MDCE 2010: A trip worth taking

One week from today, everyone here at Boating Industry should be breathing just a bit more easily as this magazine’s busiest week of the year will have just concluded. Sitting here this morning, however, next Friday still seems miles away.

The 2010 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo officially opens Monday afternoon, but preparations have been going on since not long after last year’s MDCE ended. And there’s still much to be done.

More than 900 industry members have pre-registered for the event, and 115 exhibitors will fill the 106,000 square feet of our hall at the Orange County Convention Center, a space double the size used last year.

As this is being written, Kathy Johnson, Boating Industry’s advertising sales manager has already arrived in Orlando and four other staff members are in the air. Six more of us leave early tomorrow morning, trading a weather forecast here in Minnesota that predicts wind and several inches of snow for sunshine and a 78-degree high temperature. Not that we’ll have much time to enjoy it.

But we believe the months of work done by Boating Industry, and all the leaders of the Marine Retailers Association of America, will pay off with a great event. We’re excited to see everyone that will be joining us, and grateful that you’ll be taking the time to do so. We know your time is valuable and we don’t intend to waste it.

Four days of networking and best practices, 21 all-new educational sessions, three bonus sessions, three cocktail receptions, and more, await you.

If you still haven’t registered, it’s not too late.  Registration opens at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Just show up at the Orange County Convention Center and you can register onsite.  Go to http://www.boating-industry.com/MDCE/ to learn more.

We wish everyone safe travels and look forward to seeing you there.