Powerboat sales exploded during the pandemic of 2020. In one year, a crappy virus brought more new people into the boating fold than any marketing campaign ever had.
You could even say that Covid 19 and its mutations led to more powerboat sales in a single year than Stu Jones of the Florida Powerboat Club.
And that’s saying something, because Jones has been organizing and producing go-fast boating events for more than three decades. The Canadian expat found a sweet spot between the hospitality and marketing worlds and it led him to create a category-killing business that serves his club-members and his event sponsors.
If Jones and the Florida Powerboat Club hadn’t emerged, the go-fast boating world would have needed to invent them.
Yes, the Florida Powerboat Club is a for-profit small business and Jones runs it like the fist in a velvet glove—OK, sometimes burlap glove—he is. But consider his potential for liability during every event he produces and you begin to understand his style.
If your hat isn’t off to him for doing what he does, you need a new hat. Because the one currently perched on our noggin is covering your eyes.
And then there are the volunteer charity-event organizers. That translates to pretty much everyone else.
From the fine folks who will put on this month’s Boyne Thunder and 1,000 Islands Charity poker runs to the people who’ll handle next month’s Lake Champlain Poker Run and Rock The River Cincy Fun Run, volunteer organizers are remarkable. By producing high-quality events and attracting generous participants, they give back to their communities.
There are angels who walk among us. Some of them organize go-fast boating events for charity.
All of these events and many more support deserving causes. All of those causes, from the Make-A-Wish of Central New York program to the Cecil Dye Foundation in Cincinnati, make a direct impact on the clients they serve. Everyone wins.
The summer boating season is in full swing, so chances are good you’ll do at least one event of the nonprofit kind. You’ll probably even bump into a few event organizers during your travels. Don’t be afraid to say hello and, if the mood strikes, thank them.
They won’t be hard to find. They’ll be the folks with the biggest grins and the most-tired eyes.
Event organizers rule. It’s that simple.