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personally,i think it is amazing!!!!!!
2nd time i've attended,and still awed at the amount of equip/travel/seminars etc!!!!!
i think it is a great show
thank you dema!
yaeg
I think the show was pretty good. You could tell the economy is bad. Compared to 2 years ago it didnt appear to have the turnout of people in attendance. I will be returning next year.
A couple other manufacturers I talked to said it was a little slower than it was in Orlando two years ago. Not the total disaster that some had predicted. I'm actually pretty excited that a lot of changes are going to be made to DEMA. We are about 75% sure we are going to display in Vegas next year.
I didnt get a chance to get to the seminars, but I thought that the show seemd slow. I was there thurs, and with one or 2 exceptions, was able to walk up to just about any manufacturer for information.
The other thing I noticed, and this was me, is that there seemed to be more on the vacation selling side,then there was gear manufacturers. I was a little rushed, so my view maybe skewed a little bit.
It was slow and obviously not well attended. It's really a travel show now. Aqua Lung had what amounted to about 2 folding tables(sad.) Did not see a DiveRite booth or a DUI booth. Saw those manufacturers owners walking around. I had repair seminars that were necessary for me and at least DEMA was a place to get people in a place for that. Overall: Not Impressed. And, I've been to most of them since the 70's.
To echo several of the comments so far: 1) a little smaller and a little slower than recent events, and 2) exhibitor emphasis seemed more on the travel than the gear side even compared to last year although there were notable exceptions (OMS was there, compared to Dive Rite and Halycon who were not, and had a 'full' exhibit, compared to the Aqualung exhibit previously mentioned). I went for specific seminars and got what I wanted, and spoke with several charter and resort operators which was an added goal. Not a 'disaster' by any means, just not quite what it has been in recent years. Glad I went.
I Got 3 new ratings from DAN and did a PADI Staff update. The highlight was a conversation with Mandy Rae Cruikshank. Other than that it, it was ho hum.
Most of the people (exhibitors) whom I spoke with - overall thought the show was successful. It may not have been packed with people attending, but the buyers were there, and they were quality buyers.
Several exhibitors focused on being there period; as opposed to having 20 booths, and spending more than $100k in a presence - especially in a "tough economy"
I saw it mentioned that DUI and Dive Rite were not in attendance. They had planned to not attend early this year. From what I understand; they feel that they can communicate with their network of shops effectively enough via the internet and other communication methods, that they don't necessarily need to be at an industry show, but rather focus on consumer shows.
I haven't been to any other (non-scuba) trade shows in a few years, but I used to be a buyer for a gift shop. We stopped attending large trade shows almost 5 years ago for that industry, because of the expense of going to a show; where I could see new products, gifts, etc, via the internet. If I can effectively buy for my store without going to a show... then why go?
I wonder if other trade shows have also seen a drop off in attendance as of late, due to these factors. I wonder if the phenomenon is not specific to DEMA show, but rather to trade shows as a whole?
At the end of the day however, the DEMA show IMO served its purpose as a trade show. If the purpose of a trade show is for industry insiders to meet, greet, place orders, and network. With that said, then this show was a success. Personally, it seemed as though the lower attendance made it easier for most exhibitors to actually have conversations with the people who wanted to talk to them.
I know I'll personally be at DEMA Show 2010 in Las Vegas.
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