In light of many association and dealer RV shows having been canceled last year as well as this year – yet RV enthusiasts are anxious to return to in-person events – the New England RV Dealers Association (NERVDA) today (Feb. 1) announced the Inaugural New England RV and Camping Expo, an online event that will take place April 10-11.
“There is pent-up demand as many new first-time buyers are finding out what many others discovered in 2020: RVs are a safe, healthy, and family-friendly way to enjoy quality time together in a pandemic environment,” according to the NERVDA release. “Sales forecasts predict an all-time record for RV sales in 2021. Where are these buyers going to learn about RVs and the RV Lifestyle when they don’t have consumer shows to attend?”
The online event will feature NERVDA dealers, New England campgrounds, keynote speakers, 18 main stage events, workshops, networking, and chat capabilities.
“We have studied the marketplace offerings of virtual events as most associations and companies had to immediately switch their live events to virtual as the country was forced into – a shutdown nobody expected and most were ill-prepared to deal with,” noted NERVDA Executive Director Bob Zagami. “This event is not intended to replace our Boston RV & Camping Expo that has now been moved to January 2022. We can’t wait a year to meet the needs of today’s RV consumers and those that are ready, willing, and able to purchase a new RV now and head to their favorite campground this summer.”
NERVDA put together a “powerful team of professionals” to build out the new event from a blank piece of paper, including Zagami; Billie McNamara, operations manager at Loons Haven Family Campground; John DiPietro of NERVDA; and Bill Sell of Advisor Communications LLC, the event management company.
“I’ve worked with Bill before in the document imaging industry and he’s one of the most respected event management companies in the country with experience going back to the world’s largest trade show 20 years ago in Las Vegas, COMDEX,” Zagami mentioned. “We also added Billie to our team to address the needs of campgrounds, dealers, and all exhibitors. She has a degree in Data Analytics and Business Intelligence, which will be a differentiator in this event. We will be able to provide exhibitors with attendee information that they have not been able to get at traditional consumer shows in the past.”
Sell is also managing the upcoming Girl Camper National Expo in March.
McNamara said, “We are launching the event today and will have a major social media campaign to spread the word quickly and start selling tickets. The attendee price is only $20 and there will be $5 discounts available from participating dealers and campgrounds. There are so many great campgrounds in New England and we want to do everything we can to make sure their campsites are full this year.”
DiPietro noted, “For the inaugural event, dealership participation will be limited to NERVDA member dealers and service centers and campgrounds in the six New England states. We estimate that close to 100,000 consumers could not attend an RV show this year, and over 400 campgrounds did not have an opportunity to introduce these campers to their unique camping options. We are giving them an event to all meet online for two days and provide the education and information they would have received had they gone to an in-person show. We are not competing against these great shows in New England each year, just getting creative with the way we get that same information to them before the camping season arrives.”
Weekly updates will be provided on NERVDA’s popular “RVing in New England” online talk show, co-hosted by DiPietro and Zagami, as excitement builds toward the new consumer event.
