The Annapolis Sailboat Show as Vendors

Part of The Wirie team at the Annapolis Sailboat Show

What is that “Wirie business” I regularly mention on my blog, you might wonder. I don’t usually promote our products and try to keep my writing and our business separate, but since the second weekend of October was solely about that part of our lives and I have never explained The Wirie principles in a Roaming About blog, I figured I will give you a little bit of information about our “baby”, our business, what keeps us up at night and busy during the day…

Since 2009, when Mark and I invented, developed, built and sold The Wirie in St. Martin (Caribbean), and involved a partner in the States, we have come a long way with the concept and the business of getting connected long-range from your boat. Our WiFi-only device, The Wirie^AP+, is composed of the highest quality materials and offers the furthest range possible to get shore-based internet from the comfort of your boat (or RV). The Wirie^pro, also a marine-grade product incorporating the newest technologies, offers the same service and convenience, but with the choice of using remote WiFi networks or 3G/4G/LTE cell connections to get online. This is a welcome flexibility, especially in less-developed areas or when WiFi is unavailable or unreliable and frustrating. We have been selling The Wirie^pro for about eighteen months and it is a big success. The Wirie^pro is the only device of its kind in the US, with which people can easily switch between WiFi and data connections, thanks to Mark’s software development skills. Our only competitors are located in Europe, where a similar product sells for 50% more money.

A little while ago, Allen, an entrepreneur who developed a boat automation system called YachtBrain, bought a Wirie^pro from us to see whether he could integrate it with his product. Then, a couple of months ago, he asked whether he could borrow one of our demo Wirie^pro units for the Annapolis Boat Show, as part of his display, and to promote our product a bit, which he thinks is amazing. We were flattered and promptly sent him one of our two “test” units used by sailing magazines for reviews and product comparisons. “Why don’t you join me in my booth and answer any potential Wirie questions yourself?” Allen suggested in a follow-up call. Our hearts skipped a beat. That was a fantastic plan: we could promote The Wirie products and check out the lay of the boat show land…

There was only one problem: the afternoon of that promising phone call, we had a Skype interview with the owners of a house we agreed to sit for three months, starting “approximately” on October 10^th. The sailboat show (we weren’t interested in the subsequent power boat show) ran from October 6^th through October 10^th and the house sit took place in Northern California, 3000 miles away… When we talked to the friendly, accommodating couple in California, we were relieved to hear that they weren’t leaving until very early on October 14^th. If we could make it there by the evening of the 13^th to get acquainted and receive instructions, everybody would be happy. Mark and I decided to attend the sailboat show for four days instead of five, leave Maryland on Columbus Day and drive across the country in four days. It would be tough, but possible. We had a plan!

Annapolis is a cute town

We love this small town!

The capitol in Maryland’s capital

The bar where Mark and I toasted to our brand new marriage, nine years ago

Capitol building

Annapolis courthouse, where Mark and I got married officially in 2007

In 2007, when we were in the area, preparing our catamaran Irie to head south, we had visited the Annapolis sailboat show for the first time, as visitors. This October, while not technically being “vendors” since we were not selling any products, only giving information, we would experience the show from the other side. We printed Wirie “business” cards, laminated product overview sheets and designed T-shirts to wear at the booth. On October 5^th, we made the long drive down to Maryland and thanks to the hospitality of family friends, we had a comfortable place to stay. A 30-minute walk brought us to downtown Annapolis and the boat show. Via Allen, we obtained “YachtBrain” vendor passes which allowed us to enter the gate for free, and come and go as we pleased. Carrying that pass, made me feel important and special!

Allen and Mark at the YachtBrain booth

YachtBrain using a Wirie in their display

Our Wirie section in the small booth

Stephanie and Mark chat, while Allen informs visitors about his product

Our new Wirie shirts. Too bad I put a brand new red sweater with them in the wash after the show. Now, all our shirts are pink… 🙁

My own card, handy at the boat show

Mark showing The Wirie administration pages to a potential customer

George, the editor and publisher of Blue Water Sailing Magazine shot a little video of Mark promoting The Wirie. Unfortunately, he never put it on his Facebook page

Since this was Allen’s booth and initiative, Mark and I tried to remain in the background, only engaging when it was required or when people had questions. For four full days, from 10am until 6:30pm, we manned the booth with Allen and his wife Stephanie. We were on our feet the whole time, talking, explaining, waiting and walking around showing off our Wirie T-shirts. In the meantime, Mark had to keep up with customer support and the usual amount of business-related emails and phone calls, and I met a few sailing magazine editors I have worked with. I also talked to installers and publishers about our products. In the evenings, it was time to socialize with friends old and new. While we hope our time at the sailboat show was productive (time will tell), it was a pretty intense and exhausting long weekend.

Quick stroll outside on day 1. Day 2 was extremely busy, on day 3 it rained all day and day 4 was very cold and windy.

One of the many cats on display

Tent C is where we were located

On Friday night, we met Alex and David from SV Banyan. We had heard so much about them and were happy to finally meet in person, while they are traveling around in their camper

Old friend Mark from SV Sealife and new friends David and Alexandra

On our last day at the boat show, right before closing time, I finally took a few photos of the atmosphere,…

… rambunctious flags,….

Gunboat

… and boats

What have we learned or confirmed?

• Compared to most salesmen, it appears that we are “too” honest and straightforward. We do like it that way, though…
• We really appreciate positive feedback and customers swinging by to tell us how great our product works for them.
• We put more value in word of mouth and the happiness of our customers than blunt and misleading advertisements.
• But, we do need to work harder on getting the word out about The Wirie. More boaters and competitors should know who we are and what we have achieved.
• We are still cruisers at heart, knowing what it is to live on a budget, and want the price of our products to keep reflecting this.
• Boat shows are really good for networking, promoting, meeting people, handing out cards and being social.
• A lot of people did not find us, because we were not mentioned in any of the boat show literature, as part of YachtBrain. Getting our own booth – which is expensive – would have given us better exposure.
• We should have put a note on our website about our presence at the Annapolis Sail Boat Show
• I was surprised there weren’t more parties and after hour get togethers for vendors at the show or that we weren’t invited to any of the fun events.
• You really need to “work your way up” to obtain respect, create contacts and secure a pole position booth you then rent for thousands of dollars.
• Our deep gratitude goes out to Allen and Stephanie for generously sharing their booth with us. We wish them all the fortitude, interest, cooperation and resources they need to launch YachtBrain successfully in the near future!

Will you be at other sailboat shows or come back next year?

This is one of the questions we have heard a lot recently. We are not convinced a boat show is the right market for us to sell Wirie products. If it is just publicity we are looking for, a boat show venue might do the trick, but we think it would be hard to break even or make money after deducting the cost of transportation, accommodation, eating out, promotional materials and booth rentals at future boat shows. For now, we hope that our ads and the Coconut Telegraph (word of mouth by happy customers) do the job of increasing our sales.

Our gracious and generous hosts Bill and Cathy in Annapolis

Boomer, our furry companion during our stay in Annapolis

Delicious appetizer with shrimp, vegetables and feta cheese, made by “cook” Bill

Bill made an amazing apple-caramel cheese cake with walnut crust

Last night at a bar with Bill and Cathy

Cathy demonstrates how to eat Maryland crabs

It was the first time I ate Maryland crabs – I love it, the tradition, the work to open them, the taste!

Have you ever been to a boat show, or any other kind of hobby-related event? What were your impressions?