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March 2019 – RVX Experience

Care Camps to Lead Session on Philanthropy as a Business Strategy at RVX: THE RV EXPERIENCE, MARCH 14 IN SALT LAKE CITY (Elkhart, Indiana)- Care Camps, one of the RV industry’s leading charity partners, will host a panel discussion at RVX: The RV Experience.  The session titled “Do Well by Doing Good” will feature a panel discussion about ways that philanthropic partnerships can help build relevance for RV industry brands. The session will be moderated by TV Host and Actress, Amy Paffrath, host of “What’s Good,” an online talk show featuring human interest stories. The session will take place Thursday, March 14th at 1:45 MT.

A panel of industry thought leaders will share their experiences and insights in the discussion. Panelists include:

  • Wade Elliott– Wade is a member of the Board of Directors for KOA Care Camps and serves as its Chairman. This non-profit foundation collects donations and provides funds for specialized summer camps in the USA and Canada for children with cancer and their families. In 2018, the Foundation collected over $1.7 million to provide the ‘Healing Nature of Camping’ to children and families coping with childhood cancer and its aftermath. Wade is the founder and owner of Utility Supply Group headquartered in Kingston, WA. He has a B.S. in Business from the University of Nebraska and an MBA concentrating in Banking & Finance from the University of Nebraska.
  • Laura Petee-Laura is currently the Director of Marketing for Dometic, holds an MBA,  and has served in a variety of roles with manufacturing companies involving legal, finance, pricing, program and promotion management, sales, and marketing. Through her broad reach of experiences, Laura has witnessed first-hand the multiple touch points a trade customer has with their supplier and understands the power of strong relationships, as well as the importance of skilled communication to foster optimal partnerships and outcomes.
  • Kathleen Wolf– Kathleen has always considered herself an ‘entrepreneur on the inside’ of companies, diving into new areas or functions to identify compelling opportunities for advancing change. She spent 25 years at Whirlpool Corporation in various branding, marketing, communications and corporate reputation roles, and has worked on nearly every brand within their global portfolio including Jenn-Air, KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Consul, Bauknecht, and Indesit. One of her proudest achievements was the creation of the purpose-based Whirlpool Corporation corporate and employer brand, which was implemented in NAR, EMEA, LAR and Asia.  

“We are thrilled to help advance the conversation about how philanthropy can help achieve the RV Industry’s business goals,” said Karen McAndrew, executive director of Care Camps. “Consumers often make purchase decisions influenced by how companies contribute to the overall good of society. Our world-class speaker panel at RVX will help the industry consider and optimize innovative ways to leverage philanthropic partnerships that let their consumers know they care while also helping build their bottom line.”  

ABOUT CARE CAMPS

Care Camps is here to bring hope, healing and outright fun for kids with cancer and their families. Working together, Care Camps partners help raise funds for a compelling cause: to send children affected by cancer to medically supervised camps where they have a wonderful time in the great outdoors with other kids who understand what they’re going through. They do it all while receiving the treatments they need. Until cancer is a memory, Care Camps will continue to help these great kids make joyful memories of their own. Since 1984, Care Camps has raised over $14 million so kids and their siblings can attend camp free of charge. In 2018, $1.5 million in operating and capital grants was disbursed serving 42,000 children and family members. Healing happens here.

For more information about Care Camps, please visit www.carecamps.org.

ABOUT THE RV INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: The RV Industry Association is the national trade association representing recreation vehicle (RV) manufacturers and their component parts suppliers who together build more than 98 percent of all RVs produced in the U.S. The association is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Reston, Va. It is the unifying force for safety and professionalism within the RV industry and works with both federal and state government agencies to protect the interests of its members. Visit www.RVIA.org for more information.

ABOUT RVX: THE RV EXPERIENCE: RVX, held March 12-14, 2019 in Salt Lake City, UT, is the RV industry’s biggest trade event, designed to celebrate innovation and help grow the RV consumer market. RVX promises to bring the industry together in a venue where manufacturers and suppliers can unveil their latest RV products to their dealer partners – and provides the first spring opportunity for dealers to write new model orders and ensure that their lots remain full of the products today’s consumer is looking for. RVX will provide multiple layers of learning about emerging consumer trends, growing consumer segments, and how through promoting new products and marketing to consumer personas, we can attract many new customers to the RV lifestyle and convert them into sales. RVX will be the “Kickoff to Camping Season”, an unprecedented national marketing push that will build consumer awareness throughout the Spring and Summer months, driving new consumers to our dealer partners.