Exhibitor At First PRI Trade Show Appreciates Its Annual ROI

An exhibitor in the first PRI Trade Show and every PRI Trade Show since, Tech Line Coatings' Leonard Warren comments on its value to his business.

It didn't take long for Leonard Warren, of Tech Line Coatings, Murrieta, California, to take action after seeing an advertisement about a new racing industry event taking place in Louisville, Kentucky, the first weekend of December, 1988.

"We were a new company. I had just started business in 1986. The only other thing out there was SEMA. When I saw that the trade show was oriented specifically at the performance racing industry, I said, "This is a good idea!" I immediately signed up for it."

Warren exhibited at the first PRI Trade Show, and remains an exhibitor to this day. Tech Line supplies coatings technology to the racing industry worldwide, for all levels of competition, from grassroots racing to F1, OEM applications to Top Fuel and the top levels of circle track competition.

What was it like exhibiting at the first PRI Trade Show? "The people who came to that first show were the kind of people we wanted to talk to, and wanted to know about what we had," said Warren, noting that legendary engine builders like Grumpy Jenkins and Smokey Yunick could be found in the exhibit aisles. "The bulk of the people who came to that show were seriously interested in the performance industry and the technology on display.

"We knew it had been a success immediately and we signed up for the next year at that show."

What does the PRI Trade Show do for Tech Line Coatings? "It does the same thing it did at the very first show," answered Warren, a former drag racer, who originally got involved in high-performance resins in the 1960s. "It allows us to show our products—and services for those who provide them—face to face with those who are seriously into performance.

"Coupled with the fact that you publish a magazine. You don't just do a show. And that is really important because it means that the information that is presented to not only those who are at the Show but those who could not go is still available throughout the balance of the year, along with any new development, updates and so forth. And that reinforces the Show, and the Show reinforces the magazine.

"In general, I feel the show aided us in developing and building our business to the level it's at today, and we supply worldwide."