NMTA wraps up summer Grow Boating effort

Labor Day marks the conclusion of NMTA’s 2009 Grow Boating campaign that enjoyed success on several fronts. The summer campaign consisted of two elements:

1. Giveaway the use of a boat to 12 different families for one week each this summer. The boat, an incredible 2009 Cobalt from Seattle Boat Company, was wrapped in KING-TV’s Evening Magazine colors and logo and was promoted in the show’s programming and on the network beginning May 18 and concluding June 13. This past weekend wrapped up the final winner’s time on the water and the whole promotion did its job in effectively gaining exposure for the industry. Not only did nearly 1,500 people enter to win the boat for a week, but the contest drove thousands of new visitors to SeattleBoatShow.com. The boat show website was overhauled last spring, in time for the giveaway kickoff, to include actual boats for sale from member dealers/brokers, and provided visitors to the site easy access to all members who provide accessories and marine services. During the promotional campaign, more than 14,000 visitors went to the website and viewed the more than 2,000 boats that are listed for sale online.
   
   
2. The other element of the summer campaign was providing free sailboat rides as part of NMTA’s sponsorship of the Downtown Sailing Series at Elliott Bay Marina. The boat rides, provided by NMTA members Windworks Sailing Center and Seattle Sailing Club, departed each Thursday of the Series. Throughout the summer, more than 800 people signed up to go for rides and we were able to accommodate nearly 150 of those people and get them on a boat. The strong interest in the sailboat rides was driven by two key news stories on Q13-Fox TV and KING-TV. The best news – we identified hundreds of new people that are interested in getting out on the water! Many of those people attended last month’s Seattle Boat Show at Shilshole Bay Marina where we were offering sailboat rides during the event. In addition to offering free rides on Thursday evenings, NMTA also used the sponsorship of the Downtown Sailing Series to promote the new SeattleBoatShow.com – promoting this new boating resource to the hundreds in attendance each week.

Also wrapping up another successful summer public relations effort is Lisa Samuelson of Samuelson Communications. We’ve worked with Lisa since 2005 and she’s been a tremendous partner in promoting boating to local and regional media.

And finally this Saturday, September 12, the Edmonds Coho Derby marks the last event of the 2009 Northwest Salmon Derby Series – one of NMTA’s first and premier Grow Boating campaigns to promote fishing opportunities in the region. It’s been a very active summer for NMTA with its Grow Boating efforts!

The NMTA Grow Boating fund is guided by the Grow Boating Committee – a volunteer committee of NMTA members. If you’d like to participate in this open committee, the next meeting is this Thursday, September 10 at 1:30 pm; or if you have questions, give me a call at the NMTA office at 206-634-0911.