In Brief: Insight Marketing & Media, AOC, YachtWorld.com, Marine Electrical Products, Dive N Dog, Marvair, DockMaster, EdgeWater Boats, Carolina Waterworks

Gregg Boersma, former advertising sales director for SAIL and Power & Motoryacht magazines, has formed a new marketing services firm, Insight Marketing & Media LLC, to serve companies in the marine field. Boersma brings 25-plus years of advertising sales experience to his new company, which assists companies with the strategic positioning, media negotiations, and creative execution of their marketing plans. Insight launches with one client, Passport Yachts, which manufactures and markets bluewater sailing yachts from 47 to 61 feet. Insight handles all facets of the Passport’s marketing.

Brian Parker and Emilio Oramas have been appointed to new positions in a management team reorganization by North American resin provider AOC LLC. Parker and Oramas will report to Jack Roesle, senior vice president, Global Sales and Marketing, who made the announcement. Parker is named to the new position of Global Managing Director and is responsible for all International Operations. Parker will retain current responsibilities as Western Regional Sales Manager and Managing Director of Latin America. Oramas is appointed to the newly created position of Director of Sales: US and Canada. Oramas assumes responsibility for all sales in the United States and Canada. Reporting to Oramas are Eastern Regional Sales Manager Eric Lindberg, South Central Regional Sales Manager Joe Simpson and North Central Sales Manager Brad Walker.

YachtWorld.com, the Internet yacht brokerage portal and a division of Dominion Enterprises, has added 11 international mobile phone friendly Web sites to its portfolio. Optimized for iPhone/iPodTouch, Blackberry (OS4.6+) and Android devices, the Web sites target the following countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Translated into the appropriate languages, all mobile phone Web sites feature: a shortened Contact Seller form, a greater number of dropdown selection lists on the boat search form, image sizes optimized to ensure they load quickly, and boat images accessible with just one click, according to the company. “Industry trends are suggesting that within the next few years, nearly 50 percent of all Web browsing will occur on a mobile device,” said Mike Dickman, YachtWorld.com director of marketing. “In addition it has been stated that the Mobile Internet market will be at least twice the size of Desktop Internet.”

Marine Electrical Products has launched a newly redesigned Web site, www.marine-electrical.com. In this new version, there are a number of tools for boat-building professionals and hobbyist, including a library of wiring diagrams for many boat models, plug and pin configurations, and links to troubleshoot marine gauges, according to the company. The blog contains current issues that the engineering and customer service professionals address regularly, the company added. “We want to be the ‘Go-To’ resource for the boat building industry,” said John Hoffmann, MEP director of marketing.

Dive N Dog has hired a new director of Sales & Business Development, Justin Whirledge, who comes to Dive N Dog from The List in Atlanta, Ga., where he served as a business development executive. Prior to The List, Whirledge held various sales and brand management positions in Georgia and South Carolina. He specializes in cultivating relationships and increasing revenue streams by working with clients to ensure optimal relationship management, according to the company. In his new position, he will focus on OEM partnerships.

Marvair has selected Shaun Hall as the national sales manager for Marvair’s line of HVAC products and accessories. Hall grew up in the manufacturing side of the marine industry, working at boat plants his father helped build, start-up and operate, according to the company. While still in high school, Shaun gained his first management training at one of these plants. For the past three years, Shaun has been involved with the HVAC side of the marine industry, including both self-contained and chilled water systems. In addition, Shaun has been a NMMA Compliance Specialist since 1987 and an ABYC member since 1989. Bill Wilson, Marvair’s VP of Sales said, “Rarely do you find someone with Shaun’s industry experience combined with his technical knowledge and proven sales abilities. He is a tremendous asset to our marine team.”

Exuma Technologies, Inc, a provider of dealer and business management systems to the recreational marine industry, has expanded its partnership with TigerLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: TIGR), a provider of data management solutions for over three decades. By integrating TigerLogic’s OpenDB technology into the DockMaster Solution Suite, Exuma now provides its DockMaster users the ability to easily access critical business data through the DockMaster Business Intelligence (DMBI) Web-based dashboard product, the company explained. Exuma’s DMBI platform allows DockMaster users to run canned reports prepared by Exuma in a web-based framework complete with colored bar charts, colored graphs and spread sheets. Furthermore, the DMBI platform allows users to custom-tailor the presentation of the dashboard data, and create a whole host of custom reports, including bar charts and graphs. Exuma will also explore other innovations from TigerLogic, like its yolink web-based search technology to explore its applicability in Exuma’s product offerings. “Our integration with OpenDB further expands DockMaster’s features and functionality, enabling our customers to mine their data stored in DockMaster and present it in a user friendly format,” said Cam Collins, President and CEO of Exuma. “Our customers will appreciate having convenient and real-time access to their critical business data, including financial, inventory and customer information.”

In response to its overseas sales more than doubling in 2009, EdgeWater Boats has restructured its sales operations and placed Sales Director Roger Taylor in charge of all international sales activities. “We have given Roger these additional responsibilities because we no longer are working exclusively with international distributors. Going forward, international sales will be handled by our in-house sales team,” said Peter Truslow, President of EdgeWater Boats. “This appointment enables us to respond more effectively to the growing demand for our products overseas and to handle our international sales and service more efficiently.” Truslow added, “Last year, we saw increased sales activity in Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe. Our goal is to raise EdgeWater’s profile in other parts of the world.”

To keep up with its rapid growth, Carolina Waterworks has expanded into a larger facility. The new location encompasses eight acres and five buildings, totaling 35,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and office space. It also houses five new machines dedicated to constructing Safe Haven boatlifts. Effective immediately, Carolina Waterworks’ address is 211 Eagle Rd, Goose Creek, SC 29445. The company’s new office phone number is 843-614-5130. Its new fax number is 843-614-5135. All email addresses and its toll-free number remain unchanged. “We’ve had a great deal of success in the last year,” said President Keith Rogerson. “This move reflects our investment in research and development and manufacturing equipment so that we can continue to grow in the future.” Carolina Waterworks provides aluminum docks, walkways and gangways, dock flotation, piling attachments, mooring buoys, hardware, boatlifts and other marine equipment.

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