Larry wrote: >earlier this year a symposium that was scheduled in the Washington DC area by (I think) TAPS was cancelled. i seem to remember that one reason was lack of dealers willing to participate. i have been told that in this area, dealers *pay* to exhibit, folks *pay* to attend, but the vendors are *not* allowed to sell boats. so i find it interesting that vendors sold kayaks at the PT Symposium. who sponsored that event?< The Trade Association of PaddleSports was the sponsor, AFAIK. (TAPS) Okay, if customers are paying to attend, and dealers are paying to exhibit, is somebody profiting from this, or are fees to cover direct costs (site rental/insurance) only? I could see why dealers wouldn't want to participate if they cannot sell boats--why go to the expense of exhibiting at a regional symposium if the potential customer will go home and buy a boat from another dealer? If ya gotta pay to let people bang up your boat, possibly without even indirect sales after the event, why go? I can see manufacturers/mfr's reps wanting to attend, but not individual dealers. However, this is good for attendees, as they're not going to be pressured into buying. Bad though, if you go there with a purchase in mind. Shawn *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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