Updated!
The Northeast is under 4 feet of snow so, so it warms our socks to hear that Spring Break Nationals at Daytona Beach, FL announced that pre-registration is now open online for the March 19-21 event.
Also MERA (the Mobile Electronics Retailers Association) will hold educational seminars at the spring fest at no charge to car electronics trade members. A list of seminars and the presenters will be available soon. Trade seminars will be held Sunday and Monday. On Monday, March 21, the show will be open to the trade only. (Note: The students have cleared out by Monday).
“We are reaching beyond the border of Florida, inviting car audio dealers east of the Mississippi and beyond for a worthwhile series of FREE seminars in a great and affordable destination like Daytona Beach in the spring,” said show organizer says organizer Paul Papadeas.
Retailers must register in advance for MERA seminars at http://register.stnmedia.com as seating is limited.
Correction: As now corrected, MERA seminars will be held Sunday and Monday during the Spring Break Nationals. We incorrectly reported originally that they would be held on Monday only.
Source: Spring Break Nationals and MERA
SBN and MERA Join Forces to Educate Dealers
Sunny Daytona Beach, Florida, January 31, 2011 – IASCA and the Spring Break Nationals are proud to announce that MERA (Mobile Electronics Retailer’s Association) will produce the educational seminar tracks at the 25th annual Spring Break Nationals Car Audio Expo. “After the success of KnowledgeFest 2010, it is most apparent that MERA is on the right track” said Paul Papadeas, President/CEO of IASCA, Soundcrafters and the SBN EXPO Group. “For every year of its existence, SBN has offered MERA its event as a platform for dealer education.”
“MERA recognizes the ever-growing desire for retailers to maximize their show experience through participation with great education seminars and quality exhibitors at SBN.” Stated industry veteran and MERA’s Executive Director Chris Cook. “The Spring Break Nationals offers us a great opportunity to continue MERA’s mission to educate mobile electronics retailers. We welcome the opportunity to partner with SBN on their 25th Anniversary and be part of making history”.
“MERA and IASCA are on the same wavelength” cites Papadeas, “from my 37 year perspective as a car audio retailer, our industry has never needed this association as much as we do today! The dealers who survive this recession are the professionals that welcome education. Offering these seminars at no cost to them is our way of leading the industry to step up and support the needs of retailers to ensure our collective success in the future”. A complete list of seminar topics, presenters and schedule are forthcoming.
Since the trade day announcement back in April of 2010, exhibitor commitments are up over 30% thus far. The ‘Trade only’ day slated for Monday, March 21, is added to SBN’s normal Saturday / Sunday schedule. This will give dealers and manufacturers a better opportunity to conduct business on the show floor without the mass of consumers interfering. Seminars will be presented throughout the weekend to accommodate dealers from near and far. “We are reaching beyond the border of Florida”, says Papadeas, “inviting car audio dealers east of the Mississippi (and beyond) for a worthwhile series of FREE seminars in a great (and affordable) destination like Daytona Beach in the spring. ME-Magazine and independent surveys have shown that Monday is better than Friday especially for dealers from afar. Common sense dictates that dealers won’t have to miss their lucrative Friday and Saturday workdays by attending SBN on Sunday and Monday.
SBN is also working on collecting valuable prizes to be awarded to lucky dealers who attend the seminars. Registration is open to all Car Audio Dealers; simple click on http://register.stnmedia.com to sign up for the seminars. Dealers must register in advance as seating is limited.
For more information about the Spring Break Nationals please visit http://www.springbreaknationals.com or call 386 767 3030. To join MERA please visit http://www.merausa.org.