I’ve just posted my web account of what it’s like to be a freshly minted initiate to the SEMA aftermarket trade event. Words aren’t enough. Neither are pix – this show dwarfs anything I’d previously attended.

I’ve been asked a few times about what SEMA (and Globalshop, PRI, etc.) have to do with our powersports industry. My answer is – everything.

As for the automotive aftermarket and accessory events, they are quite simply your closest competitors. Sure, there’s the hdtv crowd, the boat folks, and the spa getaways – all major distractions. But there’s no avoiding the significant crossover between the four and two-wheeled markets.

Year in and out, the automotive sector wants what your customers have – disposable, discretionary income.

So it’s informative to see what and how they’re rolling out to the market. As for Globalshop, the answer’s also simple: this is where you can experience the latest in the best selling techniques available.

Put the two together, and what we see, hear, touch and even smell can deliver big dividends to our clients as they pursue a more and more fragmented audience.