One tool dealerships use to generate foot traffic in their showrooms is to have some sort of an event. Especially around the holiday season, these events appear common throughout the HD dealership network. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where there are a number of different HD dealers within a sort distance of my location. Since I'm on these dealers email list, I get updates when different events are happening. It's common to see the exact same events at the different dealerships. My guess is these different events are proposed by HD corporate. Since they typically seem like good ideas to generate dealership traffic, I wonder why other marques don't do something similar? Or maybe they do, but I've spoken with a few different riders and they weren't aware of anything either.
Examples of the events I've seen are:

Pictures with Santa
Chilli Cookoff
Weekend/Holiday Bar-B-Que
Lunch/Charity Rides
Puppy Rescue Missions
Service Seminars
Product Launch Events
Local sales events

and the latest (which I think is very cool)
Motorcycle Injury Management / Accident Scene Management

Since I'm someone who has taken wilderness first aid and CPR classes, I see the value in this.

Any other interesting events held at your local dealership?

 

The bikini bike wash. Very beneficial for me.

 

Me too! When is that one?

 

Always a fun time. I've found that nothing gets attention quite like pitching a tent in a loin cloth.

 

3 or 4 dealerships within a half hour or so from me, only one seems to do anything like that... they do it every weekend.

Their sales floor is always busy, the others.... crickets.

That said I don't see any of them selling any bikes.

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don't know, don't care. I do not hang out at dealerships. dealerships are not your friend.

 

Our local H-D dealer has a chili cook off coming up. Today they have LED lighting and Suspension programs going on. Next week it's an Infotainment event.
All manner of rides use the place as a starting point during the riding season.
Like RandyL, I don't attend these or hang out there. I do use them for service and whatever parts/accessories that I don't buy online and install myself.

 

I've been to a few and hung out with myself or the guys in the service department, since I know them pretty well. But I don't make if a habit to go to them though.

 

An awful lot of bitter cynics on this board trying to prove how cool they are.

 

Most salespeople hate dealership events. They bring in foot traffic, but not necessarily buyers. I guess it gets people used to going the dealership, & they probably sell tee's and trinkets, so maybe they work out in the long run. There are a lot of dealerships within an hour or so of Daytona & they all have something going on every weekend. If I do stop at one, its the one with the free food.