Throughout the history of the annual MRAA Conference and Expo, education has been a major focus of the event. To this day dealers tell us it’s one of the main reasons they attend.
Over the years, of course, some of the terminology has changed. We’ve heard the education referred to as “seminars,” “meetings,” “symposiums,” “classes,” “track sessions” … you get the idea. The latest and greatest incarnation of the event, Dealer Week, introduces a new term: an “Educational Pathway.” But what is a Pathway?
A Pathway is all of the above. They are 45-90 minute educational learning opportunities at Dealer Week. These Pathways take place in a classroom with a host, a subject matter expert and a roomful of dealers to learn from. There are currently three Pathways that focus on the areas MRAA believes to be the most important when it comes to running a marine business: The Dealership, The Customer and The Employee. There are six opportunities to participate in one of these three Pathways over the course three days of the conference. For those of us who aren’t great at math … that’s 18 opportunities for education just in those Pathway sessions.
Our goal is to provide an in-depth learning experience that involves multiple ways to process the information being presented. You’ll learn from the speaker, have big-picture discussions with the host, and brainstorm with the other dealers in roundtable discussions. That way, you walk away with a full understanding of what you learned and a way to implement it when you get back to your dealership.
Speaking of implementation … We’ve built our Workshops, previously an optional add-on, into the registration package this year (money savers, rejoice!). But what makes the Workshops a little different this year is that they take place at the end of the conference as opposed to the beginning. So, this year, the Workshops will allow dealers to bring together everything they’ve learned during the course of the event and get started on the path to implementation!
As far as other educational opportunities at Dealer Week goes, we will also have one-on-one opportunities with experts and 10x10 quick-hit learning opportunities (10 speakers presenting for 10 minutes each) with industry leaders. Phew … that’s a lot of learning!
Stay tuned for the next blog … “What’s new in the education at Dealer Week.”