RV Industry Association's James Ashurst To Speak At Upcoming Derema Group Virtual Show September 23

Derema Group, which represents many top marine and RV brands, is hosting a virtual show to display new products on Sept. 23 from noon to 6 p.m.

SHOWUP2020 LIVE! will be hosted and 11-time Emmy award-winning broadcaster and producer, Lou Tilley.

Speakers include Matt Gruhn, president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas; Vicky Yu, business intelligence director for the National Marine Manufacturers Association; Michele Goldsmith, publisher of Trade Only Today; James Ashurst, executive vice president of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association; American Boat & Yacht Council president John Adey; and 1977 America’s Cup winner Gary Jobson.

“With all of these distributor shows going away — for many, 15 percent of sales are done at the shows — it makes it difficult to project orders,” Derema Group president Kurt Forsman told Trade Only Today.

When Derema manufactures new products, the company has to speculate how many to build based on demand projections.

But projections are difficult when the company can’t gauge interest in person, said Forsman. The company hopes that interest will be easier to gauge after the virtual show.

“That’s the other pivot in this whole thing,” said Forsman. “All the normal metrics you would use in the past [to place orders] are being thrown out. You have to bring in all these new metrics. It’s just this uncharted area.”

Register here