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Inside the Evolving SEMA Show 2025
Inside the Evolving SEMA Show 2025
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About this episode
Tom Gattuso, SEMA's vice president of events, shares an insider's look at the planning and evolution of the SEMA Show 2025 in Las Vegas. He discusses the show's unique layout, the balance between car builders and parts manufacturers, and tips for first-time attendees to navigate the massive event. Tom also reflects on his career journey, the importance of staying calm under pressure, and memorable moments like managing security after the 2017 Mandalay Bay incident. The episode highlights SEMA's role as an annual industry homecoming and a dynamic platform for innovation and connection.
Topics:
sema show 2025
event planning
trade show management
automotive industry
car builders
exhibitor relationships
attendee advice
show layout and navigation
industry networking
event security
Tom Gattuso, Vice President of Events at SEMA, shares a behind-the-scenes look at planning the SEMA Show 2025. He talks about how the show continues to evolve, what goes into making it run smoothly, and his best advice for first-time attendees.
Check out the full video version of the podcast on YouTube!
About the Episode
- Host: Jay Goninen, WrenchWay, [email protected]
- Guest: Tom Gattuso, SEMA, [email protected]
- Sponsor: Jasper Engines & Transmissions
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Car
Chevrolet Impala
"...t I had a little bit of a nest egg. I bought a 66 Impala convertible and if it didn't fit in the trunk, it..."
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
"...ome and people were like, oh, did you see the new Corvette? And I knew it was there because we were part of ..."
Car
Oldsmobile Intrigue
"...every single year. And I think that's part of the intrigue of wanting to go to the SEMA show. And my goal an..."
Select text to request an explanation
It really is just an annual industry homecoming, and you can break down what my team does as nothing
more than built in the environment to allow that homecoming to happen and those conversations to happen.
Welcome back to all of our friends listening to Beyond the Wrench today. I'm really, really excited
about this episode and everything that we're going to dive into today. Today we're diving
into one of the biggest events in our industry, if not the biggest event in our industry, the SEMA show.
Joining me is Tom Gattuso from SEMA, who's here to give us a look at what's coming up for the
2025 show in Las Vegas. We're going to talk about what makes this year's event unique,
how shops and technicians can get the most of it, and some of the exciting things attendees
can expect. So, Tom, how are you doing today? I'm doing good, Jay. It's another sunny day
in California, so you can only complain so much. So, where is your office specifically at?
So, we're just east of Los Angeles, probably 30 miles or so in a city called Diamond Bar that I
like to say is the center of everything but the middle of nowhere. So, we did that strategically
back in the 80s. We moved here and actually built this building, and then there's a garage
right across the parking lot here that's our product development center, but we built those two
buildings in the 80s, and it was really this opportunity to grab people or talent from all
over Southern California. So, we as a company have people that are in the Inland Empire,
which is east of here. We've got people west and north and south of here. So, it turned out
to be a good idea by whoever made that decision back then to be able to have a nice melting pot of
people here working. Now, do you still battle the infamous LA traffic? So, you know, traffic in LA
is really measured by time. It's not really measured by miles, although I'm an automotive
person, so I know my miles, but I'm about 45 minutes and I'm against traffic. So,
I really don't sit still, which is great. And there are stays where I make freeway transitions,
and I'm so in my head on what's going on with planning for the show and really what's going
on with the industry that I'll get to work and not realize that I went from one freeway to another.
So, that's always fun. I think as you get older, the more and more that happens. I've
noticed that with myself going on a road trip and just kind of almost forgetting the drive
and subconsciously, I think you still know what you're doing, but it is one of those things where
maybe you listen to a podcast or you listen to music. Or in some cases, for me, I don't even
listen to anything. It's just kind of thinking through a lot of things and it gives you kind of
some quiet time to actually be able to really dissect maybe some of the stuff that you're
working on. Yeah, there was a study that I don't know enough about to quote,
but there's times where you're doing routine things where your mind can go into a different place.
So, a lot of times people say like, oh, I thought of this in the shower. And it became so common
that they did this study and really that's what it is. So, like on my daily commute, which
you know, we're doing four or five times a week, it is routine and you do have this opportunity
for your mind to expand and sort of go into a different level and I love it. You know, people
always ask how long the commute is and I don't mind it at all. Matter of fact,
we're four days a week in the office and one day remote and I like to come in five days a week.
I get it. We as a company kind of, we went fully remote at the beginning of this year,
which was kind of the opposite of what a lot of people were doing. And I do miss that part,
just like getting to work, having your cup of coffee on your way to work and then
getting there and you know, kind of having a little bit of time to let your mind go and then
just maybe on the way home, a little bit of a time to get some space before you come home
to family life and all of you know, the personal stuff that you're going to run into.
Definitely. Definitely. Well, oh, sorry, go ahead, Tom.
No, as I could say, let's jump in.
Yeah. So I've been looking forward to this conversation. We had Mike's bagnola on probably,
I don't know, three or four months ago and we had just a fantastic conversation.
In that conversation, we really focused on SEMA, the organization we touched on the show some,
but what I'm really excited about is talking about the show today and before we do that,
we've got to dive into your background because you're kind of the one that makes all of this
stuff run. And being such a big show, I'm guessing this isn't something where you just
walked into and knew how to run a show. So tell me a little bit about what led you up to
or prepared you to take on a role like this.
So I decided early in my life that I wanted to work in the automotive industry.
It sounded cool and at the time in the 80s and late 80s, company cars were a thing and
I felt like if I could drive a company car and have it like a different one every year,
like how cool would that be? So I started interviewing with some car companies and I
was living on the East Coast right outside Washington DC and I was in an interview with
a car manufacturer and they announced they were having a hiring freeze. So literally,
the person I was interviewing with had someone come in the office and say,
you can't do the hire right now. So I made a decision to move to one of two places.
My choice was somewhere in Michigan or somewhere in Southern California.
And at the time, there were a lot of car companies that were moving their headquarters
or already had a headquarters in Southern California. And I decided that would be a
cool move. So I saved up for a couple years until I felt I had a little bit of a nest egg.
I bought a 66 Impala convertible and if it didn't fit in the trunk,
it didn't go with me. And I just moved to Southern California and I started over.
And part of that was looking for work and doing some work. But I answered an ad in the LA Times
to sell exhibit space for a company that produced auto shows, new car shows.
And I'd say the rest is history. I did that for 10 years and I found out that I had this
unique ability to stay calm as stress was around. So we would build these really cool
environments and have these auto shows. And I was sort of customer service and sales at the time.
Somebody had come in to talk about something and I handled it one way and then I went right
to a sales conversation and then I went right to a customer service conversation and
somebody observed all that and he said, you know, that's not normal. You know, a lot of people
would have needed a break in there or something. And I said at the time, I find calmness in the
center of the turmoil. And really, if you're in the middle of the planning and all the
planning comes together, there is a calmness where you can see it before it happens.
But I did new car shows for 10 years and then I wanted to see what it was like at a
bigger company. And I joined a company that does publishing and events. Advanced Star
Communications was the company. And I did their off-road events. I was their off-road group
show director. And I did that for about five years and I had some good brands with that.
It was Off-Road Expo and we did a trade event with that one called Off-Road Impact.
So between my consumer show background and the trade show background, I was sort of
right place, right time at SEMA in 2011. I've been here 14 years now where they needed
what I brought to the table because I started with an entrepreneurial background where
I started the San Jose Auto Show or the company I was was started the San Jose Auto Show.
We started the New Mexico Auto Show. There was an entrepreneurial element to it.
We were building exhibits and displays pretty much anywhere you could.
There's two or three doors at convention centers that now can fit cars that I could probably put
my name on that didn't exist because it was just this mentality of let's make the user
experience really cool. We have this ballroom that would be perfect if we could put cars in
there. So what would it take to make that door wide enough? And I brought that type of thinking
to SEMA at a time where they had had a show management company produce their event for 30 years
and they did a fantastic job. But they were transitioning into wanting to take things a
little bit more in-house. And again, my background was suited where for a couple years I worked
with that show management company. And then in 2014, we brought everything in-house.
I built the team and 10 years later we're producing an epic automotive event and probably
one of the best in our industry. It's by far one of my favorites and it is
such a pleasure. It's one thing that I look forward to each year in going to the show just
because it is so well run. I did want to pick one thing out of there that you talked about
which was the ability to stay calm. Is that something you feel like you were born with?
Or is that something you grew as a skill? What led you to be able to have that calmness?
So I have sometimes said that I'm a professional procrastinator and that certainly adds to it.
But for me, the whole thing about production is having a vision of what it's going to look
like and really pushing so that vision comes to life in reality. And as you're seeing the
vision come together, you know that it's all going to come into place when it needs to.
And I equate it to a car builder. I've had a lot of conversations with people
where they're like, I was at the SEMA show on Monday and it was stuck everywhere and I
was convinced there's no way you're going to open on Tuesday morning. And I say, yeah,
but it's like when you take an engine apart, there's no way I can foresee that going back
together and working. But you're seeing all the parts, you know exactly how it's going to go
and you have everything you need. And on Monday afternoon when I walk around the SEMA show
and I see that the carpet is rolled up ready to be unrolled in a couple hours and that
there's crates in people's booths that are being moved out. It's all this plan coming together.
So as chaotic as it can look, 12 to 18 hours before the show opens, I find calmness there.
So I'd say that it's probably part of my makeup. But at the same time, I've really
pushed the limits of that and been marveled sometimes where you'll be presented with an
opportunity. And one of the things I learned early in my career is to say, you know, take a deep
breath and say, okay, you know, how do we fix it? And then start to address it. So
lucky in that way to have found an industry that suits that characteristic.
Was that the same way during, if you look back at maybe your first show that you did,
where that feeling, I get the sense that maybe over time, you've just done it so many times that
you've seen this huge, huge event just come together when you were first getting started off.
Was it a little more nerve-wracking? So it wasn't it wasn't because I didn't know what I did
know when I first started. But the more you learn and just not forget, I think, you
know, there's plenty of lessons that you get. And really, all those things just need to go into
your repertoire. But I'll say this, one unique characteristic of me is this
evasive sense of accomplishment. So in the early days, I would produce an auto show
and I'd get home and people were like, oh, did you see the new Corvette?
And I knew it was there because we were part of publicizing it. And I could tell you where every
kink in the carpet was and where our security teams were. Like I knew the logistical elements
and what we could improve for next time. But I never got in the Corvette. I never went to
the Corvette to admire it, like our attendees did. And really, that's always been my takeaway
is I walk around looking at it from an operational perspective. And I get the sense of accomplishment
of building something great and taking it down and being done. But I don't really ever look back
and say, wow, what we did there, there, there was really cool because
I'm just trying to constantly learn and improve on the next one. And SEMA definitely
gives us that opportunity where we're constantly evolving the show. It's what drives me,
is constantly trying to improve and do things better.
Well, and just from maybe a leadership standpoint, I think there's, you say a flaw,
I think the exact opposite of that, right? Because being able to look to a leader who
feels like they're in control and feels like we're not going to lose the organization of this or
things are going to be okay. Maybe that sense of comfort and confidence that things are going
to come together. I not only don't think that's a flaw, I think that is a hugely positive thing
for everybody on your team because they can look at you and say, here's this person that
has so much on his shoulders, but still remaining calm. That is a really, really difficult thing to do.
Yeah, and it hit me. I was on vacation one time with my wife and we did a snorkel trip
on a big, one of those big monohull sailboats. And we were in Hawaii and the crew came around
and they said, hey, the top of the boat right now is going to become the bottom.
And we're going to hit this wind channel. And we hit this wind channel and they had us move.
And I was hanging up for dear life and so was she. And neither one, I'm like, is this bad?
Like what's going on? And she's like, look back at the captain. If he's not panicked,
we're not panicked. And I look back at that guy and he was just sitting there out of care in
the world. And I was like, okay, this is going to be fine. Like this person has done this
so many times. This is routine. And it's my first time being on a boat that size going that speed.
And that really is what it is where you, I've now been doing this for 30 years. I never thought
I'd say that, but I've been doing events for 30 years and I've seen a lot of iterations. And
there is that quiet confidence that it's going to get done. The vision you have in your head
is going to happen. And if it doesn't, you're able to work around it. So no one really
notices. And it just comes off great. What a great analogy too, that having the ship and being able
to steer it, you're steering an awfully big ship. Let's talk about your role at SEMA and what you
do on a day-to-day basis. Walk me through what is your job title? What is everything that goes
into a day in the life of Tom? So I'm the vice president of events. And I used to work with
a person who got the luxury of having his own title and he created a title called Harbor Master.
So I'm kind of like a Harbor Master or air traffic controller with my team. There's 14 of us and
really they're these talented, adrenaline-fueled event junkies that just love to produce events.
And we're right now six, seven weeks out from the show. And I just really make sure that they
get the things they need and that we're pushing towards this unified vision. But my day really
can go three years out, depending on what we're talking about. And with the construction
at the convention center, there were times where we were five years out.
And it goes really through everything. I'll do a little bit in the sales realm. I'll do a little
bit in the marketing realm. I do some of the operations and planning, really just making
sure that all the facets of the event are just continuing to move forward. And everybody's got
what they need to be able to continue to push it to that final vision and that final outcome.
And then I also get the ability to work with some outside companies in terms of our
outside groups, in terms of our board of directors and some of our partners and share the vision
and get input. And we're lucky at SEMA where our board of directors is usually comprised of
some type A personalities. And sometimes they're racers and sometimes they're running a
performance oriented aftermarket company. And they're used to pushing some limits and wanting
to be right on that edge of what's cool and what's dangerous. And when we come to them with ideas
over the years about things we're going to do like a cruise at the end or
our SEMA Fest idea and everywhere in between, they really do like to be able to continue
to push the envelope. And I think when you look at the history of our event, which is 58 years old,
that we have this tendency to continue to evolve it and continue to make it great.
And it's different now than it was five years ago and 10 years ago and 20 after that. So
we're proud to be 58 years old in the longest running citywide in Las Vegas,
where we've been 48 years in Las Vegas. And I can't wait to see not only what this year's
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I want to dive into the the planning stages of this, right? Because this isn't something that
you just turn overnight. This isn't something that goes off without any thought.
How far in advance are you planning, say, when did you start planning the 2025 show?
So there were aspects that we started, I'd say in 2021 and it just gets more and more focused
on 25 as we went. But one thing we were watching closely was they built a brand new hall as an
example in 2019 and during the pandemic. So we knew we were going to be able to use that hall
and in 21 we had a decision to make that affected 25 where the total footprint coming out of the
pandemic would have been enough to go into the exhibit halls that we currently use. But we knew
that if we could use the new hall and establish a traffic pattern, a traffic pattern for people
walking through an event takes three years to adopt. So we knew in 21 it would be new and
then 22 it would sort of be familiar and then 23-24 as the building was sort of coming
online the traffic pattern would be set. But at the same time we also knew that
the buildings we were currently using were going to be renovated in 24 and 25,
which is where we are now. So that was a unique situation where we were probably working on the
show four to five years out. But we made significant decisions where we moved some
show sections around and we really repositioned some of the outdoor stuff. And it's been great
because that length of planning was necessary. At the same time when we get down to the year,
you know, when we close the books on 2024, a majority of our focus is on that,
that upcoming show. So, you know, I'm probably 85% the show in the year at which we're working.
But there's always this ping of, you know, contracts and RFPs and where we're going to
hold our banquet and things like that that go two and three years out.
And it's just crazy to me just how long of a planning process that is.
Is this something where you're working with the folks in Vegas pretty consistently on whether
it's selecting the dates? Because I do think, correct me if I'm wrong, but did the dates slide
back a week or like, I tried to remember, I think one year I was down there, or maybe
multiple years, we were down there on Halloween, right? And then it kind of slid back a year
or I'm sorry, a week. Does that kind of shift from year to year or you try to stay consistent
on what the dates are going to be? We do stay consistent and there's a pattern to it,
but the way the calendar works, the earliest we ever go is October 20,
yeah, October the 30th until November 2nd. That's as early as we go. But then when we do
that year, the next year goes November 5th to the 8th. And then we go 4 through 7,
3 through 6, 2 through 5. So we have this pattern that happens and it's funny because you have the
show one Halloween and everybody remembers Halloween every time. And we're in this pattern right now
where Halloween's happening the Friday before our event. But it's been this consistent pattern
for the past couple decades, but it is kind of cool that people remember the Halloween part of
it. And there's, you know, there's few places in the world more fun than Las Vegas on Halloween.
But it's great that that's a thing for us because people have this ability to look forward and go,
okay, yeah, but October 1st comes Halloween's that month and they start to really focus in on
what they're doing in and around it. So we benefit from that. We also benefit from Labor Day
where once we come out of Labor Day, people are like, okay, the show's close. I really
need to start to get my planning underway. So we shift gears as a group here within SEMA where
we're doing a lot of internal planning and sales early in the process, you know, the December
through March, April timeframe. And then we build a lot of the support stuff like our
exhibit manual on that timeframe and start to sell our registrations as we go into June
through August. But then in September, it really does go full steam. And that's, I think,
where the adrenaline kicking comes in where, you know, I was getting emails last night at 11.30.
And then again, at 5.30 this morning, and you can't keep up with all of them, but
everybody's working on a different clock. And I think that's part of the excitement.
There's a lot going on. And again, it's all part of this vision that's going to get us to
the end. And really, in my world, once the door's open on Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock,
the stress level goes down considerably. And people would think just the opposite,
because that's where 160,000 people have come to this environment that you built.
But it's the opposite. Like, if you build the environment correctly,
those people are supposed to be there, and it just works smoothly.
How helpful is it to have it at the same venue every year? The reason I asked that question
is we're coming off on the automotive side. We had NADA this year in New Orleans, and
they had a 100-year snowstorm in New Orleans. It was 10 inches of snow, and it was,
it made it challenging. I felt so bad for some of the organizers there, because
similar to you, they put so much work into it, and there's so much that goes into it.
And to have something that hasn't happened in our lifetimes happen on that same leak that you're
putting on a big show had to have been a crazy challenge. But being able to go to Vegas, Vegas
is meant for trade shows, I feel like. It's just such a great place, so many places to eat,
so many places. It's easy to get around. For the most part, I think Formula One might have
thrown a little wrench in that there a couple of years ago. But for the most part, it's just,
it is such a perfect spot for everything that you guys do.
Yeah. No, and we're lucky. And I know my counterpart at NADA, Melissa,
told me how that went. Some of our trade shows do share notes, and she's certainly
someone that we'll share notes with and have conversations on a periodic basis.
But we're lucky in that we get to really develop our partnerships. So our relationship with the
Las Vegas Convention of Visitors Authority is really good, and it continues to evolve.
But it even permits to each of the hotels. We have more than 45 hotels in our room block,
but we have close relationships with them as well because we've just been in the city.
Again, this will be our 48th year in a row. So we get the luxury of that. And I think if we were
moving city to city, we may not be as close to our partners. So there's that part of it.
But at the same time, we, on our own accord, make our show unique every single year. So we
decide everything based on a seniority-level pick and just start with a completely blank slate.
Like a lot of shows will say you can renew your space from the previous year.
We wipe everything clean and start completely over. So it's not that we're in a new building,
but it definitely, hall by hall, is different every single year. And I think that's part of
the intrigue of wanting to go to the SEMA show. And my goal and something that
my team works really hard to do is we want you to be in a familiar place,
but we want you to know or notice that it's evolving. So as an example this year,
we have a new product showcase, which I think is probably one of the best places to start
when you come to the SEMA show. And more than half of our attendees have said that they'll go there
and find a company they didn't even know they wanted to talk to based on the products they
see in the new product showcase. Last year that was in North Hall, this year we moved it to South
Hall and made it adjacent to registration so that if you come to the show early, you can register
and you can go into the new product showcase before we open at nine. But it's little things
like that. Familiar? Yes, we're going to have the new product showcase evolving. It's in a new place
and it actually works a little bit better. Same with a lot of our features, our Battle of the
Builders feature and some of the bigger brands that we've got in the halls are just in different
places. And it really isn't to make them hard to find, but it's because we wanted to either
improve the traffic flow or improve our exhibit presentation with our exhibitors and really just
create this ideal user experience. And it really, I will give you a huge compliment,
you and the team, a huge compliment because it does feel just in my time going maybe the last
10 years or so of, and this could just be general familiarity with me being out there a bunch,
but over the years has gotten so much easier for me. And I believe I talked to Mike a little bit
about this too, where I remember the first year I went and how overwhelmed I was, right,
because it was just everything you could dream of was there. And as a car guy,
you're going around and you're looking at all of this. There's just, there's eye candy
everywhere and the visual stimulation of going in there and the sounds and just everything. It's
just such a rush the first time you go. And I've given a lot of people this advice for,
that have talked to me that, hey, I'm going to SEMA for the first time this year. Okay,
make sure you look at the map, you understand where you're at, where you're going,
what you want to do, try to lay a plan out for yourself. And I think some of the things
you've done have made that much easier to navigate. I give you guys a huge compliment
on that. No, for sure. And it's really something that hopefully people don't notice,
but it just makes their life a little bit easier, where we had that opportunity as they built that
new hall to move some of the sections. So it just, it sort of made sense and complimented each
other better. So as an example, our lower south hall is wheels and tires. And those
basically are all round. So we put all the round things in one hall. But no, you know,
generally, you're going to, if you're in that vertical of our industry, that will be a great
place for you to start. And then you can explore from there rather than have our
million two square feet of exhibit space, just be a tool to a wheel to a performance
product and have you go through that whole campus, we have it separated where wheels and
tires is in one hall and collision and tool. Because a lot of the tools in our industry are
used by the shops in the collision industry. So those two are next to each other. Performance,
hot rotting and restoration are all in the same hall. And we've got truck and in restyling
all in the same hall again, because restyling was, you know, bumpers and step sides and,
you know, sunroofs back in the day. So it all sort of made a click and we looked at the show in
terms of these pods. So when you and again, you shouldn't notice this, but when you think about
a pod, it's got some education, it's got a registration element, it's got some food, it's
got the exhibit hall, some meeting space. And if you really did it from just a vertical, like
if the only thing you did was buy tools, you'd be able to go to that upper south hall and get
everything you needed done. And there's some education that's tool adjacent and collision
adjacent right there that you'd be able to attend. So we know just as a, I don't know, as a trivia,
there's more than 21 miles of aisle carpet. I'm going to let that sink in for a second.
So when we get to a marathon, we may actually figure something out with that. But
when you think about 21 miles of aisle space, behind the scenes, somebody has to help cut
that down and say, okay, how can we make your time efficient? Because you can't really cover
all that ground. And that's why our show is sectionalized. But, you know, people just
don't think about it. But when you look at just the south hall in general, because just from a
racing term, it's more than 1800 feet long, which is more than a quarter of a mile.
So if you look at just that one hall being a quarter of a mile from one side to the other,
and our campus being a mile from one side to the other, then it starts to really,
really hit home. But the sailing analogy we talked about before is, and again, innate in my head,
I don't see the show as large. I see the show as five different pieces. And as long as you know
how to sail a boat, and I came from smaller shows and entrepreneurial setups, and I understood
how to sail, the size of the boat didn't change the how to sail part.
You just have a little bit more sails and a lot more boat in the water per se.
But when you look at the show in pieces and treat it like that, it does get pretty small.
And like I said, if I looked at it as 2 million square feet of exhibits inside and outside and
2,400 exhibitors and 150,000 people, I don't know that I could manage it. But I look at it in five
or six pieces outside, up or south, lowers, you know, each of the halls. And then I kind of dig
in from there. And I think that's helped me create this unknown effect for people where
most of what they do is going to be in one place. And then if they decide to go explore,
you know, it's all manageable from there.
I'll ask you the same question that I got asked then. What advice would you have for that first
time attendee, that person that's coming to SEMA for the first time in 2025?
So, number one would be have a plan before you get there. And three-quarters of our
exhibitors do, our attendees do. And we have things that help for the planning process.
So that's our mobile app and our floor plan. And we've got a scheduler that kind of connects
into both. You can also do that as you register. You can decide which education sessions you
want to go to, but really decide what you want to do in terms of probably 75% of your time.
And then there's another part of it where you go to something like the new product showcase and
you find other companies you want to talk to. I would say allow 25% of your time to explore
and just have these serendipitous moments where you're running into a company you didn't know
about or you're talking to somebody in line at the Starbucks and they suddenly become
a supplier or a customer for you. But planning is probably number one.
And then the second one really is to lock into our communication channel. And I know in this modern
world between social media and e-news or e-mail and all the things that people can communicate you
with, it can get overwhelming. But if you're coming to the CMA Show, lock into the things we're
saying because we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure that we've refined our
message to the things that you need to know. And between our website and the emails that we're
sending in our e-news product, these are all the important things that you need to know.
So lock into us, you know, probably after Labor Day, which is the pattern that a lot of people
follow. Not that we don't want you to follow us all year long because we spend a lot of time
making sure the industry is aware of everything that we do. But there's this time period
where you want to lock in to see what we're doing because you can find a lot of insider
information there on where to find affordable hotels and restaurants and, you know, what the
best way on and off campus is going to be and what the education sessions are for a marketer
versus a collision company. And we're really trying to curate all that information in a
nice digestible way so that as you come to the show and you've done your planning,
you're able to really attack the campus in a way that's going to benefit exactly what you're
doing in the industry. That is great, great advice. The website is full of great information.
I will say that is something my wife has not gone to this event with me. Normally,
she's really good at really kind of laying out the plan and what we're going to do.
I am definitely more reactionary. And I found myself that way the first year I attended.
And from that on out, I've had a pretty good plan going into it. But the resources that SEMA offers
for not only the first time attendee, but anybody that's going back to the show,
it is so helpful. And it gives you a little bit more comfort when you go in that you know
where you're going. And I don't want to make it sound scary either because once you get
down there, it's super, it's really, really intuitive as to where you're going. And
you know, I think there's a pretty easy pass to wherever you need to get to. So
all in all, I think that part is as long as you prepare yourself, you're really going to have
a lot of fun and have a great show. And similar to what you said there too, the amount of people
you meet, I took a taxi with somebody last year who under that, you know, like just we
had such a great conversation and he followed along what I was doing. I followed along what
he was doing. And we just hit it off. And I think when you put so many like-minded people in the
same place, you can't help but bump into people that you're really, really going to get along well
with. No, that's the magic of the event. It really is just an annual industry homecoming.
And you can break down what my team does as nothing more than building the environment to
allow that homecoming to happen and those conversations to happen. But one of the
things I like to do in terms of managing, you know, what could be considered overwhelming
is to look at your personal capability. And I'd break it down in an exhibitor training that we do
where if you broke down the 31 hours that the SEMA show is open into five-minute conversations,
you can only have 12 five-minute conversations an hour. And that's assuming you go back to back to
back to back. So by the end of a 31 hour show week, you can talk to 372 people for five minutes
at a time. So when you think about going to the SEMA show as an exhibitor, yes, we have
70,000 buyers and 150,000 or 160,000 industry professionals. But you can only talk to 300
because you're going to eat, you're going to go to the bathroom, you're going to need to take a break,
whatever it is you're going to need to do. So if you look at it that way, it really comes down to
how high of a quality can you have with those 300 or so conversations. And that's where the
planning comes in where, okay, I know my time is limited and I know I'm going to want to do this
because as an attendee, if you're only there for a couple of days, which is our average,
our average attendee is there on our show floor, the median is about 20 hours. So call that two
eight hour days. You're down to 150 to 250 really meaningful conversations that you can have.
So the only way to expand that is before show or after show or short. So again,
I like to have people certainly if you're a buyer that's coming to the show to look for
new products and new products are everywhere. A little bell should go off in your head when you've
talked to someone for 15 minutes, because it's taking your time away. And I like to think of
time as a commodity at our trade show, where an exhibitor is trying to talk to you as long as
they can, because they want to be able to convince you that their product is going to
fit a need that you've got with your customer. But at the same time, the longer you talk
with them, the less time you've got to talk and explore other products. So one goal that I like
to set on both sides of the conversation is get enough information in a connection so that you
can follow up and be able to say, okay, I like the product. I'm really interested in it. I want
to be able to get that information. And then the week or so or the months after the show
will follow up and we'll get something inked together in terms of a deal.
I think that's a great strategy rather than go one by one and have a bunch of half hour
conversations because then you get through the week and you've only talked to 25 or 30 people
and you may have missed some things. So that element I think plays into the planning and
really just how you manage your time. And then the other thing I'll say, and I don't know,
we'll find out in 20 or 30 years, but be careful who you talk to because there's a lot of conversations
I've had where people say, yeah, I met this guy at the Seaman Show 30 years ago. We're still in touch
or we still get together. We make a point to go have a drink together at whatever happy hour
with one of our councils and networks because you do have these lifelong
connections with people that start somewhere. And in a lot of cases they started on the floor
or in line for something at the Seaman Show. Well, you couldn't be more right there. And
I've noticed that with myself as well, just going through the show. And oftentimes there's people
that I hadn't talked to since the show the year prior, right? And you kind of tick the
conversation right up where you left it. And it is a really, really fun piece to the show. The
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Now, I do want to talk about maybe more of the actual stuff at the show, right? So you talk
about the exhibitor side, the amount of cars that you have that are, you know, it's an honor
for a show car to come to SEMA, right? It's one of the biggest honors a builder could have.
How do you split up those relationships, right? Because you have maybe, and I'm sure those aren't
the only relationships when it comes to the show, but when you have so many exhibitors and so many
just awesome car builders, how do you navigate those? Are they in two separate buckets and
how you manage those relationships? A little bit. And, you know, full transparency,
we probably could evolve a little bit better in our relationships with buyers. And I'll
explain that a little bit. We, as a group, are trying to get the global pop-up industry that
we're putting together here to mirror what's happening around the world. So if we look at
it as mirroring the industry, we really want our manufacturers of products to shine, you know,
what's hot in the industry. And what a builder represents is they're building these cars
and they're putting products on it. And the car is the ultimate canvas for products. Where,
what products is a builder choosing or what vehicles does a manufacturer of product want
in their booth to showcase their product the best way? So for years, decades, we've
let that relationship between our part manufacturer and our builder thrive.
What we're finding right now is that there are more builders than we've got this need for. So we
have this relationship with builders and we're trying to continually evolve it because on some level,
the cars become the stars of this event. But there's a constant debate. And in my own
head, it really depends on what day of the week we're talking about. But is SEMA a car show?
Or SEMA a parts show? And I've always sort of leaned to it being a part show. And the cars
are the canvas that showcase those parts. As we start to look at who our audience is and what
their needs and interests are. And over the past three or four years, we've started to
involve our end user into the conversation a lot more and created a ticket for the general public
to be able to attend. They can gravitate a lot more towards cars. So that's where we are now
as an association is connecting with our builders on the level which we hadn't for a long time.
Because we wanted our exhibitors to be able to have that relationship and our exhibitors
to be able to make that whole thing work. So we're continuing to evolve our show. But
there's something incredible that happens with the SEMA show that doesn't happen with a lot of events.
And we're just now starting to see the benefit of that. But we've got manufacturing,
so people that make parts, distribution, people that sell parts and end user,
all in the same place at the same time. And when you have essentially a complete marketplace,
and we're involving people that come from more than 140 countries, you've got this global
interaction that's taking place with all three of these elements. And few shows do that. A lot of
them get two of the three, but very, very few get all three. And it creates this
streamlined communication channel on product development and innovation that a lot don't do.
So we'll have 1,500 or more car builds at the show, the pre-move builders in the world.
I think it's part of the serendipitous exploration is to walk around and look at
some of the builds, because that's where you're finding the new trends and the new ideas
and stuff along with what's happening in the exhibitor booths and in places like
our Battle of the Builders contest or our new product showcase.
I think you intertwine that as well as anybody, maybe not only in our industry, but any industry
with being able to mix the cool cars within a booth and a vendor booth and
and not having it be in a way that is kind of forced. I don't know if that makes sense,
but it's really natural that you've got this beautiful vehicle in a show booth.
And it's different, in my opinion, than any other show that I go to
in that it just, it's cool. You can learn about the product as well as just look at a
really cool car. And it's now, it doesn't feel pressured to walk into that booth, right?
Because you're just walking in and looking in a cool car. And a lot of times somebody will just say,
hey, if you're interested in anything, let us know. And it doesn't feel overly high pressure.
I don't know. It's just a very comforting feeling walking in to look at one of those cars.
Yeah. And it's interesting these days too, because the way social media works,
things have changed. So like cars are almost like a celebrity. And because they're following
these builds on social media where they couldn't do that 10 and 15 years ago.
So I was walking around with somebody who was a student of the trade show industry and
really just an automotive gearhead. So I knew there are folks from the trade show side and
they said, hey, is there any way that he could just kind of help you? I'm like, yeah,
well, I'll bring him around. And he stopped at a build that Mike Finnegan had done.
And it was in someone's booth. And he's like, oh, I've been following that car for a year and a
half. Like, I can't believe I'm looking at it. And that's the, again, the wow factor that
this new media world that we're in can do. So you've got these incredible builds,
but you also have these cars that sort of take on a life of their own.
And again, it's this connection of branding that a company is trying to do and branding that a car
has. And it's usually connected to a builder or content creator. And again, it's this unique
thing that happens. And we're just trying to harness that. You know, if we look at our trade
show as let's do it the same way we always do, it ignore that you'd miss out on a huge element
of what's going on. So we really embrace what's going on from a media standpoint, what's going on
as people are creating content and trying to involve more and more of that into really the
heart and soul of what's happening at the event. It's funny, you talk about the celebrity piece.
And we were where I live at in Wisconsin, we're about 20 minutes away from the Ringbrothers
shop. And they I think two years ago or three years ago had the car Ennio and it really took
on this life of its own. And what's funny is you go down to SEMA and they've got a line
a mile long for an autograph session. And a lot of my family and friends here in Wisconsin who
aren't car people would have no clue who they are would have no idea that this very, very famous
car builder is in our backyard. And yet they go out there and they are absolute celebrities and
fully, fully deserving of it. They build some incredible stuff, but it is fun to see that.
I think for any car person that's listening to this, if you want to see kind of your idols and
who you do follow along in social media, and you're right with the cars being the stars
a lot of times where if they followed a build, I did that last year where I ran across a
car that I had followed for a long time on social media. And when you see it, it is kind of
breathtaking. And it's one of those things where it is a little surreal. So it's funny that you
say that because I had that my own experience as well where it is really, really cool.
Well, it is just interesting because our industry is one where it is business. And
I remember one of the first show that I produced with SEMA in 2011, Jeff Gordon was going to be
signed in autographs outside in the Exalta booth. And in the salesperson called me and said,
hey, we're going to need security over there. It's Jeff Gordon and all the things.
And as I start to walk out there just to assess the situation, I walked past Chip Fuss
doing something and they couldn't do it. Something. I literally never made it to Exalta.
I was like, no, we'll be fine. If you really know in our industry, there's so much of that
going on and they're just walking around like normal. And in this situation, it was the same way
where Jeff Gordon definitely appreciated for all he's brought to motorsports and the
accomplishments he's made. But for us, it's kind of normal. It's like, yeah, that's cool.
If you put him in a situation at a car show like where I originally started, there would be a huge
long line of people would literally bring in like hoods and have him sign the hoods and stuff like
that. But our industry isn't like that. We all feel like we're part of this gigantic homecoming.
And you get the personal time with folks because you're, or you're all part of the same
thing. And I think that's a reward for working in this passionate industry is we're all in it
together. And at the end of the day, we all started turning a very similar wrench on a very similar nut.
Isn't that true? Yeah. And so many stories over the years, I do remember one of my first kind of
celebrity encounters was I was walking behind this guy and I'm like, it's a big guy and I
look up and go, that's, that's Jesse James. That's, that's pretty wild.
Just walking right there. But it is such a, such a cool event that you have, I think,
continued and not only continued the legacy on, but you've evolved this thing. It is so cool to
see, again, it's one of my favorite things each year as an industry event to go to. And just looking
at my calendar for SEMA this year, it's, it's packed and it's going to be a lot of fun. I do have,
before we conclude, some quick hitting questions for you. And it's just some off the, off the
wall kind of different questions. So if you weren't doing this job, what would you be doing?
That's a great question. I, my whole life wanted to work around the automotive industry, but I'm
not technically savvy. So there's a good chance that I need to be working for, you know, an ad agency
type of thing on car stuff, or for a vehicle manufacturer. Yeah, it feels like you were born
for this, very, very fitting. What was your first job?
So I wasn't overachiever because I needed to earn money in order to buy things. So I had a paper
out when I was 11. And that is, I, I grew that from 25 to 350 by the time I graduated high
school. So I was, you know, working there pretty hard. And then something that was unique
in my timeframe and in my region. But I did a lot of construction labor. So I was the, the, the
unskilled end of the broom on my summers and winter breaks from, from college.
So I kind of came up from working hard. And I still get tired when I see people along the
freeway or whatever digging a trench, because there's one person with the shovel in their hand
and there's three people watching. I was always the person with the shovel. But I think that taught
me this, this, you know, hard work pays off type of thing. And, and I've been fortunate, you know,
I went to school and I decided I wanted to work in automotive and I've really been able to make
that happen. So I got lucky. But, you know, I always say my first job was, was getting up
in the morning and delivering 25 papers and eventually, you know, an hour and a half of papers
every day. That's wild as how many successful people that I know started off delivering papers.
And where, where were you at doing this at? So I was in Northern Virginia, just outside DC. And,
and now, you know, I described a newspaper as the internet printed every day,
you know, but now you really don't get that same thing. And it's not something that a younger
kid can do, but you needed to learn how to manage money and how to collect. And, you know,
there was customer service on people wanting to put inside their door and stuff like that.
But I was at oversellers of oversellers overachiever where
we had a big snowstorm in DC. And I think there was two and a half feet of snow that
dropped the night before. I delivered my papers that morning, and it took me probably four hours.
And I got a call from the Washington Post that I was going to receive an award because I was one of
like nine people in the region that delivered papers that day. But I woke up, it was like,
yeah, this is what they want. You know, people want the paper, what else are you going to do?
So it's little stuff like that that, you know, you look back on your life and you go, okay,
I guess I'm not doing this by accident. You know, I guess I didn't shy away from hard work,
but I still have that award somewhere. And, you know, with the sets of pride,
I look at it every once in a while and probably every 10 years and just go, yeah,
I've sort of always had this weird work ethic.
Oh, that is such a cool story. The last question is, what time do you wake up in the morning?
So I don't set an alarm. That's for sure. Because things wake me up in terms of,
you know, priorities here with what we're doing. But I wake up every day about 6 30,
and probably go to sleep every night, some time around 11.
I think I'm probably in a similar routine to you there. My last question,
do you have maybe a favorite SEMA story over the years or something that you look back at
and kind of fondly remember? I know that's a vague question, but kind of leave the
board open for you here. So it's interesting because it really comes down to like what
is most impactful to me as a person when I'm doing that story. And I would say that 2017
probably comes up to me as probably one of my most memorable things where there was a terrible
tragedy that Mandalay or, you know, was a Mandalay Bay shooter. And it happened 30 days
before the SEMA show. So you can imagine the scrutiny with which we went through our security
plan and really making sure that we have everything in place. And we have a robust security plan that
involves, you know, all levels of law enforcement from federal to city to groups that we hire.
But there was so much uncertainty with security then. Will the event be safe and,
you know, what does the security plan look like? And in order to streamline communications,
my boss at the time decided I would be the only one that would talk about it at the company.
So I got phone call after phone call after phone call from people who say, hey,
I'm exhibiting this thing, but I don't want to go to Las Vegas to something that has,
you know, more than 100,000 people at it. You know, and I would explain one by one
the things that we did and that there's a person behind the plan and how much planning goes into
it. And it was this incredible sense of pride where I got to the show and would circle back
with those people. And again, it was like, okay, you're going to be in this hall,
here's an emergency exit, this is where the nearest security office is going to be,
this is what we've got in terms of guard. Like I shared parts of our plan.
And that was incredibly fulfilling for me was we had people that we were going to be their
first big event out. And I was able to give them some sense of calmness to what we were doing
because there was a plan and a person behind it. So I'd say of all the things I did,
that was probably most rewarding, you know, but every year there's something at SEMA.
And if you haven't been, I'd encourage anybody that's listening now. We've got everything,
no matter what aspect of the automotive lifestyle you're in. So we can still
book exhibit space. You can still register to attend. And if you're just an enthusiast,
we've got a day on Friday where you're able to buy a ticket and come to that. And it ends with
an event we call SEMA Fest that features motor sports in three bands, the neon trees, the
black crows and queens of the Stone Age to really put an exclamation point on the end
of the week. But no matter where you are in this automotive passionate industry,
we've got a ticket and an opportunity for you to be able to come and see it.
Oh, my goodness. There is so much there. I wish we had more time to talk through everything
because we talk even SEMA Fest and some of the educational aspects that are down there.
It's all encompassing. There's so much going on down there. If you are listening to this
show and are on the fence about going, I will tell you it is worth it over and over and over again.
Tom, it was an absolute pleasure to spend some time here with you today. Thank you for coming on
the show. Absolutely, Jay. Your pleasure was mine. That wraps up another episode of Beyond
the Wrench. If you liked this episode, please show your support by rating and following the
podcast. You can also watch the video interviews on Wrenchway's YouTube channel.
Speaking of Wrenchway, did you know Beyond the Wrench is managed and produced by the
Wrenchway team? Wrenchway is an online community dedicated to promoting and improving automotive
and diesel careers. We help technicians find the best shops to work at, and we also help auto,
diesel, and CTE instructors get more support from local industry. You can learn more by visiting
Wrenchway.com.
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