Hey guys last year was my first year I went to the GIE. It was a blast and a great learning experience for me in 2018. I was disappointed in the lack of snow removing equipment and experts there. I have a real passion for snow removal and want to get more involved in the industry. What is the SIMA trade show like? Is it worth going too or is there a different trade show that I should be trying to go to?
With any show, gie, sima, Mgia, etc you get out of it what you put into it. I can recall my first Sima class I went to, Rich Arlington was the teacher and I was a snot nose kid in the back of the classroom who should've kept his mouth shut. Well guess what, I didn't I, spoke up and made myself look like a doofus. I didn't agree with Rich, and to this day I still don't think he was entirely on the money for what he was saying but so be it, I learned a little information, but it wasn't worth what I paid for.
I think one of the greatest resources for any trade show, is interacting with people that own businesses or are in the business currently, I'm not saying consultants and speakers that haven't done snow and ice don't have their place, but I think there's better avenues. Most of the trade shows, put on so,e type of class or classes, it's up to you if you want to take them, but if you do, bring a recorder or a notebook and take notes, don't sit on your phone, don't text your GF, don't post on plowsite, listen... another thing with trade shows, you can usually see and touch e equipment, not as much like gie where they have a sand box, but you can see what you like and so fourth, hope this helps.
