Doug Bodenstab: What's Exciting at the Del Mar Electronic and Manufacturing Show

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

The recent Del Mar Electronic & Manufacturing Show showcased the latest in technology in designing, manufacturing, and testing electronics. In this interview, show organizer Doug Bodenstab shares what makes this show successful and highlights the upcoming sister show that takes place in Anaheim later this year.

Barry Matties: Doug, it's the end of April and we're here at the annual Del Mar Electronic and Manufacturing Show (DMEMS) in Del Mar, California. Why is this show important to the industry? 

Doug Bodenstab: It's very important to the San Diego industry because it's a hometown show. The event location is good. It's at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, which sounds odd, but it's a great venue, and the weather is always nice in April. Anyone who wants to come from Los Angeles or Orange County can drive down in a half hour to 45 minutes.

Also, many people come up from Mexico, but for the majority of your San Diego-based people, it's great because they get to see each other again and see what's happening with a lot of people working virtually these days. It's a chance to get together. We do it even though you can find just about anything on the internet these days. This is where you find what you weren't looking for. And you see your friends. We have an evening party on the first day, and that gives people a chance to talk, relax, and have a beer or wine and some food. So, it's just a nice time for people to get together. 

Matties: How many exhibitors do you have at this show?

Bodenstab: This year, we had about 380 booths in three halls, which is up from last year and the year before. It's a relaxed business environment with easy registration for our visitors. We work to keep booth prices affordable and still provide free parking for all.

Matties: You also bring in some technical and development conferences. 

Bodenstab: Yes, and it’s also free to attend all the conferences. We get up to 100 people in some of the talks. We'll get technical talks on microprocessors, 3D printing, and heat sinks. We have all kinds of informative product talks that are usually presented by an application engineer or something like that. 

Matties: Now, how many years have you been doing this show? 

Bodenstab: This will be our 28th year. I believe we started in 1995, but we did lose two years during COVID. 

Matties: Along with everybody else. When you first started, did you envision you would be here 28 years later? 

Bodenstab: I don't know if I would have thought I'd be alive in 28 years. There's that. But I worried a lot about whether it was going to make it. I worried too much. I'm done worrying, and it just keeps going. We keep the exhibitor price low. It’s a good value, and it’s free to attendees. 

Matties: I know you're saying it's a regional show, but are there people traveling for this show?

Bodenstab: Oh, yes, and exhibitors, especially. We get exhibitors from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, France, and across the U.S. 

Matties: And you have some associations here as well. I saw SMTA and IPC, and I believe they were both involved in the conference program.

Bodenstab: IEEE has also been very involved. 

Matties: The show is expanding. You’ve started a second show, the Anaheim Electronics & Manufacturing Show.

Bodenstab: I always wanted to try Anaheim, so we do it at the Anaheim Convention Center. It’s a nice venue for this event. We also offer conferences there, the first-day evening reception, and we provide free parking. Overall, it is just a nice area for this event. 

Matties: I’ve heard that the reviews are positive. 

Bodenstab: Last year was our second year, and it had good growth. This year, we will continue to grow and expect to have over 300 exhibitors. 

Matties: When’s the Anaheim show?

Bodenstab: It's October 2–3. Del Mar is our spring show, and Anaheim is our fall show.

Matties: Do you want to share any final thoughts about the event?

Bodenstab: Again, I think that you can't replicate a show like this on the internet or in an office; what you get when you go to a show or an event is you find what you weren't looking for. By the way, there's no better search engine than a human. You could walk up to an exhibitor at this show and find out almost anything. You can’t find that if you're on Google's search engine. But here you can talk to a person who knows the solutions to problems.

Matties: Right. There is no substitute for that. Congratulations on 28 years.

Bodenstab: Thank you.