The latest educational conference for the marine industry, an ongoing series of regional events called Marine Retail University, came together when the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and Dominion Marine Media realized they were both looking to offer dealers more opportunities to learn.

For 17 years, Dominion Marine Media has successfully hosted Yacht Brokerage University events, which as the name suggests are geared toward yacht brokers. Courtney Chalmers, marketing director at Dominion Marine Media, says that as the company’s mission has grown to include a greater focus on education, there has been a desire internally to create a similar event for dealers.

At the same time, the MRAA surveyed members and found that the Marine Dealer Conference and Expo (which is co-produced by Boating Industry) was rated the most important benefit the group provides. MRAA’s new president, Matt Gruhn, saw an opportunity to reach even more dealers if the organization could bring the education to them on a regional level. Read more.