Why doesn’t DEMA open to the general public?

[Scuba Client]

First, as a consumer interested in buying gear, I'm better served by the demo days like DUI's Dog Days or Mission Rec Mission Tec where manufacturers bring their gear, work with local shops for you to dive before you buy.

Second, if you cut out the LDS and sell direct manufacturer to consumer many LDS will cease to exist.

Third, consumers don't need classes on regulator repair or the myriad of other B2B offerings.

There could be technicians on hand to sell courses to the average diver that is interested in being a service technician. The US is the leader in innovation, yet all I hear is how you and the others cannot task load.

Under performing dive shops need to close down and get out of town.

 

[Scuba Client]

If vendors are booked up with potentially (relatively) high-volume purchase clients, it stands to reason they'd have to 'brush off' regular 'Joe average' divers like me who'd like to walk up and engage in spontaneous discussions about products we might buy one of, or are just curious about with no intention of buying. I could see Joe average then getting on social media claiming the snooty company rep.s had no time for the 'little guy.'

Professional reps are a dime a dozen, those who stand out move on. They also understand the small buyer may become a bigger buyer in the future. Just like recreational divers who move onto technical at a later stage.

‘Hello there. I’m Lloyd Bridges. Skin diving is fun and adventure for young and old, but it can be dangerous. So know the sport well, and don’t take any chances. Be with you next week, for another exciting Sea Hunt.’

 

[The Chairman]

Damn dude, just start your own dive show. You know the business better than everybody else so it's natural. You'll be the savior of the industry.

 

[Centrals]

They're probably money launderers.

You like to speculate!!!
Losing money to the casino and claim tax rebate?
How did they do it?
Some of them are PLC in HK stock exchange. And some of them are linked to Las Vegas eg Venetian Macau.
Sands pulling out of Las Vegas to bet big on Asia

You ought to concentrate on topic that you are familiar.

 

[Wookie]

They also understand the small buyer may become a bigger buyer in the future. Just like recreational divers who move onto technical at a later stage.

A great Scuba customer for a retail shop may buy $25k over their lifetime A big shop may have 100 of those. By far, a shop sells 1000 sets of Mask, Fin, and Snorkels a year to folks going on holiday to the beach. Not to great customers, but to the bread and butter keep the shop open folks.

The markup on travel is tiny, maybe 10% and a busman's holiday. Lots of travel is sold, which means the owner has to hire someone to watch the shop while they are out working the trip.

I spent $15k to go to DEMA. Enough of the consumer types get in that I had to have 2 booth attendants to talk to them. Those conversations were typically short, as we gave nothing away at DEMA. My time was better spent talking to the person booking a whole boat at $50,000, because it took the exact same amount of work as it did to talk to the retail customer (who wanted to know if we would give him a trip for free, "for the exposure") who would spend no more than $3k for the week.

So no. I don't care about the small buyer who might become a big buyer. I wasn't there to sell to small buyers or big buyers, I was there to train and sell to the wholesale buyer.

EDIT: You understand that DEMA is Travel, Trinkets, and Training, right? The gear sales are done in house by a traveling rep. A consumer might see the newest full face snorkel in the new products pavilion, and might clean up the floor displays the last day of the show so the vendor doesn't have to ship it home, and may make enough for beer money. But there is nothing there for a consumer to buy, and the punters take time away from the manufacturers who are training sales staff and instructors to sell their trinkets.

 

[sea_ledford]

The FOMO is real!

All the good stuff happens at DEMA and I CAN'T GO!!! Not Fair!

Even as an independent instructor or rep for a dive program, I only go for the training. Even then I only go if I need more than one training class. I'll typically renew a VIP cert, and my Dive Rite and Poseidon reg tech certs. I'll go to the training updates for my cert agencies. None of that is useful if you aren't a professional or associated with a shop.

The floor is nice to see old friends, and maybe peek at the new stuff, but there is nothing to buy. That's not true, last time a bought a slate pencil. It's awesome, but you can get one here for a lot less than the entry fee: AQUA PENCIL SOLO PACKS

 

[Scuba Client]

A great Scuba customer for a retail shop may buy $25k over their lifetime A big shop may have 100 of those. By far, a shop sells 1000 sets of Mask, Fin, and Snorkels a year to folks going on holiday to the beach. Not to great customers, but to the bread and butter keep the shop open folks.

The markup on travel is tiny, maybe 10% and a busman's holiday. Lots of travel is sold, which means the owner has to hire someone to watch the shop while they are out working the trip.

I spent $15k to go to DEMA. Enough of the consumer types get in that I had to have 2 booth attendants to talk to them. Those conversations were typically short, as we gave nothing away at DEMA. My time was better spent talking to the person booking a whole boat at $50,000, because it took the exact same amount of work as it did to talk to the retail customer (who wanted to know if we would give him a trip for free, "for the exposure") who would spend no more than $3k for the week.

So no. I don't care about the small buyer who might become a big buyer. I wasn't there to sell to small buyers or big buyers, I was there to train and sell to the wholesale buyer.

EDIT: You understand that DEMA is Travel, Trinkets, and Training, right? The gear sales are done in house by a traveling rep. A consumer might see the newest full face snorkel in the new products pavilion, and might clean up the floor displays the last day of the show so the vendor doesn't have to ship it home, and may make enough for beer money. But there is nothing there for a consumer to buy, and the punters take time away from the manufacturers who are training sales staff and instructors to sell their trinkets.

How do you inspire the next generation of scuba divers? Paying customers (public) can offset overall cost for exhibitors. Big events attract people from all walks of life. Instead of telling me all the negative attributes, how about putting a positive spin on how to promote scuba to new divers. Recreational diving has stagnated because dim-witted dive shop owners reluctant to keep up with technology, and to provide sound advice to new customers.

 

[broncobowsher]

I've gone a couple of times. Really not that much excitement. Couple things I bought at the show were not really deals, just nice to see in person before placing an order. Not stock for the shop, one off items for myself. I could just order them and not have to deal with hauling it out of the show, same price. If you think you are going to walk out of the show with a bunch of free stuff or heavily discounted stuff, you are wrong. I got a couple of pens, that was about it.

My job is to scout out non-mainstream stuff for the shop owner that had his regular appointments and training to attend, If I am not in a training class myself. All of his regular inventory is already handled by the reps that stop by the shop anyway.

For someone selling travel, I'm just some average guy walking past the booth. The owner already has destinations picked out and has the checkbook to make the deal. Not my line of work. I am more of a hardware guy. I'll stop and look at some new compressors I know the owner will never buy. But that doesn't stop me from looking. I will be looking at the filter suppliers to see if there is anything the shop could use, send the owner over to have a talk. I guess that makes me a glorified secretary? Professional assistant sounds better. Little stuff like finding who has the better deal on weights this year. At dinner give the owner the numbers so he can do a one stop and place the order.

 

[broncobowsher]

How do you inspire the next generation of scuba divers? Paying customers (public) can offset overall cost for exhibitors. Big events attract people from all walks of life. Instead of telling me all the negative attributes, how about putting a positive spin on how to promote scuba to new divers. Recreational diving has stagnated because dim-witted dive shop owners reluctant to keep up with technology, and to provide sound advice to new customers.

You are describing dive shows, not trade shows. There is a huge difference that you don't understand.

In a different business a home and garden show that has a bunch of home improvement products aimed at the end consumer would be like a dive show. But the behind the scenes trade show is where the shower head manufacturer makes the deal with Home Depot on carrying the line, volume of sales, and exclusive lines of product.

In the automotive world (SEMA, about 2 weeks before DEMA in Vegas) is where the owner of a speed shop makes the deal to carry a line of Comp cams over a line of Crane or Isky cams for his store. Or shop for a chassis dyno for the shop (like shopping for an air compressor in a dive shop). Which one meets the needs at what price point. What is the production time and when can it be delivered? At this point the speed shop will attend a car show to sell his wares (or services) to the end consumer.

There is almost nothing retail happening at DEMA, it is the business of making a retail business out of dive gear. To the average diver, DEMA is useless. A little eye candy, but you would get less out of it than going to your neighbor hood dive shop. There is nothing at DEMA to inspire the next generation of divers, that is what a dive show is about. If you make it to the states, go to the Long Beach dive show. That is aimed at the general public. That is where you can take people to get inspired. Has some of the same venders as DEMA, but they are now in the retail game and not the trade show game. What you describe you want to see, that is a dive show. Not a trade show.

 

[Scuba Client]

You are describing dive shows, not trade shows. There is a huge difference that you don't understand.

In a different business a home and garden show that has a bunch of home improvement products aimed at the end consumer would be like a dive show. But the behind the scenes trade show is where the shower head manufacturer makes the deal with Home Depot on carrying the line, volume of sales, and exclusive lines of product.

In the automotive world (SEMA, about 2 weeks before DEMA in Vegas) is where the owner of a speed shop makes the deal to carry a line of Comp cams over a line of Crane or Isky cams for his store. Or shop for a chassis dyno for the shop (like shopping for an air compressor in a dive shop). Which one meets the needs at what price point. What is the production time and when can it be delivered? At this point the speed shop will attend a car show to sell his wares (or services) to the end consumer.

There is almost nothing retail happening at DEMA, it is the business of making a retail business out of dive gear. To the average diver, DEMA is useless. A little eye candy, but you would get less out of it than going to your neighbor hood dive shop. There is nothing at DEMA to inspire the next generation of divers, that is what a dive show is about. If you make it to the states, go to the Long Beach dive show. That is aimed at the general public. That is where you can take people to get inspired. Has some of the same venders as DEMA, but they are now in the retail game and not the trade show game. What you describe you want to see, that is a dive show. Not a trade show.

The Long Beach dive show has exhibitors too. Divers want to see what's out there. Las Vegas is the place. It's obvious scuba diving has stagnated for decades and will continue to do so with the current mindset. A gun show does not sell to the general public but it shows off it's products. Maybe you should go to a gun show and learn something.