In what has become an annual tradition, Omix-ADA recently unveiled a project Jeep built in support of SEMA Cares, the association’s program benefitting children’s charities. The debut took place at the recent 50th anniversary SEMA Show in Las Vegas. After its unveiling at SEMA Central, the vehicle served as a dramatic conversation piece, raising vital awareness for SEMA Cares charitable efforts within the automotive aftermarket.

More than 2,400 exhibitors from the 2016 SEMA Show voted to determine this year’s SEMA Award winners—a forward-looking honor that identifies the exhibitors’ choices about the hottest new and emerging vehicles and guides consumers toward the most accessory-friendly platforms on the market. For 2016, Ford and MOPAR were chosen as the two most popular OEMs, with Ford winning in three categories and MOPAR winning the remaining two.

The schedule of press conferences scheduled for the 2016 SEMA Show.

Before there was a SEMA Show, there was an association—a loosely knit group of speed-equipment manufacturers who came together with a common interest. It was the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association’s shared obstacles to building their businesses that brought them together, and the foundation of the industry was born.

A major factor in the vitality and growth of the association was the advent of the annual SEMA Show. In 1965 and 1966, Noel Carpenter, publisher of Speed Equipment Directory, produced an industry-wide exposition that was initially promoted as a chance for the speed-equipment manufacturers to showcase new products. While the shows were not sponsored by SEMA, the association did receive a share of the profits from the 1966 gathering.

With more than 1 million sq. ft. of exhibit space in and around the Las Vegas Convention Center, the annual SEMA Show attracts 160,000 industry leaders from more than 100 countries. In 2015, the Show featured more than 2,400 exhibitors, including 400 first-timers. SEMA offers several tools—the Exhibitor Summit in particular—to help rookie exhibitors succeed.

In June, 10 members of SEMA’s Young Executives Network (YEN) set out on the Hot Rod Power Tour. The network, which has a stated goal of cultivating talents and facilitating connections for SEMA-member company employees under age 40, has offered this program for the past three years in order to raise industry awareness and create connection points for up-and-coming industry leaders.

In addition to hot products and leading manufacturers, the annual SEMA Show attracts top vehicle builders who debut their one-of-a-kind creations in front of more than 140,000 industry professionals at the world’s premier automotive trade gathering. For many of these builders, the SEMA Battle of the Builders is their chance to prove that they are among the elite. Hundreds enter; only one can win.

SEMA Ignited, conceived as a way for SEMA Show exhibitors to extend their brands to a consumer audience, kicked off Friday night after the weeklong, trade-only SEMA Show ended. The Ignited event, situated just a short walk from the Las Vegas Convention Center, gave thousands of car enthusiasts a magical opportunity to view singular automotive creations on display at the world-famous SEMA Show.

The annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas is one of the largest automotive trade events in the world, but the fact that it’s held in an entertainment mecca also makes it an opportunity for automotive professionals to explore all sorts of diversions, both automotive and not. The following are only a few of the options, but be sure to visit the official city website at www.lasvegas.com for its enormous catalog of activities, shows, tours and more.