RV Weekly » Jackie Kimmel

Action plan for recreation industry

jkimmel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:23 +0000

In an election update from RVIA released yesterday, Derrick Crandall president of the American Recreation Coalition explained that recreation leaders gathered in Washington last week to discuss troubles the recreation community is facing.Crandall explained in the election update that the ARC board created an outline of steps that need to be implemented immediately. Those steps include:

Create a list of challenges facing recreation businesses
Assess possible “grass-roots capabilities” focusing on obtaining congressional support and constituents.
Create an action plan that would be a clear help to recreation businesses

The ARC leaders agree that until consumer confidence rebounds economic recovery isn’t likely.Are the above mentioned steps what the recreational community need to rebound from the current economic times?Do you plan to take action by contacting your elected officials to shed light on the issues facing the industry? As my publisher would say, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” What do you think?

Attendance at the RVIA Show

jkimmel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:16:21 +0000

Those in the RV industry have been speculating for weeks now about the RVIA show attendance numbers. I have heard every number ranging from 35 percent down to the same as last year.

The most recent person to comment on the show’s attendance was the President of the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jim Wood, who said the RVIA attendance “is a little soft.”

Unfortunately, I don’t have the exact attendance number, but I think the industry is missing the main purpose of this national show. It isn’t about those who aren’t going; it’s about those who are and what they do with their show experience.

The saying goes that “you have to spend money to make money,” and those who choose to spend a few extra dollars to attend the show will more than likely benefit next year.

One important adage that is held closely in marketing is that marketing should be held at the same level or even increased in a down economy. One can extrapolate this thought into trade show attendance. Spend wisely now to obtain a greater ROI in the future.

Additionally, simply attending the show without a carefully thought-out plan is fools folly. Participants need to make the most of their trade show experience by planning ahead and targeting the companies they need to communicate with before even getting on a plane.

What are your thoughts? Should the industry be worried that show attendance might be down or should we focus on ways to get the industry back on track?

RV Trade Digest Friday Newsletters

jkimmel — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:49:06 +0000

RVIA’s 46th Annual National RV Trade Show kicks off in less than a month and to build anticipation for the event RV Trade Digest will be e-mailing four additional newsletters. Yes, that’s right an additional newsletter each week.

The four newsletters will be published on Nov. 7, 14, 21 and Dec. 5. These newsletters will feature RVIA show news, new RVIA products, blogs and more. The Friday newsletters are not meant to be a substitute for attendance at the show but to enhance what the show has to offer.

If you plan on attending the Louisville show and have a product, story or event you would like featured in the Friday RV Trade Digest newsletters please contact assistant editor Jackie Kimmel by e-mailing Jackie@rvtradedigest.com or calling 1-800-547-7377 ext. 1148.

In addition to the newsletters, RV Trade Digest will be publishing daily blogs from the show Dec. 2 - 4 on our Web site www.rvtradedigest.com.

2008 RVDA Expo Evaluation

jkimmel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:49:12 +0000

This week RVDA released a statement asking for those who attended the 2008 RVDA show/expo to participate in an evaluation of the event.

RVDA put together two evaluation forms: one specifically for the educational workshops and the other for the overall expo.

While working on a story for an upcoming issue, one dealer mentioned that he would like to see the convention feature more hands-on training in their workshops. This dealer mentioned several times that he was not “knocking” RVDA’s efforts but thought some of the seminars, for those who attend this convention annually, are “repetitious.”

If you would like to give feedback to RVDA directly visit this Web site.
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=0ymvknl142fjx5u489278

Please share your thoughts of the 2008 RVDA show with RV Trade Digest by leaving a comment.