DSEi Day 3

After an eventful day of meetings and media interviews, the Night Vision DSEi team was yet again on the show floor prepared to meet with existing and potential customers. The show was still busy as many tried to schedule last minute meetings with customers before heading back home to their respective homes.

There were no signs of protesters at the show today and the line to the entrance was shrinking. Many people who managed to squeeze their meetings into the first two days had already started to make their journey home, but we still had business to conduct on the show floor. London traffic was light this morning so we made it to the ExCel Center in plenty of time to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee before the busy day began.

Mike LoDebole met with the Spanish delegation, existing and potential customers to discuss night vision requirements. In an effort to continue to build our relationship with the media, Mike also met with Grace Jean, the senior editor of National Defense to discuss night vision technology. Ron Davis and Frank Loftus kept busy as well meeting with potential customers and discussing their night vision needs.

With all the hustle of a trade show, you sometimes miss out on the other activities of the show. Yesterday I was able to escape to the outside and get some fresh air, and I’m glad I did. Docked outside the ExCel Center are three naval vessels on display. I was able to take a tour of the HSM Mersey ship, which is used for fishery protection duties. It is a commercial ship; however, it is manned with members of the Royal Navy. I had never been on a ship before, so I was curious to see the interior. Walking through the ship, I almost felt like I was walking through a New York City apartment. Very small, tight quarters! The hallways were narrow, and I had to watch your step so that I would not trip over the raised step. I did make a personal note to myself not to wear high heels on a naval ship in the future, not only are they loud, but they are not the safest footwear for a Naval ship. Also outside, DSEI held waterborne demonstrations. During the 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, you could watch an offshore raiding craft, which main use is for support missions along the coastline and rivers; perform at high speeds down the Thames River.

The level of technology that is at trade shows is really amazing and it is designed with one key goal – to keep our soldiers safe. Day three of DSEi has ended and the international team has completed their work for the week and we look forward to seeing everyone at DSEi 2011.

Mary Dudley

DSEi Day 2

ITT Booth at DSEi

Ahhh… air conditioning, it has finally made its way to the show floor. You don’t realize what a luxury it is until you have a long walk to the show floor. Our bus driver dropped us off in front of the ExCel Centre instead of the back this time, so we did not have the convenience of easy access like we did yesterday. We had to stand in a line that by the looks of it, I would have estimated the wait time to be at least 45-minutes to an hour. But, the line was a continuous flow of people who funneled through a narrow entrance on the show site and I was thankful that the line moved quickly. We did encounter two protesters circled by police outside the ExCel Center. They sat facing each other in front of DSEi sign that had been smeared with red paint. They sat quickly for a moment and then each one took turns reciting scriptures from the book of Matthew. I’ve heard stories of people getting doused with red paint as they entered the gates, but these protesters took a peaceful approach.

Once we got inside the air conditioning was a welcomed feeling. Our international team had a full day of meetings. Prior to the show, Night Vision submitted a list of international delegations that we wanted to meet with. There is no guarantee that you will get to meet with them because you only get five minutes with them and then they are quickly escorted to the next booth. Today, Mike LoDebole met with members from the New Zealand delegation and Frank Loftus, our new international marketing manager, met with members from the Canadian delegation to discuss night vision technology. Mike also sat down with Tom Withington, a freelance journalist who writes for several publications including Armada International. While Frank and Mike entertained questions from international delegations and journalists, Ron Davis met with several potential customers as well as ITTNV IMRs from Hungary, Turkey and Pakistan to discuss night vision requirements and existing orders. Shows like DSEi where you have several international delegations and IMRs on site are good marketing tools for business development managers who are able to network face-to-face with several individuals in a three day period.

ITT team members touch base

As day two of the show was beginning to wind down, Mike and Frank were off to the Ambassador’s reception with other value center President’s and Vice President’s to represent ITT.

Day two was a successful day for ITT Night Vision and day three will only be better.

Mary Dudley

DSEi Day 1

Welcome to Defence Systems & Equipment International 2009 show blog, or DSEi 2009. DSEi 2009 is one of the largest land, sea and air shows that happens every two years, usually on the odd number years. Throughout the week thousands of industry experts, military leadership and visitors will descend on the ExCel centre in London to partake in the event. The show draws many militaries from Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe and beyond. ITT is again exhibiting as one company at DSEi and Night Vision is a part of that initiative. This week Mike LoDebole, Director, international marketing, Ron Davis and Frank Loftus, both international marketing managers, will have a busy week filled with meetings and media interviews.

Cityscape at dusk

The kick off for DSEi began last night at a press dinner hosted by ITT. Mike LoDebole and I attended the event, which was held at the historical Tower Bridge that crosses Thames River. The elevators, or lifts as they are called in England, were conveniently out of service, so we had to hike up 318 steps to the top. You could say we earned our meal last night! The climb to the top took your breath away, but the view from the top of the Tower Bridge is striking at sunset and worth the hike up the steps. A total of 15 international journalists from publications such as Defense News, Jane’s, Shephard’s, Aviation Week, National Defense and the London-based newspaper The Telegraph attended the press dinner as well as ITT spokesperson. The setting was very casual and everyone sipped on their signature ITTini’s as we mingled throughout the night discussing topics from night vision, counter IEDs, submarines and unusual town names.

David Albritton welcomes guests

Bruce Scott speaks with journalists at dinner Monday night

After a successful dinner and discussion with journalists, we were prepared to begin the first day of DSEi 2009. We left for the show at 7: 30 AM, and I have to say I was fully prepared to sit in traffic in London for at least an hour but London traffic is not as congested as Paris. We made it in time for the all hands ITT pre-show meeting with Bruce Scott and David Albritton discussing the importance of the international community to ITT. It was a good thing we got to the show early because we heard stories of folks standing in line for two or three hours in the London sun. You might think that it would not be as hot in London compared to some other places, but today was unusually warm for this time of year. The heat was also a compliant on the show floor because the air conditioning in the ExCel Centre wasn’t producing much cool air.

After the ITT pre show meeting, ITT was the lead off speaker for the DSEi Innovation Showcase. Bruce Scott presented ITT’s innovated solutions for the battlefield. The presentation discussed technology advancements for communication systems, counter IEDs, electronic systems, space, ADS-B and night vision systems. In his presentation, Bruce highlighted the progression of night vision technology from Generation 2 to Generation 3, our advancements with the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle (ENVG) to the future of night vision technology with ENVG (D). Throughout the day, the ITT Night Vision crew attended meetings with the United Kingdom MoD, Poland and international marketing representatives. Mike and I met with Mike Gething, a journalist from Jane’s who writes for their electro-optics publication to discuss the night vision story.

With day one under our belt, we are prepared for day 2 of DSEi 2009 and hopefully with air conditioning.

Until tomorrow,

Mary Dudley

Day 4. Wednesday 17 June 2009

Luckily, the sun is still shining on Paris for the fourth full day of the Paris Air Show! I honestly thought today might be less hectic, but I was wrong. Both the ITT stand and the chalet were fully booked with customer meeting and media interviews for the day. Mike LoDebole and Mike Alvis were running the Paris Air Show marathon today as each had a full day of meetings with international Marketing Representatives (IMRs) from Poland, Italy and others to discuss opportunities in their respective regions. I don’t know how Mike LoDebole kept all the meetings in order; he literally had meetings back-to-back starting at 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. He was running back and forth from the ITT stand to the ITT chalet. Luckily for him the chalet is within walking distance of the ITT booth. If you need to go to another chalet for a meeting, you are probably better off walking than navigating a golf cart through the sea of people walking around. It is very crowded and people don’t seem to want to move out of the way especially when the air show starts, people stop where they are and just watch. I can’t really blame them either because it is a great show to watch.
While Mike L. was running the marathon of customer meetings, Mike Alvis stepped away to give two media interviews today with Tom Withington, a freelance writer who writes for Armada International and Digital Battlespace and another with David Saw, a journalist from Asian Defence and Diplomacy. Both reporters write for solid trade publications and Mike gave them an overview of Night Vision and established a relationship with the reporters.
During the Paris Air Show, ITT Chairman and CEO Steve Loranger and ITT Defense & Electronic Services President Dave Melcher gave several media interviews including top-tier publications such as CNBC, CNN International and Defense News. During the interviews, Mr. Loranger and Mr. Melcher answered questions about ITT’s aerospace and defense products and services. Their interviews are online for ITT employees to watch. To view the interviews click on the following link http://www.defensenews.com/osd_multimedia.php?o=VSDP
http://www.itt.com/video/paris-air-show/
As the day went on, we were again greeted by the sights and sounds of the Paris Air Show. The sounds make your ears ring for hours after the show and some people are starting to lose their voice from trying to speak over the jet engines. If you don’t stop to watch the show for a few minutes, you are missing out on a spectacle. The aerobatics and sophistication in which the pilots use to perform stops you in your tracks. This is one of the largest air shows in the world, and people from all over the world descend onto Paris for a few days every other year in June to attend the show. ITT definitely made a solid footprint at the Paris Air Show, and we made our competitors, customers and the media take notice of ITT. Night Vision held successful customer meetings and engaged the media at the show. Overall I would classify the Paris Air Show as a success for ITT and especially Night Vision.

Day 3. Tuesday 16 June 2009

“Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right” by John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Finally! A little sun in Paris.

Sorry for the Beatles reference above, but after yesterday’s deluge, the site of the sun was a much welcomed addition to this year’s Air Show. They say that to successfully navigate the Paris Air Show you need to treat it like a marathon and not sprint. To prepare for our marathon, the MARCOM team starts each morning with a “Hot Wash,” which is a review of the previous day’s events and what is on the calendar for the day. Hot Washes are great to regroup the team and plan ahead for the day. Well, I can share with you first hand that the entire ITT staff and especially the Night Vision team is moving at Mach 1 from the moment we walked on site today.

Steve Brecken, David Albritton & John Dench review upcoming events.

While I personally was a little slow today with the media side of our attendance, the Business Development team of Mike Alvis and Mike LeDebole had meetings customer scheduled one on top of the other all day. Early in the morning Steve Loranger, Dave Melcher and Mike Alvis met with representatives from the United Arab Emirates to discuss ITT Night Vision’s ability to support a potential order for 15,000 PVS-14s and aviation goggles for their military, police and border security communities. Moving quickly onto his next meeting, Mike Alvis met with the CEO of EO Systems, the 100% supplier of ground night vision goggles for the South Korean army. They discussed a business opportunity for over 25,000 PVS-14 tubes over a 5 year period. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Mike and his team can bring in these orders! While Mike Alvis was holding court in one conference room, Mike LoDebole was meeting with representatives from Photonis-DEP, Elbit Systems, Aselan and NAC about potential business opportunities.

While the Night Vision team was busy with customer meetings, Dave Melcher and the leaders from Space Systems Division hosted an overflow crowd of customers, journalists and peer companies for a round table discussion on climate-change and climate-monitoring. Simultaneously, the ITT exhibit was jam packed with visitors from across the globe. Imagine standing in front of the exhibit, greeting customers from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia and many others. Now you’ve got to know their customs, business practices and you need to have a general understanding of their languages as you greet them to help them identify the correct ITT point of contact. Not an easy task, but a fun and challenging one just the same. Perhaps the biggest challenge and annoyance is trying to hold a discussion during the afternoon hours. Try to visualize sitting at your desk talking on the phone, but with the sound and fury of an F/A-18 Hornet screaming by overhead. The decibel level is unbelievably high and constant from 1:00-5:00PM. While the fighters and helicopters are always cool to see, there’s nothing more amazing than watching the Airbus 380 again! I know we’ve already talked about it in yesterday’s blog, but it really is an amazing aircraft to watch.

another view from the show floor

With two full days under our belt, we are well prepared for the third and fourth days. Mike and Mike are booked with meetings and media interviews on Wednesday. Stay tuned for more from the Paris Air Show.

Steve

Day 2. Monday 15 June 2009

Paris Air Show Day 2

Day two of the Paris Air Show started off with a rush! Because Paris traffic is the worst, the ITT MARCOM media team left for the show at 6:30 AM, thanks to our driver Jean Baptiste (who we’ve nicknamed Mario Andretti) for getting us there on time and in one piece. By 9:30 AM the ITT Team was ready to go and attendees filled the chalets and pavilions. The opening ceremony for the US Pavilion was held in front of the ITT booth, thus giving ITT great visibility. After the opening ceremony, ITT held a round-table discussion on Automatic Dependant Surveillance Broadcast-System, or ADS-B. ADS-B is designed from the ground up to improve the safety and efficiency of U.S. air travel (for more information on ADS-B, check out http://www.itt.com/adsb/), and ITT was chosen by the Federal Aviation Administration to build the Next Gen ADS-B surveillance system.

The Airbus 380

The first day of the show was wet and dreary, not ideal for an air show, but Mother Nature stalled for a while in the afternoon to let a few aircrafts take flight. One of the highlights of the show was watching the Airbus 380 perform. The Airbus 380 is the largest commercial airliner that seats 600 passengers. From the ITT chalet, we have great view of the runway, and we were able to watch the 380 takeoff and maneuver throughout the sky. When it landed, it flew directly above us. It was so close that it literally shook the walls of the chalet! When the flight demonstrations are going on, it is difficult to hold meetings because the jets fly so close to the show site that the noise from the jet engines is ear drum blasting, but it does make you grin!

Day one of the Paris Air Show was a success for ITT. Aviation Week show news daily highlighted the round table discussion on ADS-B, and Night Vision attendees Mike Alvis and Mike LoDebole had a full day of customer meetings and media interviews with Adam Baddeley, a freelance writer for Jane’s International Defence, and Kris Osbourne from Defense News.

Mike Alvis and Bruce Scott on the show floor.

After the show ended, Mike Alvis, Mary Clemons Dudley and myself attended the Defense New reception at the Hotel Prince de Galle, where we were personal guests of the editor, Vago Muridani. While we were mingling with other MARCOM representatives, Mike LoDebole represented ITT Night Vision at the U.S. Ambassador’s reception that was held at the ambassador’s home in Paris. Overall, the day one was a success for ITT. ITT’s presence at the Paris Air Show was noticed by many of our competitors, customers and the media. We are well on our way to accomplishing our initiative of “One Company, One Mission.”

Until tomorrow,

Steve Brecken

Day 1. Sunday 14 June 2009

Greeting from the Paris Air Show! Throughout this week, I’ll share with you the sights and sounds of the world’s largest aviation exposition. Our preparation for the show began three months ago; the hard work of all involved is on display at the US Pavilion and the ITT Chalet. The opening day for the show is scheduled on Monday, but already I’ve hit the ground running with a fully loaded schedule today. After a short flight across the Atlantic, my day kicked off with a 2:00 pm meeting with the ITT Communications team. In addition to me, Mary Clemons Dudley from Night Vision, and other communication leaders from Communications Systems, Electronic Systems and ITT Interconnect Solutions met to review our interview schedule, round table technology presentations, and strategy for engaging additional journalists and sharing our ITT innovation stories. Hosting the event were Angela Buonocore, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for ITT Corporation, and David Albritton, Vice President of Communication for ITT Defense Electronics and Systems.

Shortly after the Communications Team meeting, it was off to the ITT all hands pre show briefing with the entire ITT Paris team. David Albritton hosted the event for over 40 Business Development directors and managers, Program Managers, Communications Professionals and ITT leadership team members. Albritton walked the team through the company’s efforts leading up to the event, highlighting the ‘One Company’ initiative for the show and expectations for the entire team. ITT Chairman, President and CEO, Steve Loranger shared his experience with the show and characterized Paris as the epicentre of strategy, customers and the competition, and that we needed to take advantage of our time here. Dave Melcher, President of ITT Defense Electronics and Systems, spoke next about the level of effort to get ITT to this day, and raised the bar for our customer outreach, and recognized the opportunity for ITT to take on a more visible role as one of the world’s Top 10 contractors.

At the end of the all hands meeting, I headed upstairs to my hotel room for a quick power nap prior to my next event. Having flown in this morning, sleep was becoming a commodity and I needed to jam in a few minutes when I could – despite a jammed packed schedule. After my 20 minutes rest, I threw on a suit and headed downstairs to the Aerospace Journalist of the Year (AJOY) banquet and award ceremony. Each year the aerospace industry recognizes the ‘best of the best’ journalist from the defense industry with a banquet and award ceremony held on the eve of the either the Paris or Farnborough (London) Air Show. Seated at one of two ITT tables with Angela Buonocore and my communications counterpart at Electronic Systems, John Dench, I was able to enjoy lengthy conversations with two of our industry’s better known journalists. Sitting on my left was Bill Cleary, the Editor at Avionics magazine and on my right was Michael Gething, the Editor of Jane’s Electro-Optics (and a huge fan of ITT Night Vision). While I wish I could be more aggressive with both journalists, the dinner was a fantastic opportunity to engage them and renew relationships that will bear fruit in the near and further down the road.

While there were no award winners from our tables, David Albritton was again front and center for the company as he handed out the ITT sponsored award for Best Space Submission won by Spaceflightnow.com writer, Craig Covault. The night’s event ended right at 10:00pm and this intrepid Night Vision communicator declined nightcap opportunities and headed off to bed in anticipation of a long and busy day one.

With Sunday in the books, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s opening day and a schedule full of interviews and meetings. Mike Alvis, Mike LoDebole, Mary Clemons Dudley and I will tackle the show head on and continue our efforts to engage existing media and be at the forefront of ITT’s goal to position the company as a top 10 defense contractor.

Until next time,
Steve Brecken

A few photos from Day One at the Paris Air Show

Paris Air Show

ITT Night Vision will be on the show floor at the 100th Paris Air Show. Check back to our site for frequent updates on all the happenings at the most important air show of the year.