Educational sessions began at the 2016 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo this morning as more than 250 dealers attended pre-conference workshops that traditionally open the education portion of the event.
The 11 morning sessions were attended by 257 dealers who came to learn about topics that included leadership, new sales and marketing strategies and social media efforts.
MDCE runs through Thursday at the Orange County Convention Center and Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla.
“Historically, our pre-conference workshops have been our highest-rated sessions of the entire MDCE,” Marine Retailers Association of the Americas vice president and director of education Liz Walz said in a statement. “That’s because of the in-depth, hands-on nature of these small group sessions, where dealers can get some work done while they’re here, on site.”
The MRAA produces the annual conference with Boating Industry magazine.
This year’s workshops included sessions on leadership, sales, marketing, social media, event planning, pay plans, increasing F&I profits and online chat. Each workshop featured takeaways — including pay plans, assessments, workbooks/guidebooks, report cards and tip sheets — to help attendees implement what they learned without delay.
“We’re thrilled to once again have a great turnout for these workshops,” Boating Industry editor-in-chief Jonathan Sweet said. “The value-add that these sessions have provided MDCE attendees really is a tangible takeaway they can put to use immediately upon returning to their dealerships.”
In addition to the workshops, MDCE 2016 features 20 educational sessions and four educational tracks: leadership, sales, marketing and service plus. Three keynote sessions, Learning Labs, Innovation Spotlight sessions and more than two dozen dealer-to-dealer roundtable discussions are also being offered at this year’s event.
Look for coverage of the conference this week in Trade Only Today.
