MIAMI BEACH - The Marine Marketers of America made several announcements at the Miami International Boat Show, including the launch of a program for dealer-based education courses for women and a new Web site.
The "Boating Education and Safety Training (BEST) Course - Just for Women," was developed by the MMA as a pro-bono program to help dealers offer training programs help dealers offer training programs to give women knowledge, skills and confidence to operate a boat safely.
The MMA's tool kit offers marketing material dealers can use to implement local training programs, including logos, advertising slicks, brochures, direct mailers, radio sots and a sample press release.
"As marketing professionals, we set out of create a branding umbrella and marketing tools that will enable dealers to launch their own training courses to reach out to women," said Jim Rhodes, pro-bono committee co-chair, in a statement.
MMA also is launching a new Web site that the organization plans to shape into a "major Internet portal" for all who market recreational marine products, causes and services. It has been developed in cooperation with Mad Mariner, which provides creative and technical support.
Also at the annual meeting, the MMA announced its new officers and board of directors.
Officers for 2010-12 include president Wanda Kenton Smith, vice presidents Michael Sciulla and Eric Macklin and secretary Cindy Pechous. New board members serving three-year terms are Glen Justice, Bentley Collins, Mark Kellum and David Hensel.
Returning board members include Sally Helme, Van Perry, Jim Rhodes, Bill Lindsey, John Wisse, Greg Proteau, Bill AuCoin, John Kerr and Joe Lewis.
