FIND YOUR COMMUNITY AT THE SEMA SHOW
A LOOK AT THE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES THAT AWAIT YOU AT THE 2025 SEMA SHOW, PLUS WAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE
BY CRISTIAN GONZALEZ
Everyone can agree it’s been a rollercoaster year for the automotive aftermarket—both domestic and international. Good or bad, high or low, there have been moments blurring the outlook, affecting business leaders’ forecasting and decision-making for their operations.
It’s times like these that SEMA Vice President of Events Tom Gattuso and Trade Show Director Andy Tompkins remind members of the aftermarket that while they navigate challenges, they can also set their businesses on a course for growth while future-proofing them against prospective obstacles.
Navigating this dynamic industry through constantly evolving terrain might seem intimidating, but in challenging times, one thing remains consistent: the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas is your hub—your port in the storm. At the Show you can network, learn and build both your professional skills and your business to withstand turbulent times and position yourself for the next big opportunity.
“[SEMA] GETS ALL THESE BRIGHT MINDS TOGETHER TO COLLABORATE ON BEST PRACTICES AND IT REALLY HELPS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY SUCCEED.”
You might be faced with adversity, but we have this opportunity to gather as a unified group,” states Gattuso. “The landscape is constantly changing, and one of the things that the SEMA Show does well is to get all these bright minds together to collaborate on best practices. The Show really helps the entire industry succeed.”
Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), November 4–7, across five product-filled halls, the SEMA Show is “the largest trade show in the country as it represents such a dynamic and diverse industry,” adds Gattuso. Where better to connect with your colleagues, build up your brand and grow than this gathering of more than 2,000 companies and thousands of emerging new products?
Tompkins understands the challenges that small-business owners face and believes the Show represents a smart investment toward business success. “SEMA has always performed and will perform again this year,” he says. “If you succumb to uncertainty, in my own opinion, you’re going to deliver a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you stop investing in yourself, you stop investing in your business. You stop pushing innovation.”
Both Gattuso and Tompkins suggest evaluating your current situation and leveraging the Show to explore new products, trends and innovations. Now is not the time to hunker down and wait for another year. Businesses that take action to form new strategies, partnerships and sales relationships for growth will gain a competitive advantage.
The Show floor is an incubator for new partnerships and connectivity. Be friendly, ask questions and you’ll see how quickly your network grows in four days.
In addition to new product demonstrations, you’ll gain insights into the latest techniques shared by professionals in your industry.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
While the Show exists to benefit the specialtyequipment market as a whole, how it supports you and your business depends on your approach. With attendance expected to reach more than 160,000, the people you will meet and interact with will hold a wide spectrum of positions: buyers, industry heads, decision-makers, content creators, media figures, educators and more. Leveraging this correctly is going to require the right tools.
Before embarking on your SEMA journey, contemplate your goals. What do you hope to achieve during your time in Vegas? Whether it’s to secure new relationships, strengthen current ones or educate yourself on new skills and trends, planning will put you in the best position to ensure a solid return on investment (ROI), and SEMAShow.com will have everything you need to plan your experience.
There you’ll find Show floorplan and an up-to-date list of attending exhibitors, and starting in September, the My Show Planner feature will also go live. This is your best tool for leveraging the Show before stepping foot in any of the halls. The planner enables you to customize your Show schedule by taking some basic profile information, your must-see exhibitor list, interesting education programs and activations you’d like to attend and then syncing them to your SEMA Show app—creating the ideal itinerary to maximize your time. The Show bot “Bessie” is also available at SEMAShow.com and via text at 833-338-3010 to answer any Show-related questions.
The SEMA Show app is another tool every attendee should download before day one. The app has numerous features and valuable information: floor maps, lists of exhibitor demonstrations, celebrity appearances and more. It is your blueprint and key to everything the Show has to offer. There’s also a scanning tool embedded in the app, allowing you to learn more about items in the New Products Showcase and their exhibitor booth locations; learn feature vehicle build info; and even scan other attendee badges to swap contact information. Whatever your goals, these tools are at your disposal to elevate your experience.
“THIS ENERGY AND FLEXIBILITY OF CONNECTION WILL ENABLE YOU TO CATER YOUR EXPERIENCE TO EXACTLY WHAT SUITS YOU.”
SEMA Education offers a diverse curriculum of courses designed for attendees to learn and engage with instructors, panelists and other attendees
Unveilings occur all around the SEMA Show. Be among the first in the industry to see groundbreaking innovations by checking the Show app for times and locations.
EDUCATION IS EVERYWHERE
The Show offers multiple ways to grow your skills and knowledge in cutting-edge aftermarket tech and automotive trends, notably through SEMA Education, which runs from Tuesday through Thursday. Seminars are offered in a formal, classroom-like (Above) In addition to new product demonstrations, you’ll gain insights into the latest techniques shared by professionals in your industry.
Unveilings occur all around the SEMA Show. Be among the first in the industry to see groundbreaking innovations by checking the Show app for times and locations. setting conducted by experienced leaders in the subject. Featured tracks include Sales and Marketing, Inside the Shop, Vehicle Technology and more, often through partnerships with such third-party entities as Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR), Tire Industry Association (TIA) and Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).
“The association is committed to helping the industry learn,” says Gattuso with Tompkins adding, “We really try to make learning convenient at the Show, and SEMA Education is just one more access point where you can do it.” Learning is growing, and individual growth promotes market growth.
Whether you’re trying to hone and resharpen a specific skill set or explore a new avenue in the aftermarket, SEMA Education seminars can help you learn while connecting with peers having similar interests and concerns, so seize on that social window. Visit the SEMA Show website for the full schedule and registration. (See also our SEMA Education article on p. 66.)
SEMA Show education also extends beyond the classrooms. It teems in the Show halls, booths and activations. “You can learn in a formal education session or on the Show floor from your colleagues as you’re walking the aisles,” says Gattuso. “But you’re going to come to the Show and walk away with things you didn’t know before you came.”
You might learn a to install a tire more efficiently in the tire section, a new way to diagnose advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) at the FutureTech Studio, or improve your wrapping skills in the Restyling & Car Care Accessories section. Skill-honing tips are easily picked up on the Show floor when you least expect it. Open yourself to them. This is the perfect setting to grow and learn, after all.
Not only will you see colleagues demonstrating new ways to install products, but you’ll also see hundreds of new products unveiled at the New Products Showcase (now located in the Lower South Hall). Here, you can learn which new parts, programs and other innovations draw the most attention, then map your way to their exhibitors and interact with the engineers and designers who created them to learn their value to end users.
BEYOND THE TRADE SHOW
Show veterans know that leveraging the SEMA Show involves maximizing its features and activations while also leveraging its destination—Las Vegas. SEMA features a myriad of events to bring people together and celebrate the beating heart of the industry—you.
The first of these events is the Kickoff Breakfast, a true SEMA Week tradition for networking, relationship- building and celebrating innovation with the New Product Awards. These awards go to the most creative and ingenious innovators of the year and give attendees insight into what’s developing in the aftermarket space.
Tompkins says the Kickoff Breakfast “is one of those annual moments where you can see innovation directly through our New Product Awards and hear some high-level knowledge from industry thought leaders. There will be some inspirational moments and an empowering experience with like-minded peers to kickstart the week.”
Adding to the SEMA Week mix Thursday after the Show is the newly formatted SEMA Banquet, now known as the SEMA Industry Honors. This year the event moves to the upscale Fontainebleau Hotel for an inspirational night of entertainment and celebration of accomplished individuals who’ve made great strides in the industry.
The SEMA Show journey ends Friday night at the third annual SEMA Fest. After a long week of business, securing new relationships and immersing yourself in industry insights, the event brings it all home for a night of live music and fast-paced motorsports activations.
Tompkins explains it’s not just a festival but another feature attendees can leverage at the SEMA Show. “It’s really one more chance to connect and extend the Show experience because you’re going to be with your peers together in a casual setting celebrating the industry we all love and build our livelihoods on.”
Gattuso sees SEMA Fest as a way to tie in a changing workforce brought up on shorter messaging lifecycles. “We’ve created these opportunities to come together and share ideas. I don’t even know that you call it networking necessarily, but they’re these unique environments to connect with your peers and the industry. It’s all part of this evolution of not only the SEMA Show but the way the workforce is expecting their business and leisure values to overlap and connect with each other.”
“That’s why we’re building new experiences into this Show. If you utilize them properly, their energy and flexibility of connection will enable you to cater your experience to exactly what suits you,” continues Gattuso. Be sure to register for these events online at SEMAShow.com to be part of the SEMA movement.
If you think your networking window is only open during Show hours, think again. Even when the Show ends each day, attendees still have one more asset to leverage their Show Week: Las Vegas. Take advantage of the destination holding thousands of lounges and dining options from any cuisine you—or, more importantly, your clients and contacts— might prefer. Alternatively, keep your badge on you. Use it as a calling card to other SEMA attendees willing to strike up a conversation over a post-Show drink or meal. “Cocktail napkin conversations” have led to many rewarding ideas and collaborations at SEMA.
SIMPLIFYING YOUR VEGAS TRIP
Granted, planning and experiencing Las Vegas can get intricate and perhaps costly. Flights, lodging, local transportation and food are a part of your SEMA Week investment. To help plan and minimize your overhead so you can focus on strategizing your Show experience, here is a list of resources you can utilize to save time and money for maximum ROI.
- EXCLUSIVE AIRFARE SAVINGS: SEMA has partnered with Alaska, United and Delta Airlines so SEMA Showgoers can enjoy the best airfare prices for SEMA Week. Use these codes to save on your team’s flights.
- Alaska Airlines Online Discount Code: ECMO139 for 7% off published fares for travel dates October 31 - November 8, 2025.
- Delta Airlines Phone Meeting Network 800-328-1111; Meeting Code: NY3RX
- United Airlines Online Discount Code: ZPKE658685 for 2% up to 10% off Travel dates October 30–November 9, 2025.
- LODGING DISCOUNTS: Attendees are strongly encouraged to secure their housing through onPeak, SEMA’s only official hotel provider. Booking through the official block allows you to claim hotel loyalty rewards points for your entire team at the lowest rates possible. Access these discounts through the Show website.
- TRANSPORTATION: Uber, Lyft, taxis and other rideshare options can add up, but there are other cost-effective means of getting to the LVCC and around Las Vegas. SEMA will have a caravan of free shuttles transporting attendees to and from the convention center at every major hotel on the strip. Or avoid the roads altogether and take the monorail, which stops at the LVCC just outside Central Hall. Trains run throughout the day, and stations are accessible from major hotels along the strip. (Note that Vegas traffic is often congested and parking at the LVCC is extremely limited, so choosing from the above options is strongly advised.)
- THE VEGAS LOOP: Returning Show attendees are familiar with the underground shuttle network called the Loop, a fun way of getting around the LVCC while saving time and energy. The Loop has recently added stations at the Westgate, Resorts World and Encore hotels.
- TRAVEL VISAS FOR INTERNATIONAL ATTENDEES: For those traveling from outside of the United States, SEMA can offer a letter of invitation for approved attendees. The online registration form must be completed before a visa letter can be issued. The letter will only be prepared using the individual’s name and company name as listed in their registration record. For more information, visit the Registration FAQs section of SEMAShow.com/attendee and scroll down to “I need a visa to enter the United States. How can I get a letter of invitation?”
