ScottZeagle
Contributor
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I just got back from the show - a long 16 hour drive with a u-haul trailer in tow. I was quite curious to read the opinions of those that were there, and you guys didn't let me down... 
As others have stated, the attendance was down quite a bit from the previous shows - and WAY down from last years show, where they let anyone who could spell "scuba" in. That being said, the people who DID attend the show seemed to be in the buying mood, rather than the browsing mood, which is always a GOOD thing for us!!!
One benefit of less attendance is that you can spend more time with the customers who ARE at the show. Where we would normally try to cram a product update, yearly review, and a new sales order into a 30-45 minute appointment, we were able to spend 60 minutes + with the people who came, including distributors from Russia, Denmark, Canada, Australia, etc. These folks we normally only see once or twice a year, so it is nice to be able to relax and chat without your next appointment waiting in the wings...
We unveiled a new custome program, which will allow customers to pick a wide variety of colors for their own "personalized" BC. The Scubaboard guys took my photo with it, which you can find in the DEMA photo gallery!! We had numerous offers to buy the "one of a kind" display model, but I decided to hold on to it and let it run the "consumer show" circuit in 2005.
We also previewed a new Zeagle Computer, which we hope to have available by mid 2005, that I am very excited about. More on that later....
One thing that I didn't see at this years DEMA show was the "little guy with the cool new idea" that has a booth at the very back of the show. I always enjoy walking around the last few booths to see what people have come up with, but this year it just didn't seem to be there...maybe next year!!!
It was nice meeting and talking to the ScubaBoard guys, and we look forward to seeing more of you at next years show!!
Dive safe!!
Scott
As others have stated, the attendance was down quite a bit from the previous shows - and WAY down from last years show, where they let anyone who could spell "scuba" in. That being said, the people who DID attend the show seemed to be in the buying mood, rather than the browsing mood, which is always a GOOD thing for us!!!
One benefit of less attendance is that you can spend more time with the customers who ARE at the show. Where we would normally try to cram a product update, yearly review, and a new sales order into a 30-45 minute appointment, we were able to spend 60 minutes + with the people who came, including distributors from Russia, Denmark, Canada, Australia, etc. These folks we normally only see once or twice a year, so it is nice to be able to relax and chat without your next appointment waiting in the wings...
We unveiled a new custome program, which will allow customers to pick a wide variety of colors for their own "personalized" BC. The Scubaboard guys took my photo with it, which you can find in the DEMA photo gallery!! We had numerous offers to buy the "one of a kind" display model, but I decided to hold on to it and let it run the "consumer show" circuit in 2005.
We also previewed a new Zeagle Computer, which we hope to have available by mid 2005, that I am very excited about. More on that later....
One thing that I didn't see at this years DEMA show was the "little guy with the cool new idea" that has a booth at the very back of the show. I always enjoy walking around the last few booths to see what people have come up with, but this year it just didn't seem to be there...maybe next year!!!
It was nice meeting and talking to the ScubaBoard guys, and we look forward to seeing more of you at next years show!!
Dive safe!!
Scott
