Broadband Breakfast

Before the show even opened, we kicked off the long weekend with a major event hosted by KVH - our first-ever technology breakfast - at the Bahia Mar Hotel. With more than 100 dealers and members of the media in attendance, experts from KVH, SES Americom and ViaSat (our partners in the TracPhone V7 product and service) and Inmarsat spoke on the topic, "The Next Generation of Mobile Broadband Communications."

This event offered an invaluable opportunity to highlight what we believe are breakthrough products in the mobile communications arena. While our new TracPhone V7 and mini-VSAT Broadband service were introduced in July, this is the first major show in which they've been shown. Likewise, today marks the introduction of KVH's all-new TracPhone FB250 and FB500 systems, which operate in tandem with Inmarsat's new FleetBroadband service. While these systems are all featured in our new booth (more on that later), this morning's event offered the chance to speak to leading marine electronics experts and writers from around the country in an environment that is slightly less...OK, way less...chaotic than the show itself. Plus, we picked up the tab for breakfast, and when a bottle of water on the show grounds is going for $4, that's a nice perk for the attendees.

KVH CEO Martin Kits van Heyningen reviews his presentation one final time before addressing the breakfast attendees

Amy Rocha, a member of the sales department and breakfast event coordinator extraordinaire, prepares to greet our guests

Sales manager Rick Garrison helps with some last-minute stuffing of the goody bags for the guests, including a press packet, KVH pull-over jackets, miniature computer mice courtesy of SES, and digital photo key chains from Inmarsat

Ian Palmer, KVH's executive VP for satellite sales, introduces KVH's new FleetBroadband-compatible TracPhone systems

"Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars..."
Lisa Wagner of Inmarsat describes the recent launch of one of the new, super-advanced I-4 satellites that's powering the FleetBroadband service

SES Americom's satellites provide the network for the new mini-VSAT Broadband service, explains Brent Bruun of SES

And the not-so-secret ingredient in the TracPhone V7 and mini-VSAT Broadband? Spread spectrum technology from ViaSat, according to ViaSat's Bill Sullivan

And in the end, it's a packed house, literally standing room only, as there still weren't enough seats even after extra chairs were brought in