RVBusiness, September/October 2018

NEWS inFOCUS Members of the RV industry listen to Liz Crawford RVIAs senior vice president for trade shows and events as she explains the goals of RVX The RV Experience RVIA Stages RVX Academy Programs in Salt Lake City Elkhart Ind to Address Merits of RVX The Experience The events were intended to talk to exhibitors about the lay of the land and make sure exhibitors were up to speed on marketing and public relations Its not your fathers RV show anymore said RVIA Senior Vice President Liz Crawford Its a whole different experience M embers of the RV Industry Associations RVIA staff took to the road over the summer hosting RVX Exhibitor Academy programs in both Salt Lake City Utah and Elkhart Ind during which the Reston Va based trade associations management and event experts addressed the merits of RVIAs new spring show RVX The RV Experience to groups of about 50 potential manufacturer and supplier exhibitors in each venue The new trade show planned for March 12 15 2019 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City is a replacement of sorts for RVIAs traditional National RV Trade Show held annually for the past 54 years in Louisville Ky The Louisville Show has been discontinued by RVIAs board of directors due to lagging attendance and a general sense that it had run its course As RVIA spokesmen have stressed and what the exhibitor academy was intended to emphasize is that RVX will be demonstrably different as the organization attempts to reinvent the wheel with regard to industry shows While both groups heard essentially the same message those attending the Salt Lake City event also had the opportunity to tour the city as well as the Salt Palace which at 550000 square feet is roughly half the size of the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville and reflects RVIAs decision to cast RVX as a smaller program with fewer displays geared toward innovation Two weeks ago we held a similar academy in Salt Lake City and the goal there as it was here was to really talk to the exhibitors and the potential exhibitors about the lay of the land and get familiar with the venue and the service providers who 42 RVBusiness S E P T E M B E R O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8 at the RVX Exhibitor Academy at the RV MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart Ind are using the process that were using for hotels and booth space Liz Crawford senior vice president trade shows and events for RVIA told RVBusiness following the Aug 8 presentation at the RV MH Hall of Fame and Northern Indiana Event Center And here in Elkhart we also wanted to make sure that the exhibitors are prepared and are talking about how to merchandise their booths and are up to speed on marketing and PR So the programs attendees are just taking all of that tactical information back to their plants and their bosses to talk about how they can engage dealers at RVX said Crawford noting that the second RVX is now slated to take place in San Antonio Texas while the third will return to Salt Lake and the fourth will be in Indianapolis Ind Speakers at both venues discussed the sequence of planned RVX events including educational aspects awards a Tech Challenge and the RV Reveal a showcase of trendy new RVs in various categories occurring on the first day of the show that will be live streamed into thousands of consumer households through Go RVings digital platforms and media partnerships Also on the agenda was Steve Miller author of Uncopyable who talked about how to compete at a show so that exhibitors can stand out from each other RVIA Director of Media Relations Kevin Broom discussed how Go RVing is working with the media to promote RVX while representatives of Freeman Expositions LLC reviewed some of the more pragmatic aspects of handling freight and setting up the show And I presented on Salt Lake City and some of the opportunities that the citys going to be providing us mainly with the campground of the future that were PHOTO BY J TYLER KLASSEN