Derema Group, which represents many top marine and RV brands, is hosting a virtual event to display new products on Sept. 23 from noon to 6 p.m.
SHOWUP2020 LIVE! will be hosted by Philadelphia native and 11-time Emmy award-winning broadcaster and producer, Lou Tilley.
Speakers include Matt Gruhn, president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas; Vicky Yu, business intelligence director for the National Marine Manufacturers Association; Michele Goldsmith, publisher of Trade Only Today; James Ashurst, executive vice president of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association; American Boat & Yacht Council president John Adey; and 1977 America’s Cup winner Gary Jobson.
“With a majority of the in-person distributor shows going away, it is difficult for vendors to project their new product production needs,” Derema Group president Kurt Forsman told Trade Only Today. “This event, and the shows in general, are critical to get the new product information in front of the dealer base”.
Manufacturers count on the shows as a gauge for new products, so they now need to speculate how many to build based on demand projections.
But projections are difficult when the company can’t gauge interest in person, said Forsman. The vendors hope that interest will be easier to gauge after this virtual event.
“That’s the other pivot in this whole thing,” said Forsman. “All the normal metrics you would use in the past [to place orders] are being thrown out. You have to bring in all these new metrics. It’s just this uncharted area.”
