A Dealer Directory how-to

Boating Industry’s 2009 Dealer Directory was published last week and, since its mailing, several dealerships that were not included have contacted us to find out why. So I wanted to briefly outline how we put together our directory each year in the hopes that the explanation will help ensure the process goes more smoothly for everyone in the future. Read more >>

Rethinking recruiting

As a graduate of the public school system, I think I’ve done all right. But if I have one complaint, it’s that my teachers and guidance counselors didn’t spent any time helping me understand what school is supposed to prepare you for: work. Sure, they taught me the basics: reading, writing and arithmetic. But they didn’t help me imagine all the ways I might apply them. They didn’t challenge me to think about how I could transform the things I was best at and most passionate about into a career. And they certainly didn’t expose me to what such a career might look and feel like. No mentoring programs. No internship programs. No career-oriented field trips. Unfortunately, the same was largely true of the pricey private college I attended. I stumbled upon a career in the boating industry completed by chance. Read more >>

A Public-Private Partnership — Safety of Life at Sea and Boat Dealers

VINCENT PICA, Division Commander, Division-18 (1SR), United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

There is a lot of talk these days out of Washington regarding “public-private” partnerships in solving the economic difficulties our economy is in. And it makes a lot of sense for government and business to work together to maximize the effect of programs and policies. There is another public-private partnership that works well together but can be even more effective if boat dealers thought more about it – US Coast Guard Forces and boat dealers working together to raise boating skills and seamanship levels at the point of purchase. This column is about that.

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Technology’s evil offspring

I had the unfortunate need to take my wife to the doctor the other day. The unfortunate part wasn’t necessarily that she had to go to the doctor; rather, it was the doctor’s decision to thrust technology into the center of the doctor-patient relationship. Maybe you’ve experienced this. You visit the doctor, she essentially interviews you regarding the symptoms and reason for your visit, and rather than showing any interest, she methodically punches all of your answers into a laptop. The experience, even for an observer, is all too unnerving. Read more >>

News you can use

There’s a dinner tomorrow night for the Sea Ray Owners Club at a restaurant on a lake near Austin, Texas. No RSVP is necessary. Members just need to show up and a seat will be waiting for them, courtesy of Sail & Ski Center – a dealership based in Austin – and each table of Sea Ray owners will receive a free appetizer platter. I’m not one to pass up free chicken wings, but I’m also not a Sea Ray owner (and I live in Minnesota) so I won’t be able to make it. But thanks to an e-mailed newsletter I received from Sail & Ski on the last day of April, I now know about the dinner; a boating lifestyle expo the dealership is hosting this weekend; a maintenance seminar on Saturday; and every other event the business has planned for the month of May. Read more >>

When will it end?

Of all the talk about this recession, there’s one question, of course, that no one can really answer: When will it end? But the most important question to our businesses right now may be: Has it already ended? The answer to that, according to a news report I read last night, might surprise you. Read more >>

Plugging the leadership gap

In my last blog, I wrote about why it is particularly important that our industry’s small businesses develop strong and effective succession plans. But the industry as a whole has its own succession problems, which become more urgent as the recession continues. As the boating business shrinks, the need for a new generation of leaders to point the way to recovery and growth becomes more critical. Read more >>

Rethinking succession

My husband and I finally buckled down and had a legal will drawn up last January. That’s not something I’m proud of. I’m well into my thirties, I’ve been married for almost 10 years, and I have a four-year-old son. You could argue that waiting so long was downright irresponsible. Read more >>