Marine Industry Association of Central Florida to host Marine Retail University

MINNEAPOLIS – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and Dominion Marine Media announced today that the Marine Industry Association of Central Florida has become the third state marine trade association to sign on as host of a Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University event this year.

The event, scheduled for Nov. 10-11, 2012, will be held at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Fla., in collaboration with the Marine Dealer Conference and Expo, the national dealer event. MRU will kickoff with a networking reception on Saturday, Nov. 10, and will offer a full day of market-specific education for Florida dealers on the 11^th before flowing into the MDCE opening night cocktail reception.

"We are thrilled to partner with the MRU to create new opportunities for our members and our association,” says David Ray, executive director of MIACF. "The market-specific intelligence to be offered makes this a unique educational event that will provide great value for our attendees."

This Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University event will feature four targeted educational sessions, an expo hall, and a series of networking sessions, including a welcome reception on November 10th. The educational sessions will offer market-specific sales and dealer-performance data that will help attendees make better business decisions. Specifically, GE Commercial Distribution Finance will lead a session on economic trends and dealer performance; Statistical Surveys will provide detailed insights into sales trends and market performance; and Dominion Marine Media will present best practices and expert advice on how to develop your market in today’s economy. A fourth educational session will be incorporated based specifically on the interests of MIACF’s dealer members.

"We are delighted to welcome the Marine Industry Association of Central Florida to the Marine Retail University,” says Courtney Chalmers, director of marketing for Dominion Marine Media, "By kicking off the terrific educational opportunity represented by MDCE with the customized program featured at MRU, attendees will be positioning themselves for great success in 2013.”

"The attendees of this event will walk away with an in-depth understanding of what’s making their market tick and how they can capitalize on it,” says Matt Gruhn, president of the MRAA. "We’re extremely excited to be able to partner with MIACF to create such opportunity for its members because the data and information the MRU provides – combined with the powerful education awaiting them at MDCE – will give them an incredible competitive advantage as they begin selling their 2013 product lines.”

About Marine Retail University
The Norman-Spencer Marine Retail University is a series of regional dealer educational conferences. Launched in 2012 as a partnership between the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and Dominion Marine Media, these regional events seek to provide attendees with in-depth market knowledge and the tactics to capitalize on those insights. The partners work closely with regional and state associations to deliver additional value to their members. Norman-Spencer Marine Insurance Services supports MRU as the title sponsor of the event series. To bring an MRU event to your association, to support an MRU event or for more information, please contact Matt Gruhn at 763-315-8043 or matt@mraa.com.