Getting into the SEMA Show

[JWA]

Originally Posted by porschedpm

Here's the registration info for SEMA.

I got married AND divorced without that much red tape!

[Glen]

Yea... Think I'll find something else to do with my free time in and around Dad's stuff.

Thanks for the input.

[Kibo]

I wish I had seen this in time. SEMA had a "Friday Experience" deal this year allowing the public to attend only on Friday. Price including SEMA Ignited was $60/ticket, and you had to buy it ahead of time (no on-site sales). Maybe keep an eye out for this next year, if they do it again.

To echo what everyone else has said, one day is not enough time to see everything! We went non-stop from gate opening to shutting down Ignite and even skipped lunch, and still saw only a small part of what was there. You definitely need to prioritize what you want to see based on the experience you want to have.

I think next year we're going to go the route of industry credentials so we have more time.

[TomsBeast]

I've been 2-3 times, it's really geared toward business to business. The sales reps try not to, but can't help but get annoyed answering questions from retail-type customers.



Being part of an automotive business and signing up in advance through a business is the way to go. There are some really good seminars on a wide variety of topics as well.

[Kibo]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

I've been 2-3 times, it's really geared toward business to business. The sales reps try not to, but can't help but get annoyed answering questions from retail-type customers.

I could see that happening. The reps I spoke with were all very nice, but not all of them realized that there were public attendees mixed in on Friday. I tried to make a point of differentiating myself as a public attendee for that reason.

I did avail myself of several show deals, and those vendors were just as happy to sell to me as a non-industry attendee. That was pretty cool.

[shenrie]

We heard they opened to the public due to quite a few of the vendors dropping out of the show. Main one being Holley. Surprising as they been buying up lots of smaller companies over the last few years. You’d think they would want to capitalize on all the new avenues of money. That and the fact that a lot of the international companies couldn’t attend due to covid restrictions. Will be interesting to see if they continue to open to the public like they did this year. I’m sure the general public that got wind was stoked to go. I haven’t been since around 05. We were slated to go this year till companies started dropping out. Was kinda bummed when the Bossman pulled the plug on our trip Maybe next year...