How was DEMA 2009 ?

[ScubaExpress]

Dema is a great show. I attend the show to see and feel product. If you are not there and you produce product you are missing customers. I pick up new products at the show , order and try on product. It's also a chance to see the whole line and compare with another line.
Show was smaller but those I talked to did huge sales.
Infighting at dema needs to get worked out and manufact. Need to get back in the show with a strong showing. This is our industry

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

This was my first time attending DEMA. Our shop has recently gone through a change in ownership and management, so it was good to see how we can better utulize the business. We will be starting a new focus on training the disabled so it was good to talk with HSA, DiveHeart, and the IAHD. It was also great to talk to resorts and travel agencies to know who can accomodate our divers with upcoming trips be they group or individual. That was a great resource.

I atttended quite a few seminars, especially the Risk Management ones since I will be finalizing my DM in the next month. It was a good wealth of information and I tried to get the most bang for my buck. I am not sure if our shop will be participating next year since it will require a greater expense, but I know we will take advantage of it again in Orlando in 2011.

It was great meeting many more SBer's!

Carolyn:shark2:

 

[japan-diver]

This was about my 10th show and the 3rd year we had a booth for diving Japan. The show was smaller than past show but what it lacked in quantity it made up for in quality. We talked to fewer people but made more bookings and sales. The people that traveled to the show this year seemed to be the active members of the industry and alot of business was being done. I was disappointed in that a few of the suppliers we use were not at the show as this is realy the only time we get to see them face to face- but we were agressively wooed by others more than willing to replace them. I think many manufacturers had smaller booths but having some presence is better than none. Sherwoods booth was tiny but I had a few questions I got answered and a training seminar done that was needed- smart use of the show by them I think. It would be nice to see a few more manufacturers at next years show- even a small presence would be great the huge booths and extravagent displays of past show althought cool are not necessary and will not be back- they just don't make sense. Overall the show as an exhibitor was a great success as a shop attending it was definately worth going and I flew in from Japan. Hopefully with changes being made Vegas will be even better and a few of the people not showing will be back next year.

 

[Johnoly]

Alot of the booths that I talked to said they were having a very good show with plenty of sales or line change commitments. Due to the smaller booth size, many focused on a featured product and those had great sales. An example was several wetsuit suppliers who didn't bring every size in every style, Just one or 2 sizes of each style.

The shop owners had a great chance to compare products side by side or just walking down the aisle and I didn't find a single shop owner who thought it was a waste of time.

I also enjoyed the re-sinking of the Vandenburg model that had multiple video cameras on it to show how and why it landed upright. They put actual charges in the model and blew them up. It explained why the front end of the actual wreck is crinkled and buckled as it slammed into the floor bow first.

The seminars for the most part were outstanding. The best for me was DAN's ultrasound seminar, just cutting edge info. The deep stops seminar bordered on the point of maddening when the summary basically said "we don't know".

I didn't attend all the different Friday nite parties, but from the reviews saturday morning, the WetPixel party was a big hit.

Lastly, I really expected Saturday to be more crowded with the relaxed credentials requirements, but I didn't see it and by 3:00, it had really thinned out. Friday was screaming packed in the aisles right up until the close, maybe doing something with the 5-7 footer seas and no diving.

This was my 6th DEMA and very successful for me.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

It was my first DEMA, and I had a blast! Even though it was "smaller than past DEMA's," it still took me 2 days to see every booth I wanted to, and there were plenty I didn't even bother to stop at.

I was not happy with the lack of several booths I had expected to see there. Even if it's not vitally important, I think missing a trade show like that sends some doubts out about how the company is doing financially.

I was surprised that two different booths seemed upset at me looking at their products and taking pictures. I don't know if I should name them, but one company who had tanks on display practically ordered me to leave, even with my press pass. They told me that they thought I was with a competitor and would steal their proprietary tank information. I decided I would not be giving them a glowing review for having the best deal on tanks. Any company that doesn't want pictures of their products on Scubaboard, I wonder how good their product is. If you look through my pictures and notice some company has a really good price on tanks at their booth... The second booth was one of those companies that has roughly the same products as several other companies, infact, I don't even remember which one of the 4 or 5 almost identical companies it was. But one of their sales lady's was very insistent that she know "who you are with" even though I didn't have any questions or want to talk to her. I watched her interrogate another person before she came over to bother me. They had a few unique products I would have liked to have photographed and put up with a mention on Scubaboard, but they lost that opportunity.

Most of the people I talked to were incredibly nice and I picked up tons of great info. I also took pictures of products to write about here on Scubaboard, and I'll try to get those in soon here, I just have a few tests to knock out first.

After going to one, I certainly want to go to more!

 

[DiveNav]

Dema Show was extremely good for us.

Our new online classes for dive computers were received very well by manufacturers, dive operators and Instructors.

Alberto

 

[cool_hardware52]

I was not happy with the lack of several booths I had expected to see there. Even if it's not vitally important, I think missing a trade show like that sends some doubts out about how the company is doing financially.

This year many former exhibitors, in particular manufacturers elected to not attend as a protest against how DEMA is spending it's membership's $$. It would be a mistake to conclude that "No Booth = Financial Distress"

I was surprised that two different booths seemed upset at me looking at their products and taking pictures. I don't know if I should name them, but one company who had tanks on display practically ordered me to leave, even with my press pass. They told me that they thought I was with a competitor and would steal their proprietary tank information. I decided I would not be giving them a glowing review for having the best deal on tanks. Any company that doesn't want pictures of their products on Scubaboard, I wonder how good their product is. If you look through my pictures and notice some company has a really good price on tanks at their booth... The second booth was one of those companies that has roughly the same products as several other companies, infact, I don't even remember which one of the 4 or 5 almost identical companies it was. But one of their sales lady's was very insistent that she know "who you are with" even though I didn't have any questions or want to talk to her. I watched her interrogate another person before she came over to bother me. They had a few unique products I would have liked to have photographed and put up with a mention on Scubaboard, but they lost that opportunity.

It's a trade show not a consumer show. The exhibitors paid dearly for the chance to expose their wares to their customers, i.e. the LDS, not to provide grist for "journalists" It's perfectly natural that exhibitors would want their pricing information to remain confidential.



Tobin

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Tobin,

it is wrong to assume that a no show= financial distress but that is what I thought of first when I saw a no show...however that makes sense. Impressions and facts are different and what stick are often the impressions.

I wasn't trying to get a picture of their pricing information, only of their product. Their sales rep was very particular that it was the fact that I was taking pictures of his product that bothered him. The only pictures I was able to get where from further away in shots of other booths, and those shots, unfortunately, contain pricing information. He made it impossible to get any shots that did not contain pricing information, as I was trying to do. I will avoid reccomending this company, their compressors or their tanks to people, after the abrasive conversation with their sales rep, who walked away after answering a few of my questions, very rudely. He was the only sales rep who just up and left in the middle of my politely asking questions about his product. The only other treatment that came close was due to a sales rep that spoke limited english being unable to answer my questions because he couldn't understand what I was trying to ask, but he was polite about it.

For what it is worth, before the rep walked off, he informed me the tanks are almost identical to Catalina cylinders, and thus useless as stage bottles for technical divers.

 

[scubafanatic]

It was slow and obviously not well attended. It's really a travel show now. Aqua Lung had what amounted to about 2 folding tables(sad.) Did not see a DiveRite booth or a DUI booth. Saw those manufacturers owners walking around. I had repair seminars that were necessary for me and at least DEMA was a place to get people in a place for that. Overall: Not Impressed. And, I've been to most of them since the 70's.

...interesting that major scuba gear superpowers (DiveRite / Halcyon / and let's go ahead and include Aqualung who was 'barely' there) saw little/no point in attending, especially Halcyon and DiveRite who are both based IN Florida !!! I've always considered DiveRite to be one of the more forward-thinking/trend setting brands, so there is stong symbolism here.

 

[ReneeC]

While it did appear slower than in previous years, many of the exhibitors I spoke with said they were having a great show. For me as a small buyer it was nice to be able to actually get face time with manufacturers and destinations. I didn't attend as many seminars as I would have liked but I did get alot accomplished.