The Covid-19 pandemic (which seems to be on its way out, we hope) makes German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s adage “what does not kill me makes me stronger” ring truer, especially for a veteran automotive show organizer.
Now, after two years “on idle”, Sophia “Sophie” delos Santos reveals that the company she founded and currently heads, Tradeshow International Inc (TSI), almost ceased to exist during the pandemic.
Sophie narrates, “Only a few know that during the last two years, I almost closed down my events company. I had a skeleton workforce—I still do now as there are only three of us in the team—because I couldn’t afford anything larger. With God’s grace, after braving the storm last November when I staged the first car show during the pandemic with so little capital but with a treasure chest of guts, we survived.”
That November show apparently provided the spark of hope Sophie needed to motivate her and her crew to plan for a far grander 2022, and keep her over 35 years of experience in planning and executing automotive events on track.
Sophie recently revealed her events calendar, and it is jam packed: The 30th TransSportShow is slated from May 26 to 29 at the SMX; the dual 14th Manila Auto Salon + 27th SportTruckShow is from Nov. 24 to 27, also at the SMX; the 7th Tour De Cebu will commence Sept 30 until Oct. 2 in Cebu and Bohol provinces; the Manila Sports Car Club (MSCC) Miata Spec Races will be held on June 11, Aug. 27, Oct. 22, and Nov. 26 at the Clark International Speedway.
Other events in the pipeline for Sophie include the 8th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) and another off-road event, plus four other shows outside of the motoring industry.
The stagnation of the past two years seemingly behind her now, Sophie described how she survived the pandemic, physically, emotionally, and mentally: “The secret is faith, commitment, and just crazy passion for anything motoring.”
Sophie considers every day that goes by as chances for a fresh start. “I’m back to where I started, donning several caps again—planning, selling, designing, bookkeeping, even doing messenger work—but this time I plan to collaborate with friends who were also affected by the pandemic to build a bigger team, on special project bases, and there are several projects in line.”
TransSportShow
So far, 44 companies have officially signed in for the TransSportShow 2022 for the combined 75 vehicle displays.
“Under Alert Level 1, we can go for 100% visitor capacity, but we still need to be wary of overcrowding, since we are still required by the inter-agency task force (IATF) to maintain social distancing. It would be safe to target at least 25,000 visitors for the 4-day run. It’s always better to have quality target market visitors for better B2B (business-to-business) opportunities for my exhibitors,” Sophie stressed.
“It has always been my belief that an event can only be truly successful if all key stakeholders (organizer, exhibitors, visitors and suppliers) meet their ROIs (returns on investment) and ROO (returns on objectives). This is hard to do because along the way you need to sacrifice a big chunk of your projected profit to meet this, but you all end up happy and fulfilled in doing so. This is probably the biggest secret why my shows are long-running,” she added.
Tour De Cebu
For the Tour de Cebu (TDC), Sophie’s team is expecting around 35 participating vintage sports cars. Sophie explained that the vintage cars would be at least 50 years old and stock, with a few exceptions for non-sports cars with provenance.
Some of the confirmed participating vehicles for the TDC are: 1960 Corvette C1; 1968 Porsche 911S Soft Targa; Austin Healey 100M; 1972 Porsche 914; 1972 Corvette C3; 1969 Mercedes 280sl; 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Series 2; 1971 MGB; 1972 Datsun 240Z; 1966 Toyota Sports 800; 1962 Triumph TR4; 1970 Opel GT; 1957 MGA; 1967 Toyota Sports 800; 1972 Porsche 914; 1959 Porsche 356 Convertible D; 1965 MGB; 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia; 1965 Porsche 912; 1966 MGA; 1970 Lancia Fulvia Zagato; 1970 Mercedes Benz 280SL.
Passions in and out of motoring
A graduate of UP Diliman, Sophie’s professional background in the auto events industry includes being a project executive for Philcite’s Transhow International in 1987 and 1988, eventually becoming its event manager from 1989 to 1991. She established TSI in 1992.
TSI has also produced the Philippine Arena Motoring Festival, the PIMS for Campi, MSCC’s Concours d’ Elegance and Historic Races, Sports Cars for A Cause, Gathering of Porsche Classics, and Our Rides for Xavier School.
Not everything about Sophie revolves around wheeled machines, however. She’s also a certified chef, a skillset that certainly helped her weather the pandemic. “I survived through zero income from events by having a home-based food delivery business called Sophie’s Gourmet Gifts,” she quipped.
She’s also an animal lover. “My retirement dream is to volunteer in animal rescues or work in wildlife conservation organizations. I have four dogs whom I adore,” Sophie said.
MAIN PHOTO: Sophie delos Santos behind the wheel of 1958 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite
TranSportShow photo courtesy of Import Hookup and Tour de Cebu photo courtesy of Erwin Lim
