Fall Showcase to feature state-of-the-art video

The spotlight falls on state-of-the-art video innovations at Electronic Video Systems' 2001 Fall Video Showcase, coming up Oct. 24 at the University Pla-za Convention Center.

EVS, located at 2029 W. Woodland, has been in business for more than 22 years and sells broadcast, video and other electronic equipment nationwide. While it focuses on the four-state area of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Okla-homa, the company also sells nationwide and, in some cases, globally. Among its local clients are First Card, Kraft, Bass Pro Shops, O'Reilly Automotive and the city of Springfield, and national clients include Federal Express, Circle K convenience stores and Dillons.

The Fall Video Showcase "has been a big asset to local broadcasters" because it gives them the chance to see the latest technology in a centralized location, said Raun Hamilton, EVS vice president and general manager.

"Keeping up with the changes in technology is such a challenge in this day and age, and with all the busy schedules, it is difficult to find the opportunity to get hands-on with equipment and to visit directly with the companies that make the products," he said.

Major manufacturers

EVS now distributes for more than 300 major manufacturers, about 80 of which will be represented at the show. These include Audio Technica, Canon Video, JVC CCTV (closed circuit television), JVC Pro, NEC Broadcast, Panasonic CCTV, Philips CCTV, Sanyo, Sennheis-er, Shure, Sony CCTV, Sony Pro and Toshiba.

"Electronic Video Systems started out serving the broadcast industry," Ham-ilton said. "Now we deal with just about anything that has to do with video."

The company has expanded its industry services to include closed circuit and security video products, audiovisual training and education, industrial, videoconferencing, presentation, and card access equipment. "We essentially handle anything that deals with video and audio applications involving sales, service, engineering and installations," Ham-ilton said.

Don Ingalsbe, the company's chief executive officer, said, "Mainly our customers are broadcasters, educational, medical, security firms, and certainly a lot of school systems. We do a lot of business with educational institutions."

Ingalsbe said the company's national business is mainly in closed circuit television equipment. Total annual revenues from all sales, he said, are "around $9 million."

Both Ingalsbe and Hamilton had more than 20 years' experience in broadcasting prior to joining EVS, Ingalsbe as a broadcast engineer, Hamilton in broadcast management and engineering.

The president and owner of EVS is Marta Haden, who has been with the company more than 15 years.

Since EVS began, Hamilton said, "The broadcast industry has changed quite a bit. Now they are making the transition to digital television. The FCC has mandated that broadcasters must focus on changing to digital TV."

Commercial broadcasters are required to begin broadcasting DTV signals by May 1, 2002. Ham-ilton said that, as a result, "they're having to rethink their methodology of how to get signals out." Broadcasters also have to obtain new equipment. Once all commercial stations have transmitters and are sending out DTV signals, new equipment is needed for station infrastructure: new cameras, tape machines, video servers, and the switching and terminal gear necessary to move the digital signals throughout the station.

The Fall Video Showcase enables clients to see the mainline manufacturers "demonstrating the latest in technology involving digital applications for all of the markets we deal with," Hamilton said.

"We really want to try to get a diverse clientele. And we can enable our clientele to make better decisions when it comes to the changing face of technology." For example, Hamilton said, school systems can benefit by seeing the latest in classroom technology; wedding videographers can see the newest cameras and editing systems; and broadcasters can get ideas for how to best spend their budgets for the upcoming digital transition.

Hamilton said that attendees also can benefit from the following free seminars:

"Video Applications for Today's Class-room" will show ways teachers can use video in the classroom. Besides instructors using video equipment, students will be able to shoot video and edit on increasingly lower-cost units, Hamilton said.

"Save That Travel Expense! Video-conferencing for Dummies" will demonstrate the cost savings of videoconferencing. Considering the money and time spent traveling to meetings, teleconferencing is becoming an attractive option for many businesses, Hamilton said. He added that videoconferencing technology is also becoming increasingly important because of new security concerns and travel problems stemming from recent terrorist activities.

"DVD Ram Archiving with Servers: Who Needs Tape?" "Broadcasters use machines to play commercials, and these used to be stored on videotape," Hamilton said. "Now they are archiving on DVDs."

"CCTV Application: Using the In-ternet for Remote Sites" In this seminar about closed circuit television, a representative from Pelco will explain how to use the Internet for monitoring remote sites for CCTV.

"DVD Authoring for Personal and Business Use" details how to actually insert commercial spots or programs onto a DVD.

The Fall Showcase, an annual event, has "grown over several years," Ham-ilton said. The first one was held 12 years ago when one of the manufacturers EVS works with wanted to do a presentation. "Every year it tends to keep getting a little bit larger," he said.

More information on the showcase, including a list of all of the manufacturers attending, can be found on the company's Web site at www.evsinc.com.