A Behind-the-Scenes Interview with Gary Bailer, Director of Product Management, Sharp
Ahh, spring is definitely in the air! The snow is melting, the birds are singing, we’ve changed the clocks and have more afternoon daylight…oh, and the Almo E4 AV Tour is on the road!
Each year, the tour visits two cities in the spring and two cities in the fall. In March, we stopped to spend the day with a record number – MORE than 500! — of attendees in Chicago.
The tour moves on to San Jose April 19.
HAVE YOU BEEN TO AN ALMO E4?
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Months and months and MONTHS of planning goes into preparing for an E4! And it’s not just Almo working around the clock to make it happen. Our manufacturing partners take an ENORMOUS amount of time planning which products they will showcase in their booths and what they’d like to discuss with attendees on the exhibit floor. For the spring E4s in particular, our exhibitors oftentimes show products that were previewed at ISE and DSE or “sneak peek” those that are launching at InfoComm in June!
Did you know that SHARP has been on EVERY stop of the E4 AV Tour since it began in 2009! So this will be the 30th time that Sharp has gone through this process with Almo Pro A/V!
Recently, I put on my “investigative reporting” hat and had a chat with Gary Bailer, Director of Product Management for Sharp:
Darren:
Gary:
What do you like best about Almo’s E4 AV Tour?
Hands down, E4 is the BEST networking event for the commercial AV community. It has all the benefits of a full-fledged tradeshow but in an environment that lends itself to more in-depth discussions and relationship-building. Almo puts on a first-class event — each one has been better than the one before!
Darren:
Gary:
Is Sharp showing any new products?
Yes! We are showing the brand NEW PN-C705B AQUOS BOARD interactive display with Direct Bonding technology. This product is currently available and shipping! It is a 70- or 80-inch value-priced display that is made for schools and businesses. E4 attendees absolutely have to come by to take a look at it. We introduced this product in January.
Darren:
Gary:
Any new initiatives from Sharp that we should know about?
Our NEW PN-L401C Capacitive Touch Huddle Display with Mini OPS Expandability (cards that allow the panel to be more versatile) will be shown in San Jose. This product is 100 percent AQUOS BOARD in that it’s an interactive display — it can be used in either landscape, portrait or face-up orientation — and allows for wireless collaboration, annotation, screen sharing (wirelessly) and whiteboarding.
Darren:
Gary:
Will you have any booth contests or prizes?
Yes! We’ve invited a local artist to use the Sharp PN-C705B AQUOS BOARD® Interactive Display to draw caricatures of visitors to the booth.
POST YOUR CARICATURE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS BLOG AND YOU’LL BE ENTERED TO WIN A GIFT FROM SHARP!
Darren:
Gary:
What’s your advice for those attending an E4 event?
Absolutely make time for this one-day event! The contacts you will make, the technology you will have exposure to, and the courses and workshops you will take are going to be invaluable to your business.
We are taking a lot of photos and videos from the Sharp booth during the spring E4 tour. My next post will reveal some of these moments. We look forward to seeing you in San Jose!
