Topcon’s “rolling user conference” hits the road next month
What’s got 18 wheels, a 5,000-square-foot mobile classroom/theater and a 23,000-mile journey ahead of it? The Topcon Technology Roadshow 2014.
Calling it a “rolling user conference,” Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. (TPS) will get on the road next month in a custom-designed 18-wheeler with its “hands-on” educational program focused on advanced positioning technology trends in the construction, surveying and GIS, engineering and architecture/engineering/contractor (AEC) professions.
“With technology advancing so rapidly, many of our customers are telling us that it is difficult for them to keep up,” said Mark Contino, Topcon vice president of global marketing. “Instead of flying halfway across the country to attend a trade show or conference, we’re excited for this opportunity to bring tomorrow’s positioning technology to the construction, engineering and surveying backbone of North America – on their timetable, close to home, on a one-on-one basis.”
TPS, based in Livermore, Calif., is a subsidiary of Japan-based Topcon Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of precision GPS and GNSS systems, commercial lasers, and optical instruments for the global surveying, civil engineering, asset management, mapping, construction, agriculture and mobile control industries.
The Roadshow will tour for six months throughout North America, making 23 scheduled stops that will include multiple sessions over two days to for attendees that sign up. The journey starts April 10 in Pleasanton, Calif., and ends in October in Riverside, Calif. Topcon staff will travel with the Roadshow and local Topcon dealer personnel will assist them at each stop.
In January, Topcon reported a 31 percent jump in North American sales for the first three quarters of FY2013 to ¥31.4 billion ($306.2 million) for the April 1-Dec. 31 period. Operating profit for the North American region during the period was ¥2.9 billion ($28.3 million), far exceeding FY2012’s operating profit of ¥742 million ($7.2 million) in the same period last year.
