Friday, Nov. 5, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.
The automotive aftermarket industry has officially taken over as the Las Vegas convention industry's premiere fall guest with the arrival of NACE -- the International Autobody Congress & Exposition show -- into one of the city's three major convention halls.
For years, the computer industry has highlighted the city's November convention calendar with the annual arrival of Comdex, once the largest convention Las Vegas hosted.
This year, Comdex is gone and three automotive events have joined forces to become the undisputed big event of the fall.
The auto industry had already made a huge impact on Las Vegas' economy with the early November arrival each year of SEMA -- the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association -- and AAPEX -- the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo -- at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo Center, respectively.
Between the two shows, more than 100,000 people have arrived in the city annually for what has become known as Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week.
Now comes NACE, which bills itself as the world's largest collision repair event.
"We've actually been in Las Vegas before," said Dana Bellantone, a senior show director for Dallas-based Hanley Wood Exhibitions, which manages the show for the Automotive Service Association of Bedford, Texas.
"But we've never coordinated it with the other aftermarket industry shows," she said. "This year, we were able to coordinate with SEMA and AAPEX and from what I've heard, all the shows are looking at boosting attendance this year."
"Coordinate" is the operative word for NACE. Organizers not only arranged for cross-badging privileges for the three shows, but they staggered the start-up times of the shows to encourage representatives of each organization to visit their respective events.
SEMA and AAPEX, which have trade show floors filled with aftermarket products, from muscle-car accessories to add-on global positioning systems, opened their events Monday and conclude today. NACE, which has displays of products used for collision repairs, opened its show floor Thursday and will keep it open through Saturday.
How much Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week grew this year as a result of NACE entering the mix has yet to be determined. But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is interested in finding out.
Kevin Bagger, who compiles statistics on the economic impact of conventions and trade shows, said SEMA and AAPEX drew 106,000 people last year, resulting in a nongaming economic impact of $144.3 million on the city.
The last time NACE conducted a show in Las Vegas, 2001, it attracted 35,000 people, resulting in nongaming economic impact of $47.5 million.
LVCVA officials offered no anecdotal clues as to whether the car fanciers spent much of their free time in the casinos.
Chris Meyer, director of convention center sales for the LVCVA, said there would be a small portion of exhibitor overlap on the three show floors, but that SEMA and AAPEX haven't traditionally attracted many body shop personnel.
Bellantone said she expected a certain amount of attendee overlap, but that the shows have different emphases.
While many of the delegates are dealer and independent body shop operators, there also are franchisers, distributors and representatives of the insurance industry.
She said while the exhibits themselves are big attractions for SEMA and AAPEX, educational presentations are a big part of NACE, which last year had its show in Orlando.
This year, NACE offered 53 classes of 45 minutes, 90 minutes and three hours. Displays covered 200,000 square feet of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
"Much of what you'd see at our show are tools and equipment and there are a lot of safety products," she said.
NACE, in its 22nd year, changed its original name of "National Autobody Congress & Exposition" to "International" years ago to reflect its additional worldwide membership, but the acronym was never changed.
The show has a three-year rolling commitment to exhibit at Mandalay Bay in conjunction with the other two automotive shows, meaning that it will continue to renew indefinitely.
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