Edmunds.com Taps Auto, Tech, Marketing and Data Experts as Hackomotive 2015 Speakers and Judges
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — March 9, 2015 — Edmunds.com today revealed the roster of accomplished business leaders who will serve as keynote speakers and judges at the company's third annual Hackomotive hackathon. The event, which takes place March 24-26 at Edmunds' headquarters in Santa Monica, will bring together innovators and entrepreneurs in the technology, automotive, retail, and entertainment industries to compete for $35,000 in cash prizes as teams re-imagine the future of car shopping.
Trends that will be addressed by both competitors and speakers include the connected car, automation, iBeacon technology, and converting big data into better retail experiences.
Edmunds.com has confirmed the following speakers to deliver "fireside chats" about their experiences tackling challenges in the automotive, tech and retail industries as part of the kick-off to the three-day event on March 24 at 9am PT:
- Glenn Cameron, Sr. Digital Marketing Manager, Samsung
- Sam LaMagna, Director of Advanced Driving Technologies, Intel
- Beth Ann Kaminkow, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Westfield Group
- Rachel Richards, Vice President of Retail Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer, Sonic Automotive
And the judges who have agreed to mentor and evaluate this year's participating teams are:
- Erick Laubach, Senior Vice President of Creative + Vertical Network at Demand Media
- Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Vice President of Marketing for MyFitnessPal
- Robert Lambert, Founder of Silicon Beach LA, a media and events company that serves as the home of the LA tech & startup community
- Tammy Darvish, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Government and Community Affairs for Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed)
- George Kang,Vice President of OEM Sales and Dealer Development for Edmunds.com
- Russell Perkins, Founder and Managing Director of Infocommerce Group
- Mari Garcia Ramskill, Vice President of We Design LA
"Many of this year's judges and speakers have been entrepreneurs themselves and can deeply appreciate the innovative spirit encouraged at Hackomotive," noted Edmunds.com CEO Avi Steinlauf. "Their collective expertise will no doubt serve as inspiration for all of the high-potential start-ups participating in this year's event."
Nineteen pre-existing start-ups have been invited to compete for generous cash prizes and the opportunity to enter Edmunds.com's Fastlane Accelerator program. Last year's Hackomotive winner, CarCode, became Edmunds.com's first-ever acquisition after going through Fastlane.
More information on Hackomotive can be found at http://www.hackomotive.com/.
About Edmunds.com
Car-shopping website Edmunds.com serves nearly 18 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise®, shoppers can get an instant, upfront price for cars and trucks currently for sale at 10,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Shoppers can browse not only dealer inventory, but also vehicle reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories on both Edmunds' wired site and on its acclaimed mobile apps. Regarded as one of the best places to work in Southern California, Edmunds.com was also named one of "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Automotive" by Fast Company. Edmunds welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Mich., but you can find Edmunds from anywhere on YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Flipboard.
