Happy Friday! Today I bring to you a peek of the Apollo booth at the PLASA Focus Orlando show that wrapped up yesterday. We introduced two new products at the show that are in the pro-production phase. Can you find these new items in the booth? Good luck!
PLASA Focus Booth from Apollo Design on Vimeo.
Bill Harrison
My latest interview was with Bill Harrison, our IT Director. Bill has been with Apollo for almost 17 years! Bill has always amazed me with how his mind works. He is very detailed and thorough, yet has a quirky side too! Many of you are familiar with his wife, Mary Harrison, one of our Customer Service Representatives.
Describe your job in a nutshell: Primarily, I manage the department that maintains all the technology behind the scenes. Servers, operating systems, network devices, workstations, mobile devices, software, websites, databases, and communications equipment. We also get to contribute creatively and procedurally as we develop new things and new ways to do old things.
Which Apollo Gel describes you best? I’m proud to say that several of my suggestions became Apollo Gel names like Spanked Pink, Cherry Lewis, Fatherless Amber, and Bludgeon Red. Unfortunately, I’m not as interesting as that. I’d say I’m probably a diffusion or CTO.
What is on your iPod now? I don’t have an iPod but I always have music on. Usually at work I keep it in the electronic New Age genre. I find lyrics can be distracting. Departmentally, though we do a thing where we all cue up Echoes by Pink Floyd. The minute errors in our synchronization give it a cool sound that fills the office. The last album I bough was Lindsey Stirling. It is a cool collection of dubstep violin songs. For a more complete view, you can follow My Musical Evolution at http://westwoodvalley.com/my-musical-evolution-part-1/
What are some of your hobbies? My current hobbies revolve around hiking, biking, and fishing. I really like the multi-day backpacking trip on Vermont’s scenic Long Trail or a few days on a quiet lake in Michigan. Watching TV is good too but it has to be on DVR.
What kind of car do you drive? I will soon by driving a Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited in Cypress Green as soon as Mary says it is OK. If you talk to her today, tell her what a good idea it is. Thanks.
What is your refrigerator mostly filled up with? I’ve been focused on getting into better shape so the fridge is packed with responsible stuff. Lots of fresh produce and some leftover chicken and rice. Sadly, no soda or frozen pizza.
What is your worst habit? Are we talking about habits or vices? I’ve given up all my vices. Over planning comes to mind. It is really useful to cover every possible angle on paper to avoid issues later but it is easy to get caught up in the process. I find it hard to shoot from the hip or make impulsive decisions unless ice cream is involved.
What is your favorite Apollo memory? There are so many memories that I’ve accumulated over the last 17 years that it would be hard to select just one. So here is an early one. When I first started with Apollo in 1996, we shared office space (and unfortunately a bathroom) with a rough and tough asphalt company. We also shared the space with a bunch of raccoons. The raccoon infestation had finally reached a boiling point but rather than call an exterminator, the asphalt boys brought their shotguns in over the weekend. On Monday I arrived to find my office shot up and big holes in the walls and ceilings all over the building. A month later we moved to Option Pass.
View Apollo President, Joel, as he reviews a couple of the products we machine in house, Little Focus 5 Wrench, Get A Grip, and PipeDream Clamps.
With this weekend being Mother’s Day, it is only appropriate to show you this parody of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody named “Mom’s Rhapsody”. This is a must see for all Moms this holiday, and don’t forget to thank her for all she has done!
Next week Jeff and Keith will be venturing south to sunny Orlando for PLASA Focus. Besides enjoying the bright sunshine, they will be showing off many of the new products from Apollo. They will have our pre-production AP7 Wash LED which is a light that you will not want to miss! They will also show off our Little Focus 5 Wrench, Tour Jackets, Hoop Stands, PrintScenic Plastic and Glass Gobos, and Multiform 1012 fixture.
The show is Wednesday, May 15 from 10 – 5pm and Thursday 10 – 4pm at the Wyndham Orlando Resort off I-Drive. Stop by booth #305, snag a piece of gum and say hello!
We recently released the Little Focus 5 Wrench. Made from durable stainless steel, the LF5 is a sleek, handy tool for your focusing needs. The closed-end wrench provides easy access to common bolt sizes found in the industry, 3/4″, 1/2″, and 3/8″ openings.
For our dealers, we offer a convenient packaging option for retail/showrooms, our handy little 10 pack. The
re is also an option for laser marking the Little Focus 5 wrenches. Contact an Apollo Customer Service Rep for more details.
Made In U.S.A.
With nearly 16 million views, there a chance most of you have seen this video but the creativity continues to impress me time and time again. It is a music video by Ok Go performing Here It Goes Again. I always wonder how many takes this took and how many falls occurred to make this video! Enjoy & have a happy Friday!
If you haven’t done so already, take a minute to flip over those calendars and welcome May! We have a lovely new desktop calendar for you to add to your computer and mobile devices to give them a fresh new look. Simply click on the image below, follow the link, select the size you need and download. Easy as pie!
As you know, this past Monday was Earth day so I wanted to take a minute to let you know how Apollo is and has been doing its part in being a “green” company.
Five years ago we converted our gobo manufacturing from chemical etching to clean laser technology. This conversion allowed us to reduce thousands of gallons of chemical waste annually. Now, each and every one of gobos is cut from lasers, saving you and I from harmful wastes in our environment. We take pride in our Gobo Green Technology, and hopefully you do too!
Happy Friday, enjoy the green grass spring has given us!
