SEMA Show Hotter Than Ever

While concern over trade show success has dogged many events, the SEMA Show continues to pack ’em in, buoyed by the perennial attraction of high performance and customized vehicles.

This year, the four-day event is touted by organizers to be the largest on record, with more than 100,000 industry leaders and over 50,000 domestic and international buyers from around the world.

This year, new attractions include a paint and body section that is sure to attract those who love to chap and channel, and who know that “Frenching” has nothing to do with your tongue. (The term describes the smoothing and recessing of headlights and other body features.)

Located in the LVCC’s North Hall, the new section will feature suppliers of vehicle paint, prep stations, paint booths, bodywork, and related accessories.

This year the show also steps away from four wheels to two–and in some cases, none–with the powersports and utility vehicles section. Located in the South Hall, this section will feature manufacturers of power-driven equipment, such as personal transporters; motorcycles; motor scooters; two-, three-, and four-wheel ATVs; and more.

Of course, the exhibitor’s showcase is only one aspect of the event; education is also a key component of the annual fair.

One program causing a lot of buzz is the online marketing conference, with the tongue-in-cheek title of “Your No B.S. Day to Mastering Internet Marketing,” where six speakers will give lectures on topics related to social media marketing, free website traffic, profiting with Google, and turning visitors into customers.

It’s all part of a never-stand-still attitude.

“The troubles with our economy are far from over. In fact, they could even get uglier. So if you just march on doing the same things in the same ways, survival could be tough in the short term and expansion could be even tougher in the long term,” says Christopher J. Kersting, president and CEO of SEMA. “Now is the time for new approaches with innovative actions.”

For more information on the SEMA Show, go to www.semashow.com.

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Making Green Cool Zone Enters Its Second Year

The Making Green Cool Zone returns this year, showcasing those companies whose creativity and innovation in the development, deployment, and marketing of green technologies prove that being environmentally friendly can still be cool.

Says John Waraniak, vice-president, vehicle technology for SEMA, “There are three of what we call mega-trends set to take place at the conference: Driving Green, Driving Connected, and Driving Safe. Each day is a designated technology session with a press conference. What this entails is a lot of vehicle dynamics and how aftermarket products integrate with a lot of these advanced and complex systems, like electronic stability control, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. So there’s a lot more focus on the vehicle dynamics performance of aftermarket-modified vehicles.”