Chris escorted Safety Vision President Bruce Smith into NASA Mission Control on Monday (Smitty said, “If anything happens to the shuttle, I didn’t push that button!”), and Sunday took a few family members. Mom Rose said, “It’s awesome to watch the Mission Control people actually talking to the astronauts in space. They were discussing which types of equipment they were bringing back and what was staying on the space station. When they were through packing up the space suits, they went to work out before they went to sleep. Chris’s team will be analyzing the exercise equipment they used.” Fun stuff!

Funner still: Early this morning Christopher escorted the Rex Colorado (nee Mark Sahinen) family to the Mission Control screening auditorium, where they watched the shuttle Atlantis make its safe return to Earth. And a local news team interviewed Rex and his family of past, present, and future Visionaries (wife Kay met Rex working at Safety Vision and, says Rex, kids Kalysta and Lucas are Visionaries in the making!). Check out the newscast, here: http://www.click2houston.com/video/9900719/index.html.

Rex mused, “I thought life brought everyone 15 minutes of fame? We got shorted about 14 minutes and 45 seconds. And unfortunately, they cut my plug for the new RoadRecorder 6000 PRO mobile DVR and its suitability for both low orbit and deep space digital video recording. But it was worth it: A proud moment entering NASA with the credentialed Chris Wheeler!”

You think Rex was kidding about plugging the RoadRecorder PRO for the intergalactic mobile environment? If you knew Rex like I know Rex, you’d wonder. I can just see him at the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars, selling warp-speed-rated cameras and the AstralRecorder 9000 PRO to the aliens.

Space: the final frontier….

- Chris Portillo

First off, I’d like to say “Hello, and welcome” to a standout crew of new employees. (You may have seen the press release about these key personnel cross the wire, recently.) Along with several additions to our sales and customer support staff, we welcome new Warehouse Manager, Mike Russell.

In the short time Mike’s been with us, I’ve seen significant improvements in our shipping & receiving operations. He’s dealing with a big shop out there–a two-story, four-tier warehouse that’s packed to the rafters with product. Day by day, we’re receiving an expanding inventory, and we’re shipping orders in larger quantities to broader geographies. It’s tough to keep up with the pace. But Mike is supported by a top-notch shipping & receiving staff, and I’m confident they’re up to the task. What especially pleases me about ongoing warehouse improvements is that the enhanced efficiencies result in streamlined turnaround times and lower costs–benefits that we’re able to pass on to our clients.

And I’m always excited about adding new sales support staff. Think about it: The addition of every new Account Executive means that we need to grow our ranks just to keep up with customer demand. Each one of these new professionals brings a unique perspective on the mobile video industry: I’m constantly amazed at how a “fresh set of eyes” sees new and better ways to support our existing customers. The newcomers also envision different applications and clientele for our products, and they help us dream up creative solutions to our clients’ ever-evolving needs.

So, please join me in extending a warm welcome to these and all new hands on deck!

I’d also like to extend a “Goodbye, and good luck” to a special group of temporary help. Safety Vision has a longstanding policy of nurturing energetic, ambitious youngsters who aren’t afraid of hard (and often hot!) work. Typically, these young people are friends and family of Safety Vision employees. We’ve had some real up-and-comers, lately. The last of the summer warehouse crew to head back to college were Blake McCarver, a UT San Antonio electrical engineering student whose dad Monty is an old college buddy of mine; and Collin Brown, an honors business student at UT Austin whose girlfriend happens to be our Marketing Director’s daughter.

These are just a few of the great kids who’ve joined us for a time. Some may return, in future; some have already moved on. But I hope they all take away valuable lessons about personal accountability, workplace responsibility, and the inherent satisfaction in a hard day’s work.

Whoa: Didn’t mean to get longwinded! That’s not my style. But since this is my first time writing in this medium, I wanted to address the part of my business that is closest to my heart–and that’s the people behind this company’s success. I count myself lucky to be surrounded by so many hardworking, motivated, and loyal professionals. We may operate at the global level, but we conduct business at the personal level. And we wouldn’t have attained the success we enjoy today without the right people. Some may come and some may go: But all the good ones leave their mark.

-Bruce Smith, President & CEO

Honestly, Bruce, you don’t look a DAY over 43…!

–CP

Attended only by those account executives who achieve a pre-ordained sales quota, the most recent retreat was held February in Rio amid the crush and craziness of Carnival. The celebrants (not all are pictured) had much to be thankful for and plenty of reason to party: primarily, the company’s continued and accelerating success, marked by $30 million in sales in 2005. (The partying included a romp aboard Carnival floats for Safety Visionaries decked out in outlandish carnival costumes that make Mardi Gras look tame: Now THOSE are the pictures you want to see…!)

And ’06 is turning out to be an inspired year, as well. We are well on track to meet our short-term target of $40 million in ’06 sales, with a longer term sales goal of $100 million by 2013. The early months of the year have witnessed some notably healthy sales activity: e.g., the award of a $1 million-plus purchase order for a major transit authority was soon followed by a $3 million-plus sales month. This week alone, we are looking at closing several additional multimillion-dollars’-worth of business providing transit video cameras and mobile DVRs for other major transit authorities. And continuing the ever-upward trend started with our founding in 1993, we are booking steadily increasing millions with our original mobile video product line: collision avoidance camera systems.

All in all, things are looking up! We are inspired to achieve ever greater results–for the mobile safety and financial benefit of our clients, for the health and wellbeing of our employees, and for the continued vigorous growth of our company. We love what we’re doing–can you tell?!

- Christine Portillo, Marketing Director