FEBRUARY 1978 Circulation: 400 ! - Cont MANAGERS HIT JACKPOT IN VEGAS You can bet that the Sales/Systems/Service Managers' Meeting held in Las Vegas during the week of February 6-10 resulted in a significant payoff for the attendees. Regional managers from Sales, Systems and Field Engineering met at the Sahara Hotel with representatives of the various Marketing Support groups to review 1977, reveal plans for 1978 and take a peek at future product line developments. A recap of the 1977 performance showed that although not all of our booking/revenue goals were achieved, it was a very successful year in terms of profitability. Odds are for significant growth in booking/revenue for 1978 and the optimism among the sales force was very evident. Some unfortunate souls allowed that optimism to prevail during post-meeting strolls through the casinos. New product announcements were distributed for the DDM derivatives--BDM and RDM. Details of the new 104 terminal and a new low cost offering referred to as System 15 were discussed. Development plans for the portable terminal as well as some exciting planned additions to the current product line gave an indication of DPI's movement into new application areas. Soon to be released enhancements for improved performance and function in DCOS, AIDE and MITOS were also included in the agenda. The status of many of the projects which grew out of the now-famous "Pajaro Meeting" was recapped, and physical evidence of close encounters with solutions to many problem areas was distributed for review--a Sales Administration Manual, for example. Publications & Training introduced a proposal for use of video demonstration programs of DPI products using Betamax video cassette players. A pilot tape demonstrating the MIT 130 Subsystem was previewed. This project was produced by our own Shirley Stough, whose hands have been nominated for Best Supporting Role by a Phrog. (Phrog: Honest, folks--I didn't write this article!) Details on this exciting project will be firmed up and revealed in the near future. All in all, it was a very profitable meeting; if not in dollars for the gamblers, at least in the richness of wisdom. Of very important note was the fact that not once during the entire meeting did Pete "Thumper" Coble fall off his chair, and NOBODY got away with a free lunch. (Confidential to Thumper: The Sahara Hotel would like their high chair back.) DPI Official Profit/Loss Statement: Gene Mascoli/Don Villarrubia