The show has an estimated economic impact of around 176.1 million bucks on Vegas, not including the money pissed away gambling, according to the Vegas Convention people. The downside is that I really dislike Lost Wages. As a matter of fact, in the attendee information packet, attendees were advised to not wear their event credentials outside the event. The info said that it marked you as a tourist, i.e. sucker. They say it was a much better place when the bent nose boys ran it. Crime was illegal unless they ran it while slime balls and street scum were advised to leave for their health.

 

One thing is for sure is that SEMA treats the media very well and it seems like they appreciate what we do for them unlike most of the motorcycle industry that expects the media to suck up to them no matter what kind of crap some of them want to push off on a uneducated rider. Well at least that’s the way I personally see it.

 

  Pebble Beach and Quail events also go out of their way to make the media comfortable. The SEMA media center was equipped with computer stations, Internet, interview rooms, Starbucks coffee all day, pastries in the morning and fudge brownies in the afternoon. There were maps, schedules, and lists in unbelievable quantities. A whole forest must have been used to print all the material passed out by SEMA, vendors, etc.

 

   I’ve noticed a most unusual change in the media world. When I first started in the picture-taking racket, most of the real photographers used Nikon equipment. I was constantly teased about not being professional by using inferior Canon equipment which, by the way, has never left me high and dry like some many of my Nikon-equipped colleagues. With 3,000 members of the media at SEMA, I noticed the most popular camera was Canon and the Apple laptop outnumbered other brands 2 to 1. Once again I’m an outsider because I rarely use my laptop, totally relying on my iPad. I can’t forgot to mention the sit down, white table linen breakfast on Tuesday for the attendees with a front and center section marked off for “media only.” That was that!