SEMA Now *****!

[crasher98]

I just found a new entry for my "jobs I WISH I had" list:

1. professional baseball player

2. international supermodel

3. celebrity welder



To be clear, I don't want those jobs because I think they'd be easy, it's because I think they'd be awesome

 

[dogdog]

They still have buses that runs decent schedules from one end of the strip to the other. And a weekly unlimited pass is cheaper or get off that big buttoms and walk not that bad.

 

[rooster59]

1. King of England.
2. Left handed short relief pitcher with an awesome curve ball
3. Celebrity welder.

 

[RalphInCA]

Yeah it's hard to fathom why manufacturers focus on the people who drive the biggest untapped market they have.

Very good point.

Focus is on the younger generation.

Influencers are how you reach them.

 

[Ditchdigger]

I for one am glad the "booth babes" are going away.

There were a few in other rooms, I stood and watched their uncomfortable faces as 65 year old dudes flirted with and hit on them and told them to "stick out your *** more". It was painful and I felt really bad for them.

On the other hand, the nice woman at the Koken booth was stellar! She knew more about tools than our group of mechanics with 70+ years experience between us. Converted two ******** snap-on ratchet loyalists in 5 minutes. We would have left with arm loads of their tools had they been allowed to sell them to us.

 

[dnschmidt]

If you stayed near the MGM Grand, why didn't you take the Monorail to the Convention Center?

Two mile walk and I'm 72 years old. I took a taxi to the show and had to walk a mile after I got out of the taxi

 

[LXCam]

the sema trick is the monorail. stay at a hotel you can walk readily to a monorail station

The monorail / hotel thing worked great back when the Sahara was still open. But even if you stay at the mgm, you’re still hoofing it a fair distance.

 

[jeepxj]

The monorail / hotel thing worked great back when the Sahara was still open. But even if you stay at the mgm, you’re still hoofing it a fair distance.

its vegas. land of walking. can only do so much ya know?

 

[Fedwrench]

The monorail / hotel thing worked great back when the Sahara was still open. But even if you stay at the mgm, you’re still hoofing it a fair distance.

The Sahara is still open and is a great spot to catch the monorail and two stops later, be at the Las Vegas Convention center.
there were issues this year with the escalators going to and from the monorail station working consistently. Monorail ticket readers malfunctioning causing backups. Just roll with the flow and things work out.

 

[LXCam]

The Sahara is still open and is a great spot to catch the monorail and two stops later, be at the Las Vegas Convention center.
there were issues this year with the escalators going to and from the monorail station working consistently. Monorail ticket readers malfunctioning causing backups. Just roll with the flow and things work out.

I know they closed it back in 2011 but I didn’t know they opened it back up.

 

[RTM]

its vegas. land of walking. can only do so much ya know?

20k steps most days, in 95⁰ plus temperatures, when we were there. Just needed to stay hydrated. Margarita. Sangria. All worked well

 

[dnschmidt]

The Sahara is still open and is a great spot to catch the monorail and two stops later, be at the Las Vegas Convention center.
there were issues this year with the escalators going to and from the monorail station working consistently. Monorail ticket readers malfunctioning causing backups. Just roll with the flow and things work out.

Hey, wait a minute Harry. Isn't this the place that you told me was a dump over dinner on Tuesday night?

 

[johninct]

The monorail / hotel thing worked great back when the Sahara was still open. But even if you stay at the mgm, you’re still hoofing it a fair distance.

Where was SEMA?

 

[Sumboodie]

On the bright side...at least it's not 115-120 degrees this week.

I'd hope not, it's winter after all.

 

[Fedwrench]

Hey, wait a minute Harry. Isn't this the place that you told me was a dump over dinner on Tuesday night?

It is a dump but, it's a conveniently located dump. It was recently renovated but, only three of the six elevators in my tower worked. This created long waits and crowds at peak times. Food selections were slim and crowded and there isn't much around it. There were also issues with the escalators & elevators working that take you to & from the monorail platform.
The two best things at the Sahara aside from the prime monorail location, is that parking is free and there's a refrigerator in my room instead of a mini bar. Since the room is a place to sleep, store your ****, and perform personal hygiene, I don't expect much. One last thing, the Sahara wants you gambling and not resting in your room so, the big screen TV only has five local channels on it

 

[LXCam]

Where was SEMA?

Vegas

It is a dump but, it's a conveniently located dump. It was recently renovated but, only three of the six elevators in my tower worked. This created long waits and crowds at peak times. Food selections were slim and crowded and there isn't much around it. There were also issues with the escalators & elevators working that take you to & from the monorail platform.
The two best things at the Sahara aside from the prime monorail location, is that parking is free and there's a refrigerator in my room instead of a mini bar. Since the room is a place to sleep, store your ****, and perform personal hygiene, I don't expect much. One last thing, the Sahara wants you gambling and not resting in your room so, the big screen TV only has five local channels on it

Well it’s rather nostalgic hearing nothing has changed. That place has been a dump for decades.

But the reason I liked it is the rooms weren’t stupid pricey and you had about as minimal traffic on the monorail as possible.

 

[bwringer]

Harbor Freight exhibited that extremely nice trailer at SEMA last year, but it still has yet to appear in stores or become available to order. What's taking them so goddurn long? (And you could say the same for many other HF items.)

From everything I've seen, SEMA still looks huge, with tons of stuff I'd love to see. It's not going anywhere for a long time yet. I'll agree that it's 2024, and the era of casual sexism and booth babes is rightfully coming to an end.

But man, do I ever hate Vegas. It seems like every damn conference ends up there about every other year, and as a regular exhibitor it's just plain tiresome. Attendees get gouged like anyone who sets foot in that grinding turd of a town, but it's nothing compared to the absolutely brutal reaming exhibitors get.

 

[Fedwrench]

Harbor Freight exhibited that extremely nice trailer at SEMA last year, but it still has yet to appear in stores or become available to order. What's taking them so goddurn long? (And you could say the same for many other HF items.)

From everything I've seen, SEMA still looks huge, with tons of stuff I'd love to see. It's not going anywhere for a long time yet. I'll agree that it's 2024, and the era of casual sexism and booth babes is rightfully coming to an end.

But man, do I ever hate Vegas. It seems like every damn conference ends up there about every other year, and as a regular exhibitor it's just plain tiresome. Attendees get gouged like anyone who sets foot in that grinding turd of a town, but it's nothing compared to the absolutely brutal reaming exhibitors get.

I don't think Vegas ever fully recovered from Covid. The new west hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center is just massive. The Convention Center just keeps expanding. You can even ride in a Tesla in an underground tunnel to the West Hall to save steps. I'm still surprised that Ford and GM haven't returned to SEMA. There were several tool peeps like Tekton, SE Tools, Sunex, Chicago Pneumatic, Red Kap, and others that weren't at this year's show. Perhaps their return on investment isn't there. I wouldn't want to be an exhibitor. They're bright eyed and energetic on day one but, many of them are worn out by the end of day 2. Many of the booths lack creature comforts and 100,000 people passing by takes a toll. The Grip Edge dude previously known as Dan the RBRT Guy, was like the Energizer Bunny and just kept going and going

 

[T VETTE]

I went 10 years ago because a buddy of mine who owns a shop got me tickets, it was a total blast! So this year I told my buddy to get me in. He said he would tell them I work at the shop and get me in again. So we fill out all the paper, pay for the tickets, then to get my wife in I had to show our marriage license! I did it all and then they wanted a pay stub to prove employment. Now this is all going on in October, and I get a call that I'm out because no pay stub.

Amazing how hard they try to keep people out willing to pay good money. I realize we tried to fudge the system but come on not like I'm trying to get into the White house. I think they have gone a bit too far and some day will be sorry.

 

[T VETTE]

Also, best place at best price is the South Point Hotel and Resort. Many restaurants, casino, convention arena, equestrian arena, multi screen movie theater, bowling alley, and free parking. Almost like staying at the MGM for less. https://southpointarena.com/

 

[four.cycle]

I wouldn't want to be an exhibitor. They're bright eyed and energetic on day one but, many of them are worn out by the end of day 2. Many of the booths lack creature comforts and 100,000 people passing by takes a toll.

It is brutal and grueling work. Set-up time is limited to a couple hours in the early morning, so you're short on sleep right out of the gate.
Half of the people who actually engage with you in the booth generally are only there to waste your time. Availability of food in the venues is comparable to what you'd find at the local AM-PM Mini-Mart. By the second or third day you just want it to be over with.
Definitely younger man's work. I think I only managed because I was slamming down double Americanos all day long.

As to "creature comforts" - an exhibitor does NOT put a chair in the booth if he has any good sense. It's eight square feet of floor space that will inevitably stay occupied by some tourist all. day. long.
Carpets and pads are ungodly heavy, so you don't haul those to the venue. They're crazy expensive to rent from the venue, so you stand on concrete for 10 hours. "Rockford" brand shoes were the solution to that problem.

Tear-down is crazyville. Everybody is pissed off and they all want to be OUT first, so you have traffic jams at all the doors. At the last show we worked at the Tacoma Dome, rather than wait for other vendors to get out of our way, we simply rolled a 350 V8 Chevrolet long block (mounted on an engine stand) out the back door, down the sidewalk along East "F" Street, and into the back of the truck we had parked in the lot off 27th. (One of those serious "don't step on the crack" deals.)

 

[Steve_P]

I don't think Vegas ever fully recovered from Covid. The new west hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center is just massive. The Convention Center just keeps expanding. You can even ride in a Tesla in an underground tunnel to the West Hall to save steps. I'm still surprised that Ford and GM haven't returned to SEMA. There were several tool peeps like Tekton, SE Tools, Sunex, Chicago Pneumatic, Red Kap, and others that weren't at this year's show. Perhaps their return on investment isn't there. I wouldn't want to be an exhibitor. They're bright eyed and energetic on day one but, many of them are worn out by the end of day 2. Many of the booths lack creature comforts and 100,000 people passing by takes a toll. The Grip Edge dude previously known as Dan the RBRT Guy, was like the Energizer Bunny and just kept going and going

From a vendor standpoint, like if you're Tekton, there can't be any measurable ROI on spending thousands of dollars going to SEMA. I can see the value 20 years ago, before the internet took off, but today Tekton, whoever, just introduces new products online, puts them on their website, emails customers, they show up here, they show up on YouTube. I can't see how it's worth it to send a group of people there and spend tens of thousands of dollars, when it all ends up online anyway when it's introduced for sale. For someone like HF that has money to burn, why not. But if you're working a booth, you're not having fun, so it's not like that employee is going to view it as a reward to get to go- unless the company sends them for a week, so they get a few days vacation out of it- but that's also some serious $. So again, I can't see how there's any ROI in participating.

~30 years ago, the company I worked for sent me and a few other engineers to a welding and automation convention in Chicago as visitors. It was fun, we had a great time. But the trip was basically a boondoggle type reward for doing a good job at work and to build morale- we didn't come back with anything learned. Busting *** at a booth all day doesn't sound like an employee reward.

Edit- I had no idea the Sahara was still standing. It should've been imploded decades ago as it's been there since like day two of Vegas.

 

[bakmopar]

Everything in Vegas is 2X to 4X normal price (hotel, food, etc).

 

[PhantomEB]

Everything in Vegas is 2X to 4X normal price (hotel, food, etc).

That’s why we consider Vegas to be a vacation. Hope next time she won’t have to watch the purse strings!

 

[engineer2]

Anybody been to the PRI show lately? I used to go 20 years ago and it was great. Like a mini-SEMA, but auto racing oriented.
It was cool to see Linda Vaughn (Hurst shifter gal) in line with everyone else to get her badge.

 

[1982fxr]

My group puts on a woodworking show, and it's suffering. The venue is filthy greedy, the vendors don't pay, people want to get in free, and then there's the infighting to lay blame. It's effing great.

Vendor fees aren't collected ahead of time?

 

[kaymccampbell]

Vendor fees aren't collected ahead of time?

Now that I'm herding them, yes. After they vote me out, who knows, or cares.

 

[T VETTE]

Anybody been to the PRI show lately? I used to go 20 years ago and it was great. Like a mini-SEMA, but auto racing oriented.
It was cool to see Linda Vaughn (Hurst shifter gal) in line with everyone else to get her badge.

Well have you seen her lately, time takes it's toll on all of us, I have.........