MINNEAPOLIS – Executive educator, consultant and speaker John Spence, who has been named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior, has been named a speaker for the upcoming Marine Dealer Conference & Expo (MDCE).
A noted author, Spence is well-known for his ability to make the very complex, “awesomely simple.” In fact, his 2009 book, “Awesomely Simple” reveals the six key strategies that create a foundation for achieving business excellence: Vivid vision, best people, robust communication, a sense of urgency, disciplined execution, and extreme customer focus. Spence’s clients include GE, Pepsi, Microsoft, the PGA Tour, and Apple, among many others.
“When Apple lost Steve Jobs, the company turned to John Spence to help its Apple Specialists, the company’s independent retail team, understand how to evolve effectively,” explains Liz Walz, Director of Membership & Education for the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, who co-produces the MDCE with Boating Industry. “His insight, topics and influential presentations are spot-on for today’s business climate and make for an exciting addition to this year’s MDCE educational line-up.”
Watch John Spence’s MDCE Welcome Video
Spence will present three separate sessions at the 2013 MDCE, which is scheduled for Nov. 17-20 in Orlando. First, in Monday morning’s three-hour workshop, he’ll guide attendees through an intensive analysis of their dealership and its strengths and weaknesses, helping them create a customized action plan to use inside their business as part of a 15-page workbook. Attendees will walk away with an understanding of what they need to do to successfully move their business forward.
Then, he will present on the subject of change during the MRAA’s annual meeting, sharing strategies attendees can use to determine when change is critical to future success, and when it can lead your company astray. Dealers will want to attend this session to learn how to position their dealership for the year ahead.
“Today’s business environment is flush with opportunity,” Spence explains. “But if you don’t understand how to simplify it enough to identify the opportunities available to you, you won’t be able to capitalize on them, and your growth will be stifled. These sessions will show you how you can grow your business.”
Finally, as part of the main educational agenda, Spence will present a session on Tuesday morning titled Turning Management Inside Out, where he will share his proprietary research on the seven attributes high-performing employees look for in a leader and help attendees develop a personal leadership philosophy to increase their effectiveness.
“John Spence is yet another example of our increased investment in the 2013 MDCE educational agenda,” explains Jonathan Sweet, editor-in-chief of Boating Industry. “His leadership and business expertise will be significant additions to our line-up, and our attendees will walk away with dozens of ideas for improving their business from just his sessions alone.”
The MDCE offers more than 20 core educational sessions, including Spence’s presentations. For those dealers that want to dig even deeper into the factors that will most impact their businesses in the year ahead, the newly added MDCE Pre-Conference Workshops on Monday morning will enable them to construct a plan in areas like dealership management, boat show sales, service menus, search engine marketing, and the customer experience. Over the following days, individual sessions in the MDCE’s three educational tracks will help attendees enhance their plans for 2014.
See who has registered for MDCE
The MDCE is scheduled for Nov. 17-20, 2013, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. It has attracted an increasing number of dealers every year since 2007, and this year, the event attracted more than 250 registrants prior to the May 1, a record for the event. The most registrants MDCE had ever accumulated prior to May 1 was 92 in 2012.
About the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo
The Marine Dealer Conference & Expo is the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas’ annual conference and member meeting. As the marine industry’s only dealer-specific educational conference, the MDCE offers an in-depth line-up of educational topics, a full-featured expo hall, and a series of fixed networking opportunities, all of which are designed to help marine dealers connect with and learn from others who can foster their success. The MDCE is co-produced by the MRAA and Boating Industry, and it features pre-conference workshops, a keynote presentation, three tracks of educational content, and more than 20 sessions in all. It will be held Nov. 17-20 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Learn more at www.mraa.com/event/MDCE.