Wow…What a week out in Vegas for the 2012 SEMA Show. This annual assembly of the automotive aftermarket brings together hundreds of thousands with a love for the automobile and the infinite ways available to customize them. SEMA, which stands for the “Specialty Equipment Market Association” is a trade association of manufacturers, shops, builders, and clubs devoted to the automotive aftermarket. BDS Suspension has been a member for a number of years now and once again made the trip to Las Vegas, NV for the trade show celebrating its 46th year of this convention. The show has something for everyone, with a mix of cars, trucks and motorcycles; lifted, lowered, go fast and all show-all go rigs. This 4-day gathering is a sight to see as over 2000 national and international companies come to Sin City to show their latest and greatest parts, talk to retail shops, dwell up new business and see other industry professionals. While the show is not open to the general public, it acts as a testbed for new parts and benchmark for new trends in the market. It brings together manufacturers with industry professionals and media members. Well over 100,000 walk the show floor of SEMA each year.
Now in our 4th year exhibiting at the show, BDS Suspension has teamed up with our sister company Zone Offroad Products to put on a party in the desert. Each year BDS has a themed booth for a big impact and to create a buzz around the show. Following some successful shows in years past we felt it was time for a party, and what better party this time of year than a tailgate party. After securing a 100×25′ booth space in the south hall, upper level of the Las Vegas Convention Center we sought out to create the tailgate party atmosphere. For the backdrop a 100′ long 15′ tall stadium panoramic backdrop was hung along with two (2) overhead blimps that doubled as overhead signage. Flooring came in the form of green astroturf and numerous tailgating props, grills, chairs, and signage. No tailgate party is complete without a tailgate, and BDS brought 4 vehicles to display in the booth along with the Zone sponsored 4-Wheel & Off-Road 2-Faced JK from this year’s Ultimate Adventure. We’ll cover the vehicles more in-depth with an upcoming post, but this year’s booth vehicles included a 2012 F350 Super Duty running the BDS 8″ lift kit and 40s, a 2012 Silverado 2500HD running the BDS 6.5″ lift kit and 38s, a 2010 Ram 2500 running the BDS 8″ lift kit and 37s, and a 2012 JK-8 conversion running the BDS 6.5″ lift kit and 40s.
Without a doubt one of the highlights of our booth was the food and drink. No tailgate party is complete without delicious grub and ice cold beer. BDS delivered with a mix of hot dogs and pulled pork BBQ each day around lunchtime for show goers along with keg after keg of ice cold Budweiser served up in a BDS branded red solo cups. Offroad videos and music kept everyone entertained during their stop at the BDS booth to check out the kits and all our new products.
To head on to Part 2 of BDS’s SEMA 2012 Coverage: The Rides, click HERE.
To skip ahead to Part 3 of BDS’s SEMA 2012 Coverage: The People, click HERE.
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I’m the owner of the Chevy the you guys built for the 2012 SEMA show at Vegas. Thank you to the team for the work in my truck I Love it.