MINNEAPOLIS – June 10, 2020 – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas opened dealer registration today for Dealer Week 2020, to be held Dec. 8-11 in Austin, Texas, with a month of reduced rates, and a three-fold guarantee for attendees: Dealer Week will take place in 2020; if anyone attends and doesn’t learn anything they can implement, they will receive a full refund; and if health concerns prevent them from attending in-person, their registration will easily transfer to a virtual event experience with the same powerful education.
Dealers faced unprecedented levels of uncertainty throughout the 2020 model year. Across the industry, dealers saw a slight slowdown last summer as the model year kicked off, a rapid acceleration in activity early this year, and then a chaotic start to boating season as the coronavirus pandemic impacted businesses, workplaces and consumers across North America. Still, many dealers reported strong leads, sales and service demands throughout late spring. As an answer to the challenging market swings, the 2020 Dealer Week educational programming is being designed to not only help dealers navigate the changing marketplace, but to help them move into the months ahead with greater confidence and clarity on the decisions they should be making and the adaptations they should consider for their business.
“The MRAA team stepped up to guide our dealers through the uncertainty that plagued early 2020, producing an incredible number of critical webinars, publications and key resources,” said MRAA President Matt Gruhn. “Now, we have turned our focus to creating an educational event to offer dealers practical guidance to set themselves up for greater levels of success. In that way, I believe Dealer Week 2020 will be the most important conference we’ve ever produced and one that every dealer will need to attend in order to navigate the months and years ahead with confidence.”
Dealer Week is a three-and-a-half day educational and networking event designed to give dealers insights, strategies, best practices and business solutions to help them strengthen their businesses. The annual conference of the MRAA, Dealer Week has hosted as many as 30 educational sessions and more than 100 exhibits and is designed as a platform to connect dealers and suppliers with one another.
The MRAA is moving full-speed ahead with the in-person event, through a multi-fold approach. First, MRAA is working closely with the Austin Convention Center and is closely monitoring other large industry events to learn and implement best practices to keep attendees safe. Simultaneously, MRAA has invested in an industry-leading virtual event experience that will provide new pathways for learning, networking and the delivery of business solutions to not only expand the reach of this event but also to ensure that the critical content and connections will remain accessible to dealers no matter what health concerns dictate in the marketplace. Dealers can register today and plan to attend the in-person event, and should health concerns prevent them from attending, their registration will easily transfer to the virtual experience, which will also feature powerful education, an exhibitor showcase and networking opportunities.
“Over the last nearly 50 years, the MRAA has stood by dealers’ sides through good times and bad, and the one constant has been the answers and solutions the MRAA has provided at every point along the way,” said Gruhn. “Our promise is that the MRAA team will once again deliver a timely, relevant and impactful event that will provide dealers with the insights they need for 2021 and beyond, no matter what the world throws at us.”
Dealers can register now to receive the lowest rate of the year, “Earliest Bird,” through July 15. Earliest Bird offers pricing of $424 for MRAA Members and $524 for non-members. They can also reserve a room at the Fairmont Austin, this year’s host hotel, which is adjacent to the Austin Convention Center.
“We want our dealers to know that they can register for Dealer Week with great confidence,” Gruhn explains. “We know that dealers rely on the strategies and best practices they glean from this annual event, and we want them to know that no matter what, Dealer Week 2020 WILL take place, and MRAA will deliver for them in a marketplace that requires the insights and answers that only Dealer Week can provide.”
Stay tuned for further announcements about Dealer Week and register now at DealerWeek.com.
About Dealer Week
For nearly 50 years, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas has delivered world class educational programming to dealers, retailers and service operations that power the boating industry and serve today’s boaters. Dealer Week is MRAA’s annual conference and expo, designed to engage, energize and empower the dealer community. Learn more at DealerWeek.com.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
At the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, we believe that for the marine industry to thrive, the retail organizations that interact with the boaters in their community must thrive. With that in mind, MRAA works to create a strong and healthy boating industry by uniting those retailers, providing them with opportunities for improvement and growth, and representing them with a powerful voice. For more information, visit MRAA.com or contact us at 763-315-8043.
