Any thoughts/reports on the EXPO?

[Tom Winters]

DEMA has been changing for years now - it's mostly travel, new stuff, tech, and new companies looking for a niche.
There is no reason for the giants like Aqua Lung or Scubapro with their huge entrenched dealer networks to attend. They can't away with a dinky little booth so they have to shell out outrageous amounts of moolah - plus house and feed their hordes.
I'm not sure about the viability of regional shows like the Hawaii EXPO. The total associated costs even for a tiny display are pretty high considering the return on investment. DEMA though is a central locus for the dive industry - it's the best way for the new guys to get any market share.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

DEMA has lost some major manufacturers and it's easy to understand why when you look at the costs for setting up there. Just way too much money for a booth. You aren't allowed to haul your own stuff to your booth and instead have to pay them to bring it inside for you.

 

[justleesa]

yeah, that is pretty much what happened to the trade shows that I used to work at. lots of companies wound up hosting "House Shows" at their own warehouses. Unlimited space and 0 costs ( well not really 0, but you know what I mean), no competition, more work shops...all around came out to be a much better deal for them.

 

[RICHinNC]

Well, I spent all day Saturday at the WWW.SingleDivers.com table helping out Kamala.

I didnt find the crowd that large at all.

Personally, Oahu is a small divers venue to expect 15k of people to show up. I have no clue how they advertised the thing as I was recruited at the last minute to help at the table since I was there anyway in other business. I would doubt very few "customer attendees" would fly from the mainland just to go to the exhibit.

I did have a ball myself but I just like interacting with people as they walked by.

Agree on the comment, not a lot of new and fantastic stuff there. But some interesting stuff none the less.