EDITORIAL

Help me, I'm confused!

Like many of you, I was in Louisville for the 2000 National RV Trade Show ­ the thirteenth largest trade show in the United States. 

There were 95 manufacturers and over 300 suppliers displaying the very latest technology and state-of-the-art advances in the RV industry.

Exhibitors were hosting thousands of customers and new prospects that they were attempting to convince to do business with their particular company.

This is where I get confused.

I've never seen so many people, with so many companies, that didn't seem to know why they were there at all. Many of the people I spoke with did not know what message their company was trying to present to customers and prospects, or what product or RV the dealers were showing significant interest in during the three full days of open exhibit hours.

Furthermore, a disturbingly high number of exhibitors did not know who the PR or marketing representative was that should be speaking with the trade press. Several others did not even know if they had a press kit available to the media in the RVIA press room.

This is not a small show.

This is not an inexpensive show to participate in, no matter what size booth you have.

In the case of RV manufacturers, it cost them a tremendous amount of money to transport people and product to Louisville each year, and yet they pay absolutely no attention to the

objective of the show and training of the people who will be staffing the display.

Why?

For many companies, this was a waste of time and money and probably did not produce the results they had hoped for, mainly because their people were not prepared to tell their story.

Let me give you a few of the frustrating examples I witnessed at Louisville. You should also know that these observations were not mine alone. Conversations with other members of the media in the press room confirmed the same type of greeting and lack luster response when they visited manufacturer displays during the show.

I visited the booth of a travel trailer manufacturer and asked to see their PR or marketing representative. No less than three people looked at each other with a blank stare on their face and was then told they didn't think they had one. I then asked if there was anybody in the booth who could speak with a member of the press -- the same blank stare. I then asked if they had a press kit available -- you guessed it, three more blank stares.

I then asked them if they had any new products on display. The answer was, "I think the one in the corner is new." I asked if this product had a name!

These people had no clue what they were doing in Louisville. Worse than that, it was money running down the drain for the manufacturer who had gone through the trouble of setting up the display and staffing it. They showed up during the show, and yet there was no corporate message, no information on the company or their products, and staffed the booth with people who had no idea why this particular manufacturer was there in the first place.

How does this happen at such a critical show for any manufacturer who makes the trip to Louisville every year?

Later that morning I visited a major manufacturer in a very large display. I asked for the PR representative when I saw an employee in the display. This person said they didn't think the representative was there and that I would have to come back if I wanted to see him.

Guess what, I don't have to come back. Neither do the dealers who may have got the same type of reception when visiting this booth. This is corporate culture and this is not the way this manufacturer would want their people speaking to the press or prospective customers.

I was told to go over to their main reception area in the middle of the booth and perhaps they could locate the person I was looking for. I really wanted to talk to this company, so I headed for this booth. I asked for the person by name and the person I was speaking with had no idea who this person was.

Do you think it is too much to ask that the people working the booth of a national trade show know the key management people who will be dealing with the press and or dealers that will be visiting the booth?

I sure hope not.

They ultimately paged this person three times and nobody showed up. Not only did the person I was looking for not show up, but all of the other people in the booth -- who  certainly did hear the page -- chose not to inquire if they could be of assistance to the person making the page.

Then there was the supplier booth where I wanted to speak with the company's representative about a unique product. The rep was talking on a cell phone -- and kept talking while I waited just inside the small 10' X 10' booth. The rep saw that I was waiting but did not even recognize my presence or ask me to wait. I eventually picked up a few pieces of  literature and left the booth.

Don't look for information on the product pages in this issue. It's an interesting product that needs exposure. If the rep was that stupid to stay on the cell phone and not take the time to tell us about the product, why then should anybody try to help this company?

All three of these examples happened on the first morning that the show was open, and it didn't get much better the final two days of the show.

One of my colleagues in the media told me the story about one manufacturer who would not let them take a picture of a new motorhome that was on display in their booth.

Help me here, I'm confused.

They spend money to bring the motorhome to Louisville. They have the product on display, not behind a curtain -- it's right in the middle of their booth. They have literature available for the dealers in attendance that shows a picture of the motorhome. Oh yes, they also have the same motorhome picture on their web site.

Why then would an employee of the company tell the writer that a picture would not be allowed.

You know you can't pay people to be this stupid -- this is certainly a unique way to treat somebody who can only help the company through additional exposure of the product.

Are you starting to get the feeling that a lot of the executives running these companies may not have any idea how poorly the company is being represented when they spend all this money to showcase new products in Louisville? Guess what, you're right.

I don't want to bore you with more stories of incompetence and lack of concern in many booths this year -- but I could.

The point I'm trying to make is that this isn't just a trade press problem. People are creatures of habit. If they treat the press this way, you can bet they are treating your dealers and customers the very same way.

Many of these companies might as well stay home if this is the best they can do once they get there.

The inept companies were not the majority, but there shouldn't be any inept companies when you make this kind of investment.

Is this the image we want to project for the RV industry?

If you can't get excited about the annual industry trade show, then you can't get your own employees excited. If you can't get your employees excited, then you can't get your customers excited. Eventually, you don't have any customers.

Take another look at Louisville. Conduct a post-show meeting to see if any of these issues may have taken place in your booth. If you are not sure, you can always call me. I won't tell you the names of the companies associated with these stories, but I will tell you if your company is one of the ones that came up on the negative side of the equation in Kentucky.

P.J. Harrington, a frequent speaker at RV related events has two great sayings that we have all heard many times, yet we still see these kinds of problems at RV shows.

Attitude is everything -- Yet we had incredibly poor attitudes on display by many of the people who are trying to get exposure for their companies and trying to convince those in attendance to buy their products.

Inspect what you expect --

It was quite obvious that many companies failed miserably on this issue and had no idea what their people were saying, or not saying, to the trade press or potential prospects.

We can throw stones at ourselves also -- we certainly don't live in a glass house.

I saw the vice president of public relations for one of our trade associations actually refuse to shake the hand of an editor for a trade publication. The person in question did not like some of the things written in the magazine earlier in the year.

When magazines take an editorial stand or publish articles that might not reflect your views on the subject, then you as the reader have an obligation to the rest of the industry and should respond and present an opposing viewpoint.

It seems quite childish that one would refuse to shake hands with an industry professional because their feelings may be hurt. Hopefully, we all have stronger skin than that.

I think everyone in this industry truly wants to improve our public image and wants the industry to grow so that everyone can share in the success.

How do you do that if we don't communicate and help each other.

This industry will never reach the mainstream markets if we can't improve all aspects of our business. Communications, public relations, and dealer/manufacturer issues will never improve if we can't -- or won't -- make an honest effort to improve the way we do business in the RV industry.

Let me finish up with one last story that shows the epitome of stupidity and self-promotion versus helping

everyone grow the industry.

I met the producer of an independent RV television program that is on the air and shown weekly in three different time slots on The Outdoor Channel.

Here's a program about our industry and yet the two leading industry associations are not sponsoring the program in any way.

We have an RV-related program on television and the industry is not supporting it. This is an industry that is going to spend ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS on media buys in 2001, and won't spend a penny on an RV-related program that is already on the air?

Is this how we support our industry?

Is this how we help each other and grow the industry for everyone's benefit?

Is this how we want to treat each other?

Until we step up and take responsibility for our own success we are not going to grow this industry.

It was not necessary to mention people or companies here. I'm not trying to embarrass anybody with these stories. Many people in attendance at Louisville came away with the same impressions of the RV industry.

We are better than this.

This is an exciting industry with incredible potential. I guess it's kind of like the iceberg in the North Atlantic. The RV industry is the iceberg -- we can only see the very tip of a large opportunity. Many of the companies and people in this industry are going to be like the Titanic. They have no idea where they are going or how they intend to get there. When they hit the iceberg they will simply crash and sink to the bottom of the sea.

The rest of you will dock along side, disembark, and hop on the opportunity that awaits us.

For those of you who did it right in Louisville, congratulations -- you already know who you are because you've tallied the purchase orders.

For those of you who missed the boat this time around -- don't blame the industry, don't blame the associations -- blame yourselves and make a New Year's resolution to not make the same mistakes when we meet again in Louisville next year.

RVN