June 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. T M B S L F
PORTLAND – If you want to be successful you must be very careful when you make a signifi cant change and that is what was facing those who organize the Maine Boat- builder’s Show in Portland last year. They made an informed decision and moved the show to the Portland Sports Complex on Warren Avenue and then waited to see how the unknown would shake out. When the dust settled, everyone was more than pleased with the results, but they also know more can be done to make it even more successful. When asked about the decision to move
the show, Jason Curtis, vice president of Portland Yacht Services, said, “We knew that 58 Fore Street, the original location for the show, was slated to have the buildings knocked down so we had to make a decision. Somewhere around February or March, the season before this one, we made the decision to move the show and in June of 2016 we announced it.” “We needed a good size of building with
large doors, a certain amount of square feet,” continued Jason, “and we wanted to stay in Portland. There wasn’t a lot of options out there. I have done boat shows at this location as an exhibitor and that one came to the top of the list. I met with the owner and we put things together from there.” “People do not like change, including
us,” said Jason. “We had it down to a science at the old location. We kind of had to start over in a way. We were worried about park- ing; where people would stay if they stayed overnight; getting people to the new loca- tion; getting the message out and not have anybody show up at the original location. Parking was the biggest concern. The fi rst day was interesting with some issues, but everything went pretty smoothly Saturday and Sunday. We have made adjustments to
next year’s parking, so we have a better plan to go forward already.” The turnout would be the the next big
question. “People came to this show, includ- ing vendors. They liked the location, liked that it had a nice fl oor, it was clean, and it had a restaurant. We have some good posi- tive momentum going forward,” continued Jason. “We had some vendors that were un- certain and didn’t come this year, but walked the show. The ones I talked with said they’d be here next year.” During the show they received feed-
back and they also sent out a questionnaire following the show to see what people want- ed to see changed. A majority of the feedback was positive. Jason added, “Maybe change the buff et structure a little bit; better signage to get people to the entrance was some of the feedback we got.” No one knew how the show would go,
but most everyone was pleasantly surprised. It proved that yes, people liked the old build- ings, but it was really the boats they wanted to see and it is the boats that the show needs more of. Fortunately, a number of exhibitors said they would be bring more next year. A tie has also been made with Maine
Built Boats and the two organizations are discussing ways to make it more aff ordable for MBB’s members to exhibit boats at the show.
People come up from Southern New
England, New York and New Jersey and Jason said he had inquiries from as far away as Ohio. Most of these people want to stay in Portland and Jason added, “We provided a shuttle for people and that is another thing we can improve on, we just didn’t get the word out about it. We want to make sure that people can stay in the city, do the restaurants they like, and then not worry about getting
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