Gypsy Jamboree

Soundings Trade Only, June 2003
Gypsy Jamboree: It's a portable trade show
This traveling exhibit has 18 wheels, four months, 11 states and plenty of satisfied customers
By Melanie Winters / Associate Editor

William F. Miller & Associates spend $40,000 last summer to redesign the Gypsy Jamboree the Gypsy Jamboree truck from plain, jet black paint with simple lettering to this more elaborate design of colorful boating pictures on a vinyl surface.

If you're a boatbuilder, imagine going to a trade show where you don't have to pay travel expenses or take valuable time away from your plant - one that drives right up to your front door and is open to every one of your employees, from production workers to senior management.

If you're a supplier, imagine being able to meet with all of the people involved in the boatbuilding process at once, and leaving that same day with a purchase order in hand.

That's the concept behind the Gypsy Jamboree from William F. Miller & Associates, a manufacturer's representative company based in Nashville, Tenn. Gypsy Jamboree is a trade show on wheels (18, to be exact) that travels to more than 100 boatbuilding facilities across 11 states between January and April.

"I think it's an outstanding concept," says Paul Rieger, vice president of product development for Ashland City, Tenn.-based Triton Boats.
"It's a very, very innovative way to both display and demonstrate products," says Steve Potts, president and owner of Scout Boats in Summerville, S.C.
The companies that hire Miller to represent them agree. "It enables us to show some of our products in an interactive format," says Brian Robinson, national sales manager for OEM at Marinco Recreational Group in Tampa, Fla. "It really helps when you're able to pull up to the boatbuilder and show them how things work."

"I think it is fabulous," says Chap Jackson, president of Coosa Composites, a Pelham, Ala.-based manufacturer of structural polyurethane foam for transoms, decking and bulkheads. "It takes an entire trade show right to the doorsteps of the builder. They can see [myriad] different materials, fixtures and electronics, and make a decision on the spot."

Modest beginnings
The idea for a traveling trade show first germinated in the late 1980s, says Joe Miller, owner of the company his late father started in 1957. Back in 1989 the stock market was down, real estate was in the dumps, and the savings and loan scandals were having a profound effect on floorplan lending.

"All of this hurt the marine industry," Miller explains. "The OEM market was off 60 percent."

There was no IBEX, and the now- defunct IMTEC was not very effective on the OEM side, says Miller. That's when his company came up with the idea of its own traveling trade show. At first it was just a box bed truck and a few tables on which to display product. They would travel to the boatbuilders and set up the product displays on the fold-up tables like a flea market. "The logistics of setting it up was time consuming and labor intensive," says Miller.

Made for musicians
Another problem, he says, is that when the tables were set up outside the weather didn't always cooperate. And if they set up inside the factory it was too much of a distraction for the employees there.

"Into the second or third year we made pre-assembled displays with easels," Miller recalls. "That made setting up easier, but we still didn't escape from the weather situation."

So Miller had this idea of putting everything into a self-contained trailer, but most trailers, at 40 feet long and 8 feet wide, are too cramped. Then he learned of a special trailer made for the music industry that measures 53 feet long, 11 feet wide and 12 feet high.

"We modeled it after them," says Miller. "I bought one of these special trailers . and the entire display was self-contained in 1995." The inside features individual displays of every OEM component needed to build a boat, except the engine, resins, fiberglass and labor. Miller & Associates represents more than 20 supplier companies, or principals as he calls them.

A six-figure gamble
"It was a hell of a gamble to put that out," says Joe Miller. "It cost more than six figures to run per year." And that doesn't even include the employee-hours needed to staff the truck during its four-month tour. Each week a different captain (outside sales rep) travels with the truck as it visits boatbuilders throughout the Miller territory - Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

In the end, Miller says, it's been worth the investment of both time and money. "It really has proven effective for us," he says. "This year has been the most successful ever."

Normally when sales representatives visit a boatbuilder they make appointments with the engineering staff, and maybe the purchasing manager. But Miller says it's difficult to get people in various departments all at the same time. "With the Gypsy Jamboree, we do get that participation on the truck," he says. "It's a more professional presentation and a much better use of time for us, our principals and our customers."

Cutting launch time
Marinco, for example, just came out with a whole new system. Miller says the traditional approach would have involved making 10 to 15 calls per builder to set up meetings, conduct product reviews and make the final purchasing agreements. "In six to eight weeks we can hit every prospect in that geographic area and have the display in hand, and answer any questions that come up," says Miller. "It cuts the time of launching the product tenfold."
"What it offers the boatbuilder is a cost-free opportunity to bring management, engineering, purchasing and line factory workers into the same atmosphere to look at new products," says Chapman of Coosa Composites.
"For Scout it's an invaluable service as far as being able to have all the people here, both in development and production," Potts agrees.

"It's a good way to expose more than just a few people at the plant," echoes Rieger from Triton. "It's kind of like having a trade show coming into town."

A big logistical task
The difference, Potts says, is, "It doesn't have all the distractions of trade shows. We still attend those, but certainly not with the number of people able to go on board the Gypsy Jamboree truck."

Another plus, according to the boatbuilders, is a more complete display than the small assortment of products other rep groups bring in. "The merchandise is well done and they have a broad line of their product line," says Rieger.
It also allows the suppliers, who send their own factory personnel with the truck, to see the application of their products directly from the boatbuilding floor, and fix any possible problems on the spot, Chapman notes.

The logistics of setting up that diverse display is no small task. In fact, it takes at least five months to strip down the interior and redesign it for the following year, compared to the four months the truck is actually on the road.

"Everything's custom and it has to fit in a confined space, so a cookie-cutter approach won't work," explains Miller. Each year Miller puts one of his sales reps in charge of the setup and collaboration process. This year's point man was Keith Drahman. "As much as it is an overwhelming task . it's a great learning experience for me because I get to see all the products," says Drahman, who's been with Miller & Associates for two years.

The first step is measuring the inside and allocating space to the factories. Some of the principals provide input then have Miller & Associates create the display; others build their own. "We want as many of the displays as possible to be working displays where the OEMs can touch and feel the products," says Drahman. "They can see how a working jack plate operates, working lights from Anderson, and working bilge pumps."

Setting a schedule
Once the setup is complete, the scheduling begins, usually just before Thanksgiving. Each regional captain from Miller & Associates schedules specific dates in his or her geographical area. Miller says different builders generally have their own separate time frames for decision making.
With Brunswick Corp. builders, it's usually early January. With the smaller, independent builders, it's early spring. Houseboat manufacturers - most of which are in the Kentucky area - come last because they typically make their decisions last.

The same driver
In many ways it's like an extended family traveling with the truck, says Randy Woodruff who, as the driver, represents the final member of the Gypsy Jamboree team.

"Randy is a great asset," says Drahman. "He's done it for eight years. He's the only guy that gets to hear every question [about the products]."
Woodruff is the first to admit that when he started driving the Miller truck he knew nothing about boat products. Now he's as well versed as the suppliers that make them.

"Randy knows more about the products and the operation of the truck than, in some cases, the reps themselves," says Chap Jackson.

"For me it's a lot of fun," says Woodruff. "I come back in eight months and it's like seeing all my old buddies again. I look forward to it."

He's not the only one.
"We look forward to it every year," says Triton's Rieger, "especially with the way the trade shows have kind of fallen by the wayside. It provides us with a forum we otherwise would not have."

"It's the best selling tool I've ever seen as far as taking the OEM product directly to the boatbuilder," says Drahman.

"It's a very, very good idea," says Potts from Scout Boats. "Creativity is the heart and soul of the marine industry . and the Gypsy Jamboree is pretty darn creative."

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