Posted By Gail Kulp,
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Updated: Thursday, March 27, 2025
The Sea Tow Foundation™ is showcasing the winners of the 2024 National Boating Safety Awards via individualized blog posts that answer specific questions posted to each winning company.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) won the 2024 National Boating Safety Award in the category of Top Trade Association.
Photo provided courtesy of NMMA.
1. Please brieflydescribe your winning entry and tell us about the process of creating/launching it.
The NMMA was honored with a National Boating Safety Award for our 2024 Top Safe Boating Tips video series. Created in partnership with Progressive® Insurance, the video series included five episodes offering essential safety advice on boating with pets, refueling, trailering, safe seating and swimming near boats, and proper navigation light usage.
Filmed during the summer of 2023, the videos were strategically rolled out between March and July, leading up to and during peak boating months when safety is a top priority. After launching on the Discover Boating YouTube channel, the videos were promoted extensively across social media, our website, and email campaigns. Additionally, footage from the series was incorporated into our public service announcement (PSA) campaign to further amplify the message.
2. What inspired your company to promote boating safety?
This marks Discover Boating’s third boating safety video campaign, reinforcing the NMMA’s commitment to making safe boating practices a top priority. These videos aim to educate both new and experienced boaters on essential safety knowledge. Previous campaigns have covered key topics such as safety tips for boat captains, watersport safety, and celebrating responsibly on the water.
3. What was a key takeaway you received because of working on this project or campaign?
One of the videos in this safety series focused on boating with pets and it became our highest-performing safety video ever on YouTube. Our second most-viewed video, from last year’s campaign, highlights tips for celebrating safely on the water. The strong engagement with these videos underscores the desire of boaters to safely and confidently enjoy the water with their loved ones, including their furry first mates—while prioritizing safety. Providing approachable, helpful safety content is clearly a valued resource, and we’re committed to continue creating content that resonates with all boating audiences.
4. Is your company working on a new boating safety project or campaign to debut in 2025? If so, can you share any of the details?
NMMA is excited to debut a new boating safety video series in 2025. We look forward to continuing our mission of educating both new and seasoned boaters on essential safety tips. As with previous series, these videos will be shared across our YouTube channel, website, social media, and other platforms to reach and engage a wide audience.
Posted By Gail Kulp,
Friday, February 12, 2021
Updated: Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Looking Back on the Miami International Boat Show
The memory of those beautiful, mid-February days in Miami don’t fade very fast. They remind us of that time of year when members of the Sea Tow Foundation load up crates of life jackets and boating safety material, and then ship them out for the Miami International Boat Show. But that won’t be happening this year.
For the last 33 years, boating enthusiasts from around the globe, have excitedly attended the largest boat show in the United States. However, in an effort to keep everyone safe during the pandemic, show organizers decided to cancel the event this year. While we’re sad that we won’t be teaming up with our Miami friends and volunteers, we realize it’s the best decision.
One thing is for certain though, we have lots of memories from previous years and we’d like totake a moment to reflect back.
The Sea Tow Foundation has attended the show for the last 12 years and we have hosted a Life Jacket Loaner Stand there for the past four.
The docks at the Miami Boat Show are crowded and families often wanted to take test rides on the many boats for sale, but children’s life jackets were not always available, and some would forget to bring their own.Thankfully, the Sea Tow Foundation brought their nationwide Life Jacket Loaner Station program to the show attendees so that life jackets could be provided in all sizes including infant, child, youth and adult..
The faces of children, their parents and individuals from all walks of life also standout as a happy memory. Thousands of people have visited our life jacket loaner stands to borrow life jackets and many more received our information on boating safety. Our goals were being accomplished every day at the show by the sheer number of individuals we were able to influence with a positive message.
The Foundation’s participation in the show has evolved over the years as well.
Last year, we launched our first ever “Life Jacket Selfie Giveaway Contest.” Through a partnership with the boat show organizer, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) as well as partnerships with Onyx, FELL Marine, FishGillz, Navionics, Source4 and Formula Boats. As a part of this contest, the Sea Tow Foundation gave away five prize packages, valued at $3,600 each, to the show attendees and boaters watching from home. To be entered to win, participants had to take a selfie while wearing a life jacket at the show, post the photo to social media with the hashtag #LifeJackets4theWin, and tag the Sea Tow Foundation. As a result, social media was filled with posts from individuals eager to enter the contest, while our message of wearing life jackets reached thousands.
The Sea Tow Foundation plans to continue the tradition of ensuring boating can be safe AND fun next February at the Miami International Boat Show. In the meantime, don’t forget to wear your life jacket on the water. You can borrow one for free from the Sea Tow Foundation’s nationwide network of life jacket loaner stations or you can purchase one just for you – either way, the best life jacket is the one that you will wear.
Have you attended the Miami Boat Show in the past and visited our Foundation’s booth? Share with us your experience in the comments below.
Blog Home
All Blogs
