SEMA News: Why are you running for the chair-elect position on the SEMA Board of Directors?
Doug Evans: I am honored to be running! I feel we are at a critical juncture with our industry, and my three decades of experience can help ensure a bright future for SEMA and future generations of enthusiasts.
Not too long ago, it took an expert in HTML to enable you to launch a website for your business. It was all very mysterious and was often communicated in a “trust us, you wouldn’t understand” manner. Today, there are numerous ready-to-go platform solutions that have made what was once an expensive and expertise-intensive process into a do-it-yourself reality. In fact, many business owners today are finding that understanding their business technology and managing the details internally is not only relatively easy to do, but also brings a whole new level of control into the business that most often produces better results while saving money.
It has become fairly routine for businesses to periodically review health-care coverage to monitor cost and quality. But this year, health-care review will be more difficult. That’s because the Affordable Care Act—the national health-care plan otherwise known as “Obamacare”—is being phased in, bringing with it new rules about how companies offer health care. 
Here Are Things SEMA Members Need to Know
Nearly 2,000 companies participated in the 2013 SEMA Show priority booth selection process that was conducted in May. The number represents a 6% increase over the number of companies that participated in the process in 2012.
The SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) has completed its beta phase and has entered production mode with the newly developed Product Information Management System (PIMS). All beta participants have been successfully migrated into the new system, with full PIES functionality and ACES file handling in place. 
Top Global Markets
For 2013 and the immediate future, the buzz phrase in the mobile-electronics market remains “vehicle connectivity.” At least, that seems to be the consensus of a variety of category observers within the field, from journalists to marketing professionals.
The hot-rod market has always been predicated on performance. It’s where the niche—and the entire specialty-equipment industry, really—found its genesis. The listings of hot-rod components and systems unveiled at the most recent SEMA Show and now found on these pages continue in that vein, though there is also an increasing emphasis on making rods not only hot, but also comfortable and drivable.
Only a few decades ago, most automotive systems were mechanical or analog. Carbureted engines, manual transmissions and knob-tuned AM radios were standard equipment. But even the most basic of today’s cars and trucks offer a cornucopia of electronic controls that improve functionality and the driving experience. New specialty-equipment devices ranging from telemetry for hands-free communications and satellite navigation to powertrain tuning software and radio-frequency links with the home provide an almost dizzying array of options even beyond the sophisticated creations delivered at showrooms by the carmakers.
The Hot Rod Power Tour is nearing its 20th birthday (this year’s running in June swings from Texas to North Carolina), but the roots of long-distance hot-rod hauling go back much further than that. The October 1963 issue of Car Craft covered an annual road trip made by members of the Los Angeles and Bay Area Roadster Clubs. 
