Finding the way forward in PE; N-Train 2013 Daniel Maresh, DIR-E, John VanOsdol, DIR-Ed, and L. Daniel Maxim, ANACO-RB

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Presentation Agenda

Background

The Business as Usual alternative

SWOT and the product portfolio

The plan going forward

Q&A Session

BACKGROUND

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Historical role of PE

• One of four cornerstone activities • Continuous improvements led to

development of competitive courses

• PE courses a major source of: – Revenue – New members – Satisfaction to instructor cadre

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Historical role of PE

• Long courses, self-selected and motivated students

• Good communications with instructors

• Competitors ‘like us;’ not seen as attractive market by commercial firms

• Only a small proportion of boaters educated

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Then

• Mandatory education adopted by some states to increase % of educated boaters

• Student population changed • Shorter courses necessary to meet

increased demand • Commercial competitors began to enter

market • New Auxiliary ‘career paths’ created that

were competitive with cornerstones

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And in recent years

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Why is PE important?

• Key element in CG RBS 2012-2016 Strategic Plan

• Potential source of revenues and new members

• Attractive career path for Auxiliarists

• Opportunity to maintain brand name recognition and image of USCGAUX

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THE BUSINESS AS USUAL (BAU) ALTERNATIVE

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Consequences of BAU

• Continued decline of PE revenues • Possible loss of members

committed to the PE mission • Reduced opportunities for

recruiting new members • Risk of becoming a marginal player

in boating safety education; inconsistent with NEXCOM vision

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Back to basics

• We need to refocus efforts on the PE mission—this requires the combined efforts of our elected and appointed members at all levels

• Back-to-basics is the watchword—help us spread the word!

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SWOT, THE PRODUCT PORTFOLIO, AND RELATED

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Strengths

• High brand value • Subject matter expertise • Some gifted writers • Large cadre of instructors • Nationwide presence • Good relations with other RBS

partners (e.g., NASBLA) • Highly qualified staff

S W

O T

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Weaknesses

S W

O T • Instructor quality highly variable • No nationwide data bank of

graduates • No effective nationwide

advertising campaign • Aging product line—no presence

in e-market • Some courses badly in need of

revision

Addressing weaknesses • Instructors need professional

development opportunities • We need to:

– Develop/purchase/lease some computer system for recording course completions

– Develop relevant and practical E-Systems for delivery (e.g., webinars)

– Explore ways to promote PE courses and budget $$$

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Opportunities

S W

O T • Some publishers anxious to partner

• Some partners anxious to collaborate

• Potentially attractive market for ‘different’ courses (e.g., new niches and delivery technologies)

Is there still a market for PE? • Accident data indicate majority of

those involved in fatal accidents have not taken a boating course

• Even though most states have some form of mandatory education, not all boaters are required to take courses

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On Water Training (OWT)

• Offered by several partners (e.g., USPS and ACA)

• Consistent with USCG 2012-2016 RBS Strategic Plan

• Has proven difficult for USCGAUX to implement to date

• Raises licensing issues not currently resolved by USCG

• Our recommendation: defer decision pending completion of more critical activities

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Threats

S W

O T • Availability of attractive online

courses and incentives for states to promote these

• Growth of commercial competitors

• Competition with other Auxiliary member opportunities

• Market shifts away from in-class courses

Online courses

• Have improved over the years

• Despite contrary opinions, studies show well designed online courses are effective

• May be seen as viable option by more states in future

• Latest statistic is that percentage of students trained using online course is 50% and growing rapidly

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Sales statistics

• Some differences, but nearly all courses show adverse sales trends

• It is noteworthy that our ‘new generation’ of courses have not proven successful (for various reasons)

• What can we do to the new courses to increase appeal?

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Courses with sales > 100 cases (1 case = 10 books)

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S&S and GPS

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Other ‘new’ courses

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Stars, cash cows, questions, and dogs

None, but online courses have potential!

Weekend navigator PWC

ABS BS&S S&S

New coastal nav. Paddlesports America? GPS

Missing stars

• Market research necessary to determine consumer interest in new courses (options include chapters from BS&S made into short courses)

• Some question marks could be converted to stars (e.g., Paddlesports America), but greater support and partnerships (e.g., with ACA) need to be investigated

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Missing stars

• Consider targeting fast growing segments of boating market (e.g., wake boarders)—but we need to craft courses aligned with interests of this segment

• Can the Auxiliary find a niche here?

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Dogs

• Second edition of Weekend Navigator offers some promise, particularly with enhanced PowerPoint presentation, but longer-term solution may be to create new navigation course

• Little reason to continue PWC beyond current inventories

• Suddenly in Command a potentially viable option, but PowerPoint needs substantial revisions 30

Question marks

• How to read a nautical chart—has potential to be a winner, but needs more instructor support

• GPS—also has potential, if revised • Both are one or two lesson

opportunities; need to educate our members

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The key needs

Better mix and improved in-class course

materials

Better instructors through

professional development

Improved course delivery

technologies

An effective marketing

strategy and program

Improving instructor quality

• Staff member dedicated to sharing best practices appointed (COMO T Venezio)

• Monthly column (WAYPOINTS) to be posted on E website to cover best practices

• Search for grant source(s) to produce DVD of basic 8-hour course using best practices (Boat US?)

• Instructor workshop planned for 2014

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Improved course delivery techniques • Prior focus on in-class courses • Various technologies developed (and

proven) that might have appeal to certain students

• How can you generate revenue from courses and avoid impacts on cash cows?

• USCGAUX has limited capability at present, but will develop prototypes for decision during the first half of 2013; pilot decision date NACON 2013

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Range of technologies

• Options: – In-class course--conventional option – Webinar--(web seminar) teacher in

remote location presents material and interacts with students using Internet

– Webcast--(web broadcast) teacher in remote location presents material to students using Internet

– On-line course--Students interact with computer course (e.g., FEMA Distance learning)

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More on on-line courses

• If we choose to go forward with these there are two key issues that need to be solved: – Revenue sharing with Flotillas – Communications roll-out program to

explain to membership why this is appropriate even though it may impact in class courses

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Other initiatives

• Implement mechanism to avoid stock outs • Enhance relations with membership;

communicate the recovery plan • Increase support to our instructors (e.g.,

Speed Grams and the Ed Vantage) and reduce other costs (e.g., by placing certain course materials on the Internet)

• Put highly qualified team in place and work to restore morale (complete)

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THE PLAN GOING FORWARD

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Going forward: 90 days • Attend to the urgent • Develop recommendations for

each course (keep, revise, rewrite, drop)

• Develop new course (and publisher) proposals (including e-courses) in ‘search for stars’

• Develop and issue new publications for instructor family 39

Going forward: 180 days • Continue to build instructor

confidence with enhanced (web based) communications and more attractive web site

• Develop Professional Development Program (including awards and incentives) for Auxiliary instructors

• Make recommendation on course registration software 40

Perspectives

• We can’t do it alone! • The problem was not created

overnight and won’t be solved overnight

• Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, but we are cautiously optimistic

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Your input?

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Questions & Answers