Boat Bling
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For those that aren’t familiar, IBEX is the largest US boat industry trade show, 2nd only to METS in Amsterdam. We exhibit every year. Our reps landed in Tampa 10 minutes after the cancellation announcementI flew down Saturday to attend the Race World Offshore Clearwater race and had planned to stay over for the IBEX show Tuesday, but received an email during the races about 1 PM that due to the governor declaring a state of emergency that they felt they should cancel.
Changed flight to this morning and heading to airport in a half hour.
I was told everything was already set up. What a disappointment and effort on their part.
I had the pleasure of breaking the news to our team
Many companies spend 6 figures or more on these shows. There are a LOT of pissed off people throughout the boating industry this week but what are you gonna do
Yes, several larger booth displays had been setup. Thankfully we planned to setup yesterday so our materials are still crated but since they had to evacuate the hall, current status is unknown. Will sort that out in the days to come.
I believe our reps made it home yesterday but it took a LOT of logistics due to lack of flights & rental cars.
Many thousands spent on displays, freight, material handling fees, travel, etc. down the drain but it’s only money and these are all minor problems compared to those who’s homes, lives & businesses are at risk. Hoping for the best!
Still better than Surf Expo show in Orlando about 5 years ago that got cancelled midway through day 1. What a mess! That’s a whole other story best shared over a beer…
-Zack