2013: The Year in Review The laws and regulations that govern how SEMA members do business have a continuous impact on the way automotive specialty-equipment products are made, distributed and marketed. The charge of the SEMA Government Affairs office is to stay on top of relevant state and federal...

Vulnerability Awaiting PlunderRogue employees working with sensitive company data in public cloud services are regularly wreaking havoc at workplaces, triggering the loss of company secrets, the defacement of company websites and the loss of control over the cloud accounts to competitors and hackers...

In the Family Way With Chuck’s Truck Accessories and Line-a-Bed SalesMany of the most famous names in the history of the automotive specialty-equipment industry started as family endeavors. Chuck’s Truck Accessories and Line-A-Bed Sales exemplifies that type of familial heritage. In fact, one of the...

The Financial Benchmarking Reports for July are now available free to SEMA members for a limited time. The Financial Benchmarking Program provides members with a way to measure and compare their operations against other businesses in the specialty-equipment industry. Participants in the program...

The WD-40/SEMA Cares Foose Ford F-150, a collaboration between SEMA manufacturing members, the SEMA Garage—Industry Innovations Center and students from the Alex Xydias Center for Automotive Arts (AXC), is available for auction. Raffle tickets are $50.The Foose-inspired truck is the first vehicle to...

SEMA recently hosted members of the media for a tour of the SEMA Garage–Industry Innovations Center. The event was held in conjunction with Collector Car Appreciation Day on July 12, 2013, at SEMA’s headquarters in Diamond Bar, California. The SEMA Garage-Industry Innovations Center helps businesses...

Even if you’ve never seen the actual Deora show vehicle, chances are good that if you’re of a certain age, you built one as a plastic model kit or had a die-cast version in your Hot Wheels collection when you were young. But the Deora was a real, fullsize, running vehicle—one that captured the...

Manage All Social Media With a Single ToolCompanies looking for a single tool to manage their social-media presence across all networks can take heart: Dozens of all-in-one solutions are available that will make the most of a company’s presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn et al. Even better...

A Marketing Opportunity BeckonsWith mobile apps trouncing mobile websites as the preferred medium among smartphone and tablet users, businesses looking to reach those audiences are seriously considering marketing and advertising “in-app.” Essentially, mobile-device users are spending much more time...

As 2013 comes to a close, we’re pleased to be wrapping up a SEMA Show that delivered tremendous value to our largest turnout ever of exhibiting manufacturers and buyers. Meanwhile, SEMA has been launching several new value propositions to help the industry. What follows is a progress report on some...