- Stampede has increased its Big Book of AV Tour to 14 locations for 2011.
With an increase of stops from five to 14 and an expected attendance of more than 8,500 dealers, this year's tour has been given the nickname of the "Even Bigger" Big Book of AV Tour. The 2011 tour will kick off March 16 with a stop in New Orleans. Other spring shows will include Miami, Cleveland, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver. The fall tour will hit Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Montreal and Toronto.
"Our dealers across North America couldn't get enough of the Big Book of AV Tour in 2010," said Kevin Kelly, president and COO of Stampede. "So for 2011 the tour is even bigger than last year, up from five cities to 14. We will still hold the shows in live-music venues, and we will still have tons of valuable information for our dealers. Our goal is to keep the atmosphere fun and energetic to remind everyone how much fun our products deliver to the end users."
Each show will enable dealers to meet with their local Stampede representative, as well as representatives of InfoComm, and more than 40 of Stampede's partners, including NEC, Hitachi, Amplivox, Atlona, Canon, Sharp, Casio, Chief, Luidia, Epson, Infocus, Lumens, LG, Mitsubishi, Mustang, Optoma, Peerless, Denon, Pinnacle, Samsung, Xpand, Bretford, Kramer and more, the company said.
At each show, dealers will have a chance to see live projector and display shootouts. To expand their knowledge, dealers can take part in Stampede University live training events on such topics as touch technology, digital signage and 3D technology. In addition, dealers in attendance will have the opportunity to become CTS and DSCE certified, the distributor said.
"Strong product knowledge is a core value at Stampede," Kelly said. "The Big Book of AV Tour enables us to bring valuable Stampede University training directly to thousands of dealers. This training helps our dealers to better serve their customers and grow their business. It's a win for everyone."
In 2010, Stampede University trained more than 1,000 dealers through training events, webinars, Stampede dealer shows and more. Training consisted of both product and technology topics, including 3D training provided by Insight Media and xPand Cinema. In addition, Stampede's own sales force invests 20 percent of their time in training through Stampede University, improving their product knowledge so they can spec the right products for the right jobs, according to the company. The entire Stampede sales team is DSCE certified, and many are CTS certified.
