The ROUTE 66 RV Network recently celebrated its 15-year anniversary at the Annual International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., earlier this October. The ROUTE 66 Rally was held at the nearby Hyatt Regency Tamaya.
“It seemed fitting to hold our 15-year anniversary Rally during such a festive event as the Balloon Fiesta,” said Steve Francis, ROUTE 66 partner. “Our attendance for both dealers and partners hit an all-time high and many people erased an event off of their bucket list.”
The Rally started off with nearly 60 dealers and partners playing a round of golf in the ROUTE 66 Rally Open at Twin Warriors Golf Club.
“While the Rally has grown to over 250 attendees it has maintained a pretty intimate feel,” said Dave Francis, Network partner. “As always, it’s a terrific time to personally connect with our dealers, partners, employees and their spouses while casting Network vision and launching new initiatives.”
The messages at this year’s Rally centered around new partner programs and technology developments.
“We have spent considerable energy recently designing and implementing initiatives to strengthen our dealers, parts, F&I and on-line marketing efforts,” said Rob Merrill, partner at ROUTE 66. “While our dealership attendees spent quality time with our supplier partners in the Partner Expo, there were also rotating breakout sessions that detailed our new 3 Pillar Parts Strategy, electronic menu selling system, and extensive web support.”
The Network also announced its dealer advisory board members for 2018 to 2019:
- John McCluskey, Florida Outdoors RV Centers, Fla.
- Joey Shields, Pan Pacific RV Centers, Calif.
- Kim Kroubetz, Kroubetz Lakeside Campers, Minn.
- Devin Murphy, Freedom RV Centers, Ariz.
- Dan Craffey, Lee’s Family Trailer, Maine
- Jonathan Creech, Rex & Sons RV’s, N.C.
- Jason Bell, Chemo RV Sales & Service, British Columbia
- Jeff Myers, Myers RV Center, N.M.
- Sarah Lange, Coates RV Centers, Minn.
- Jerry Wagner, R’n’R RV Centers, Wash.
- Jeff Pilon, Rick’s RV Center, Ill.
- Logan Gregoire, Vermont Country Campers, Vt.
“We believe we’re coming out of this, our 15th Rally, with a new high in dealer/partner unity that will not go unnoticed by the industry, as well as the RVer’s we serve,” said Dave Francis. “This unified team mindset will solidify our Network’s customer promise, ‘Wherever the road takes you … you can count on us.’”