T&T: Miami Boat Show

[Bill]

I think the days of unescorted, free-for-all, anything goes, sticker-free
boat shows are long gone  and for good reason.  Many of the builders rely
on owner-supplied boats for the shows.  Either the geography of inventory
boats is wrong or a particular model might not even be in inventory.



As a past participant in several boat shows, I have witnessed interior teak
being gouged by careless handling of cameras, cell phone holsters, and
backpacks.  Ive seen unsupervised kids climb onto beds or try and turn
something on.  Owner dicor items have been stolen as well. On Sundays, the
Miami show becomes more of a family festival than is does a chance for the
serious looker to compare models.  It is the nature of the event itself that
necessitated changes in the way boats are shown.

I also dont think its fair to ask or expect a salesperson to spend an hour
or more talking to someone whose only interest is getting ideas for their
own project.  (At the same time, being rude about it is unacceptable.)  In
this economy, and particularly given a commission-based income, salespeople
want to talk to potential customers who are in the market for a boat (even
if that purchase might be four or five years away).  Spending an hour with a
tire-kicker limits the time that the salesperson could be sending with
other, more seriously interested, customers.



TrawlerFest might be a better venue for scoping out new ideas/different ways
of doing thing.  That event seems designed to enable the kind of
locker-opening, engine-room snooping that you were looking for in Miami.