Exhibitor & Retailer Feedback

Tracy Player, buyer for Cambria Bicycle Outfitter in Cambria, California, said DealerCamp was excellent. “I had time to talk to vendors and demo bikes, which was great,” said Player. “I didn’t feel like I was competing for face time. And the business cards I pocketed were from the heads of companies. If you want to talk to leaders, you have a better chance of doing it here than at a big trade show.”


Pat Cunnane, president and CEO of Advanced Sports International, said the event worked well for him. “We were able to save time and money by holding our national sales meeting in Park City right before this event. This allowed us to get some big orders confirmed during DealerCamp,” said Cunnane.


Joe Waugh, a manager at The Path Bike Shop in Tustin, California, was pleased with DealerCamp. “It was a very personal event, so I was able to talk to a lot of people, including owners of the companies, which is pretty rare,” said Waugh.


Scot Nicol, founder and co-owner of Ibis Cycles, was pleased. “This type of event works well for us because we can have quality interactions with dealers, who often don’t get a chance to demo our bikes. Many of our top dealers are here, so we’re really glad we came,” said Nicol. “We were busy all day and all of our bikes were out. When I wanted to go for a ride, I had to borrow a bike from SRAM.”


Nir Tal, the owner of Bike Improve, came from Los Angeles for DealerCamp. “This is like heaven,” said Tal. “The event had a personal feel with quality interactions. Having come to DealerCamp, I will now have more free time at Interbike.”


Benny Cruickshank, SRAM’s events and promotions marketing manager, attended the DealerCamp advisory board meeting. “Everyone seemed really positive about the event and discussed ideas for making it even better,” said Cruickshank. “I really appreciated the Lifeboat team taking the time to get the opinions of the companies involved.”


Richard Marquis, owner of Javelina Cycles in Phoenix, Arizona, was pleased. “This was an awesome event in an ideal location,” said Marquis. “You can’t beat having the mountain and road demo terrain right here. And the small venue was great. I got a lot better attention than I ever get at Interbike.”


Chris Cocalis, president of BH/Pivot, was thrilled with the event. “These were the exact dealers we wanted to come,” said Cocalis. “Lifeboat Events encouraged us to hold our national sales meeting right before DealerCamp, which worked out really well. Many of our reps were able to stay on and walk retailers through our entire line. The quality of our time here has been awesome compared to other trade shows, and we ended up filling several orders during DealerCamp.”


Greg Mouton, buyer for Pro Sports Center in Eureka, California, combined the trip to DealerCamp with the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. “The timing is great and gives us a chance to set pre-seasons before the end of summer,” said Mouton.


Ann Corbett, VP of sales for DeFeet, was pleased her company participated. “It’s been a great event. The quality of the dealers has been outstanding. I’ll be following up on many meaningful interactions, and we’ve picked up some new accounts,” said Corbett.