Press Releases
ALEXANDRIA, VA (December 16, 2014) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s (RBFF) 2015 State Marketing Workshop – Collaborate, Relate and Innovate to Redefine the Customer Experience – was held December 8 - 10 in Dallas, Texas, hosting a record-breaking 128 people representing 49 state agencies, RBFF and its partners and sponsors. Presenters from RBFF, state agencies and industry organizations discussed angler and boater recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) tips, tools and techniques to better maintain and grow fishing and boating participation throughout the country.
Keynote speaker, Jay Baer, founder and president of Convince & Convert, kicked off the Workshop with his presentation on Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype. Jay is a renowned business strategist, advising more than 700 companies since 1994, including Caterpillar, Nike, Allstate and The United Nations and 32 of the FORTUNE 500. The audience was highly engaged during Jay’s presentation, where he challenged attendees to fundamentally rethink their approach to marketing and customer service.
“This year’s State Marketing Workshop provided an immense amount of valuable information to our state agency partners, who are vital in our efforts to grow fishing and boating participation,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “I’m pleased to see a great deal of progress in some states and hope that the success of these programs will inspire more states to follow suit, ultimately leading to more anglers and boaters, and increased funding for important conservation initiatives.”
Attendees also learned the results of RBFF’s State Innovative R3 Program Grants from the Georgia, Nebraska and Vermont grantees. The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division shared details on our Retention Pilot Program and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission discussed our new partnership to improve the online customer experience to increase license sales. Alix Pedraza of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and RBFF’s Hispanic marketing agency, Lopez Negrete Communications, shared insights to better engage the growing Hispanic audience.
RBFF would like to thank the generous sponsors of the 2015 State Marketing Workshop: Diamond Sponsors – Brandt Information Services and J.F. Griffin Publishing; Platinum Sponsors – the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and Discover Boating; Gold Sponsors – Active Network, Bass Pro Shops, GovDelivery and Southwick Associates; Silver Sponsors – Brunswick Freshwater Group and Ogilvy Public Relations; Bronze Sponsors – the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), the Association of Marina Industries (AMI), Colle + McVoy, Eureka Facts, LLC, Info-Link, Lopez Negrete Communications and SourceLink.
Resources, including all presentations, from the 2015 State Marketing Workshop can be downloaded under the State Agency Partnerships tab on TakeMeFishing.org/corporate.
The State Marketing Workshop was established in 2008 to bring the participants of RBFF’s State Marketing Programs together to share successes, ideas and challenges to increase participation in fishing and boating. The Workshop was made available to all 50 states beginning in 2010, and has evolved to also include general marketing education and training.
About the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF)
RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ campaigns to create awareness around boating, fishing and conservation, and educate people about the benefits of participation. Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar help boaters and anglers of all ages and experience levels learn, plan and equip for a day on the water. The campaign websites, TakeMeFishing.org, and VamosAPescar.org, feature how-to videos, information on how to get a fishing license and boat registration, and an interactive state-by-state map that allows visitors to find local boating and fishing spots.
