Just got back from DEMA...woah (long post)

[Mo2vation]

We have the Scuba Show here in So Cal (Long Beach) every June. A cool little show. Met my current LDS du'jour there, and picked up some cool stuff. Nice little show, but no biggie.

Understand, in my business I'm in Vegas 5 or 6 times a year for Trade Events. Its just a 40 minute flight from LAX - so I thought I'd attend DEMA (like I want to go BACK to Vegas on MY time...)

WOW. What a great day. I played hookey from work, flew out first thing this AM and just got back.

My wife asked me, "well...how was it" (as I handed her a very girlie Dive shirt.... she HATES wearing Men's T-shirts...can you blame her...? "where's the girl's stuff....?" - she's cute) and all I could say was "glorious..."

I got to meet with all my new best friends at DUI again (was recently at their Demo Days in So Cal in September.) Got the new catalog, saw the new undies and all of the military stuff they do. I love those guys. Shout out to Kristy. She just rules.

I met with Halcyon and finally got to see what all the hoopla on this site is about (BP & Wings.) What a cool, simple rig. I'm not ready to ditch my Black Diamond yet, but I can see the attraction to something this simple, attractive and well conceived. I'll never dive doubles (we guppy dive, mostly) but I now "get it."

Met with my friends at Atomic - two new cool products there. They're throwing their hat into the ring with a serious Air2 / AirSource product (as we hear all of the Apeks people / anti-Air-2 types on this site leaping to their PC's to kick Atomic some more...) Jaye and I use the AirSource, and this new Atomic entry is serious. Real buttons (I mean HUGE, RED buttons), completely over-built, High-Vis color - very nice. Its going to be available Jan 2003. They also have a new swivel (DIR red flag, another "failure point"....whatever) that I think rules. Effortless, clean, and solid. I ordered 40" hoses Saturday for our Regs, I'm calling the LDS tomorrow AM and insisting these swivels be added.

Went by OMS and personally witnessed the so-called Bungied Wings of Death. Looked pretty harmless, and not at all lethal. What do I know, I still love my Black Diamond.

Saw the Spare (Death) Air people. Nice enough folks, just not a product for me.

Met Paul and Hilary Child from Weezel. What a product. Can you get any fluffier? For you people in the 35 - 50 degree water, I can see why you'd love this product. I'd fry in that here in So Cal (55 - 68) Two nicer people you couldn't meet. They're driving to California after DEMA for 5 days before heading back across the pond. He really wants to see the Golden Gate - I reminded him that the GG is in No Cal...if he wants to see the real California he should stay in So Cal... he would not be swayed (!) What a sweetheart. We'll stay in touch after the show for sure.

The new Akona bags have real wheels. I don't own an Akona bag, I prefer my hard-back bag for now (its dying...) but its nice to see SOMEONE is falling out of love with those skinny rollerblade wheels (that you can't roll across the dock without getting stuck) and putting on some stout, WIDE wheels.

Finally saw the Diving Concepts glove system Uncle Pug loves. I went and tried every dry glove in the place. My DUI eBay 50/50 is coming with the DUI SI gloves - and I wanted to go see those. I'm gonna have DUI lop them off and put the seals back on. After seeing them all today (DUI, SiTech, DC, and about 4 or 5 others) I can't imagine a dry glove system without the redundant wrist seal. Its just too scary having that thin glove stretched like a drum over the ring, reaching in for a lobster or what ever. Anyway, DUI's rings are way too big and clunky - and in So Cal water my hands will be fine with 5mm wet gloves. I did see some cool neoprene sleeves (like neo sweatbands/wristbands) that sort of slide over the ring to offer an additional measure of protection (where the glove is stretched across the ring and most at risk...very cool idea). Dry Gloves are nice, I guess. I can't see the need when I dive in 55 - 68 degree water.

Saw the Bare 200 undergarments...very nice. I recently ordered the 300's Polartechs from Janice for my wife. They'll be here tomorrow or Thursday. If they rule (they probably will), I'll order a pair for me, too. If not, Jaye has new hang-around-the-house fuzzy's and the Bare 200's look very nice. Janice is a sweetheart, too. Thanks for the lead, Pug. The Bare crew couldn't be bothered to get out of their chairs (I went by 3 times...not a word...quite lame) but the undies look nice. So does their boot.

Too many great deals, too much good stuff. More stickers for the drybox and the back of the truck, some catalogs to look through tonight, some shirts to try on, a new mask and some other toys.

Everyone I met (with one or two exceptions....specifically BARE) was soooooooooo nice. Great people, everyone. They took time to meet with me, let me try on the stuff, share features, give me their phone numbers and eMail addresses for additional questions, etc. If I was staying in Vegas tonight, I'd be having cigars on the strip or hanging in the bluenote with many of these nice people. I was so impressed with the gear (of course...after reading about some of this stuff for weeks since I found this board) but I was most impressed with the great, great people at these manufacturers.

If you can get to DEMA, I highly recommend it. Great stuff. Great people.

Ken

[mer]

This is probably a rather naive question, but I'll ask it anyway.

How do I find out when a SCUBA trade show is coming to an expo center near me?

[roakey]

Mo2vation once bubbled...
Real buttons (I mean HUGE, RED buttons), completely over-built, High-Vis color - very nice.

What a well-thought out color for SCUBA equipment. NOT!

Geez, even a not-yet-wet-behind-the-ears OW student can tell you the first color to disappear as you descend!

Roak

[dcostanza]

Mer,
To answer your question, there is a publication you can purchase called Tradeshows and Exhibits Schedule. Costs $232.50 a year and lists every type of show imaginable as well as the venue in which it is being held. Phone number for further info is 800-266-4712

Info they also include on the shows are:
Who the show manager is, location, phone number, scope (regional,national, international) Frequency,# of exhibits,attendees, show dates, etc.

By the way, the two major shows for the diving industry are "DEMA" and "SCUBA SHOW" (this year was held in Long Beach California June 29 - 30)

Here are a couple other links for you to check out
http://www.diveshowsusa.com/
http://www.bigasalloutdoors.com/main.asp

Hope this helps...

Any other trade show related questions feel free to contact me .

Best Regards
Don Costanza

[Dan Gibson]

I have heard from a buddy who met with the Halcyon people that they have a brass SPG that will be out soon. Finally we don't have to deal with SP and Uwatech that dropped or is considering dropping this item. There was also some talk about a bottom timer.

Dan

[Scubaroo]

Dan Gibson once bubbled...
I have heard from a buddy who met with the Halcyon people that they have a brass SPG that will be out soon. Finally we don't have to deal with SP and Uwatech that dropped or is considering dropping this item. There was also some talk about a bottom timer.

Dan

I hope they have a version in BAR as well for the other 90% of the world. Like that nice manifold they released for the European market with metric threads :boom:

[Dan Gibson]

It would not bother me one bit if they only made it in BAR since I think everyone should use metric. Now that ought to start a war. Has that thread already been fought on this board?

bengiddins once bubbled...
I hope they have a version in BAR as well for the other 90% of the world. Like that nice manifold they released for the European market with metric threads :boom:

[Scubaroo]

Whoa! I didn't say ONLY in BAR, just in BAR as well.

Yes, that battle's been fought before. Usually degrades into a slanging match about who makes the best beer

[O-ring]

I always win the gauge argument because BAR is not DIR. He wins the beer argument because you can't beat a true Australian Foster's.

[mer]

Fosters... Australian for piss-in-a-can

:outahere: