SEMA is finally over an now that I've endured the two-hour traffic jam getting the Jeep out of the show all and away from the convention center area it's a daily driver again instead of a show car. Tomorrow morning early I begin the drive from Las Vegas to Asheville, NC for the Overland East Show, where MORryde will be borrowing it again. Anyone going to that event?
All four days of the show by far the most popular item in the MORryde booth was the Safari Cab hardtop, so popular that I ended up having at least 30 minutes of conversation with them when they asked if it would be a product they could market (I explained why that wouldn't be a good idea). I was surprised there was so much interest in the top.
Related to that, a company approached me about the barn door, they are interested in just that one component. They're very competent to handle the manufacturing and marketing of it, and I liked the founder of the company a lot, so if they want to move forward I almost certainly will.
The Trail Kitchen was also clearly a hit, not only with the journalists that voted two awards for it, but with show attendees in general. There were lots of good leads for MORryde to follow up on, including an overlanding vehicle company that expressed interest in including it in the camping/overland vehicles they build and also interest by a company in the fridge market interested in possibly private-labeling some of the components, so the MORryde guys are very happy. They say it's the best SEMA Show they've ever had.
And finally, also very popular were the prototype custom-fitted leather storage bags that I had in the Jeep; two people from that startup company were at the show taking input and feedback and they're very excited about launching the bags and other ideas they picked up at the show. They'll also be at Overland East with me so if anyone's interested in seeing what they've done and giving some input and feedback please stop by.