With great anticipation my son Sam and I arrived at the International Window Covering Expo in Las Vegas this past week to set up our booth one day before the opening of the show. Joining us was Nicola Salvadori from Model System Italia, our manufacturer of Engineered Shading Solutions. Our task for the day was to unpack four large wood crates and assemble the booth. We were fortunate to receive help from Marty Gass and his son Bowen, who own a local drapery business in Las Vegas. They brought ladders and tools for us to use. A few hours later William Sandberg from Drapery Connection in Chicago joined in.
Later that day, after we successfully set up the booth, we met up with Tom Miller and his son Sam from The Mini Blind King in Anchorage, Alaska. Tom is a great friend and always supportive. Tom and Sam traveled to Vegas to help us for the next three days in the booth.
Opening day was filled with anxious moments of how our booth our Exterior and Interior Shading Solutions would be received. Our nervousness was soon forgotten as the hall was filled with people. Quickly our booth filled up with excited attendees who found our products fascinating. We were mobbed the first day, showing off the TT10 Rolling Aluminum Shutter. The tensioned system called the TF51 amazed people with it bottom up function. The exterior horizontal aluminum louver with no ladders or cords that can span 180″ in width dazzled people.
In the afternoon, Neil Gordon presented An Architect’s Guide to Engineered Shading Solutions to an audience of over 50 people. Afterwards they were invited back to the booth to receive a copy of Neil’s new book.
The next two days we were joined by Greg Amato from Bay Screen and Shades in Santa Monica, California. The remaining days proved to be very successful. We witnessed visitors from all over the USA and South America to our booth who were excited about Exterior Shading Solutions.
I would like to thank a few people:
To Nicola Salvadori, Export Manager of Model System Italia. Nicola, without you, known of this could have happened. You and Renato have provided us with amazing, show stopper products and solutions. You have also become a great friend!
To Tom Miller, owner of Mini Blind King by Exciting Windows of Anchorage, Alaska. Tom, you have gone beyond expectations of what anyone could wish for in a friend. I am truly grateful!
To Sam Miller, son of Tom Miller. Sam you had an opportunity to shine and you did. I was very impressed by your confidence, poise and demeanor. You have what it takes to be successful in any path you choose.
To Greg Amato, owner of Bay Screens and Shades in Santa Monica, California. Greg, it was a pleasure having you participate with us in the booth. Your years of experience is a great value to us as well as your friendship.
To William Sandberg, employee of Drapery Connection in Chicago, Illinois. William, you are an impressive young man. John and Carl are very lucky indeed to have hired you. You have great natural skills as well as being a good guy.
To Grace McNamara, the show producer and owner of WF Vision Magazine. Grace thank you for this opportunity to showcase my products. I am grateful for your efforts and perseverance. In addition, I would like to thank your staff who were extremely professional and helpful.
To Enrico Nardone, founder of SunProject in Toronto, Canada. Enrico, you have provided us with great displays and products from Altex. Thank you for your undivided time spent with me in Toronto assembling and fine tuning the booth before it was repacked and shipped to Las Vegas. Thank you especially for your friendship and interest in our success. I would also like to thank Gilles Dumoulin, the General Manager of Altex for his support and to the owner of Altex, Gaetan Alepins for his time he spent with us at the booth making sure everything was going well.
And lastly to my son Sam Gordon. Sam, it gives me great joy to see you working by my side as my equal. You continue to step up to the plate and hit a home run every time you get the opportunity. It is a dream to work with you and to guide you in your career.