Caution: Pan Asia-Pacific Airline Ticket Troubles Humble Veteran Traveler

I just purchased my first pan-Asia airline ticket since 9-11. Things have changed. And not just the price. My itinerary: San Diego, LAX, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland back to the US. Another difference this time – I had to do the booking myself, without the services of a travel agent. As a legacy flyer (over 1-million miles) on a legacy airline (United), I tried to book my itinerary on United and its partner airlines, figuring if I ran into trouble, they’d be more likely to help. Here are the road-blocks, obstacles and surprises I ran into:
1) Couldn’t book it on-line. It was all going smoothly on line, until I tried booking the segment from Sydney to Melbourne. This should have been easy, because there are over a dozen daily flights. United kept wanting to send me back to Singapore, to fly from Sydney to Melbourne. (At this point, I called United ticketing).
2) Through Singapore Airlines, United offered a flight leaving KL with a change of planes in Singapore for Sydney. Issue: sold out in economy class. When I asked how much that segment cost flying business, I was told that I would be required to book the whole itinerary in business (which was out of the question). I asked about direct flights on Malaysia airlines – perfect, a direct flight, less hassle, gets me to Sydney early in the morning for a full day of work. Booked it.
3) United no longer has a partner airline in Australia, so the United agent suggested I take Virgin airlines. “I often book people on Virgin,” she said – recommending the airline. OK, book me.
4) The agent quoted a price of $4,500 before taxes. I said that was fine. She said she needed to send it to the rate desk for final pricing. This was on Tuesday. I was given a deadline of issuing the ticket Sunday midnight.
5) By close of business on Friday, I hadn’t heard from the rate desk. I called United to purchase the ticket. They said it’s still at the rate desk. They say they’ll call back. I give them my mobile.
6) They call on Saturday. The price, $7,500. At this point, I’m stuck, because the consolidators I know aren’t working Saturday afternoon …
7) On Sunday (a week ago) – I purchase the ticket. In fact, they do it as 3 tickets. 2 United tickets (one covering the domestic flights, the other the international flights) and the Malaysian air flight. The United tickets are e-tickets. They will issue a “paper ticket” for Malaysia airlines. They tell me they will Fed Ex it, and it will arrive Tuesday, July 1st. Fine.
8) On Weds. Morning the ticket has not arrived so I call. “Do you have a tracking number?” I asked. “We mailed it.” Hmmm, I’m skeptical it will arrive in time. “Don’t worry … just go to the airport three hours before departure, and you can file a “lost ticket” claim and have the ticket reissued. (By the way, when I reviewed my Amex bill, I saw three charges of $25/each for “mail ticket.”)
9) Saturday afternoon, check the mail box. No ticket.
10) San Diego commuter airport, Sunday morning. “We can’t issue the ticket – but you can do it in Los Angeles when you get there.”
11) When I arrive in LAX, I go to customer service, wait ½ hour in line. “We can’t issue it here … you need to go to ticketing outside security, but you don’t have time. When you arrive in Hong Kong, go to the ticketing desk there and get it done” – don’t these people realize business travelers have appointments to dash to when arriving?
12) Captain can’t make the flight; a 2.5 hour delay is announced, so another captain can be brought in. Alright, enough time to get the ticket (I assume). I go to the Red Carpet Club to see if anyone there has the “magic powers” to do this ticket. (At United 10-years ago, the people in the 100K flyer lounge had the magic powers at LAX.) No, but he recommends I go to terminal 6 – one terminal over, because they have a 100K line, and I’ll get better service there.
13) Arrive at the 100K desk. They are polite, but can’t do a thing. I need to go back to terminal 7 and find “Line 7” which is for “paper ticketing” and lost tickets. They tell me there’s a person there who can help me. This is a slow moving line. Fortunately, I have a thick book: Texas by James Michener, and I have nothing better to do than read while waiting 45 minutes in line. As advertised, this is “the man” (actually a woman). And, the ticket is issued in about 10 minutes as she does research, makes phone calls and punches keys. I give her a United “attaboy” coupon for excellent service. “By the way, how about that ticket from Sydney to Melbourne?” I ask. “Is that a paper ticket also?” She responds, “There is no ticket. You have to go and buy that yourself.” And, in one of the positive changes the last 10 years, I pull out my computer, log into the wireless network, go to Yahoo travel, and book an e-ticket on QANTAS (adding another $210 to the total cost of air travel).
14) In summary, the people who did the original ticketing at United’s international desk:
a. Didn’t say the Malaysian airlines ticket needed to be purchased separately.
b. On two occasions, never mentioned that the ticket in Australia needed to be purchased separately.
c) Sent part of the ticket via "snail mail" instead of FedEx, which didn't arrive before my departure.

Travelers beware!

New Implementation of TI's DLP Technology By AVIO Said To Be Best Ever

I remember the first DLP projectors manufactured in 1995. They were huge clunkers, and I doubt any of them are still working today.

Times have changed. You probably even know what DLP stands for. That's not the way it started.

I had lunch yesterday with my old friend Yukinori Kimura, International Sales Manager for Nippon Avionics, a company I first met in 1994. He was fresh from INFOCOMM, the annual trade show and convention for projector manufacturers and the display industry, where he had met with Texas Instruments executives and showed them the new AVIO iP-40SE projector.

"The best implementation of DLP technology for business users," said the TI executive. I wouldn't disagree. What AVIO has done is taken the best TI has to offer (6-color processing) and made a projector with a high resolution "document camera" inside. Then, they added a high-quality Carl Zeiss lens and a slot for an IC card, which means with one device, a presenter can do all of the following:

* make a PowerPoint presentation
* show live images of papers, documents, 3-D solid objects

And, by hooking up a DVD player, you can project videos, movies, etc. All from one unit.

Impressive.

Not quite sure how the AVIO iP-40 works? Since seeing is believing, click here to check out this video on You Tube showing how the iP-40 works.

Here's the official press release:

(July 7, 2008) San Diego -- Alliance International, distributor and authorized service center for Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors, has introduced a new AVIO projector with built-in camera, Carl Zeiss optics and a built-in SD card slot that is portable. The iP-40SE at 11 lbs. is half the height of previous AVIO models, allowing it to be easily carried to remote locations to project live images of documents, 3-D solid objects, computer presentations and video from one projection device.

The main benefits of the iP-40SE are:
** Improved optics, with the Carl Zeiss fish eye lens, so that images appear more clear.
** IC card, so that PowerPoint presentations and other images can be shown without a computer.
**Increased portability, because of the size reduction, less weight (weighs only 11 lbs.) and all-in-one design.
**Quicker set up time and less clutter, because the camera is built-in; there is no need to set up a separate document camera and connect it to the projector.
**Ease of showing documents and 3-D solid objects; just lay them on the flat platen, as you would a photocopy machine or scanner.
**Clear image even when showing full page documents because of the high-resolution CCD camera built-in with over 4-million pixels.
**Improved viewing in brighter rooms, because brightness has been increased from 2,000 to 2,500 lumens.
**Improved video image, by utilizing DLP's latest 6-color wheel processing technology.
**Easy to save images and annotate over images, using the built in image capture and electronic whiteboard annotation features.

Unlike other projectors with an optional camera arm or using a traditional document camera or flex camera which is a separate device, the AVIO iP-40 projector has a camera built-inside, allowing users to easily place documents and 3-D objects on a glass platen incorporated into the images tops. The AVIO iP-30SE projector offers users convenience, because they can project clear images of full-size documents and 3-D objects without having to set up and use a separate document camera. And, the camera lighting is built inside, so you don't need to depend on their being light in the room to show objects.

Showing documents and 3-D objects is as easy as using a traditional overhead projector (OHP) or a photo-copy machine -- just place the document on the glass platen and the image appears.Nippon Avionics, based in Japan, has been producing LCD projectors with cameras built in since 1995. In the past, the projectors have been bulky, with a depth of 12 inches, or more. The AVIO iP-40SE is shipping, and available to government customers on the GSA contract through Tierney Brothers, to education customers through CamCor or available on-line at www.alliancewarehouse.com The price is $4,995. Click here to see the You Tube video of the AVIO iP-40.

Adopters of the AVIO's technology have been attorneys, who use the projector in the office for client presentations and internal meetings, and easily bring it to a courtroom for presenting evidence. Other AVIO projector adopters have included schools, colleges and large manufacturing companies who use the projectors for training.

About Alliance International:Alliance International Trade & Investment Group, Inc. was founded in 1997 as a wholesales distributor and international trade consultant to the professional audio visual, telecommunications, computer and software industries. The company's long-term clients have included JABRA Corporation (hands free Earsets), InFocus (projectors), PolyVision (electronic whiteboards), Yokogawa (document cameras), and Media Go Engineering (Digital Class electromagnetic LCD monitor with annotation software). In 2004, Alliance was appointed U.S. distributor for Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors with built in camera, and completed service center training in October, 2007.ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Trade & Investment Group, Inc. San Diego, California, USA Tel: (858) 558-2030 Fax: (858) 558-2031 Corporate Website: www.alliance-intl.com E-store: www.alliancewarehouse.com E-mail: info@alliance-intl.com

"Target Seattle" Revisited: 25th Anniversary of Seattle Petitioning Sister City Tashkent in the USSR For Peace

In March 1983 a group from Seattle travelled to the Soviet Union carrying 5,000 petitions with over 42,000 signatures calling for residents of Seattle and its sister city Tashkent to work together to prevent nuclear war. The petition and the trip were offspring of a city-wide teach-in called "Target Seattle" the year before, which brought together U.S. government officials, scholars, experts, clergy and citizens for a week long series of seminars on US – Soviet relations. Although critics complained speakers represented the liberal left, I remember attending sessions that included strong conservative speakers, such as the leading negotiator for the strategic arms limitation agreements, Undersecretary of State Richard Burt, Jeanne Kilpatrick (UN representative of the Reagan Administration) balanced by those who represented the views of "The Peace Movement." Moreover, one gentleman spoke about the benefits of a space based missile defense system, which President Reagan announced in detail to the general public while the Seattle group was in the USSR (much to the surprise of the group as their Soviet guests asked them to comment on the subject!)

A 25th anniversary gives an excuse to pause and reflect on the trip. Was it naïve? What good, if any, came out of it? And most importantly, what has become of the participants? It’s also an excuse to search through the garage and dust off the slides taken by Marlowe Boyer, son of a National Geographic photographer, who learned the art of photography from his father and documented the trip with outstanding photographs. (The photos in the attached article are his; I will post some of Marlowe’s work soon.)

Let’s first revisit those times, starting in 1980. Jimmy Carter is President. The era is referred to as "détente" as the US – USSR hold discussions on limiting nuclear arms production through the SALT (strategic arms limitation treaty) process and cooperation in other fields through CSCE (Committee For Security and Cooperation in Europe). On the other hand, the Soviet Union has recently invaded Afghanistan; moreover, as a provocation to NATO (which at that time was just 15 nations) the USSR has modernized its mid-range nuclear missiles in Europe with SS-20 rockets, which are capable of reaching any European capital. As a response to the Soviet threat, NATO makes the decision to upgrade its medium range missiles as a deterrent to the Soviet threat. The Atlantic Alliance takes a strong, unified position and will not be divided. Some of the citizenry within NATO’s membership, however, have different ideas. In the summer of 1980 in Copenhagen, students – numbered in the thousands, but not a multitude -- gather to begin a peaceful protest march to Paris against the missile modernization. (Of course, there are no demonstrations inside the Iron Curtain). The "Green" Party – supporting environmental issues and peace through non-violent civil disobedience -- are on the rise in Germany, and will soon clear a 5% hurdle in the polls to gain recognition in parliament as an official political party. Ronald Reagan is elected President, dousing fuel on the fires being stirred by the European left. His words against the "Evil Empire" raise concerns among Europeans who fear becoming a battlefield in a so-called "limited nuclear war" between the US and the Soviet Union. On October 10, 1981, a coalition of over 300,000 students, trade unionists, Greens, pacifists and concerned citizens take to the streets in Bonn (the West German capital) in peaceful protest. The "silent majority" in Europe does what it does best – remains silent, as the activists gain attention and make waves. There are stirrings of a similar nature in the US: the old anti-Vietnam War protesters and coalitions awaken as Reagan’s rhetoric generates concerns about a nuclear holocaust. Even Petra Kelly – one of the spokespersons for the German Green Party (whose father was an American soldier) travels to Los Angeles to address a rock concert for "peace" held at the Rose Bowl. (From my observation, the main draw to that event was seeing the likes of Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and other stars appear on stage in the spring sunshine of 1982).

In August, 1982 the USS Ohio – the first Trident Class Submarine—makes its maiden home port call to Bremerton, WA – across Puget Sound from Seattle -- with enough fire power, it is claimed, to destroy the world. It is another lightning rod in the debate on how best to keep the peace (through how much strength?) , and becomes a focal point for the Seattle "Peace Movement." In Seattle, a group of citizens from over 60 organizations including the church activists, the media, civic groups, non-governmental organizations and academia decide to put on a community symposium – coordinated by the Metropolitan YMCA in Sept. – Oct. called "Target Seattle" to better inform the public about US Soviet history, foreign relations, Russian culture and to study the consequences of Nuclear War. Seattle had sister city ties with Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, located in Central Asia (which is now in the news as one of the fronts against the "war on terror" and dealing with Afghani drug lords). One of the topics addressed by Target Seattle is "what can you as a citizen do?" One group comes up with the idea of the petition. Over 30,000 signatures are collected. Permission is given to bring the petitions to Tashkent, with stops in Moscow and Samarkand on the way, and a final stop in Leningrad before leaving.

One’s opinion of the trip to the USSR at that time depended largely on one’s ideological frame of reference. For those with a hard-line view, the trip was seen as no good and could only serve Soviet propaganda efforts. The Seattle FBI certainly took interest in it. For those going –no one was naïve nor expected political breakthroughs-- it was an opportunity to further educate oneself , and to try and foster more dialog between people. This delegation included "the good earth" of Seattle citizenry. It was not a "political" delegation headed by the mayor and full of politicians on a political junket, although the delegation included the wife of a future Congressman (Virginia McDermott). It represented an eclectic mix of Seattle citizenry, including: the director of the municipal league (Kay Bullitt), a school teacher (Linda Straley), a cancer doctor (Hugh Straley), a travel agent, a university professor & Rhodes Scholar and his family (Aldon, Elisabeth and Ruth Bell), a graduate college student (Mary Reichert, who had majored in Russian and was the group’s unofficial interpreter and "secret weapon" – who could sing folk songs in Russian and recite verses from Pushkin and disarm any Soviet official with her charm), a pediatrician (Rosh Doan), an agronomist (Roy Wiebe), a photographer (Marlowe Boyer), a Minister who served as Pacific Northwest Regional Director of the Congregational Church (James Halfaker) and his son (Jon), an engineer (Paul Cooke), an insurance salesman (Nick Licata) and others, including a journalist (Craig Justice).

My career would take me away from Seattle to Japan and working with Asia Pacific countries before settling of all places in California (a land loathed by Seattleites at the time). One regret in my life is losing touch with this group. With the power of e-mail and blogs, let’s see if this post will flush out and bring back others who were on this trip, so that memories and lessons learned may be shared.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Empire, the corruption Uzbekistan’s rulers has come to light. One wonders that the hell was really going on in that country when we visited 25 years ago and ate caviar, downed vodka toasts and dined on lamb pilaf with our hosts?

How about the religious leader, the "grand mufti" the Amim Hatib whom we met outside of Samarkand? I remember him speaking about the importance of peace to his faith… what has happened to him and his madrassa since the fall of communism and the right to practice Islam openly?

How about the InTourist guide Vladimir who accompanied us? What became of him?

When the butterfly flaps its wings in Seattle the wind stirs in Beijing. Did this peace voyage prevent a nuclear war? Of course not. Did a group of citizens better educate themselves? Absolutely! Did they become better citizens of the world for it? Let’s find out.

In November after the trip, many in the group helped organize a 9-day series of lectures, workshops and drama called "Target Seattle: Soviet Realities." The focus this time was on the Soviet Union, and included 22 well-informed speakers represnting different views who debated the Soviet military threat, US policy options, negotiating strategies while describing policital, social and econmic conditions in the USSR. "We are asking a very great deal of our citizens -- to confront the issues," said Don Bell, Target Seattle's chairman who had lead the trip to Tashkent earlier in the year. As part of that program, on a Sunday evening, a few thousand residents gathered in more than 550 homes across the city to discuss their perceptions of the Soviet Union, and actions that they could take as individuals to reduce the threat of nuclear war. They met again one week later. According to Bell, Target Seattle inspired similar, though smaller, events in a dozen other communities including Vancouver (Canada), Birmingham, AL and Hartford, CT.

In the years that followed, Seattle and Tashkent exchanged several delgations at the mayoral level and the people-to-people level, which is described by delegation member Dr. Rosh Doan.

Now let us praise famous men and women, the ordinary people of that delegation who lived their lives, and accomplished magnificent things, whom, it seems, were taken away from us before their time. First was Marlowe Boyer, the photographer, who put together a multi-media slide show of the trip (this was long before Al Gore and I had invented the LCD projector which would have made the enterprise much easier). Marlowe wrote in his will that when he died, he hoped "the slide show" would be shown at a gathering of his friends at a memorial service. Who could have imagined that such a young spirit would fall so early to leukemia. He was gone within 2 years of making the trip. Don Bell, Professor of History at the University of Washington, the "leader of the delegation" – such a generous and welcoming man – taken by the Lord (Absalom, Absalom cried the letter informing us of his passing from his wife) within a few years of the event.

And the rest of you – how did the trip to the USSR impact your lives? Looking forward to learning the rest of the story.

Distributor Funded Head: The Pros and Cons

The “funded head” concept – where a manufacturer or software publisher pays the cost of employing a staff member at a distributor—is raising its head in my current work space and is a worthy topic of discussion.

The question comes down to this: is paying the cost, or the partial cost, of a distributor’s employee an effective and economical way for growing companies to increase sales in new markets?

I’ve seen the situation from both sides. At Mitsubishi Trading Corporation in Japan in the mid-1980s, it was common among U.S. companies looking for access to the Japan market to form a joint venture with us. We would contribute the local staff; the U.S. firm would contribute the technology or the product. In this case, the venture was able to employ local staff quickly. But there was sometimes a question about loyalty – was the staff’s loyalty to the success of the new venture, or to the parent company from which they were on loan?

At Alliance International Trade & Investment Group, Inc. our marketing pitch when recruiting supplier partners to represent in overseas markets was this: “Let us represent and sell your products and you only need to pay us a commission on what we sell.” The appeal of that approach is there’s no risk for the vendor. No sales = no costs.

From the vendor’s perspective, I was always skeptical if a distributor asked us to pay for the costs of a person they wanted to assign to manage our product. Here’s why:

· I'm giving you a large discount (margin) to profitably run your business
· I'm giving you marketing support
· I’m usually giving you exclusivity, to help protect your investment, if your commitment is significant and the market is new for us
· And now you want me to pay for your staff? That’s what the margin is supposed to be for, right?

Give me a break!

I recently met with our partner Sigma Software Distribution in the UK and was presented with a funded head proposal. This one was different. It was focused on ROI, with a return of 5 to 1 for our investment. Now this was a proposal that caught my attention, and is under serious consideration. It represents a way for us to quickly deploy concentrated attention in the U.K. market, without the risks of employing a UK national and the accompanying UK employment regulations.

Then, just a few days ago, I was approached on the same topic for the U.S. market by one of our U.S. distribution partners, considering a plan to offer funded heads from $35K (part time) - $120K (full time). After expressing my initial skepticism, I’ve been giving it a bit of theoretical consideration as a mental exercise.

One selling point which came to mind is location. For small companies based on the West Coast, a funded head strategically placed on the East Coast offers reduced travel costs to East Coast resellers such as SHI, Programmer’s Paradise, PC Connection, PC Mall in Montreal, etc. for working the sales floor and call out days. (As we know, out of sight = out of mind. Those who are in front of resellers are going to get their products sold more often.)

The distributor with a funded head could also hold out access to major resellers as a carrot. For example, their pitch might be: “Sign up for a funded head, and we'll get you into CDW.” Typically, powerful resellers like CDW only deal with large vendors. Access would definitely be a benefit.

Moreover, if the proposed funded head is an experienced sales executive who knows the sales reps at the resellers, that would be a true value added proposition.

Still, it comes down to two issues for me:

· Whose interests does the Funded Head have at heart (mine, or the distributor’s)?

· Why don’t we just hire the person ourselves?

UK Software Distribution: Centered in Devon

Devon is located 4 hours by car from London to the Southwest. It’s something of a “vacation land” boasting a beautiful coast line and a national park (the Dartmoor) inland with higher evaluations and weather extremes.

Devon is a place where the devil visits the taverns and ghosts frequent abandoned mansions. (Could J.K. Rawling, who was educated at the nearby university in Exeter, have been inspired by these surroundings?) Our distributor for the UK, Sigma Software Distribution, is based in Devon and has a diverse cast. One speaks to the llamas in the hills (I don’t mean religious monks, but the glorified hairy beasts with long necks ). Another sports a long red coat and goes fox hunting during lunch (talley ho!). Another is a woman with 9 children who doesn’t live in a shoe, but after work marketing software by day operates an inn owned by her family (now that’s true manpower!). Another staff member greats you with a wide smile flashing large white teeth – he’s not a vampire, but a 5th degree black belt in martial arts. If ever there was a little town where the children are above average and the women are strong (the female managing director of Sigma Software distribution is a former army officer), is Devon not the "Lake Wobegone" of England?

Back to business with this cast of characters – Sigma Software Distribution represent a few good software brands including TechSmith, MindJet and now SmartDraw. All three softwares could be classified as “business productivity.” Sigma have worked magic with MindJet and TechSmith, driving sales at heavenly growth rates that can’t be matched by world-wide distributors such as Ingram Micro. One of their techniques for doing this is with the “funded head” a concept I had first run into 15 years ago with the now defunct distributor Tech Pacific in Singapore. The disty's pitch goes something like this.
a) We want exclusive distribution rights to your products
b) We want really good margins
c) We want you to pay for the advertising
d) We want you to pay us for allowing you to talk to our sales reps (well, the distributor doesn’t say that, but the resellers certainly say that!)
e) And now, we want you to pay our staff expense. (You pay us, and we’ll hire someone to sell your products.)
I always found this proposition troubling – because we were providing our distributors with more than enough margin to sell our product, promote it and to pay their staff. Look, if you’re going to ask me to pay so you can go and hire staff, I might as well hire the staff myself! Therein lies the challenge – hiring an employee in a European labor market where there is no "employment at will".

I allow the Sigma Sales Director (the self-described "thug" among this cast of characters with his fashionable bowling ball haircut) to make his pitch for the funded head, and he starts by talking about a 5 to 1 return on our investment. Now he’s got my attention, because the numbers make sense. What’s more, we can start with ½ a person, with an initial commitment of 6 months, paid quarterly, with a portion of the payment “earned” from achieving sales targets. So in our case, given our anticipated growth in UK reseller sales, the funded head makes sense, especially if we found a good person in Devon, at Devon wage rates. I wonder if this person will also talk to llamas, chase ghosts and go fox hunting?

London Revisited 31 Years Later: Distributing Software In The UK

London – The DSGi computer group invited their best customers – IT managers from leading companies, government and education institutions—to attend a series of lectures and see the latest software and computer products at a mini exposition in Weybridge, an affluent suburb southwest of London in the Surrey district. The venue is an old car race track from 100 years ago, which now hosts a museum of race cars, a mothballed Concorde supersonic jet [the 2nd Concorde I’ve seen today as I passed by one at Heathrow this morning on my arrival] and a car dealership, Mercedes Benz World. Not just a place to purchase vehicles, at Mercedes World a professional driver will take you an obstacle course testing the latest Mercedes vehicles’ ability to accelerate, stop in water (without skidding out of control) and to swerve around objects at high speed (without rolling over or spinning out). This was an added attraction for the attendees [and a good place for me to practice driving on the wrong side of the road]. I was there in a booth representing SmartDraw, the leader in business graphics software, along with our distribution partner in the UK Sigma Software Distribution. I found the quality of the attendees to be excellent and was equally impressed with Sigma’s ability to engage customers. They shared the same philosophy I do, that you might as well throw money on the ground for each attendee who passes by whom you don’t engage and tell about SmartDraw. That’s a polite way of describing “kick ass and take names.” It was quite refreshing to see that in a reseller – someone who actually works and hustles for business--and I believe that we obtained more leads than anyone else at the show (especially given our location near the back where there was less foot traffic). I’ll be following up with Sigma staff on Monday, calling and qualifying the leads, and bringing orders right into the hands of DSGi’s sales reps in an effort to further grow SmartDraw’s sales in the UK to at least 15%, or more, of US sales.
Headlines in the BBC news today are the 150th anniversary of the installation of “the bell” in the Big Ben clock tower, and newly released videos from the 7/7 July terrorist bombers saying goodbye to their families. The London Marathon is tomorrow, and I’ve walked at least half that distance today through London’s major streets, parks and alleys. Having travelled to many European and Asian capitals during the last quarter century except London, I find the central parts (Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens) magnificent to view, and bustling with activity. No wonder the city is such a popular destination. Dinner Friday night is with Nick & Steven Thompson of Marinesoft, our reseller partner for more than nine years. The company name comes from their passion for sailing. Instead of taking me sailing across the English Channel, we head for Rules, London’s oldest restaurant, established in 1798, where I take revenge on a rabbit who has been splendidly roasted and stuffed. Nick gives me a lesson about English character and management styles. "Non emotional," he says. I tell him that also describes the culture of SmartDraw: decisions are made based on facts and reason. Back at the hotel an urgent message awaits from the home front 8 time zones away, “Caught a gopher and don’t know how to get the corpse out of the trap. What do I do!?”

Another Great "Intelligent Projector" from Nippon Avionics, the AVIO iP-60E

One of my personal goals at Alliance International was to introduce unique products to the North American market. One of those has been the AVIO projector series, built by Nippon Avionics in Japan. You may never have heard of this projector manufacturer before, but their products are excellent. I first met their management team at the INFOCOMM trade show in 1994, and year after year they keep plugging away, delivering a projector with a unique, built-in camera, that allows you to show crisp, clear live images of documents and 3-D solid objects. The quality of the AVIO products is excellent.

Alliance Int'l has just released the AVIO iP-60E, a 3,500 lumen LCD projector with a 4-million pixel high resolution camera built in. The first shipment arrived at LAX on March 31st, and is sold out already. The next shipment should arrive at the end of April. Here's the text of the press release:

Alliance International Introduces AVIO iP-60E 3,500 Lumen LCD Projector With Built-In High-Resolution Camera

April 7, 2008 (San Diego, CA) -- Alliance International, North America distributor and authorized service center for Nippon Avionics, has introduced AVIO's newest LCD "intelligent projector', the iP-60E. The iP-60E features 3,500 lumens, and is the choice for organizations requiring a brighter projector with "all-in-one" capability of document camera, scanner, electronic whiteboard, large screen projection TV and PowerPoint presentations.Because it incorporates a high resolution camera, the iP-60E is used to project live images of documents and 3-D solid objects, in addition to tradition projector functions of computer presentations and video. The main benefits of the iP-60E are:

**Clearer image in well-lit rooms, because brightness has been increased to 3,500 lumens.
**Quicker set up time and less clutter, because it has a built-in camera. There is no need to set up a separate document camera and connect it to the projector.
**Ease of showing documents and 3-D solid objects; just lay them on the flat platen, as you would a photocopy machine or scanner.
**Clear image--even when showing full page documents-- because of the high-resolution CCD camera built-in with over 4-million pixels.
**Improved video image, by utilizing LCD technology.
**Easy to save images and annotate over images, using the built in image capture and electronic whiteboard annotation features.

Unlike other projectors with an optional camera arm or using a traditional document camera or flex camera which is a separate device, the AVIO projector has a camera built-inside, allowing users to easily place documents and 3-D objects on a glass platen incorporated into the images tops.The AVIO iP-60E projector offers users convenience, because they can project clear images of full-size documents and 3-D objects without having to set up and use a separate document camera. Showing documents and 3-D objects is as easy as using a traditional overhead projector (OHP) or a photo-copy machine--just place the document on the glass platen and the image appears.Nippon Avionics, based in Japan, has been producing LCD projectors with cameras built-in for over 12 years. In the past, the projectors have been bulky, with a depth of 12 inches, or more.The AVIO iP-60E is now shipping, and available to government customers on the GSA contract through Tierney Brothers, to education customers through CamCor or available on-line at www.alliancewarehouse.com The list price in both the US and Japan is $8,495.Early adopters of the AVIO iP-60E have been manufacturing companies, who use the projector in the office for presentations and training.

About Alliance International:

Alliance International Trade & Investment Group, Inc. was founded in 1997 as a wholesales distributor and international trade consultant to the professional audio visual, telecommunications, computer and software industries. The company's clients have included JABRA Corporation (hands free Earsets), InFocus (projectors), PolyVision (electronic whiteboards), Yokogawa (document cameras), Media Go Engineering (Digital Class electromagnetic LCD monitor with annotation software) and SmartDraw (business graphics software). In 2004, Alliance was appointed U.S. distributor for Nippon Avionics AVIO projectors with built in camera, and completed service center training in October, 2007.

ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Trade & Investment Group, Inc. San Diego, California, USATel: (858) 558-2030 Fax: (858) 558-2031 Corporate Website: www.alliance-intl.com E-store: www.alliancewarehouse.com E-mail: info@alliance-intl.com