SEMA Show Gets Dressed

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 6/13/2005

Goodbye, Victoria's Secret. Hello, Talbots.

SEMA Show attendees and exhibitors expecting to set their eyes on the usual scantily clad female models at the Nov. 1–4 Las Vegas event may be disappointed to see less skin than last year. Show owner Specialty Equipment Market Assn. has decided to apply harsher regulations for the typical models' attire of bikini tops, lingerie and miniskirts.

When several of the show's 2,000-plus exhibitors "pushed the limits of good taste" — including topless models in body paint — at last November's annual event it became evident that it was time to make some changes, said Peter MacGillivray, the association's vice president of marketing and communications.

As a result, regulations that currently state that "exhibit personnel should wear appropriate apparel at all times" will be tightened up when the Diamond Bar, Calif.-based association's latest exhibitor service manual is published at the end of the month.

Even though only 25 percent of the automotive specialty products show's exhibitors use models in their booths, further elaboration on the rule is obviously necessary, MacGillivray said, because the majority of the exhibitors are small to mid-sized companies and "it takes us to remind them and give them guidance."

"We're just asking the exhibitors to be a little more creative in what they do to attract attention, so that it doesn't detract from the business aspect of the show," he said.

The Las Vegas Convention Center trade-only show, produced by ConvExx, is expected to attract 120,000 attendees, nearly 80 percent of which are male, to a 1 million-plus net square foot showfloor this year. The more stringent regulations concerning model attire will also be in place for SEMA's other, smaller annual shows, including Intl. Auto Salon — Los Angeles (most recently held April 8–10); Intl. Auto Salon — Atlantic City (held May 20–22); and SEMA Spring Expo (in Indianapolis March 24–25, 2006).

MacGillivray declined to discuss the manual's specific language about booth attire. However, he said, show managers will use their judgment as they evaluate the models' outfits during setup to "make sure that the skirts don't get too short and the tops don't get too skimpy." If SEMA deems an outfit overly revealing, the managers will ask the exhibitor to change the outfit or remove the model from the booth.

Even if inappropriate attire is "really very hard to define," MacGillivray added, "certainly we'll know it when we see it."

The $29 billion industry associated with the show will do much more self-policing, he said. "(The exhibitors) take a lot of pride in the impression that they give at the show."

T.C. Cohen is West Coast manager for Atlantic Wholesalers, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based exhibiting company that caused a stir at the 2004 SEMA Show (No. 4 on the Tradeshow Week 200) with its two topless models clad in body paint. Cohen said he is proud of the "gimmick," saying it was a marketing stunt done "in an artistic way, not in a provocative way."

The company, which produces chrome DVS Road Wheels and Omega Luxury Wheels, painted designs of its popular rims across models' taped chests and the product name across their stomachs.

"We were trying to be very unique," Cohen said. "Every year (for the SEMA Show), we come up with a different idea, a different gimmick."

SEMA dubbed the models' attire "too provocative," Cohen said.

"We pushed it to the limit," said Lynnett Garcia, a sales associate with Atlantic Wholesalers, but when members of the show management team visited the 1,800 sq. ft. booth, "they gave us the OK."

MacGillivray declined comment about the incident.

The exhibiting company will tone things down this year, Cohen said. But he still asked, "What's too provocative?"

Jim Cozzie, SEMA Show committee chairman and vice president of sales for Chatsworth, Calif.-based exhibiting firm B&M Racing & Performance Products, said the group was "hearing more of a complaint level from exhibitors than anyone else. You have to listen to your customer."

After seeing the body-painted models and other minimal getups on the SEMA showfloor last year, Dave Zielasko, a frequent attendee and editor and publisher of Tire Business magazine, wrote that, "This year it seemed some of these models stepped across the line in terms of decency.

"SEMA agreed with my story," Zielasko said. "They basically thought that something needed to be done."

He commended SEMA for taking steps to alleviate the problem. "If somebody doesn't say enough's enough, it's not going to stop," he said.

Peter DeLorenzo, another longtime show attendee, disagreed. DeLorenzo, founder and publisher of Autoextremist.com (a Web site that displays dozens of images of SEMA Show's models and sells a CD featuring 185 photos of them), said the association "shouldn't water down the spirit of the show." Scantily clad models are "part of the pageantry of the SEMA Show."

DeLorenzo said the models are as much a tradition at SEMA as a mint julep is at the Kentucky Derby. "When you go to the Kentucky Derby, you don't have to drink a mint julep and you don't have to wear a weird hat, but if you don't, you'll say, 'This isn't the experience that I was told about.'"

CC Hosking, director of sales for Best Agency modeling firm, which supplied 15 models for the 2004 SEMA Show, agreed.

"Fast cars and scantily clad women kind of go hand in hand," she said. "The girls that are more skimpily dressed are going to attract more attention, but what kind of attention do you want to get?"

She said the stricter rules will mean a smaller paycheck for some of her models this year.

"The less amount of clothing, the higher the rate," Hosking said. "It's something that the girls should be compensated for."

MacGillivray said the intent isn't to punish the models. "We don't want it putting one booth model out of work."

The new regulation is one of several efforts intended to make SEMA Show a more professional gathering, MacGillivray said.

The association is "investing a lot of time and resources," he said, "looking for the most qualified attendees in the world. We just need to manage the growth appropriately."

The new image shouldn't cut into the 40-year-old show's attendance, DeLorenzo said — including his own. "I'm planning to go, whether they have girls there or not," he said. "As long as (show managers) don't go too far with their vigilance, I think they'll be OK."

Zielasko agreed. "I don't think it'll impact the show at all," he said.

Another LVCC show, Nightclub & Bar/Beverage Retailer/Beverage & Food Convention & Trade Show also polices the showfloor's models, said Jennifer Robinson, COO of the show's management firm Oxford Publishing.

"All models have to be completely clothed," Robinson said, adding that the firm queries exhibitors before the show about their booth staff's costumes.

However, Robinson added, "Our show is a little bit more accepting of different types of costumes. It depends on the show and it depends on the overall acceptance of your attendees."