Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association Show

Hi from DEMA!

Why am I here? A really good question. There are a lot of reasons to come to a trade show. My top reasons are:

1. Take several PADI courses to continue my education as an instructor.
2. Meet with several people who have been helpful throughout the year, such as our PADI rep, our travel folks and several of our suppliers.
3. Spend some time checking out the latest and greatest stuff.
4. Meet with friends in the industry.

The show is LARGE. Surprisingly large. I think I walked about 4 miles inside the show room floor. There are approximately 750 booths located in the convention center. I have noticed a couple of interesting things about the show:

• The people in the booths are in a good mood still and great to talk to. I think by Sunday, the last day of the show, people won't be so nice.
• There is a lot of stuff out there in the dive industry. I have seen an amazing number of inventors that turn out really cool products. There is a lot of stuff that I would like to see in the store, but I have to be careful and get a sanity check with the folks back in Sarasota.
• There are a number of cool products that don't really solve an underlying problem, or solve a problem that nobody really has. I saw that a fair amount today - and I feel bad because some of these folks have done a great job of building a product that may not be useful.
• The Chinese manufacturers are out in force again with a lot of knock off equipment. They are looking only to sell in large lots to the middle tier re-sellers int he industry.
• The number of rebreather manufacturers is down significantly from last year. I am not sure if it means that the rebreather industry has topped out, but I don't see prices coming down this year at all.
• The show continues to have a "market bazaar" atmosphere with a lot of pushing for sales and less education of the buyers, which is the biggest rap that DEMA gets for the last couple of years.

I am grabbing lunch and resting my feet before I go back in for another hour or so to meet with some of our suppliers. I've posted some cell camera pics from the show.