Tag Archives: Columns

By Adam Quandt Prior to World War I, three-fourths of all women employed in manufacturing were making apparel or its materials, food or tobacco products, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. During the war, the number of women in the workforce began to increase, as did their opportunities across occupations. In 1920, 20% of the U.S. labor force was ...

By Wanda Kenton Smith As we celebrate Boating Industry’s Women Making Waves, I can’t help but reflect on my 40-plus-year industry career and the mentors who believed in me and made it all possible. Terry Snow of World Publications gambled on a driven young journalist and launched my career into the marine stratosphere when he hired me to edit World ...

By Roxanne Rockvam First of all, congratulations to this year’s Women Making Waves award winners! As the current Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year, saying I’ve grown up in the boating industry is an understatement.  Our family owns a marina on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. The Ship’s Store was in the lower level of our house and as a ...

By Matt Sellhorst As a dealership owner or marketing expert, are you monitoring Google Trends for “Boats for Sale” or “Your Style of Boats for Sale.” This can be an outstanding tool for seeing demand trends in the industry and it’s obviously slowing. We knew this would happen, the question is, how will you and your team respond? With this ...

By Mark Overbye Confusing innovation with novelty can be lethal. When I started Gekko Boats years ago there were plenty of daily reminders that we swam in a pool filled with sharks. A young company in a capital intensive, seasonal and cyclical business meant continually sharpening our knives. Committed to our craft, we eagerly showed up. When Toyota entered the ...

By Frank Hugelmeyer If the past two years taught us anything, it’s that change truly is a constant—you can adapt and innovate or be disrupted. When many Americans turned to outdoor recreation as an escape from the greatest social and socioeconomic shift of their lives, the boating industry fared well relative to the broader economy. Nonetheless, we’ve had to embrace ...

By Adam Quandt The world of today and the world of tomorrow moves fast. News available 24/7; you can tell (or show) the world what you’re eating at the press of a finger; you can sell or buy a car online and have it picked up by the next day. The list goes on and on. But when CNN launched ...

By Matt Sellhorst Going to boat shows is something I’ve done since I was a kid back in Nebraska. This year I’ve already attended four and plan to sneak a few more in by the time boating weather arrives. Mystery shopping at the shows, I’ve seen some good, some bad and some ugly in my interactions with salespeople, as well ...

By Adam Quandt If you’ve thumbed through the pages of recent issues of Boating Industry lately, you may have noticed we talk about change a lot. It’s been hard not to, especially over the last two years. We’ve seen changes in technology, changes in leadership, you name it. Change is constant. And while some of these changes have been forced ...

By David Gee After three eventful years as the editorial captain of Boating Industry, I am turning the helm over to the very capable Adam Quandt. He is new to the role of editor-in-chief obviously, but not new to Boating Industry. He started as an associate editor four years ago and has been my teammate as managing editor during my ...