Dan worked on getting the photo shoots set up but he put the actual photography in our hands, and with Senior Tech Editor Bob Ryder not scheduled to show until the morning of the shoot, a lot of the responsibility was left with me as the only SEMA veteran on site. Things went off without a hitch, mostly. I can’t say that I wasn’t sweating it when I got calls en route to the photo location from truck owners that got lost, but it all worked out. Check out Issue #3 for some of the post-SEMA photography.
Possibly even more important than the photo shoot, however, was the responsibility of ensuring John Mata Jr.’s first SEMA experience was a memorable one. So, in keeping with SEMA traditions, John walked the show’s booths for miles, went to the Kicker Big Air Bash, and joined my brother Brian and I for breakfast after the early Saturday photo shoot at the Black Bear Diner. One final tradition that we told John was a long-standing Truckin’ ritual, and one that he failed to mention in his show coverage, was getting spanked at the Hofbrauhaus. We kinda stretched the truth on that one. My brother Brian and I have been going there every SEMA for the last few years, but just for the food, OK the beer too. Nevertheless, John was all too willing to let the waitress have her way with him with a sizable wooden paddle, and this photo proves it. So, what does John think of SEMA? Yeah, he liked it.