IN CASE YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW, the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas is like the World’s Fair for people with gas in their veins 24/7 – and interestingly enough, it has a lot in common with the famous World’s Fair. The first historically recognized World’s Fair – The Great Exhibition – was held in the 990,000-square- foot exhibition space of The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London in 1851. Twenty years later in 1871, the first ever national motor show was held there on the grounds at Sydenham. And in 1905, the by-then long-famous Victorian exhibition palace became the home of the Premier League’s Crystal Palace Football Club. Similarly, the first SEMA Show in 1967 was held in the basement of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the home then and the home now of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers. But the pro sports team home field, or pitch in this case, comparison doesn’t quite do the SEMA Show justice – and neither does the image of late nineteenth-century steam locomotives and concept designs for horseless carriages. Where The Great Exhibition featured the first voting machine and the first modern pay toilet – no, I’m not making that up, they share a birthday, as it were – SEMA ’67 featured the Ford GT40 and a Dodge Dart ready to stare-down the Christmas tree. The SEMA Show quickly outgrew the confines of sports stadiums and by 1977, after a short three-year run at Anaheim Stadium, it permanently relocated to The Entertainment Capital of the World, ultimately becoming one of the biggest yearly conventions in Vegas. Every year over the course of four days during the first week of November, the best of the best in the motor vehicle aftermarket business make the 1,940,631-square- foot Las Vegas Convention Center your dream garage. In early September, SEMA’s Vice President of Communications and Events, Peter MacGillivray spoke with Spotlight on Business about the number one destination for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), specialty equipment distributors, members of the media, and buyers as diverse as the 6,383 companies around the world that make-up SEMA.
By David MacDonald P eter, I’ve got to say that I was pretty excited when the SEMA Show assignment came across my desk. I mean, the Show is a real institution in the auto- motive world, isn’t it? That’s absolutely right, David. You’re looking at more than 150,000 people in attendance every year in Las Vegas. That includes the OEMs, the buyers, everyone. As an entity separate from the Show, SEMA is a trade associa- tion representing the $42 billion automotive customization market. These are products in the industry that enhance the performance, styling and functionality of cars, trucks, and SUVs. The world’s premier automotive trade show, the SEMA Show, is, in addition to offering traditional associa- tion resources such as market research, an opportunity for training and education. I haven’t been lucky enough at this point in my career to go on-location at the SEMA Show, but I do know it’s a premier media event – a sought-after assignment.
Well, it’s the number one media destination in the after- market world. Media from all over the world come to the SEMA Show to see new products, vehicle unveilings, and to get the scoop on automotive trends. They come to meet face-to- face with more than 2,400 exhibitors and conduct interviews with company owners and executives. Nowhere else are they able to conduct so much business in such a short amount of time. The ‘Top Reasons Your Business Needs to Attend’ video found at SEMAShow.com and on YouTube really shows that the attendees, the buyers, are diverse represen- tatives of the automotive aftermarket world, but more importantly, Peter, it shows that they’re overwhelming- ly happy with their SEMA Show experience. Well, at the end of the day, the SEMA Show is the number one media destination because it’s the number one buyers’ destination. Buyers from retail shops all over the world come to the SEMA Show seeking the hot new products to
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2017
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