Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/410969
OPINION FROM THE EDITOR 16 • November 3, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Some crazy things happened along our way to a highly suc- cessful Year 2 of the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) in Orlando. If you attended or exhibited, we hope your time was equally produc- tive and filled with relationship- building and developing new partnerships. Here are some scenarios that made AIMExpo a memorable and productive event for us. Wednesday, Rosen Centre Hotel, poolside balcony. Fresh off a post-arrival lunch at Adobe Gila's at Pointe Orlando, the Powersports Business Institute @ AIM- Expo Kickoff Networking Reception kicks off in a big way. First-time events, as we all know, leave a lot of unknowns. The only unknown about this debut event was which of the appetizers took top honors. Event sponsor GE Capital once again provided outstanding support for the event, which was geared to gather folks from all facets of the industry prior to the next morn- ing's start of AIMExpo. Simply put, attendance was over the top. It was fantastic to see the connections being made, from pre- owned dealers in search of floorplanning options to 20 Group dealers sharing their latest operations suc- cess stories. Staff from aftermarket companies and industry service providers also flocked to the event. Free drinks and free apps? I'd already plan to book the flight for Wednesday next year. Just don't forget the sunglasses, and go ahead and pack a pair of shorts, too. Thursday, Orange County Conven- tion Center, Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo. Yamaha took center stage with its worldwide product reveal in the Chapin The- atre, then Larry Little from AIMExpo opened the doors to the showroom floor. Shortly afterward, the PSBI@ AIMEXPO sponsored by CDK Global Recreation and STA-BIL was off and running. Sam Dantzler, Neil Pascale, Mark Mooney and Steve Jones proved to be a formidable morning lineup, with more than 100 attendees filling their rooms alone in the first ses- sions of the day. The session rooms remained busy, and the participation and Q&A from dealers was particularly gratifying. Speakers ended their sessions only to seek me out to lobby for a place on next year's lineup. As I told them, the dealer attend- ees determine that by completing an evaluation form for each session. Gart Sutton and dealer principal Curtis Sloan from Tennessee welcomed their room with particular gusto. The two, joined by several others, rode from Sloan's Motorcycle & ATV near Nashville all the way to Orlando on Wednesday. After taking in a show at the Grand Ole Opry the night before the ride, the GartRides to AIMExpo posse went on to visit the Barber Motors- ports Museum in Alabama before hugging the Florida coastline and darting into Orlando. Gart became the first 20 Group moderator to host a meeting in Orlando as part of AIMExpo, and it was fantastic to catch up with some of the top-performing dealerships in the Best Oper- ator Club because of it. In fact, the GartRides crew, with assistance from several industry companies, donated a check to the Chad Oulson Memorial Fund following the ride. Chad was a former staffer at Sky Powersports, which was a member of one of Gart's 20 Groups. There were some not-so-great family situations arising in recent weeks for a handful of our speakers, so it goes without saying that their attendance was truly appreciated. Thursday night, Power 50 Awards Dinner. We're all about bringing together dealers in ways that will pro- vide them with benefits for spending their valued time with us. Read the magazine every month? We make it time well spent. Attend the PSBI@AIMEXPO? Those sessions also have to be valuable for your time invest- ment? Power 50 Awards Dinner? Put Liz and I in the proper attire, and heck, we'll get everyone together and make an awards dinner tolerable also! I do admit that I nearly missed the opening to the Power 50 as I was busy trying to tie a tie. I've come to believe that tying ties is like playing golf — either do it often or never. I'm in the "never" category, but man- aged to make do. We were proud to have National Powersport Auc- tions on board as the Power 50 sponsor this year. Time again, we'll go to dealer meetings and other industry events and hear of the importance of offering a healthy pre-owned inventory. We're glad that the NPA staff was able to share their auction knowledge with the dealers on hand. Year 2 of the Power 50 dinner again was a step forward, with a significant increase in attendees. You've seen that already by flipping through this edition. If you think your photo belongs with the elite dealers we've selected, be sure to apply to the Power 50 next year. Thursday night, Singing telegram. This one will stick in the memory bank. At the conclusion of the announcement of the Power 50 dealers, a singing telegram came courtesy of David Wiles from Southbay Motorsports in San Diego. White haired and bandana- wearing, the singer read a thoughtful note from David and his crew at Southbay about how they wished they could have joined us. Then the singer began strum- ming his acoustic guitar and belting out "Born to Be Wild!" At the moment, with Liz and I onstage sweat- ing out another spotlight performance, there could not have been a more ideal scenario. I could only imagine that they treat their customers similarly. We're only at Thursday and I'm out of room, so yeah, AIMExpo 2014 was a solid step forward in a lot of ways. We hope it was for you also. PSB Dave McMahon is editor in chief of Powersports Business. Contact him at 763/383-4411 or dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com. 1. BRP unveils 2015 Can-Am Spyder F3 2. Kawasaki unveils 2015 Ninja H2R hyperbike with 300hp 3. Polaris Defense debuts new military vehicle 4. Costco names Polaris as exclusive powersports promotional partner 5. Helmet company sets record with $2 million in preorder sales 6. Patent-infringement lawsuit filed against BRP re: PWC 7. Ducati unveils 2015 Scrambler with $8,495 starting MSRP 8. Moto Guzzi unveils all-new 2015 V7 II 9. New Polaris EVP owns eight Polaris vehicles 10. Limited housing in Roseau forces Polaris to get inventive 11. Polaris rolls Slingshot into full production 12. Yamaha introduces new motorcycles, ATVs 13. Suzuki unveils 2016 early release GSX-S1000 14. Polaris announces opening of ORV plant in Poland 15. Indian Scout apparently off to strong start The headlines above belong to the most frequently viewed articles from Powersports Business' twice weekly e-news during the Sept. 24-Oct. 22 period. The number is based on the percentage of e-news viewers who clicked on the article's headline. To subscribe to e-news, go to www.powersportsbusiness.com/newsletter-signup. WHAT'S THE HOTTEST INDUSTRY TOPIC? Powersports Business blog ONLINE WITH POWERSPORTSBUSINESS.COM Leading industry executives and dealer consultants are among the contributors to PSB's blog. See below for recent blogs. 'Born to be Wild,' and other Orlando hits Visit powersportsbusiness.com/blogs Video is rolling The Powersports Business team had its cameras and phones at the ready, bringing back video clips from various events. From Orlando, the PSB team took video of a sur- prise singing telegram at the Power 50 Awards Dinner. And from Wisconsin, you'll see JW Washington introducing the Gravely Atlas JSV. We have more video coming, too, to go along with stories in our next issue. To see all of these videos and more, visit www.youtube.com/powersportsbusiness and make sure to subscribe to the PSB channel, so you don't miss the next clip we post. STEVE LEMCO Author, "Training and Hiring New Salespeople" You can buy a lot of things with money, but nobody can buy back yesterday. If a new motorcycle would make the customer have a better life, then the salesperson owes it to the customer to do their best job to help them buy it now. BOB MCCANN Director of Education, ARI Network Services Mobile browsing has officially eclipsed desktop browsing. According to a recent comScore report, smartphones and tablets combined now account for 60 percent of all online traffic, up from 50 percent a year ago. LIZ KEENER Managing Editor, Powersports Business If I haven't been out and about at industry events lately, I've been on the phone with dealers, aftermarket suppliers, service providers and OEMs, and I can't help but come away from nearly every conversation with a smile on my face. JENNIFER ROBISON National Retail Specialist, Tucker Rocky If you're looking for growth in 2015, take a serious look at your sales metrics. Research how many ladies made purchases on motorcycles or how many ladies items you sold, such as helmets and jackets, in recent years. DAVE McMAHON When a singing telegram came in the form of "Born to Be Wild," the Power 50 Awards Dinner had officially turned the corner.