With nearly seven weeks to go until the start of the 2009 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, to be held in Orlando Nov. 16-18, dealer registration and total exhibitors are up over last year’s event. Early-bird registration is up 24 percent over the 2008 total number of attendees, and the total number of exhibitors is up by 8.5 percent. Additionally, the event has sold nearly 13,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space this year, which is more than twice the square footage used for exhibits in 2008.
“This event seems to be gaining momentum as we get closer to the kickoff date,” says John Vallely, Jr., chairman of the MDCE conference committee. “We have a number of exhibitors still trying to determine not if they will exhibit, but how much exhibit space they need. And while dealer attendance is already way up over last year, we expect that number to continue to rise as we get closer to the event.