More than 200 media representatives attended the 2009 MPMC Media Trade Conference (MTC) last week, held at the Embassy Suites near Los Angeles International Airport. Representing trade and consumer publications, journalists and sales staff met with nearly 100 leading motorsports manufacturers for informal, one-on-one meetings to discuss new products and editorial collaborations.
The annual three-day event is organized by the Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council (MPMC), a SEMA council.
Following the opening day of meetings, which coincided with President Barack Obama's inauguration, attendees joined the evening reception and media award presentation.
Additionally, the council presented Bill Middaugh with its 2009 Robert E. Peterson Media Award. Given to one individual each year, the award recognizes those who have made a positive impact on the motorsports industry and the MPMC during the past year.
Middaugh recently joined Bobit Business Media as the advertising sales manager for the Hotrod & Restoration magazine and trade show. Prior to that, he served for 18 years at Source Interlink Media on titles such as Hot Rod, Street Rodder, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Chevy, Chevy High Performance, Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords and High-Performance Pontiac. 
Bobit Business Media's Bill Middaugh (middle), recipient of MPMC's Robert E. Petersen Media Award, with SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting (left) and MPMC Chairman Bill Floyd.
“Bill has always been a strong supporter of the industry and the council,” said MPMC Chairman Bill Floyd, of AFCO/Dynatech. “Regardless of what company he is with or what his job title is, Bill always supports MPMC member companies and strives to get them exposure through both advertising and editorial. The council is happy to acknowledge him with this award.”
Joining Middaugh as candidates for the 2009 award were John Dianna from Buckaroo Communications, Michael Ferrara from Hard Media, Rob Kinnan from Source Interlink, James Lawrence from POWER TV Media, Jerry Pitt from Source Interlink, and Steve Wolcott from ProMedia.
SEMA Technical Consultant Jim McFarland (left) and SEMA General Counsel Russ Deane discuss the Green Rod Project with media. A collaboration between member companies and the association, overseen by McFarland, the Green Rod Project yielded a retrofit kit of emissions-related aftermarket parts capable of meeting 2008 California smog-check standards.
The dates and location for the 2010 conference will be announced in the near future. To learn more about how the event operates, click here.
To learn about attending as a media representative, contact Della Domingo at dellad@sema.org.
For additional coverage of the MTC, click here to view more than 70 video-shorts from SearchAutoParts.com.
The SEMA eNews staff had the opportunity to meet with a broad cross section of the motorsports manufacturer community. Here are some of the folks we had the pleasure to check in with, and in some cases, meet for the first time.
Rich Barsamian, Vice President, Sales, Grant Products International
SLP Performance Parts President Ed Hamburger
J.R. Granatelli, President, Granatelli Motor Sports
Frank DiFranco, National Sales Manager, World Products
Skyjacker Suspensions Director of Marketing & Operations Lee McGuire
CP Pistons Manager of Marketing and Promotions Cindy Verkooij
Susan Robinson, Sales Manager, Maradyne High Performance Fans
Joe Krivickas, Territory Rep, Precision Turbo & Engine
Turbonetics Marketing Manager Tyler Tanaka
Tracie Parker, Marketing Manager, and Kyle Snyder, Performance Market Analyst, Garrett by Honeywell
Nitrous Supply owner and N20 guru Mike Thermos
Greg Krause and Don Meziere of Meziere Enterprises
Hedman Performance Group’s Director of Sales Vic Wood and Marketing Director Marc Lewis
Todd Arey, President/CEO, Pyrotek E3 Spark Plugs
Horace Mast, Engineer, Mast Motorsports
Bill Floyd, Vice President, Sales for AFCO/Dynatech and MPMC Chairman
Cherry Bomb's Matt Graves
Keith Jones from Total Seal
Chris Thomson, National Sales Director, Airaid Filter Company and SEMA Board member
Ted Hughes Team Leader Program Development, and Trey McFarland, Sales & Marketing, from Mahle Motorsport
J. Bittle, President, Advanced Automotive Engineering Inc.
Energy Suspension’s Jeff Bonnett and Sales Manager Mike Papazian
Dennis Overholser, Executive Vice President, Painless Performance and Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) Chairman-Elect
Amsoil's Director of Advertising Ed Newman and Director of Filtration and Aftermarket Products Karl Dedolph III
Flex-a-lite Consolidated’s Marketing Manager Michelle Radin
SPX Corporation’s Senior Product/Marketing Manager Joe Young and Marketing Manager Bart Ivic
Kevin Bennett, Vice President, Powermaster Motorsports
To learn about the MPMC and exhibiting at the conference, visit www.sema.org/mpmc or contact Jim Skelly at jimsk@sema.org.