Spradling International Marine invited me to photograph their annual expo at IBEX, the International Boatbulders Exhibition and Conference held at the Tampa Convention Center. They were looking for photo coverage of their cocktail reception at Marriott Waterside and a few quick photographs of their booth at the expo. It was an easy walk from one to the other as the Tampa Convention Center and the Marriott are literally next door to each other. When they 1st contacted me, they said they were going to have an Uncle Sam character. At first I didn’t quite understand the concept, but after I arrived, I sure saw the recurring election theme which was great! It turns out that Uncle Sam is also Uncle SIM (Spradling International Marine) which is very clever as we are currently in election season. The evening was fabulous for all of the attendees from Spradling and their vendors and friends and the weather was great. It was a great event to cover and I hope to see them in 2017.