Before you get any big ideas, this photo of Chad sprawled out on a Las Vegas hotel room floor during SEMA was not induced by alcohol or anything of that sort. In fact, it was brought on by fact that Chad had thrown his back out the day earlier and he was taking some advice from AV kid Dustin about how he could try to make himself feel better. Being the completely heartless jerk that I am, I decided that it was a good time for a Kodak moment. He did have his jammie pants on after all. SEMA is one of those weeks that I look forward to every year with an immense amount of anticipation and with steely reserve. Why? Basically because it is a 96-hour day. Before you start throwing rocks at me, I am not complaining. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people alive to be in the line of work that I am in and to have the support of the people I do both professionally and personally. That being said, getting like six hours of sleep in a 96 hour span will kick anyone’s ass pretty hard. Our SEMA week is spent doing three things. The first is obviously covering the show from start to close each day. The second thing is eating dinner, which is normally tacos, some sushi, or a burger. The third is then staying up all night writing content, posting photos, and doing business. If there are two guys who have turned down more invites to cool parties and functions than Chad and I, please show me them. I’d gladly shake their hand. The reality is this is what we want to me doing. We want to have cool, fresh stuff for you to see each day. We want you to think that we’re the place you need to be to see the news or cool stuff when it is available to be seen. That is what drives us now and always will.

Becuase we’re cloistered in our hotel room like monks and we have always followed the same routine since we’ve tackled SEMA as a pair for the last six years, we do have our rituals. For example, our first stop after leaving the airport is to the same liquor store of questionable repute where a case of beer and a bottle of Early Times cheapo whiskey is purchased as the primary evening fuel for the week. You’d be surprised at how awful cheap whiskey will both put hair on your teeth and help to keep you up into the early morning hours while writing stuff. Typically, the week includes Chad and I catching each other asleep at their computer at some ungodly hour. Another of our yearly stops is an all you can eat sushi joint that is well off the strip. We typically visit with the same group of guys and try to all-we-can-eat the place to kingdom come. There have been times when the sushi chefs start to play the game and just send random piles of raw stuff to the table. With questionable explanations regarding what the nature of the substance on the plate is, we happily chow it all down. Thus far in more than a couple visits no one has gotten ill…from the fish. There have been guys that suffered a problem of volumetric origins. There are only so many eel rolls a man can consume, no matter his level of motivation.

We normally suck at doing really fun stuff. In years past we have hit the go kart track for racing action with some of our sponsors and friends, but this year we were unable to do that because we had some commitments and meetings that had us at the show late and well after the time when the other guys were still sober. For the last couple of years we haven’t actually even traveled down the Las Vegas strip. We stay off the strip, which knowing my personality and, ummmm, enthusiasm for parties, is probably a good thing. The further I am away, the better off I am.

We really center our week around the show and making sure we’re prepared to attack that sucker each day. With 100,000+ people that attend SEMA every year, 1,000,000+ sq/ft of space, thousands of displaying vendors, hundreds of cool cars and trucks, automotive celebrities, and other “stuff” that largely defies description, it takes every second of the time allotted to cover the thing as best we can. One of the things that is both awesome and counter-productive is the fact that both Chad and I get stopped a lot by people we know that want to chat and catch up. SEMA is a reunion in many ways. While we interact with all of our sponsors and friends frequently though the year, we don’t actually get to see them in person all that often, and especially not under the gala-like setting of the SEMA show. Because of that, seeing the people you really like in the industry is all the reason to yak it up in the aisles. The bad part is that with respect to time, the meter is always running and 10 minutes in conversation is 10 minutes you’re not shooting photos or coming up with a story idea. Seems weird, but it is true. If the show was 10-days long it would still be the case.

There are lots of hipster jerks that like to write stuff about SEMA that paints the show in a negative, goofy light. While I am 100% positive that there’s a faction of stuff at SEMA that I do not like, I respect the fact that it is there as part of a showcase that highlights the diversity of an entire industry, not just my happy little corner of it. At the end of the day, SEMA is a trade show and the point of its existence is for the people displaying their wares there to sell things and make money. They don’t directly sell things on the show floor, but they work on distribution for their products, add sale outlets, pen deals, etc. Yes, it is a “closed” show but the reality is that there are a large percentage of SEMA attendees at the show with badges that they gained through a friend or other means and they’re simply at the show to take it in and then party on the strip. I have my own opinion on this and it ebbs and flows depending on how many of those guys hampered my efforts of actually meeting with people to see new products and ask valid questions. A general rule of thumb is that walking into a booth and leading off with, “I’m building a 1969 Camaro….” ain’t exactly what the companies paying vast amounts of money to be on the floor are dying to hear.

Lastly, we have fun. Between the time we spend on the floor at the show and the time we spend in the cave working on our content, sending emails, and working on deals for 2014, we kill each other with jokes, insults, stories, and other frivolity. It won’t always be this simple. There will come a year when Chad and I look at each other and say, “It was more fun when we were up all night watching the sun rise while writing our content and slugging back cheap whiskey.” That day is coming….not soon, but it is coming!

I’m already counting down until the 2014 SEMA show and the cheap whiskey will be on ice.