Ideas Alive at the SEMA Show

New Products Showcase a Top Value for Exhibitors, Buyers and Media

		Ideas Alive: Featuring the New Products Showcase is the top attraction at the SEMA Show each year. It’s the venue where ideas come alive and attendees find the products that will inspire their customers in the year ahead.

The SEMA Show is the premier trade event for automotive enterprises of all types. The industry gathers in Las Vegas each year to learn about the latest innovations and most sought-after parts and accessories for car, truck and powersports vehicle owners throughout the world. And the top attraction at this globe-spanning event is Ideas Alive: Featuring the New Products Showcase—the venue where ideas become tangible and attendees find the products that will inspire their customers in the year ahead.

As befits this ever-growing cavalcade of automotive equipment, the Ideas Alive: Featuring the New Products Showcase will occupy a 35,000-sq.-ft. space in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s upper South Hall when the SEMA Show new product previewing opens at 8:00 a.m. on November 1 this year (the Show officially opens at 9:00 a.m.). The expanded footprint next to the Truck, SUV & Off-Road section and the Powersports & Utility Vehicles section provides a greater area from which buyers and the media can cull the products that will appeal most to their customers, readers and viewers. Even better, buyers and media may use electronic scanners to capture product information that can be downloaded in a variety of formats—including a new smartphone format for 2011.

Two new product categories will also be introduced this year, increasing the possibilities for exhibitors to gain front-line exposure. The first, Collision, Repair & Refinish, will join 15 other categories that will be judged for “Best New Product” awards. Each product entered in a considered category will be judged for criteria ranging from product potential, innovativeness, availability (including cost), space efficiency, consumer appeal, quality and workmanship, and technical achievement. To be eligible to win a new product award, the exhibiting company must be a SEMA or Tire Industry Association (TIA) member in good standing.

Exhibitors at the 2011 SEMA Show may also place a product in the second newly established category: “Featured Products.” Products are eligible for display in this category even if they are not strictly “new,” allowing exhibitors to promote their best-selling or most representative products to buyers and the media. While these items are not eligible for “Best New Product” awards voting, they provide every exhibitor with an additional opportunity to present a top offering in a position of prominence.

		There are 16 categories up for “Best New Product” awards. Each product entered in a judged category is considered on the basis of product potential, innovativeness, availability (including cost), space efficiency, consumer appeal, quality and workmanship, and technical achievement.

The New Products Showcase offers benefits to every attendee at the 2011 SEMA Show. For exhibitors, it provides the best return for the least investment and is the single smartest move an exhibitor can make. The first product entered, whether in one of the judged categories or in the “Featured Products” area, is free to the exhibitor, and every subsequent entry is only $75 if received by October 7, $150 after that date. (Onsite entries will be accepted on a space-available basis, and only products entered for judging prior to October 7 will be eligible for the awards program.) Each product entered is professionally photographed and loaded onto SEMAdigital.com, where media and buyers alike can access information and high-resolution images throughout the year for display and publication.

For buyers, the New Products Showcase is a one-stop shopping spree where the most innovative products are displayed. The electronic scanning feature makes it quick and easy to collect product and contact information as well as high-resolution images of the selected products.

And for the media, the scanning system and downloads available online make it simple to find the newest and hottest products in the industry. Prospects for buyer’s guides and technical articles abound, with complete cut-and-paste contact information that provides improved accuracy.

Exhibitors may enter products now by visiting www.SEMAShow.com/newproducts and using their exhibitor passwords (the same password used for exhibitor registration). Veteran SEMA exhibitors know to take advantage of this promotional opportunity. And who knows? Your company might be called to the stage to accept a “Best New Product” award at the New Products Breakfast on Tuesday, November 1, 7:30 a.m.–8:45 a.m. But you can’t win if you don’t enter. Visit www.SEMAShow.com today!