Once again, the Hosts will serve as guides throughout the event’s educational sessions — this year online.
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 1, 2020 — Dealer Week, the MRAA Conference and Expo, has released its lineup of 2020 Education Hosts, which brings back a couple of veterans from the inaugural event and adds a new (but familiar) face.
Dealer Week moves online for 2020, but many aspects of the event have made the transition to the new virtual setting. That include the event’s three main classrooms, or Education Pathways: The Dealership, The Customer and The Employee. Each of these Pathways will once again feature sessions, case studies, workshops — and a top marine industry trainer as host.
These dedicated “Education Hosts” will introduce each session and be online to answer question during the day. They will each also present one session or workshop within their pathway.
The 2020 Dealer Week Education Hosts are:
The Customer Pathway: Jim Million, Million Learning
The Dealership Pathway: Sam Dantzler, Wheelhouse College
The Employee Pathway: Valerie Ziebron, VRZ Consulting
Dantzler and Million resume their hosting duties from 2019, while Ziebron joins the group after hosting the Dealer Week Field Trip last year.
“Going into next year, we know dealers have a lot of questions and unknowns, so we once again brought in experts who they trust to lead the education at Dealer Week,” said Mike Davin, Brand Director at MRAA. “We’ve worked with each of these trainers to put together sessions that will help dealers carry the momentum from 2020 into the new year.”
The Education Pathways were selected because they represent the three pillars of MRAA’s education strategy. They were also designed to engage a cross-section of dealership employees through topics such as sales, service, marketing, customer initiatives, employee relations and more.
Sam Dantzler is a sought-after keynote speaker, 20-Club moderator and workshop trainer throughout in the U.S. and abroad for the marine, powersports and bicycle industries.
Valerie Ziebron is well-known within the marine industry for her service department expertise. She has delivered over 5,000 presentations and has helped more than 1,000 small businesses as well as larger clients that have included Chrysler, General Motors, Yamaha Motor Company, Boating Industry Magazine, Shelby American Collection, Eastman Kodak, IPIX and many others.
Jim Million has worked with dealerships for the past four decades as a salesperson, service writer, sales manager, facilitator, developer, writer, speaker and consultant. He has experience in both automotive and marine and works closely with MRAA as a Certification Consultant.
Also announced was the Dealer Week schedule, which can be viewed at DealerWeek.com/schedule.
Dealer Week takes place online Dec. 8-11. Registration, which is available now, has been reduced by half to make it more affordable for teams to attend the event together. To register, go to 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.