New York, NY — All this month, commuters through New York City’s Grand Central Station will be treated to the annual Kaleidoscope Light Show and a new high-tech holiday delight. Thanks to a creative project by Sharp Electronics, Richard Gray’s Power Company (RGPC), and The HOPE Program, the traditional Christmas tree has been reinvented. 43 high-definition Sharp AQUOS liquid crystal displays (LCDs) of various sizes have been arranged in the shape of a 26-foot high Christmas tree between Grand Central’s main concourse and the Vanderbilt Hall Bridge.
Besides high visibility for the Sharp AQUOS brand – an imaginative TV display in the middle of New York’s historic and elegant transit hub – this is a project with a positive social impact. Sharp will donate $1 to The HOPE Program for every individual who enters the AQUOS Experience sweepstakes to win one of the TVs. The HOPE Program is a charity that equips its participants with essential job training and advancement skills. With Sharp’s donation (a minimum of $50,000), HOPE is launching the Green Collar Project, an initiative to prepare students for careers in an environmental field that provides family sustaining wages, safe working conditions, and upward mobility. This alliance between a major manufacturer like Sharp and HOPE shows the potential of an unconventional collaboration. With high unemployment levels, efforts like this are even more valuable.
The AQUOS Experience tree is a marvel of careful design and integration. RGPC was Sharp’s first choice for powering the 43 LCDs and managing the nearly 10,000 watts of power consumed by the AQUOS Experience, including models such as the D85 Series of 42-, 46, and 52-inch screens. “It’s a natural fit for us,” said Jeff Lubitsky, RGPC’s vice president of sales, about digitizing Grand Central’s decor. “It’s a high profile event, and great opportunity to work again with Sharp.”
20 RGPC power distribution, isolation, and management products, like the Substations, have been integrated into the tree. After the event concludes, each RGPC product will be numbered and sold as limited edition models through RGPC’s network of New York City authorized dealers.
The AQUOS LCD tree made a special impact on a lawyer who walks through Grand Central twice a day on her way to and from Track 107. “It’s a beautiful thing,” she enthused. “Not only is it a radiant, glowing Christmas tree–a nice lift during the daily commute–but it’s a reflection of where we are culturally. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a special Medieval tree that reflects the muted colors of 500-700 years ago. Now we have an incandescent tree consisting of moving parts with a dramatic cinematic and audio component.”
This New Yorker appreciates the combination of the technological and creative to venerate an age-old symbol: “How far we have come. We can make a Christmas tree by synchronizing TVs that has as much poignancy if not more than the ones I remember loving as a child.”
To register to win one of the 43 LCD TVs, visit www.sharpusa.com/experience
For additional information, visit
www.richardgrayspowercompany.com
www.thehopeprogram.org
