LAS VEGAS -

Organizers from the American Financial Services Association indicated this week’s Vehicle Finance Conference “was once again a huge success.”

More than 600 attendees and exhibitors gathered at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for three days of presentations, panel discussions and networking during AFSA’s 20th edition of the event aimed at allowing finance company executives the chance to interact with each other as well as service providers and other special guests.

According to association’s recap of the conference shared through its weekly Newsbriefs, the series of events started on Tuesday with AFSA president and chief executive officer Chris Stinebert sitting down with a panel of economists and industry leaders to talk about the state of the auto finance space.

Apple co-Founder Steve Wozniak surprised conference attendees when he arrived in Las Vegas to introduce Kevin Mitnick, who some consider to be the world’s greatest hacker.

A cautionary tale on cyber security came from Mitnick, who warned attendees that they and their companies are at risk from hackers every day. Mitnick now helps a variety of businesses and individuals ensure that they don’t fall prey to the association described as “digital mayhem.”

AFSA added, “Mitnick’s presentation and demonstration talked about technology, but also importantly, talked about the social aspect of hacking, or how hackers use non-technological means to steal the information they need from employees and other targets.”

To start off the second day, Stinebert shared updates about future AFSA initiatives. Ginger Herring, who is the AFSA Education Foundation chair and president of 1st Franklin Corp., also took the stage and reviewed important developments that the AFSAEF is undertaking.

AFSAPAC chair Martin Less, who is president and CEO of Nationwide Acceptance, informed attendees about the “great” work the PAC is doing in Washington, D.C.

Later on Wednesday morning, AFSA highlighted that keynote speaker Frank Luntz dazzled attendees with an entertaining and insightful presentation packed with statistics and best practices for word usage. Luntz highlighted critical differences between male and female audiences and the best words or phrases to use with each gender.

Luntz also gave attendees with actionable communication examples that they can implement immediately.

“If I could leave you with once phrase, it would be to ensure you tell consumers that you want to provide them options, but Washington and regulators are keeping you from providing them,” Luntz said.

The conference’s general sessions on Wednesday afternoon got underway with a look into the vehicle-sharing market and an enlightening talk on hiring and retaining millennials.

“Auto finance will be the gateway for millennials to get involved in financial services,” said Jason Dorsey, who is chief strategy officer and millennials researcher at The Center for Generational Kinetics.

Concurrent education sessions highlighted a number of issues, including profitability, compliance relationships with dealers and FIS’ Vendor Risk Management system.

When it comes to the future of payments, finance companies should “focus on satisfying consumers,” according to Michael Rogers, who is director of business development at ACI Worldwide.

AFSA wrapped up the conference on Thursday morning with AFSA Vehicle Finance Division Chair and chief operating officer of Ford Motor Credit Joy Falotico conducting a frank discussion with Jeffrey Carlson, 2016 National Automobile Dealers Association chairman and president of Glenwood Springs Ford in Colorado. The pair touched on common issues facing both dealers and finance companies.

AFSA’s CEO panel was once again moderated by Charlie Vogelheim, the host of Motor Trend Auto and a part of the executive team at TPC Management Co. The CEO panel included:

—Dawn Martin Harp, head of dealer services at Wells Fargo Dealer Services
—David Paul, senior vice president of financial services at American Honda Finance
—Ian Anderson, group president at Westlake Financial Holdings
—John Hyatt, executive vice president, dealer services at U.S. Bank

The collection of executives “shared best practices and highlighted some of the opportunities on the horizon for business leaders,” AFSA said.