ROC 2024 HITS BLACKBURN

This year’s event saw record attendance from chapters across the UK and Ireland

Blackburn, Lancashire, is famous for many things, not least its iconic football team and featuring in the Beatle’s song A Day in the Life, and in 2024 another claim to fame was added as it hosted record numbers at the annual H.O.G.^® UK and Ireland Regional Officer Connection at the start of October. Taking place at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa, it had representatives from all but two of the UK and Ireland chapters in attendance, alongside nine dealerships, with more than 140 delegates turning out for the two-day event.

As well as chapter directors, many chapters took the opportunity to send assistant directors, road captains, communications – including social media – officers, membership officers and other officer leads too.

It was a packed agenda, with Saturday featuring an introduction and update on the region’s activities and successes by new Customer Experience Lead Vicki Green, with keynote sessions focused on touring from Tour1’s Gary France and David Grist from Orange and Black. Gary’s focused on European touring and as part of his content he offered full maps and itineraries for free – exclusively for H.O.G. chapters, including a World War II Normandy Battlefields tour. Get in touch with your chapter director to find out more.

Record numbers attended the workshop sessions which included Membership, Chapter Charter, Social Media, Events and Chapter Directors and new for this year were a series of breakout sessions where delegates could individually pose questions to a number of partners and vendors including Andrew MacLeod from the H.O.G. member services team, Emma Biddlecombe from the H.O.G. merchandise team, Alan Dykes from the H.O.G. content team, David Grist from Orange and Black, plus Harley-Davidson Insurance and Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde specialist motorcycle exhausts.

Sunday’s keynote was also provided by Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde, with Frank Evers explaining the benefits of their system across the entire range of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. For those who are not familiar, the Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde is a variable valve exhaust system that can be even quieter than stock – but roar when the valve is opened, all at the touch of a button and not necessarily requiring engine re-mapping. Only available from your local Harley-Davidson^® dealership, the brand is an official H-D partner now and well worth checking out at jekillandhyde.com.

Dinner and entertainment on Saturday night also featured awards and thank yous hosted by the UK and Ireland Marketing Lead Megan Lewis and H.O.G. Europe, Middle East and Africa’s Yannick Foulon. And, of course, was an all-important networking and idea sharing opportunity.

With greatly increased numbers – including many chapters who brought up to five officers – and incredible engagement in workshops, Q&As and drop-in sessions, the UK and Ireland ROC is building momentum and looking forward to even bigger events in the future. If you’d like to participate in a future ROC or in any of the training and engagement opportunities the UK and Ireland national team offers, please contact one of your chapter officers to discuss.