More than 530 dealers have already registered for the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ Dealer Week annual conference, after nearly 300 dealers registered during the month of October alone. According to an announcement by NMMA, Dealer Week registrations accelerated rapidly with the announcement that the conference would be held online.
The total of 294 dealership personnel, who registered during the month of October, eclipsed the previous single-month record for dealer registration, which was set in October of 2014, by more than 11 percent.
“We took a calculated risk this year, making the decision to delay the creation of our educational programming to help us ensure that our courses meet the needs of the evolving marketplace,” said Matt Gruhn, MRAA President. “We saw our normal early-registration curve pushed back by the uncertainty the pandemic caused, but we have believed all along that, with the move to an online environment, followed quickly by the announcement of a powerful educational line-up, the dealers would find great value in the event. And that’s exactly what we have seen happen.”
Dealer Week’s planned registration launch, scheduled for April, was delayed until June due to the pandemic. Throughout June, July and August, uncertainty around in-person events limited registration numbers to only 35 total dealer registrations. Comparatively, Dealer Week 2019 saw 302 registrations through August of last year. According to the organization, registrations started picking up following the announcement of moving to an online event, including a third of the month’s registrations logged in the last two days of October.
“Now that we have the ability to communicate exactly how Dealer Week will deliver its educational programming and exactly what that educational line-up will entail, dealers are taking a look at the agenda, seeing the value and signing up,” said Mike Davin, MRAA Brand Director. “The online format is different than past MRAA conferences, but the core of the conference hasn’t changed, and it’s actually easier for dealers to attend than it has ever been, with dealer registration at half of previous rates, no travel costs and the ability to stream the sessions to any device…”
The annual conference of the MRAA, Dealer Week offers key insights, ideas and inspiration for dealers to use as they begin preparing for 2021. The event features nearly 30 individual sessions on critical topics such as boat shows, digital marketing, pre-owned boats, the customer experience and service department opportunities.
