Light Truck and SUV Blogs

Another SEMA show has come and gone. My body has recuperated (both mentally and physically) from not only the four days of SEMA, but from finishing the customization of Project Tundra in the week before the show (can you say, “crunch time?”) and ferrying the truck from Wisconsin to Vegas and back. 

SEMA was a huge success for the Light Truck and SUV team. I came away with some great editorial ideas and a lot of new product information. The debut appearance of Project Tundra created quite the buzz in the truck and SUV hall. Dean Loucks, the artist who created the custom paint job for us, says on his website, “Can you handle the attention?” Well Dean, we were quite pleased with the attention your paint job created. It was likely responsible for quite a few neck sprains and dead digital camera batteries at the show.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in our SEMA Squares contest at the show. The winners of the contest were:

• Flat-panel Plasma HDTV — John Sayler, Phaster Motorsports, Henderson, NV
• TruXedo Tonneau Cover — Stephen Buntich, Caruthers Auto Supply, La Canada, CA
• Freedom Grill — Dan Major, Tube Service Co., Phoenix, AZ
• TruckBedz truck bed mattress — Rena Garcia, Rena’s Signs, Brentwood, CA

It doesn’t seem like a whole year has passed since last year’s SEMA show. Last year was my first SEMA, and I made a few rookie mistakes. My first mistake was scheduling appointments 30 minutes apart during the show. My second mistake was wearing dress shoes at the show (even though they were well broken in). Another mistake was not getting enough rest at night (an easy mistake to make in Vegas).

Well, I did learn from my mistakes. I scheduled my meetings in one-hour intervals this year. This gave me plenty of time to make it from one meeting to the next without having to sprint from one meeting to the next. I wore my black Nike sports shoes instead of dress shoes (and my feet thanked me for it). As far as adequate rest goes, I only spent one late night (ahem, early morning) out on the town. It was Halloween night, and I couldn’t pass up spending Halloween on the strip with Dean and Mark from The Art of Design and a couple of coworkers.

Be sure to read each issue of Light Truck and SUV magazine as we bring you product news from the show and highlight our Project Tundra customization.

As far as highlights from Halloween night, all I have to say is, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar