Ingram Micro held its Spring Vendor Expo this past weekend at the Fairmont Scottsdale, a AAA Five Diamond-rated resort in Scottsdale, AZ. Ingram is the world’s largest technology distributor, and owns two companies that serve as major distribution partners to the custom installation industry, AVAD and DBL Distributing. The Expo featured more than 100 different vendors, including Samsung, OmniMount, Bell’O, Philips, Vizio, Peerless, Sherwood, and Sirius-XM. Ingram invited key dealers from around the country to come and attend the Expo and meet with their sales and vendor partners.
Generally I walk the Expo floor looking for the latest and coolest tech, but with market factors as they are, I took a different approach to this Expo. With the economy remaining sluggish and people are still keeping a close watch on their discretionary spending, I wanted to find some lower cost solutions that might make a compelling offering. Along with this trend, many installers are looking for new ways to branch out and find new business opportunities. So, I walked the show floor with an eye toward finding some different solutions that could serve installation firms looking for something beyond the traditional.
Click through the slide show for items that caught my eye while walking the Expo floor.
