Andy Argus Attends Photo Show

The buzz of getting ready to leave for the Sales Meeting was at a high pitch all day Thursday (April 9). Andy had finally finagled an invitation to bring pictures and a story of

the show and Sales Meeting back to the 1,200 who couldnTt go to Chicago. Forty-five minutes before train time I rushed into Sales to hitch-hike a ride to the station. "They have all gone

home to get their suitcases," the girls said.

tically, I flagged down Gene Rossbach for a ride. The station blurred into view a few minutes later.

There I found Doug MacPherson entertaining Rob Wilson, Bob Shondell and Rod Bower. Seconds later

the train pulled into the station, and we only had to walk back to the Municipal Golf Course

to get on!

(From the looks of the photos so far, the A-4 I was using worked. ) While these Argus chow hounds ate, I talked to

Jerry Darrow and Chuck Hanson from our advertising agency. They had gotten on the club car in Detroit. No worse for the wear--the A rgus gang (plus o n e

startled stranger) debarked in Chicago to head for the

hotel. My roommat e and I sha red a room on the 25th f loor of the Hilton Hotel. It was way up, as y o u can see by the photo. In the big view you can see the

Planetarium, Aquarium, Band Shell, Field Museum and part of Soldiers Field between the railroad tracks and Lake Michigan. The only trouble with the room was the crash banging of the switching in the freight yards just below the window all night long.

New Products Well Received

Our three new producís were some of the biggest surprises of the show--especially the watt projector! Dealers f rom all over agreed it was the best projector buy on the market. That's what we had planned for with these special features: new, higher wattage, more powerful blower, an exclusive rotary slide carrier that stays in place even with the carrying case cover snapped on, and front f eet for tilt adjustment that raise or lower with a flick of the finger- all for $49.95. The wide-angle lens went over big, too. As the second interchangeable lens for our famous C-3,

it gives the C-3 the versatility of cameras costing hundreds of dollars more. The new lens almost doubles the picture area of the regular Cintar lens. It will sell for $59. 95 . We were mighty proud of the new A-four. No other 35 mm. camera at the convention combined so many fine features for $39.95 and offered a case and flash unit besides. With its fast f:3.5 coated lens and shutter speeds up to 1200 of a second, plus many other extras, the A-four gives every indication of being an Argus "best seller"!

School Days!!

Aside f rom staying awake most of the night through the courtesy of the New York Central and then waking up on Ann Arbor time, I was all set for the Friday morning Sales Meeting. I wanted to get to know these guys who make our paycheck possible. For three Friday, Saturday and Sunday--they attended school for better than ten hours a day. Their interest in new sales techniques, new products, sales policy, sales promotion and all the other stuff made my heart feel real good. It's nice to know that they are working as hard as we are back here at the Plant. „v

Argus President Addresses Photo Dealers

American people today have more money for luxuries than ever bef ore, giving -especially the photographic industry--its greatest opportunity in history, Robert E. Lewis told photo dealers and finishers at the convention. He added that the "discretionary" spending power of the U.S. has risen 4-12 times since 1940. Besides being president of Argus, Mr. Lewis is President of the National Association of Photographic Manufacturers. Women, and people in the 15 to 24 and 45 to 60 age groups were listed in his speech as the greatest potential markets for photographic sales. "We have more than 22 million young, energetic Americans between 15 and 24 years old with more buying power than persons in their age brackets ever had bef o re," he said. "Another potential market is the 45 to 60-year-old group, which has grown in 30 years from 14 million persons to 24 million people. "Photographic manufacture rs do all they can to increase the market by making good products at low prices, advertising them extensively and providing merchandising aids to dealers," he said. "The key to the whole problem is the dealer. . . . The ultimate sales job is his." Mr. Lewis called on all photographic dealers to develop aggressive selling programs to fit their own communities and needs.

Argus Team Active As Convention Commences

Af ter three solid days of sales meeting, the salesmen had 'til noon Monday to recupérate before starting the daily convention workout. This year for the first time in many years we had enough products so orders could be taken on the floor. Needless to say, all salesmen we re on the floor all the time. The sales office pitched in with vigor to help overloaded salesmen out as you can see by the photos on these pages. One thing for sure - inside sales people got an inside view on outside sales problems. The men rounded up the week with a pot-full of orders. To give you an idea of the typical salesman schedule: 9:30-10:30, briefing session in Argus conference room; 10:30-11:30, work on task group report (on competitive products); 11:30-12:00, lunch; 12:00-5:00, work on floor; 5:007:00, cocktails with leading dealers; 7:00-11:00, dinner with two or three top dealers and wives. The boys were beat by the end of the day!

The Argus display was the best of the bunch. Located in the center of Exhibition Hall, with a calliope music in time with the merry round it had action and life. The display tables made an excellent setting for the clinching of sales while dealer enthusiasm was at a high pitch. Girls in skimpy outfits wande red up and down the aisles - I just happened to wander right with them! Four times I went to the TDC projector display only to have my attention di verted by Miss Keystone. I got a picture of her, but none of the TDC display. Not counting "Art" stereo pictures, the other highlights were a new type plastic slide viewer, the Iloca "quick A" 35mm camera ($39.95) - real competition for our A-4, stereo - Realist projection - twin 500 watt projector for only $349.95, three dimensional home movies and projector by Bolex (Swiss firm) and senior size Exakta and Zoomar telephoto lenses. I, too, was really tired by the time I got home. Conventions just ain't what they are cracked up to be -- it's no party!

Behind The Scenes

In order to get a first hand look at the assembling of the displays I took a trip to Kalamazoo to the workshop of Bob Shipley. There I found Jimmy Barker (Art Director), who designed the entire carnival theme for the convention, going over various details with the men. As usual ole Andy had his camera with him to get some shots. Even followed Jimmy right along to Chicago to get some photos of the boys setting up the show.

Baby A-four Takes First Steps

For more than two years Engineering, Production and Sales have been hard at work designing and tooiing for the A-4. A high powered task force headed by Clint Harris (V. P. Engineering), assembled the first production A4Ts. Dick Gansley, Toolroom , was called in shortly thereafter to modify assembly fixtures so the girls could put the parts together without standing on their heads. Jessie Arnett and Marie Gould led off the groups now working on the assembly and inspection of the A-4. To date more than 800 have been assembled. It always seems to take a while to get the production bugs licked. To give the consumer a chance to get his licks in on the design and utility of the camera, over 500 were shipped to dealers in the test areas of Detroit and Lansing. Most of y ou probably saw the f uil page ads in the Detroit papers . The dealers are providing a roll of film and f ree developing to those who buy the camera, flash and case and who fill out the survey form. Fr om the comments of the dealers and competitors at the Chicago convention, I would say we have a good solid citizen in the A-4. Let's give it all we have.

Argus Eyes

Argus Eyes is published for the employees of Argus Cameras, Inc. and their families. It is intended to be a means of friendly communication between them, and to provide a reliable source of information concerning the company's business. Doris Walle of the Personnel Department makes sure that news is gathered and that pictures are obtained and arranged in readable fashion for publication the first week of each month. Sam Schneider, Eddie Girvan, Jim Brinkerhof f and Chuck Hanson furnished photos for this issue. Andy Argus was the reporter for this month' s Argus Eyes.

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