Day 2 DEMA

[Paco]

Who are some of the "big players" that didn't show up?

 

[Michael Schlink]

Oceanic, Aeris, Zeagle, Halcyon and Diverite are the only ones that are there, if I missed someone very sorry, anyone else is welcome to chime in. There are several smaller mfg's and a few that I haven't seen before. I am leaving in a few minutes for the DEMA party, my wife wants her picture with Leslie Nielson!!

 

[MB]

I heard that it was PETE doing the hula thing!

 

[Boogie711]

Wow - I knew Scubapro bailed, but Mares, Aqualung, Sherwood, OMS...

That's huge.

DEMA is dying. Wow.

 

[r37691]

OMS & Delta P were there. It was kind of dead though. Maybe Vegas will be better.

 

[ewong]

Yes, I've talked to neighbor booths and traffic has paled in comparison with other years according to them. However, I keep my hopes high, this is my first year putting up a booth at DEMA and the response to our product has been very positive so far.

I shouldn't be complaining because I won a prize (Carnival Cruise for two) at the DEMA Awards Party !

If there are still any Scubaboarders around, please stop by booth #1206:
Yellow Tang Software. ... we might have some goodies left


Eddy.

 

[crpntr133]

enlighten a newbie...is DEMA one of those trade shows that isn't open to the public? In other words do you have to work/own a LDS to get in?

 

[Doc]

enlighten a newbie...is DEMA one of those trade shows that isn't open to the public? In other words do you have to work/own a LDS to get in?

It is not a "retail" show, meaning just as you stated, it is not open to the general public.

Working or owning an LDS would be sufficient to get you pre-registered and inside. Just about any connection to the need for life support systems, swim attire, snorkel gear, dive vacation (travel) retailer... you name it... will get you an okay as you register.

If you fit those wide criteria, call up their website and fill out the application for Vegas.

I will repeat, however, that your local retail dive show

( see http://www.bonhata.org/dive_shows.html or http://directory.webguest.com/Recreation/Outdoors/Scuba_Diving/Conventions_and_Exhibitions )

is a much better entertainment in information value. The people that are at DEMA are (in theory) there with bulk, metric, cubic US Dollars to spend and take- they are not interested in selling you a regulator so you can go ask the Jamaican Tourism Board to book you into the best resort on the island for two nights, double bed.

Even if you have a $12k budget to spend on hardware- they might not be interested in taking your money- a personal experience on my part! I had cash-in-hand, and altho I had a dealership registered under the camera line of Sea and Sea- they wouldn't sell me out-of-catalog dive computers that they had lying around getting dusty. Go figure.

Doc.

 

[caveseeker7]

No doubt, attendance was down from the last two years.
Aside from missing visitors, there were plenty of empty booth spaces, too. A look in the program revealed that most came from Florida and the islands ... .

While Houston might not be as attractive a place to visit as Vegas or Orlando (the two places most every exhibitor mentioned as the location on the east and west coasts, I was pleasntly suprised by Houston. Both the city and the center were quite nice, I wish I've had another day.

In regards to attendance, also remember that DEMA seriously "cracked down" on buyer badges. I know several shops out here that took good customers and friends of the shop along for the ride. So I'm sure that the ones who attended were there to do biz.

For many of the smaller companies, it might have been good that the big Kahunas were absent, as buyers could spend their time and attention on them, too.

Overall though, turnout looked pretty sad ... I hope the exhibitors did well enough to come to Vegas next year.

 

[Christi]

Who are some of the "big players" that didn't show up?

Not there:
ScubaPro/UWATEC
Seaquest
Aqualung
Mares/Dacor
Sherwood

There:
TUSA
OMS
Dive Rite
Halcyon
Oceanic
XCel
Aeris
Zeagle
and several of the smaller manufacturerers

What I heard in talking to many of the booth reps is that although it was a smaller show, it was still productive and actually better in some ways. Most of the people who were there were serious about buying and placing orders vs. past years where just about anyone could get in and browse/gawk/get information without really having the credentials to place big or repetitive orders.

This was my first DEMA and I am glad it was slower than in years past, because it was overwhelming for me as it was! I did make some exciting purchases for my operation which will be announced soon!