SEMA News—February 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

Free Product Data Exports Available to SEMA Members

Launched in March 2012 with a beta test, the SDC is now a fully operational service that makes it possible for businesses to easily obtain valuable information about products from manufacturers. Information includes weights and measures, accurate descriptions, current pricing, UPCs, images, other digital assets and more. Details also include rich vehicle-application data and year/make/model look-ups.

The SEMA Data Co-op is an industry-owned and industry-operated initiative designed to bring full product-data-management capabilities to participating suppliers and to deliver clean, customized data exports to receivers at the lowest possible cost.

To learn more about the SDC program, visit www.semadatacoop.org, contact Jim Graven at jimg@semadatacoop.org or call 888-958-6698 x4.

Experts from the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) provided attendees at the 2013 SEMA Show with an in-depth look at the product-data-management program. SEMA-member companies that are resellers or distributors may obtain an unlimited number of data exports for free through the SDC.

SEMA News—February 2014

CHRIS KERSTING

Coming Soon: Your SEMA Account Representative

Over the last several years, SEMA has taken steps to heighten our outreach and increase touch points with members and the industry at large. This effort has included a commitment to enhancing customer service and raising the awareness of SEMA’s high-value member benefits. We recently announced a major move that will provide our members with the best customer service possible. For the first time in 50 years, each SEMA member will now have a single, dedicated point of contact for all things SEMA.

You’ll be hearing from your new SEMA staff account representative in the months ahead. Each SEMA member will now have a motivated, knowledgeable, fulltime contact who sits directly in SEMA headquarters and communicates with the SEMA services team. Your SEMA account representative will also be the same person who will handle all your SEMA Show needs, from booth-space sales to credentialing and everything between.

The matter of having dedicated in-house account representatives is more important to accomplishing the SEMA mission than it may first appear. SEMA exists solely for the purpose of helping our member companies succeed and prosper. Producing the SEMA Show is perhaps the most visible way we do that. Historically, our trusted partner, ConvExx Show Management, has been the touch point for thousands of contacts annually with SEMA members on Show-related matters. By bringing Show sales together with member services in-house at SEMA, our members will now experience a customer-service relationship that includes all that SEMA has to offer.

In addition to their Show expertise, account reps will be well versed in SEMA benefits and activities and will be available year-round. Got a question about your membership? Don’t understand how to tap into Tech Transfer or make an appointment at the SEMA Garage? Wondering who to talk to about the SEMA Data Co-op or how to attend a Town Hall Meeting? Now you can call one person, and your rep will provide the service you need. If your SEMA rep doesn’t have the answer, he or she will know who does. We expect the net result to be greater awareness and value received for your SEMA membership.

A few words about the ConvExx team: For three-plus decades, Chuck Schwartz and his team have done an outstanding job in helping us produce the SEMA Show. They have played an important role in the success and value provided by the SEMA Show today. That good work is greatly appreciated. Evolving and improving the association now means a change—and, in this case, saying thanks for a job well done. Thank you, Chuck Schwartz and ConvExx—you served our SEMA members and the Show so very well.

Our entire team is excited about the opportunities this new in-house capability means for our members, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with each of you. When your SEMA staff account rep calls, you’ll likely find that you have more to discuss than ever. And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about your membership, the Show or other year-round association benefits. Your rep will be there to help.

SEMA News—February 2014

CHRIS KERSTING

Coming Soon: Your SEMA Account Representative

Over the last several years, SEMA has taken steps to heighten our outreach and increase touch points with members and the industry at large. This effort has included a commitment to enhancing customer service and raising the awareness of SEMA’s high-value member benefits. We recently announced a major move that will provide our members with the best customer service possible. For the first time in 50 years, each SEMA member will now have a single, dedicated point of contact for all things SEMA.

You’ll be hearing from your new SEMA staff account representative in the months ahead. Each SEMA member will now have a motivated, knowledgeable, fulltime contact who sits directly in SEMA headquarters and communicates with the SEMA services team. Your SEMA account representative will also be the same person who will handle all your SEMA Show needs, from booth-space sales to credentialing and everything between.

The matter of having dedicated in-house account representatives is more important to accomplishing the SEMA mission than it may first appear. SEMA exists solely for the purpose of helping our member companies succeed and prosper. Producing the SEMA Show is perhaps the most visible way we do that. Historically, our trusted partner, ConvExx Show Management, has been the touch point for thousands of contacts annually with SEMA members on Show-related matters. By bringing Show sales together with member services in-house at SEMA, our members will now experience a customer-service relationship that includes all that SEMA has to offer.

In addition to their Show expertise, account reps will be well versed in SEMA benefits and activities and will be available year-round. Got a question about your membership? Don’t understand how to tap into Tech Transfer or make an appointment at the SEMA Garage? Wondering who to talk to about the SEMA Data Co-op or how to attend a Town Hall Meeting? Now you can call one person, and your rep will provide the service you need. If your SEMA rep doesn’t have the answer, he or she will know who does. We expect the net result to be greater awareness and value received for your SEMA membership.

A few words about the ConvExx team: For three-plus decades, Chuck Schwartz and his team have done an outstanding job in helping us produce the SEMA Show. They have played an important role in the success and value provided by the SEMA Show today. That good work is greatly appreciated. Evolving and improving the association now means a change—and, in this case, saying thanks for a job well done. Thank you, Chuck Schwartz and ConvExx—you served our SEMA members and the Show so very well.

Our entire team is excited about the opportunities this new in-house capability means for our members, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with each of you. When your SEMA staff account rep calls, you’ll likely find that you have more to discuss than ever. And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about your membership, the Show or other year-round association benefits. Your rep will be there to help.

SEMA News—February 2014

CHRIS KERSTING

Coming Soon: Your SEMA Account Representative

Over the last several years, SEMA has taken steps to heighten our outreach and increase touch points with members and the industry at large. This effort has included a commitment to enhancing customer service and raising the awareness of SEMA’s high-value member benefits. We recently announced a major move that will provide our members with the best customer service possible. For the first time in 50 years, each SEMA member will now have a single, dedicated point of contact for all things SEMA.

You’ll be hearing from your new SEMA staff account representative in the months ahead. Each SEMA member will now have a motivated, knowledgeable, fulltime contact who sits directly in SEMA headquarters and communicates with the SEMA services team. Your SEMA account representative will also be the same person who will handle all your SEMA Show needs, from booth-space sales to credentialing and everything between.

The matter of having dedicated in-house account representatives is more important to accomplishing the SEMA mission than it may first appear. SEMA exists solely for the purpose of helping our member companies succeed and prosper. Producing the SEMA Show is perhaps the most visible way we do that. Historically, our trusted partner, ConvExx Show Management, has been the touch point for thousands of contacts annually with SEMA members on Show-related matters. By bringing Show sales together with member services in-house at SEMA, our members will now experience a customer-service relationship that includes all that SEMA has to offer.

In addition to their Show expertise, account reps will be well versed in SEMA benefits and activities and will be available year-round. Got a question about your membership? Don’t understand how to tap into Tech Transfer or make an appointment at the SEMA Garage? Wondering who to talk to about the SEMA Data Co-op or how to attend a Town Hall Meeting? Now you can call one person, and your rep will provide the service you need. If your SEMA rep doesn’t have the answer, he or she will know who does. We expect the net result to be greater awareness and value received for your SEMA membership.

A few words about the ConvExx team: For three-plus decades, Chuck Schwartz and his team have done an outstanding job in helping us produce the SEMA Show. They have played an important role in the success and value provided by the SEMA Show today. That good work is greatly appreciated. Evolving and improving the association now means a change—and, in this case, saying thanks for a job well done. Thank you, Chuck Schwartz and ConvExx—you served our SEMA members and the Show so very well.

Our entire team is excited about the opportunities this new in-house capability means for our members, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with each of you. When your SEMA staff account rep calls, you’ll likely find that you have more to discuss than ever. And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about your membership, the Show or other year-round association benefits. Your rep will be there to help.

SEMA News—February 2014

CHRIS KERSTING

Coming Soon: Your SEMA Account Representative

Over the last several years, SEMA has taken steps to heighten our outreach and increase touch points with members and the industry at large. This effort has included a commitment to enhancing customer service and raising the awareness of SEMA’s high-value member benefits. We recently announced a major move that will provide our members with the best customer service possible. For the first time in 50 years, each SEMA member will now have a single, dedicated point of contact for all things SEMA.

You’ll be hearing from your new SEMA staff account representative in the months ahead. Each SEMA member will now have a motivated, knowledgeable, fulltime contact who sits directly in SEMA headquarters and communicates with the SEMA services team. Your SEMA account representative will also be the same person who will handle all your SEMA Show needs, from booth-space sales to credentialing and everything between.

The matter of having dedicated in-house account representatives is more important to accomplishing the SEMA mission than it may first appear. SEMA exists solely for the purpose of helping our member companies succeed and prosper. Producing the SEMA Show is perhaps the most visible way we do that. Historically, our trusted partner, ConvExx Show Management, has been the touch point for thousands of contacts annually with SEMA members on Show-related matters. By bringing Show sales together with member services in-house at SEMA, our members will now experience a customer-service relationship that includes all that SEMA has to offer.

In addition to their Show expertise, account reps will be well versed in SEMA benefits and activities and will be available year-round. Got a question about your membership? Don’t understand how to tap into Tech Transfer or make an appointment at the SEMA Garage? Wondering who to talk to about the SEMA Data Co-op or how to attend a Town Hall Meeting? Now you can call one person, and your rep will provide the service you need. If your SEMA rep doesn’t have the answer, he or she will know who does. We expect the net result to be greater awareness and value received for your SEMA membership.

A few words about the ConvExx team: For three-plus decades, Chuck Schwartz and his team have done an outstanding job in helping us produce the SEMA Show. They have played an important role in the success and value provided by the SEMA Show today. That good work is greatly appreciated. Evolving and improving the association now means a change—and, in this case, saying thanks for a job well done. Thank you, Chuck Schwartz and ConvExx—you served our SEMA members and the Show so very well.

Our entire team is excited about the opportunities this new in-house capability means for our members, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with each of you. When your SEMA staff account rep calls, you’ll likely find that you have more to discuss than ever. And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about your membership, the Show or other year-round association benefits. Your rep will be there to help.

SEMA News—February 2014

CHRIS KERSTING

Coming Soon: Your SEMA Account Representative

Over the last several years, SEMA has taken steps to heighten our outreach and increase touch points with members and the industry at large. This effort has included a commitment to enhancing customer service and raising the awareness of SEMA’s high-value member benefits. We recently announced a major move that will provide our members with the best customer service possible. For the first time in 50 years, each SEMA member will now have a single, dedicated point of contact for all things SEMA.

You’ll be hearing from your new SEMA staff account representative in the months ahead. Each SEMA member will now have a motivated, knowledgeable, fulltime contact who sits directly in SEMA headquarters and communicates with the SEMA services team. Your SEMA account representative will also be the same person who will handle all your SEMA Show needs, from booth-space sales to credentialing and everything between.

The matter of having dedicated in-house account representatives is more important to accomplishing the SEMA mission than it may first appear. SEMA exists solely for the purpose of helping our member companies succeed and prosper. Producing the SEMA Show is perhaps the most visible way we do that. Historically, our trusted partner, ConvExx Show Management, has been the touch point for thousands of contacts annually with SEMA members on Show-related matters. By bringing Show sales together with member services in-house at SEMA, our members will now experience a customer-service relationship that includes all that SEMA has to offer.

In addition to their Show expertise, account reps will be well versed in SEMA benefits and activities and will be available year-round. Got a question about your membership? Don’t understand how to tap into Tech Transfer or make an appointment at the SEMA Garage? Wondering who to talk to about the SEMA Data Co-op or how to attend a Town Hall Meeting? Now you can call one person, and your rep will provide the service you need. If your SEMA rep doesn’t have the answer, he or she will know who does. We expect the net result to be greater awareness and value received for your SEMA membership.

A few words about the ConvExx team: For three-plus decades, Chuck Schwartz and his team have done an outstanding job in helping us produce the SEMA Show. They have played an important role in the success and value provided by the SEMA Show today. That good work is greatly appreciated. Evolving and improving the association now means a change—and, in this case, saying thanks for a job well done. Thank you, Chuck Schwartz and ConvExx—you served our SEMA members and the Show so very well.

Our entire team is excited about the opportunities this new in-house capability means for our members, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with each of you. When your SEMA staff account rep calls, you’ll likely find that you have more to discuss than ever. And please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about your membership, the Show or other year-round association benefits. Your rep will be there to help.

SEMA News—February 2014

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

New Craze

Not everything on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in the ’60s was, well, a hot rod. In fact, the editors seemed to be looking for “the next big thing” during a period in 1966, as several issues in a row featured vehicles not usually found in “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine.” There was a painting of customizer George Barris and some of his most famous TV cars on the cover of the June issue; a Super Modified oval-track racer all crossed up in the dirt on the July issue; and a hot-rodded ski boat on the September cover.

The August cover heralded a “New Craze—Off the Road Fun Cars,” with a special section on dune buggies and four-wheel drives. Almost bursting off the cover, all four wheels far off the ground, was a bright yellow dune buggy—a Meyers Manx—with Bruce Meyers himself at the wheel. (That photo and the outtakes shown here were shot by Hot Rod’s Eric Rickman.)

Inside the issue, Editor Bob Greene’s story on “Terra Firma Funny Cars” talked about how the “sudden swing to off-the-road specialty vehicles is really not sudden at all; it has been building for the last 10 years in a multitude of camps….” Meyers’ Manx fell into the camp of “kit bodies now available for the VW chassis,” wrote Greene. “The smartly designed fiberglass shells bolt on in a matter of hours, offer somewhat more protection [than the open chassis of a wrecked VW] and considerably more class at a slight sacrifice in last-ditch maneuverability.”

The Manx on the magazine cover was the latest in a string of vehicular developments from Meyers’ fertile imagination. He was inspired to design a dune buggy after seeing a few on the sand at Pismo Beach on California’s central coast. After first experimenting with a converted Volkswagen bus chassis, he utilized his experience building sailboats to design a fiberglass body with an integral steel frame that would bolt up to a VW’s suspension pieces and drivetrain. He soon realized, though, that he could make the body much lighter—and less expensive—if he modified it to attach to the VW’s floorpan.

It was that version of the Manx that appeared in Hot Rod and brought instant fame—and a flood of orders—to Meyers. The Manx would gain added notoriety a few months later when it won the very first Mexican 1000 off-road rally, the race that would become the Baja 1000.

SEMA News—February 2014

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

New Craze

Not everything on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in the ’60s was, well, a hot rod. In fact, the editors seemed to be looking for “the next big thing” during a period in 1966, as several issues in a row featured vehicles not usually found in “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine.” There was a painting of customizer George Barris and some of his most famous TV cars on the cover of the June issue; a Super Modified oval-track racer all crossed up in the dirt on the July issue; and a hot-rodded ski boat on the September cover.

The August cover heralded a “New Craze—Off the Road Fun Cars,” with a special section on dune buggies and four-wheel drives. Almost bursting off the cover, all four wheels far off the ground, was a bright yellow dune buggy—a Meyers Manx—with Bruce Meyers himself at the wheel. (That photo and the outtakes shown here were shot by Hot Rod’s Eric Rickman.)

Inside the issue, Editor Bob Greene’s story on “Terra Firma Funny Cars” talked about how the “sudden swing to off-the-road specialty vehicles is really not sudden at all; it has been building for the last 10 years in a multitude of camps….” Meyers’ Manx fell into the camp of “kit bodies now available for the VW chassis,” wrote Greene. “The smartly designed fiberglass shells bolt on in a matter of hours, offer somewhat more protection [than the open chassis of a wrecked VW] and considerably more class at a slight sacrifice in last-ditch maneuverability.”

The Manx on the magazine cover was the latest in a string of vehicular developments from Meyers’ fertile imagination. He was inspired to design a dune buggy after seeing a few on the sand at Pismo Beach on California’s central coast. After first experimenting with a converted Volkswagen bus chassis, he utilized his experience building sailboats to design a fiberglass body with an integral steel frame that would bolt up to a VW’s suspension pieces and drivetrain. He soon realized, though, that he could make the body much lighter—and less expensive—if he modified it to attach to the VW’s floorpan.

It was that version of the Manx that appeared in Hot Rod and brought instant fame—and a flood of orders—to Meyers. The Manx would gain added notoriety a few months later when it won the very first Mexican 1000 off-road rally, the race that would become the Baja 1000.

SEMA News—February 2014

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

New Craze

Not everything on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in the ’60s was, well, a hot rod. In fact, the editors seemed to be looking for “the next big thing” during a period in 1966, as several issues in a row featured vehicles not usually found in “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine.” There was a painting of customizer George Barris and some of his most famous TV cars on the cover of the June issue; a Super Modified oval-track racer all crossed up in the dirt on the July issue; and a hot-rodded ski boat on the September cover.

The August cover heralded a “New Craze—Off the Road Fun Cars,” with a special section on dune buggies and four-wheel drives. Almost bursting off the cover, all four wheels far off the ground, was a bright yellow dune buggy—a Meyers Manx—with Bruce Meyers himself at the wheel. (That photo and the outtakes shown here were shot by Hot Rod’s Eric Rickman.)

Inside the issue, Editor Bob Greene’s story on “Terra Firma Funny Cars” talked about how the “sudden swing to off-the-road specialty vehicles is really not sudden at all; it has been building for the last 10 years in a multitude of camps….” Meyers’ Manx fell into the camp of “kit bodies now available for the VW chassis,” wrote Greene. “The smartly designed fiberglass shells bolt on in a matter of hours, offer somewhat more protection [than the open chassis of a wrecked VW] and considerably more class at a slight sacrifice in last-ditch maneuverability.”

The Manx on the magazine cover was the latest in a string of vehicular developments from Meyers’ fertile imagination. He was inspired to design a dune buggy after seeing a few on the sand at Pismo Beach on California’s central coast. After first experimenting with a converted Volkswagen bus chassis, he utilized his experience building sailboats to design a fiberglass body with an integral steel frame that would bolt up to a VW’s suspension pieces and drivetrain. He soon realized, though, that he could make the body much lighter—and less expensive—if he modified it to attach to the VW’s floorpan.

It was that version of the Manx that appeared in Hot Rod and brought instant fame—and a flood of orders—to Meyers. The Manx would gain added notoriety a few months later when it won the very first Mexican 1000 off-road rally, the race that would become the Baja 1000.

SEMA News—February 2014

HERITAGE
By Drew Hardin
Photo Courtesy Petersen Archives

New Craze

Not everything on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in the ’60s was, well, a hot rod. In fact, the editors seemed to be looking for “the next big thing” during a period in 1966, as several issues in a row featured vehicles not usually found in “Everybody’s Automotive Magazine.” There was a painting of customizer George Barris and some of his most famous TV cars on the cover of the June issue; a Super Modified oval-track racer all crossed up in the dirt on the July issue; and a hot-rodded ski boat on the September cover.

The August cover heralded a “New Craze—Off the Road Fun Cars,” with a special section on dune buggies and four-wheel drives. Almost bursting off the cover, all four wheels far off the ground, was a bright yellow dune buggy—a Meyers Manx—with Bruce Meyers himself at the wheel. (That photo and the outtakes shown here were shot by Hot Rod’s Eric Rickman.)

Inside the issue, Editor Bob Greene’s story on “Terra Firma Funny Cars” talked about how the “sudden swing to off-the-road specialty vehicles is really not sudden at all; it has been building for the last 10 years in a multitude of camps….” Meyers’ Manx fell into the camp of “kit bodies now available for the VW chassis,” wrote Greene. “The smartly designed fiberglass shells bolt on in a matter of hours, offer somewhat more protection [than the open chassis of a wrecked VW] and considerably more class at a slight sacrifice in last-ditch maneuverability.”

The Manx on the magazine cover was the latest in a string of vehicular developments from Meyers’ fertile imagination. He was inspired to design a dune buggy after seeing a few on the sand at Pismo Beach on California’s central coast. After first experimenting with a converted Volkswagen bus chassis, he utilized his experience building sailboats to design a fiberglass body with an integral steel frame that would bolt up to a VW’s suspension pieces and drivetrain. He soon realized, though, that he could make the body much lighter—and less expensive—if he modified it to attach to the VW’s floorpan.

It was that version of the Manx that appeared in Hot Rod and brought instant fame—and a flood of orders—to Meyers. The Manx would gain added notoriety a few months later when it won the very first Mexican 1000 off-road rally, the race that would become the Baja 1000.