Attendance at this year’s Diving Equipment and Marketing Association annual convention in Las Vegas appears to be heading back to the numbers enjoyed prior to last year’s conference in Orlando, FL, according to the association’s executive director.
“We won’t know until the end of the show, but from a registration standpoint, we’re about 13 percent ahead of where we were in Orlando, [and] about on even par with Las Vegas last time we were here,” Tom Ingram said this morning at a “DEMA Member Update” seminar. He added that while 4,000 people entering the show floor on Day 1 of the convention is a “very typical” number, “we had 6,491 people” on the first morning.
“So I’m anticipating as we get closer to the weekend, as we always do, we’ll have more people coming in, but only time will tell,” Ingram said.
Last year’s convention in Orlando saw 9,006 total attendees and exhibitors, while 2008 (Las Vegas) had 11,085 and 2007 (Orlando) saw 11,264 pass through the turnstiles, according to briefing charts Ingram used during his presentation.
DEMA Show will continue to alternate between Las Vegas and Orlando in the near future, with next year’s show taking place in Orlando from Nov. 2-5, and the 2012 convention back in Las Vegas from Nov. 14-17. The 2010 show, however, will take place at the Sands Exposition Center.
During the seminar, Ingram advised DEMA members that the association’s next election begins on Dec. 15 for current members (who need to renew by Jan. 15, 2011 for their votes to count), and ballots must be received by Jan. 31, 2011. For more information, go to http://www.dema.org.
