AIMExpo Heads to Laguna Seca!

If it’s July, it must be MotoGP at Laguna Seca!  This past weekend, Mike Webster, Cinnamon Kernes and myself, along with our spouses headed up the California coast to beautiful Monterey to not only partake in the annual festivities, but to also take advantage of the opportunity to visit with some of the two-wheel industry’s most prominent and colorful figures. With more than 30 years of motorcycle history at Laguna Seca, it has become a destination venue every summer for enthusiasts of the incredible ballet of motorcycle sport. And, with MotoGP enjoying nearly a decade coming to one of my favorite cities and race tracks, this has become one of the most significant motorcycle sporting events in the country and a must attend for us at the Motorcycle Group.

From famous Cannery Row, to Pebble Beach, and even the Monterey Bay Aquarium, there is an unmatched energy surrounding the weekend that provides a lot of excitement on an international scale and reminds me exactly of what we are trying to achieve with the American International Motorcycle Expo in Orlando.

AIMExpo was in full force in the streets of Monterey!

While the rest of the continuously-growing Motorcycle Group team stayed back at our Irvine headquarters preparing essential materials, setting up meetings with partners, and keeping up the overall progression towards the inaugural event, our AIMExpo trio attended the race as part of the industry (although we’re BIG lifelong race fans). It provided a great opportunity to get out and mingle with our target audience for the show – retailers, consumers and the media. Personally, it rekindled a longstanding family tradition for Stephanie and I with son Shaun and daughter Ashley, who had attended Laguna nearly every year since they were in diapers!  Shaun’s something of a local living up in San Francisco (and working for a cool company called Fitbit – look it up at fitbit.com), and Ashley, who now lives in Charlotte (her husband, Ben, works at Joe Gibbs Racing on the motocross team), took advantage of an off-weekend on the national motocross circuit where she works in PR to join us.

 Best seat in the house!

One of the people I was most excited to catch up with was Steve Fields, who serves as Executive Director of Corporate Development at Laguna Seca Raceway. As the commercial face of the track, responsible for sponsorships and exhibitor space in the vendor area, it was good to spend some time with Steve and get a sense of the interest level within the industry to set up displays and generate more consumer appeal. He was happy to report that they sold out all the vendor space that was available within the track! This serves as a great barometer for our industry’s confidence in consumer spending, as well as the draw of racing for enthusiast attendees.

In speaking with some of the vendors at the track, it became clear that while many were aware of AIMExpo’s Orlando location inside the Orange County Convention Center in fall of 2013, not everyone was aware of the outdoor space that we’ve created for the industry to showcase its products. For demo rides, pinstripers, installers of all kinds (tires, pipes, etc….), we’ve set aside some key acreage for exhibitions and vendor space that is an integral part of AIMExpo. It’s a part of what makes us special for consumer attendees in Orlando next fall.

Laguna Seca in all its glory.

Of course, the on-track action captivated like only MotoGP can, while the dual-hosted round with AMA classes featured some very close racing battles. It was nice to catch up with a lot of old acquaintances in the paddock, and get some quality face time with some of our key players for AIMExpo. Everyone is excited about what we’re doing at the Motorcycle Group and it’s rewarding to sense the strong support from the industry.

All in all, the quick trip to Monterey was just what we all needed, from both a personal and business standpoint. We learned a lot in our progress towards October 2013 and also had the pleasure of witnessing the best road racing on the planet at one of the world’s most iconic venues.

Bob Starr of Yamaha, Mike and myself at Wayne Rainey’s Party on Thursday. Look at those bikes!