RVBusiness, March/April 2019
BY SHERMAN GOLDENBERG RICK KESSLER PHOTOS BY SHAWN SPENCE For RVIAs New Age RVX Trade Show NBC Auto Racing Analyst Rutledge Wood who served as emcee of the Reveal with the CV1 Camper Van by ModVans RVIA President Frank Hugelmeyer and Liz Crawford senior vice president of trade shows and events M A R C H A P R I L 2 0 1 9 RVBusiness 53 impressed veteran industry observers on hand in Salt Lake Thanks to the efforts of RVIA led foremostly in this case by President Frank Hugelmeyer and Senior Vice President of Trade Shows Events Liz Crawford exhibitors found themselves at times interfacing with nationalscale consumer titles like Esquire Sports Illustrated Outside O The Oprah Magazine Wired as well as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and MotorTrend TV That level of consumer interest it goes without saying has never happened before at an RV show regional or national wholesale or retail Next comes a whole new public relations initiative on conventional and social media the all industry Go RVing Coalitions Kick Off To Camping Season developed to promote the industrys message to North American RV newbies a campaign that industry insiders can follow @ GoRVing on Facebook Twitter and Instagram They can also tune into live updates through the official campaign hashtag KickoffCamping Meanwhile lifestyle influencers a number of whom were on hand in Salt Lake City will also be spreading the word on YouTube and other online channels in a season long PR effort coordinated via social media by RVIA and IZEA Worldwide Inc This whole media initiative if all goes according to plan is expected to generate tens of millions of consumer impressions We ended up having national media here that weve never worked with in the past and they told us they cant wait for the next event reported RVIAs Karen Redfern vice president for the Go RVing Coalition They are just so thrilled with what they saw These are publications that have never been at an RV show before and you wouldnt think their readership would automatically align with the lifestyle but they were so enthralled with the technology and innovation and product that they found Its been phenomenal what weve accomplished RVX exhibitors in turn also seemed to enjoy the intimacy and networking opportunities of a smaller show like RVX that unlike Louisville Shows of the past that peaked at more than a million square feet co mingled supplier booths with scaled down manufacturer displays And some frankly felt the change of venue in itself to a western state with extraordinary mountainous views was a worthy change all of which was a A crush of national print and television media and social media influencers covered RVX continued on page 56
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
