Well day three has shaped up to be a little better than the previous days. I spoke with several vendors at the DEMA Awards party this evening and although everyone agreed that the traffic count was down they were able to "do a little business". One positive spin that I heard was that with the "big guys" out of the way the smaller folks had a little more face time with the attendees. Another great thing that I was glad to hear about- because the show was far from the total failure that some had predicted it appears that next years show should see a few of the missing mfg's back.
For those of you that are kind of new at this, if your planning to attend DEMA next year, start saving your money-NO the travel expenses won't be high, NO the air fare should be reasonable,No the hotels won't be expensive, you need to save your $$ because when you step out of your hotel elavator the first thing your going to hear is that too familiar "slot machine jingle" See ya' in Vegas
The DEMA Awards show was great-everyone looked to be having a lot of fun. Leslie Nielson was the M.C. and was very entertaining. My wife really wanted to get her picturre with him as she is a great fan. Well she wiggled her way up to him amongst the many others trying for a moment of his time. I watched from a few feet away as she introduced herself and they spoke for a few moments. Mr. Nielson seemed quite amused. After she stepped away and yielded to the many others trying for their chance I asked her what she said. " I told him that I loved him in Seahunt, he said he gets that all the time!"