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The 9th Annual International
Mobile Tech
Expo was held at the Harborview Convention Center in Clearwater,
Florida, January 14 - 16, 2010. With a chill in the air and attendance
slightly down on two of the three day event, there was a
positive enthusiastic feeling in the crowd as attendees waited
in the registration lines. Thursday, January 14, Education Day saw
attendance up slightly from last year as was Friday. Saturday
attendance was below last years total. The total figures
were: Thursday 692, Friday 1,213 and Saturday
714 for a total of 2,620 admissions over the three days. “We have been
coming to the Mobile Tech Expo for many years, this was by far the best
year yet for total sales,” said Donna Kresho of Vinyl-Pro of Western PA.
“Even
with a down economy we were able to put on an exciting
event that was well received by both attendees and exhibitors alike, we
couldn’t ask for more,” said Kevin Halewood show director. New for this
year was the expo sponsorship of Maximum Motoring radio show. Jim Grady
and Stew White hosts of the show broadcast live from the show floor on
Friday morning that was rebroadcast throughout Saturday. There was also
an appearance by Larry King Jr. to help support our first silent
auction to benefit the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. We also have a
professional MTE video thanks to Myke Toledo of Dent Time Productions
(www.denttime.com) who an expo ideo that can be seen at
www.youtube.com, search mobile tech expo.
Professional
Mobile-Techs and business opportunity seekers
from around the world were treated to an array of
booths, demos,
classes and seminars that specialized in the automotive appearance
repair and reconditioning aftermarket.
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Those
attending the expo came
from just about every state in the union, as well as many foreign
countries Japan, The Netherlands, Austria, Canada, Australia, United
Kingdom, Mexico, France, Germany, and Southern Ireland. Thursday
morning started with the Education Day seminars that went all
day,including seminars on marketing, windshieldrepair, headlight
restoration, PDR, detailing, plastic repair & refinishing, internet
presence and spray-on bed liners. Thursday evening Mobile Techs and
Detailers from around the world had an informal get together in Jimmy’s
Fish House & Pub at the Clearwater Beach Holiday Inn in memory of
Tom Nations.
For
beginners and seasoned professional Mobile-Techs having the
opportunity to participate in classes, demos and seminars made the trip
to the event worthwhile. Another major draw for the attendees was in
finding new products and services they are able to offer their
customers.“This was by far the best education day ever, I attended the
last four years and found this to be much better.” said one attendee.
For those looking to start their own business there were a number of
companies offering start up opportunities as well as seminars and demos
that they were able to participate in. Overall, attendance was slightly
up over last year, there were a number of exhibitors that mentioned
they had more
sales this year than in any of the past. “We
love
this show.
Although this show has less attendees compared to bigger shows we do,
most of their attendees are not interested in our products, at the
Mobile Tech Expo we reach a much bigger percentage of buyers,” said
Tony Long.
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Walking
the aisles and taking in the multitude of in-booth demos
and the large number of exhibitors, for the Mobile Tech
Expo. “The fact that almost
every person through the door is a potentialcustomer makes this one of
the best values to market my products direct to the user, it limits the
time I have to spend qualifying attendees. At other shows I spend most
of the time trying to figure out if the person walking the aisle is
even interested in what I have to offer, not here, that’s why this is
my eighth year as an exhibitor,” said Dave Sheehan.
On Thursday January 14, 2010
those that had registered were able to attend a full day of seminars.
The Expo hall opened at 10:00am on Friday January 15th however,
attendees were able to attend seminars that started as early as 8:00am.
As in the past, the seminars are always very popular among attendees.
Friday and Saturday also saw morning seminars starting at 8:00am.
Besides the seminars attendees were treated to continuous in-booth and
outdoor demonstrations that included Glass Repair, Leather, Vinyl and
Fabric Restoration, Interior DetailingExtractors, Headlight
Restoration, Gold Plating, HVLP Spray Systems, Paintless Dent Repair
Tools, Window Tinting, Striping & Graphics, Buffers and Hand Tools,
Portable Garages, Paint Touch-Up, Chemicals and Recoloring Systems. The
highlighted demos that took place on the show vehicles included a
window tinting demonstration, large dent removal, detailing and paint
restoration.
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