Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/288177
www.BoatingIndustry.com 6 | Boating Industry | April 2014 AT THE HELM JONATHAN SWEET jsweet@BoatingIndustry.com Boating Industry EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jonathan Sweet (jsweet@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR EDITOR: Tom Kaiser (tkaiser@boatingindustry.com) MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Keener (lkeener@boatingindustry.com) ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR: Nicholas Upton (nupton@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle (khoule@epgmediallc.com) PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg VICE PRESIDENT/MARINE, POWERSPORTS, BEVERAGE: Amy Collins NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR: Kathy Johnson 480-988-3658 (kathyjohnson@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, EAST: Chris Pelikan 954-964-8676 (cpelikan@boatingindustry.com) SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER, WEST: Wiley Poole 805-473-8400 (wpoole@boatingindustry.com) PRODUCTION SPECIALIST: Cherri Perschmann GROUP SENIOR SALES SPECIALIST: Bernadette Wohlman CEO: Mark Adams SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Gerald Winkel SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: Joanne Juda AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Tim Morgan VICE PRESIDENT/OPERATIONS: Barb Hammer BOATING INDUSTRY (ISSN #1543-4400) is published nine times per year – January, February, March, April, May, June/July, August/Sep- tember, October/November and December – by EPG Media, LLC, 3300 Fernbrook Lane N #200, Plymouth, MN 55447. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the boat- ing industry. Annual subscription rate is $99 per year for U.S., Mexican and Canadian residents and $149 for residents in other countries. All paid subscriptions must be paid in advance and in U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Visit www.BoatingIndustry.com, call (847) 763- 9565, fax (847) 763 9569, email BoatingIndustry@halldata.com or write to Boating Industry, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. EDITORIAL: All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submit- ted are at mailer's risk and must include self-addressed envelope with suf- ficient postage for return. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materials. Boating Industry is a registered trademark of EPG Media, LLC. © 2014 by EPG Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by publisher. For more information on e-prints or reprints from Boating Industry, contact Bernadette Wohlman, 763-383-4400 x2464 Printed in U.S.A. PRIVACY POLICY: We recognize that your privacy is very important to you and we're committed to helping you protect it. You should know that we will never intentionally share your name, address and other personal informa- tion with anyone for their use if you have asked us not to do so. When you subscribe to Boating Industry, please tell us if you don't want your name and address shared with other reputable companies or if you don't want to receive our marketing offers. We'll mark your account for a three year period so that it will not be selected for products and/or services offers which you've told us you are not interested in receiving. If you change your mind, just get in touch with us and ask that we include you in future offerings. You can ask to not be included in future offerings at any time and it'll be taken care of promptly. Please contact us at Boating Industry Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823 or call us at (847) 763-9565. Please note that this policy does not apply to e-mail marketing. We will not send you commercial e-mails unless you have authorized us to do so. BACK IN 2005, Boating Industry started the Top 100 with a goal of elevating the industry. From the beginning the program has been not only about recognizing the top dealers in North America, but also sharing their best practices with other dealerships. While the industry has changed drastically changed since then, the goals of the pro- gram have not. We've made numerous changes to the Top 100, but it's still all about help- ing dealers become better. As we continue to adapt the program for an evolving industry, we're working to make sure it has value to the dealers who apply. The following are just a few of the changes in store for the program: New this year we'll be offering a full marketing package including personalized vid- eos for each Top 100 dealership, press releases, boat show sign templates and more. We'll also be producing a marketing best practices guide showing how other Top 100 companies have leveraged their Top 100 status to grow their businesses. A new Top 100 benchmarking report will be provided only to dealers who apply. This exclusive data will help you see how you measure up against the best of the best. In honor of the first decade of the program, there will be special recognition of long- term members of the Top 100. We continue to simplify the application process. We eliminated several questions in 2013, reducing the length by about 20 percent. We continue to work on other new benefits as well, including plans to increase con- sumer awareness and special discounts for Top 100 companies. Stay tuned for updates. All Top 100 companies will be recognized in the December issue of Boating Industry and on BoatingIndustry.com, as well as at the Top 100 Gala the last night of the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, Nov. 19 in Orlando. You can apply at BoatingIndustry.com/top-100/application. People often ask how we choose the Top 100 and rank the companies on the list. As we get ready to celebrate our 10th Top 100 later this year, I think it's worth looking back on that first Top 100 and what the editors of Boating Industry wrote at the time: This ranking, however, is much more about best practices and the ways in which these dealers earned that revenue and profitability than it is about dollar volume. It's about their profession- alism, their overall approach to conducting business, including everything from employee devel- opment to CSI strategies and marketing efforts. … The common bond, however, that joins the Top 100 dealers is that each and every one of them truly delivers on the dream that is boating. We couldn't say it better ourselves. 10 years of the Top 100 P06-BI14APR-AttheHelm.indd 6 3/13/14 4:04 PM