The official word was just handed down: “Due to Covid-19 and concerns that event facilities and services will be unavailable, the SEMA Show will not be taking place in 2020.”
A glimmer of hope, perhaps, from the same release: “Recent SEMA Show survey results indicated interest in a possible virtual tradeshow with related live elements. SEMA will be working with …
Bummer.
Sad, but not a surprise. I actually thought the show was earlier in the year.
About 5 minutes ago I read about how Nevada has not handled the COVID thing. I'm not surprised at all that SEMA is cancelled.
Oooof, and I just got an email yesterday about how PRI is still planning to go ahead.
Well hopefully we will see a dramatic increase in driveshafts at the 2021 show now that these shops will have an extra year to build. 
What a year.
Hopefully they take a cue from E3 and Defcon to put on a virtual show.
Turn it into an opportunity to increase their audience size.
*sigh*
gumby (Forum Supporter) said:Oooof, and I just got an email yesterday about how PRI is still planning to go ahead.
I was curious about PRI. I've been a few times when bored, it's only 2hrs away. Unless things are very different in December this will be a skip year.
Jerry said:gumby (Forum Supporter) said:Oooof, and I just got an email yesterday about how PRI is still planning to go ahead.
I was curious about PRI. I've been a few times when bored, it's only 2hrs away. Unless things are very different in December this will be a skip year.
Per the email from Dr Jaime Meyer, who is a great guy btw, they have to apply for a waiver for a gathering greater than 250 people. They are currently in that process and expect the "graded" level of gatherings to get better by the time the show arrives.
What's missing in the pictures above is the absolute CRUSH of people. Especially near some of the popular booths, you are shoulder to shoulder with everybody constantly. The "show" part of the SEMA show would be a complete nightmare for trying to control personal space. Here's a pic I took in 2015. I should point out that this is a walkway, a primary corridor through the main hall.
For those who use the SEMA show as a trade show and a chance to actually attend seminars, talk to suppliers and get together with members of the EPA and CARB - that part of the show could potentially still go on, and that's more or less what PRI is. It's the sideshow aspect of the SEMA show that got it canceled.
The0retical (Forum Supporter) said:Hopefully they take a cue from E3 and Defcon to put on a virtual show.
Turn it into an opportunity to increase their audience size.
Maybe this is our chance to separate the circus from the actual business.
Yeah, I completely understand that everybody wants to come and check out an awesome show... but it makes it harder every year to do any actual business. Maybe this will be a bit of a reset and it will go back to being a trade show.
I hate to say it, but I get jealous when I see other trade show attendees on planes that have "Cleveland Dental Convention 2019" or something on their hats. I couldn't imagine a show where it's easy to walk around and random strangers don't constantly interrupt your meetings.
I went to SEMA in 2000 and it was a big, crowded show at that point. Got to say hi to your dad Tim, I happened to be wearing a GRM shirt!
It's just gotten so much more exposure in the past twenty years and grown exponentially since then.
The issue is our Governor has been somewhat reactionary (in both opening & closing) and so it's rather hard to predict what he is going to do. Early on he was one of the people talking about restrictions until there is vaccine, sadly I was expecting the cancellation.
Just a FYI, Nevada did have travel restrictions; so in part the motley fool article is off. The rate of infection in Nevada is fairly low as well (1.7%) but we are also a rural state. Because we are a tourist state our economy is going to take a 3-5 year hit from this. The financial part has even begun to get ugly yet. The SEMA show is just another of many cancellations that are going to clobber us.
Jerry said:gumby (Forum Supporter) said:Oooof, and I just got an email yesterday about how PRI is still planning to go ahead.
I was curious about PRI. I've been a few times when bored, it's only 2hrs away. Unless things are very different in December this will be a skip year.
PRI isn't as crowded as the picture Keith posted of SEMA, but it can be a bit crowded at times. I'm also going to be skipping PRI for the first time in several years. At this point, it's hard to predict if there will be a show, and if there is, just who is going to be able to attend. My gut feeling is that big corporate buyers are likely to sit this one out and small time racers may be less inclined to take the safety rules seriously.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Hard to make connections to suppliers too when joe blow is running around collecting freebies. I have tried to use PRI for networking, but at this point i would probably only do fridays in the future because that's when it seems like you can get face time with someone. Since we're branching out into the fabrication business I need that time with people who could potentially supply me or be a buyer of my products. If they do a show, we won't be attending this year even if allowed, but as a small time fabricator with a few race cars I wouldn't even expect to get credentials this year.
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Tom Suddard :
Hard to make connections to suppliers too when joe blow is running around collecting freebies. I have tried to use PRI for networking, but at this point i would probably only do fridays in the future because that's when it seems like you can get face time with someone. Since we're branching out into the fabrication business I need that time with people who could potentially supply me or be a buyer of my products. If they do a show, we won't be attending this year even if allowed, but as a small time fabricator with a few race cars I wouldn't even expect to get credentials this year.
That sounds like you should be able to get credentials without too much trouble at PRI. They don't need somebody to be a big time fabricator, just somebody who buys enough that sellers might be interested in working with them.
I'm really glad that last was my first time there, better late than never!
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I have them, i said hi to you a couple years ago, i just figure if they're only giving them out this year to certain people to keep the crowd size down we probably wouldn't be on the list that made the cut
Keith Tanner said:Maybe this is our chance to separate the circus from the actual business.
I wonder how much of that is a result of all the coverage by TV car shows.
stuart in mn said:Keith Tanner said:Maybe this is our chance to separate the circus from the actual business.
I wonder how much of that is a result of all the coverage by TV car shows.
TV car shows, magazines (remember those?), blogs, influencers - and it's a vicious circle. All that media attention means people put together crazier and crazier cars and debut them at the show to try to grab a bit of attention. Which begets more media attention, etc. You're supposed to be in the industry to get in but really that just means you need to know someone who has something tangentially to do with automobiles. Also, based on who I saw wearing SPOUSE nametags last year, the automotive industry has an abnormally high number of same sex marriages that appear to be passion-free ;)
Don't get me wrong, there's a place for an aftermarket car show. The crazy and the clean builds and the sheer spectacle are fun. But the SEMA show is also a trade show for industry, and the circus gets in the way of that. When I'm trying to scurry from a meeting with Fox Racing to get to the conference room for the seminar on new CARB EO procedures, it's frustrating to have to do it through a crowd of people that are just there to gawk at the shiny. Or when I approach a vendor because I'm interested in their product, they shouldn't have to ask if it's for my car or if it's for business. We need to split those apart.
Keith Tanner said:The0retical (Forum Supporter) said:Hopefully they take a cue from E3 and Defcon to put on a virtual show.
Turn it into an opportunity to increase their audience size.
Maybe this is our chance to separate the circus from the actual business.
The ERP industry, by and large, stopped doing shows almost 2 decades ago. Relaying information and demoing are just handled more effectively through other communication channels.
Yea it was fun to go to the conventions, but we moved on.
Defcon Safemode is a great example of how SEMA can adapt. Put the talks online, do Q&As through conferencing software or comments linked to the videos.
It's fine to have the spectacle, but it really does need to be separated from the business end or it spins out of control. The fair like atmosphere would fit better with a Barret Jackson Scottsdale or Hyperfest type event IMO.
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