John Peterson, President, Marlow-Hunter, LCC. Sailboats
John Peterson definitely figured out some Winning Strategies for Success when he was able to rescue Hunter Marine Corp. when its parent company, Morgan Industries Corporation, went through Ch11 bankruptcy. The parent company of sailboat manufacturer Hunter Marine and the powerboat manufacturer Silverton, Ovation, Luhrs and Mainship filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on May 1st. As the President of Hunter Marine, and the Chief Restructuring officer of Morgan, Peterson was integral in finding and negotiating a new shareholder agreement with yacht builder, Marlow Acquisitions for the purchase of the all the assets of Hunter Marine and selected assets of Mainship Corporation while selling off the other brands. John will share with us his experience of being President of Marlow-Hunter LLC and how he brought his company through an economic disaster with specific strategies to survive and succeed in the future. He will also convey his views on where the Canadian sailboat industry is going in the future: as an experience marketer in the sailboat industry he is imminently qualified to do this.
Technology Expo 
The Technology Expo will help you connect with existing and prospective customers and operate your business more efficiently.
Every business needs technology, for staying in contact with customers, co-workers and suppliers, daily business operations, maintaining financial records and marketing. Because technology is so central to running a business today, you need to know what technology is available and how you will use it.
Some small business might say that they don’t need technology in their business and that they have been doing fine without it for years. Most people who can afford a boat can also afford mobile phones and computers therefore that attitude doesn’t work so well when you need to communicate with your target market.
Technology Expo topics include:
Smartphones & Tablets: Smartphone & tablets aren’t cheap so it makes sense to research first and figuring out exactly what you need, want, and will benefit your business most. Janet Pickell, Director, Business Development at The Source, will show you the options and benefits of a variety of smartphones and tablets.
Using the power of the Cloud and Applications to enhance your Customer Relationship and Marketing efforts: The world of computing is changing faster than ever before. The introduction of cloud computing has allowed enterprise applications to be used by small and medium business for low cost. Attend this Technology Session to gain valuable insight to the latest and greatest apps to drive your marine business to a new level of marketing, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Presented by Chris Perera, the President & CEO of Digital Era Media, the producers of online marketplaces including Boatdealers.ca.
Responsive Web Sites: People are accessing websites from mobile devices more often these days and its estimated Google mobile searches will surpass desktop ones within a year. Differing screen dimensions and sizes mean that a website that was designed for a standard computer is ineffective or hard to read on a cell phone or tablet. Responsive web design allows site developers to determine exactly what their website will look like on a variety of different devices, without creating different versions of the same site. Visitors of a website with responsive design benefit from the optimum usability and navigation, regardless of what device they use. Presented by Denise Gervais, co-owner of WSI Milton.
Mastering the Mobile Marketplace: Smartphone and Tablet users are the fastest growing consumer segment in North America. This seminar will provide insight on how to best reach this evolving marketplace. We will be discussing research that has been following this trend and will be providing testimonial from businesses that have embraced the mobile consumer. We will also be discussing how sales leads trends have shifted since the growth of mobile and tablets. Presented by Bill Gordon from Lifestyle Integrated Inc.
Occurring after the session, there will be booths set up to highlight companies that can help you obtain this new technology.
Byron Bolton, CEO of the Westwinn Group
Byron Bolton, CEO of the Westwinn Group in Vernon, has figured out a winning strategy for success that has allowed their business to expand while everyone else seems to be running away from the boat manufacturing business in Canada! What does Byron Bolton see in the Canadian boat building business that others are missing?
Byron’s passion for the marine industry has led him to a career of more than twenty years as the founder of Kingfisher Boats which has consolidated the Harbercraft and Jetcraft boat brands and recently acquired Renaissance Marine Group which manufactures and markets Northwest, Duckworth and Weldcraft brands of boats.
Byron has grown the company steadily with acquisitions in Western Canada and Pacific North West, where together with a solid management team he has taken Kingfisher from a small company with a handful of employees to be the strongest Heavy Gauge Aluminum Boat manufacturer in North America.
Tim Timpano - Leadership Planning
Many people think that leadership planning and succession planning are just topics for family business or people thinking about retiring, but it actually applies to ALL business.
Is your company ready when new leadership is required? Have you identified future leaders? Are you making sure that they are committed to your company and are being trained and developed properly? Will they have the tools and skills they need to ensure the continued success of the business after the transition has taken place?
Simply put, are you in a position to be able to walk away from your business, knowing that your business, your dedicated employees and your loyal customers are in good hands?
Your presenter, Tim Timpano, is a lawyer whose practice is concentrated in the areas of Business Law and Labour & Employment Law, which gives him a unique perspective on succession planning. In addition to being certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Corporate and Commercial Law, Tim has both worked for and represented employers of all sizes in all manner of human resources, labour relations and employment matters, and he has delivered business transition and succession planning seminars for both business associations and not-for-profit agencies, as well as on behalf of various government agencies.
Water Levels
This is an issue worrying most of Ontario’s marinas. This session will explore the issues and causes of the low water levels in the Great Lake and explore possible solutions for the major issue relating to marinas & dealers. Aaron Thompson from Environment Canada and David Sweetnam from Georgian bay Forever will be leading this session.
(Photo: Low water near Oak Point on the St. Lawrence River. Bill Merna, from NCPR Photo of the Day archives)
Peer-to-Peer Workshops
A quick way to boost your cash flow
A properly managed accounts receivable department plays an important role in the success of a company: it boosts cash flow and expands working capital. Join this workshop to discuss best practices on how to improve your accounts receivable function. Learn more about payment methods, automated processing, credit management and collections. Moderated by Jan Holland & Bonnie Enwright.
Improving Service Department Profits
Come to this session to get creative new ideas and solutions to sell more hours and make more profit out of your Service Department. Topics will include customer service, training and supporting the right staff, technology and software. Moderated by Sean Horsfall & Kyle MacDonald.
Are you ready for new EI Rules?
Are you ready for the new changes to Employment Insurance coming into effect early 2013? Seasonal workers who are considered repeat claimants will be the hardest hit. We hope to come out of this session with creative ideas to help your seasonal employees deal with the new EI policies. Some of you may decide to bank hours so your employees do not have to go on EI for more than 7 weeks and will therefore avoid many of the EI hassles. Another idea might be that you try to work with other business in your area to “share” seasonal workers. (E.g. Snow removal companies, ski resorts). We would love to hear some more ideas! Moderated by Terry Pringle.
Closing the Sale
Come and discuss the most successful methods of finalizing the sale by experts from the Boating Ontario Dealer community. Moderated by Rob Rule, Marcel Dubois & Dave Mayhew.
Spotlight on Success
The Spotlight on Success session will highlight a few of the best ideas, practices and people of our industry. Listen to a few of your peers who have found some “Winning Strategies for Success” that have helped their business during these last few harder years.
Mark Lariviere, General Manager of Starport Simcoe, Orchard Point, Port Severn & Georgian Bay will join us for the Spotlight on Success session. Starport focuses on impeccable personal service and offers boaters numerous on-premise and on water amenities, services and benefits with the ultimate goal of creating a unique and memorable experience for boaters each time they dock. Learn from Mark how they have created some of the best customer service experiences in the province.
Pat Sturgeon, owner of Pat Sturgeon Yachts Ltd., has been in the marine industry since 1978 and is no stranger to the tough times that can fall upon the industry. Come to the Spotlight on Success session to hear Pat’s secret to survival in the yacht brokerage business. Not only has Pat built a successful yacht brokerage business but he has been instrumental in the development of the Boating Ontario Dealers.
Enabling Change
The Aim of Enabling Change is to help tourism and hospitality operators understand their obligations under the customer service standard, as per the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). AODA aims at identifying, removing and preventing barriers for persons with disabilities. The presentation gives an overview of the act, including the requirements, compliance reporting and the benefits of being an accessible business as well as pointing to other tools and resources available to assist businesses in meeting these new requirements. It was developed by TIAO working with the Government of Ontario and industry partners.
Sunday Courses
Georgian College / Boating Ontario Certified Professional REVIEW of course materials & Exam – CANCELLED due to lack of registration. Contact sue.knox@georgiancollege.ca for the self-study version
Boating Ontario Dealers is offering the opportunity to take the Georgian College / Boating Ontario Certified Professional Course at the Boating Ontario Conference on Sunday December 2, 2012 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.
The exam will follow the training session. Cost & registration details coming soon. Anyone wishing to take this course should let us know in advance in order to allow for time for shipping of the study material.
Boating Ontario Dealer members are registered boat brokers and dealers who belong to an association that has the highest standards of service in the recreational boating industry in Ontario. All registered Boating Ontario Dealer members have agreed to belong to the Ontario Yacht Broker & Dealer Association; they have committed to very strict terms of reference for the conduct of their businesses and have agreed to abide by a strict code of conduct. Every Boating Ontario Dealer is also a member of the Ontario Marine Operators Association.
All Boating Ontario Dealer members must employ at least one Boating Ontario Certified Professional on their staff. In order to become a Boating Ontario Certified Professional the individual must have met the following requirements:
1. Worked as a boating professional for a Boating Ontario Dealer for at least one year.
2. Successfully completed a training course and passed the Georgian College “Marine Sales Professional” Examination or passed the Certified Professional Yacht Brokers examination offered by the Yacht Brokers Association of America (YBAA).
Safe Lifting Awareness- A Roadmap to MOL Compliance
4pm – 5pm. The one hour seminar will cover:
Philip Le Boeuf, Manager of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at Georgian College will lead this information seminar on Safe Lifting Awareness. He will spell out the definition of “Competency” for Ontario workplaces and the duties of employers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Industrial Regulation. Phil will highlight the training requirements for lifting device operators in Ontario marinas and will explain the penalties for non-compliance as enforced by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
Register immediately by clicking here