can be found at Car Dealer SEO Company | Automotive Dealer Digital Marketing | SEO Locale

Feb 10, 2011

Thanks for the great review Alex, wish I could have been there, as well as at Brian's conference. Any chance I could get you to share the top 3 new product/service announcements that you found most exciting???

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