With the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas just around the corner in October we revisit our conversation with SEMA’s Vice President of Communications and Events Peter MacGillivray when he spoke with Spotlight on Business about the number one destination for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), specialty equipment distributors and buyers about their upcoming annual event. The first SEMA Show was held in 1967 in the basement of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the home then and the home now of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers. The growing popularity of the SEMA Show caused it to quickly outgrow 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 with almost 6400 companies from around the world setting up shop in Las Vegas.
By David MacDonald P eter, what gets people excited about the SEMA Show? Well for starters, more than 150,000 people attend the SEMA Show each year in Las Vegas. It includes all the OEMs and buyers that are associated with the automotive custom- ization market. If you are looking for products that enhance the performance, styling and functionality of cars, trucks, and SUVs then the SEMA Show is the place to be. 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 sell to their customers. Like I said, the SEMA Show has 2,400 exhibitors, which makes it, unequivocally the best place for buyers to discover the best new products that will help their businesses grow. The return on investment for participating in the SEMA Show is high. Participants are able to conduct a great deal of business at the Show. A single badge allows entry to the Show all four days, and we’re seeing a trend in attendees staying longer and longer. More and more people are real- izing that rather than rushing and attending just a single day that they will get a greater return by staying multiple days.
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SEPTEMBER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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