2024 NTP-STAG Expo Draws Big Crowd, NBA’s Bill Walton – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – With hundreds of dealers in attendance, the two-day NTP-STAG Expo 2024, presented by Airxcel, got under way Monday, Jan. 15 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. Today, which marks the closing of the two-day show, got underway with a rousing keynote presentation by NBA legend Bill Walton.
Produced by NTP-STAG, the leading distribution company in the RV aftermarket, the Expo has become one of the can’t-miss annual trade shows for the RV industry. In addition, this year’s EXPO marks the inaugural collaboration with SeaWide Distribution, introducing prominent marine suppliers alongside the RV industry’s premier product manufacturers.
Walton, whose keynote was sponsored by Carefree of Colorado, spoke on the core values of NTP-STAG/SeaWide — commitment, customer, execution, integrity, team and fun. He said life’s greatest lessons come from failures and as the industry faces challenges it can’t control — inflation, rising interest rates — it needs to focus on the things it can control. “Every success in life can be traced to to leadership and so can every failure,” he said.
“Never measure yourself by what you have done, rather by what you could have or should have done. Those who are not willing to risk going too far will never know how far they can go. You’ll never lear what you don’t want to know. There are no rewards for settling for what you don’t want. Believe in yourself because if you don’t, who will? And when life looks like Easy Street, there’s danger at your door,” Walton said.
He outlined his vision of leadership, saying a leader must illuminate the path forward and can never ask the team to do something he hasn’t already done himself or isn’t willing to do. Leaders have to be willing to do what others can’t or won’t do and then, “embrace and love the challenge, the risk, the fear, the failure, the pressure that everything may just fall apart.”
Walton will greet attendees from the Carefree of Colorado booth on the Expo floor, which is open until 5 p.m. Closing out the year’s show will be an evening concert performance by American Idol Winner Noah Thompson, sponsored by Dometic.
As far as the Opening Day, in addition to a morning keynote address by Sterling Hawkins, founder of the #NoMatterWhat movement, the agenda included PRO (Professional Retail Organization) educational speakers, coupled with supplier product seminars and the opening of the show floor.
In his keynote presentation, Hawkins challenged the several hundred dealer personnel and NTP-STAG staff and management to “hunt discomfort” – which happens to be the title of his best-selling book – because it’s when we’re uncomfortable and uncertain that we can realize our full potential. “We have to cultivate this belief that no matter what happens next, we’ll be able to figure it out,” Hawkins said.
Also taking place on Day One was a Valterra-sponsored luncheon presentation by NTP-STAG President Bill Rogers, who welcomed attendees and offered an overview of the state of the industry in general and, in particular, NTP-STAG company objectives and accomplishments. While Rogers said 2023 was a challenging year for everyone, NTP-STAG is perhaps in as good a position as far as inventory on hand as it’s ever been, adding that a new distribution facility in Texas was soon to come on line.
Rogers also provided an overview of the economy, suggesting that while certain challenges remain in place, there are plenty of indications that the worst was behind us. As such, he said, NTP-STAG was forecasting moderate growth in 2024. Lastly, Rogers introduced Vice President of Sales Mike Katz, who succeeded Fred Petrivelli, who retired at the end of last year.
