The Florida RV Trade Association has canceled its events through the end of 2020. Marketing Director Dave Kelly said Wednesday that means the cancellation of six regional shows the FRVTA had planned around the state: two in Tampa, one in West Palm Beach, one in Jacksonville, one in the Fort Myers area and one in the Panhandle.
Kelly said the organization’s board of directors consulted with its general counsel, who suggested a litany of compliance rules the Association would need to follow in order to not open itself up to legal liability, given the COVID-19 situation. These would include temperature checks of all attendees and vendors, maintaining sanitation stations throughout each event, hiring additional maintenance crews to make sure everything was kept constantly clean – sanitizing each RV after someone walked through it, for example – and social distancing.
For dealers, that latter point could mean, for example, reserving a 50-foot by 50-foot spot at a show but only being able to show half or less of the units they’d want to.
Fortunately, Kelly said the dealers are quite busy, and most agreed it was the right decision to cancel.
So now, Kelly said, his group is using this down time to take care of some long-delayed housekeeping around the office, focusing on teambuilding and training and gearing up for the 2021 Florida RV SuperShow, which is scheduled for Jan. 13 to 17 in Tampa.
Kelly himself is preparing to change jobs later this month. Starting August 20, he’ll be assuming the role of executive director for FRVTA, as Lance Wilson’s retirement becomes official.
Wilson has held the position at FRVTA since 1993, and the SuperShow – one of the most successful consumer shows in the country that draws international visitors – was his brainchild.