Unless you have been living in a box, you are probably aware that the RVIA trade show is nearly upon us. I expect this year to be much, much different than years past. I eagerly await what is new in Louisville this year.

I’ve been told that the show is sold out, so clearly there is a whole host of industry folk who are as eager as I. Make no mistake, the show will be an exciting event. Where else can you go to see everything at a single venue that the RV business community has to offer, plus potentially meet with every mover and shaker in the industry? I know of no other place. Make every attempt to attend if you can.

For obvious reasons, this show will be different than what we remember. Some friends we look forward to seeing every year may not be there, whether it be because they have been right-sized and are no longer in the industry, or because a tight budget prevented them from attending. No doubt, companies’ booths will be smaller. With the economic contraction, we may see RV manufacturers release fewer new models and instead work on perfecting and updating their strongest product lines. This is not a bad thing at all.

If you have ever attended the Outlook Breakfast, this too will be different in 2009. I’ll never forget three years ago getting up at what would essentially be 3:30 a.m. (Denver time where I live) to attend the 6:30 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) breakfast. I’m not exactly a morning person, so my perspective may have been a little skewed, but it seemed ridiculous to me to be awake at such an hour. I wondered what would be the harm in having it at 9:00 a.m. instead.

Anyway, to my surprise the breakfast included a trumpeter from Churchill Downs/The Kentucky Derby play the signature “Call to the Post.” Jon Provost, the actor known as “Timmy” on the television show Lassie, spoke on the joys of RVing. The breakfast entertainment literally was a dog and pony show. I sincerely wondered, “Was this worth waking up at 3:30 in the morning my time?” Heck, I don’t even live on the West coast where it would be even closer to the middle of the night.

This year, the breakfast will certainly be different. We may still see a few B list actors or marginally related sports figures blather about how RVs are neat, but I have a feeling the speech from RVIA President Richard Coon will make getting up worth it. I also look forward to hearing what Go RVing Coalition Co-Chairmen Don Walter of Starcraft RV, and Tom Stinnett of Tom Stinnett RV Freedom Center will say about the Go RVing campaign. The industry is at a crucial point where an encouraging, yet frank, word from our industry’s greatest leaders is a must attend event in my opinion.

So as much as you hate missing the late night festivities the night before, crawl into bed early and join me at 3:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, Tuesday Dec. 2, to grab a bite and hear what Coon has to say. I guarantee you will be grateful you did.