What Is Keeping You Up at Night? Build Your GolfCarting Expo Education Schedule Around That
Sep 28, 2026
There is going to be a lot competing for your attention at the 2026 GolfCarting Expo & Dealer Summit.
New carts. New products. New technology. Manufacturers you want to meet. Vendors you want to check out. Other dealers you want to catch up with.
That is all part of why you go to an industry Expo.
But before you fill every open spot on your schedule walking the show floor, I want you to think about one question:
What is keeping you up at night in your dealership right now?
Maybe it is sales.
Maybe your service department is backed up.
Maybe you are spending money on marketing and are not really sure what is working.
Maybe you are trying to improve profitability, build a commercial fleet business, understand your numbers better, work with better vendors, or figure out where this industry is going over the next several years.
Whatever the answer is, start there.
Then look at the education schedule and find the sessions that can help you work through it.
The education program at this year’s Expo brings together dealers, manufacturers, consultants, and industry experts to talk about the real challenges of running and growing a golf cart dealership.
And leading up to the Expo, I had the opportunity to sit down with several of this year’s speakers as part of our Road to the Expo interview series.
Those conversations gave me a chance to learn more about what they will be teaching, but they also reinforced something important.
There is no single problem every dealer is trying to solve.
One dealer may need to improve the sales process.
Another may need to get control of service.
Someone else may be trying to improve margins, add fleet business, generate more opportunities online, or better understand the future of the industry.
That is exactly why I think you should build your education schedule around the problems you are actually trying to solve.
Meet Some of This Year’s Speakers
One of the first conversations I had was with Skylar Gorman from Venom EV.
Skylar will be presenting “Stop Selling Carts. Start Selling a Lifestyle” on Thursday, October 1 at 8:00 AM.
Our conversation focused on a simple idea that can completely change the way a dealer thinks about selling.
You are not just selling a golf cart.
You are selling what the cart allows someone to do.
Maybe that means family time. Trips around the neighborhood. Weekends at the campground. Time at the beach. Convenience. Fun.
When customers can compare features, prices, and specifications almost anywhere, understanding the lifestyle behind the purchase becomes even more important.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Skylar from Venom EV
I also sat down with Russ Ziegler from CONNECT Dealer Consulting, who will be presenting twice on Thursday.
At 8:50 AM, Russ will present “What to Look for in an OEM—and What They Look for in You.”
Then at 3:10 PM, he will present “Run Your Dealership by the Numbers: The Levers That Drive Profit.”
Our conversation covered both sides of that.
Dealer relationships with manufacturers matter, but so does understanding what is actually happening inside your own business.
Revenue is important, but revenue by itself does not tell you whether you have a healthy dealership.
Where are you making money?
Where are you losing it?
Which numbers should you really be watching?
If profitability or manufacturer relationships are keeping you up at night, Russ has two sessions worth looking at.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Russ from CONNECT Dealer Consulting
Zach Lejnar from Cart Launch will present “The Predictable Online Sales System” on Thursday, October 1 at 10:40 AM.
Zach and I talked about what happens after someone finds your dealership online.
Every dealer wants more sales.
But more website traffic, more social media activity, and more advertising do not automatically mean more sales.
The bigger question is what happens next.
How do you move someone from finding your dealership online into an actual sales conversation?
That process matters just as much as generating the initial attention.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Zach from Cart Launch
At 11:30 AM on Thursday, Mike Alexander from the Low Speed Vehicle Dealer Association will present “The Next 5 Years: Policy, Safety, and the Future of Dealer-Led Market Growth.”
Mike and I had a chance to step back from the day-to-day operation of a dealership and talk about some of the bigger issues affecting the industry.
Safety.
Regulations.
Legislation.
And what continued growth in the low-speed vehicle market could mean for dealers.
If you spend most of your day solving today’s problems, Mike’s session gives you a chance to think about tomorrow.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Mike from LSVDA
Bryan McCoy from McCoy Custom Carts will present “Successful Service: The Three Silos of Labor” on Thursday, October 1 at 2:00 PM.
Bryan and I talked about one of the most important and sometimes overlooked areas of the dealership.
Service.
The service department affects customer satisfaction, repeat business, profitability, and your overall reputation.
But as dealerships grow, it can also become one of the easiest places for things to back up.
Scheduling becomes harder.
Labor becomes harder to manage.
Carts start stacking up.
Customers start asking when their cart will be finished.
If service is one of the things keeping you up at night, Bryan’s session may give you a different way to look at how that part of the business is structured.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Bryan from McCoy Custom Carts
Then on Friday, October 2 at 8:00 AM, Oliver Solorzano Founder at Alto Six, Inc will present “From Consumer-Only to Fleet-Ready Dealer.”
Oliver and I talked about the opportunity for dealers to move beyond traditional consumer sales and into commercial or fleet business.
Selling one cart to a homeowner and selling multiple vehicles to a business are not necessarily the same sale.
The buyer is different.
Their expectations are different.
Their buying process is different.
And your dealership may need different systems to serve them.
If fleet or commercial sales are part of where you want to grow, this is one to look at.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Oliver from CommercialGolfCars.com
Also on Friday, Chad Kasprzak from KM Powersports and Cart Parts Plus will present “Selling: Five Steps of the Sale” at 9:10 AM.
Chad and I talked about the sales process.
Most dealerships would happily take more leads.
But before you spend more money trying to generate them, there is another question worth asking.
What are you doing with the opportunities you already have?
Does everyone on your sales team follow a process?
Is follow-up consistent?
Does every salesperson handle the customer differently?
Are opportunities being lost simply because there is no clear next step?
Sometimes the answer is not more leads.
Sometimes it is doing a better job with the ones you already have.
Watch my Road to the Expo conversation with Chad from KM Powersports
And Those Are Only Some of the Sessions
I was fortunate enough to meet and interview several of the presenters, but they represent only part of the education available at the Expo.
There are more speakers and more topics covering different parts of dealership operations and growth.
That is why I would not build your schedule only around names you recognize.
Go back to the question at the beginning of this article.
What is keeping you up at night?
Then find the sessions that line up with those problems.
View the full GolfCarting Expo education schedule
I’ll Be Teaching Two Sessions Too
I would be foolish to write an article about making time for education at the Expo and not mention that I will be presenting twice myself.
My first session is on Thursday, October 1 at 2:00 PM in Room 4.
How to Make Your Marketing Work: Setting Expectations Before You Hire Help
One of the biggest problems I see with marketing is that businesses hire someone before they are clear about what they actually expect the marketing to accomplish.
A website company gets hired to build a website.
Someone gets hired to run social media.
A video company gets hired to create videos.
An agency gets hired to generate leads.
But nobody stops first and asks what all of this is supposed to lead to.
In this 45-minute session, we are going to talk about setting those expectations before you hire outside help so you can have better conversations with vendors and make better decisions about where you spend your money.
Then on Friday, October 2 at 8:00 AM in Rooms 10 & 11, I will be presenting:
Stop Wasting Time and Money on Marketing: What Golf Cart Dealers Should Actually Focus On
This is a 60-minute session built around questions I think every dealer should ask.
What marketing should we keep doing?
What needs to be fixed?
And what should we stop doing altogether?
Too many businesses keep adding tactics.
More social media.
More ads.
More videos.
Another website.
Another platform.
Another vendor.
But adding more does not necessarily mean the marketing is getting better.
We are going to take a step back and look at where your time and money are going, what is actually helping move customers toward a sales conversation, and what may simply be creating more activity without producing better results.
If either of those problems sounds familiar, I would love to have you join me.
Save Your Seat Before You Get There
There is one important thing to remember when you are planning your schedule.
Seats are limited for each presentation.
Do not wait until you are standing in the hallway five minutes before a session starts to decide you want to attend.
Download the Expo app, review the education schedule, and save a seat for the speakers and presentations you want to see.
You can still leave yourself plenty of time to walk the show floor and meet with vendors.
But if there is a presentation you really want to attend, get it on your schedule before you arrive.
Stop by the GCDI Booth and Tell Us What Is Keeping You Up at Night
While you are at the Expo, make sure you stop by the Golf Cart Dealer Institute booth and say hello.
We are going to be asking dealers the same question I started this article with.
What is keeping you up at night?
What are you struggling with inside your dealership?
What do you wish someone would teach?
What questions are you not getting good answers to?
What education would actually help you run a better business?
We want to hear those answers because GCDI is not just about the education happening during the Expo.
We want to use those conversations to help shape the educational content we create throughout the year.
That means videos.
Articles.
Webinars.
Seminars.
Workshops.
And other resources designed specifically around the challenges golf cart dealers are facing.
The best way for us to create useful education is to hear directly from dealers about what they actually need.
So come find us.
Tell us what is working.
Tell us what is not.
And tell us what is keeping you up at night.
Make the Expo More Than a Walk Around the Show Floor
Absolutely walk the Expo floor.
Meet the manufacturers.
See the new carts.
Learn about new products.
Talk with vendors.
Catch up with other dealers.
That is all part of the experience.
But before you arrive, identify two or three things you want to improve in your dealership.
Then look at the education schedule and find the sessions that address those challenges.
Download the app. (Apple | Android)
Save your seats.
Ask questions.
Meet the speakers.
And when you get home, actually do something with what you learned.
Because the goal should not be to leave the GolfCarting Expo with another bag full of brochures.
It should be to leave with a few better answers to the things that were keeping you up at night.
