Auxiliary Jump Starts National Safe Boating Week Events
Stu Soffer, N-MS
Over 200 CG Auxiliary members representing 73 flotillas in 10 districts teamed up to begin National Safe Boating Week by promoting life jackets in 44 Bass Pro Shops across the country in the second successful Fit to Float promotion.
They were joined by Coasties from CG Station Fort Lauderdale, and members of the Florida Wildlife Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Marine Patrol, Missouri State Water Patrol and Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Enforcement Division to educate recreational boaters about life jackets.
Fit to Float is a Bass Pro Shops promotion in conjunction with Stearns and partnering with the Auxiliary to encourage customers to trade their unserviceable life jackets for a new life jacket purchase discount coupon. The more expensive the new life jacket the deeper the discount. Stearns reported over 1,400 life jackets traded in during the 2007 event. Figures for 2008 are not available as of press time but initial reports are it was another successful event.
The Auxiliary's role was to answer questions about life jackets (carriage requirements, proper fitting, inflatable maintenance and operation) and hand out appropriate literature during the promotion. Bass Pro Shops high volume traffic also afforded an excellent opportunity to recruit new members, sign up people for boating courses and promote vessel safety checks and America’s Waterway Watch. Several flotillas reported success in these areas.
Many flotillas expanded the in-store promotion by thinking outside of the box. At the Dania Beach (Fort Lauderdale) store, the Coast Guard had a RIBS safe boat on static display. The Gurnee, IL (Chicago) store expanded the promotion to two weekends and the three supporting flotillas enthusiastically agreed. Special media coverage arranged by Stearns resulted in several television and radio appearances by selected Auxiliarists and print media coverage.
Fit to Float began as a V Department initiative and was passed to the National Marketing Group to manage when the scope and size snowballed to include media events. In addition to promoting life jackets and enabling the CG Auxiliary to reach a target group of high at risk for fatality boaters with the Wear It message, Fit to Float provided an opportunity to improve local relationships with the very popular Bass Pro Shops stores at some locations.
Shown in this National Marketing Group photo, is author Stu Soffer teaming with Louisiana Wildlife Officer Toby Meyers to explain children’s Type II life jacket characteristics to interested customers in the Bossier City, LA Bass Pro Shops Marine Department.
