EXPO NEWS: Expo Announces Keynote Speaker for 2008s

© 2007 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Winter 2007
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 44

EXPO NEWS
Expo Announces Keynote Speaker for 2008

James Bradley, a motivational speaker and author of the best-selling book, “Flags of Our Fathers,” will deliver Expo’s keynote address on Friday, April 28, 2008, in Las Vegas.

New York Times Best Seller

Bradley first burst onto the national scene in 2000 when his book hit the New York Times list of best-selling books. The Times called it “the surprise runaway nonfiction best seller of the season.”

In 2007, “Flags of Our Fathers,” a motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood, came to theaters as the companion film to the Academy Award-nominated “Letters From Iwo Jima.”

Bradley’s book tells the stories of the six men who raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. The photograph of this historic event may be the most reproduced in photographic history. One of the figures in the photograph is Bradley’s father, John Bradley.

“Flyboys,” Bradley’s second book, debuted Sept. 30, 2003, on NBC’s “Today Show.” The book is the secret story of eight naval aviators who were beheaded on the island next to Iwo Jima. A ninth flyboy got away. His name is George H.W. Bush.

Doing the Impossible

Bradley is also a professional motivational speaker who delivers a message titled “Doing the Impossible.” In the past three years, he has addressed hundreds of thousands of listeners at major events across the country. His Expo presentation is slated for Friday, April 28, at 9:00 a.m.

Raised in Wisconsin, Bradley studied at the University of Notre Dame and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated with a degree in East Asian history from the University of Wisconsin. Bradley has lived and worked in more than 40 countries and has run companies in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.

TV Investigative Reporter Comes to Expo’s SuperTech

Tony Kovaleski, a veteran television reporter who conducted a hidden-camera investigation of unscrupulous garage door repair technicians in Denver, will be a featured speaker at Expo 2008’s SuperTech presentation on April 29.

Kovaleski’s sting operation was reported in the “Trouble in Denver” story in our summer 2006 issue. His five-minute investigative report aired on Denver’s KMGH-TV Channel 7 in May 2006.

Trouble in Denver
Kovaleski’s team set up a garage with four hidden cameras. The garage door was prepared so that the only repair needed was fixing a broken spring, which was expected to cost between $160 and $225.

After getting 14 quotes from Denver-area garage door technicians, Kovaleski reported that only four of the 14 quotes fell below $225. The highest quote proposed to replace two springs, change out the rollers, and replace the torsion shaft for $658.

Peeking Inside an Investigation

Installers and technicians attending the Saturday morning SuperTech presentation at Expo will hear how these undercover I-teams operate, how to approach them about concerns in our industry, and to remind the audience that every installation and service call should be handled as though it were being secretly videotaped.

Industry veteran Gary Lombard, also of Denver, will participate in the program, addressing the importance of professional conduct by technicians.

The event requires special registration and is part of a two-day special package for installers and technicians who come in on Friday, see the show, and go to the SuperTech seminar on Saturday. The seminar is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. and run until 10:30 a.m.