Blog

Following Day 2 at Photokina, Celestron’s International Distributors and Celestron Representatives met for the Second Annual Awards Dinner Banquet at the Dorint Hotel, which was conveniently located across the street from the Koelnmesse.  Delicious traditional German food was served buffet style, and after the long day working at the convention, everyone was quite hungry and ready to dine.  The banquet room provided a relaxed environment to meet up with old acquaintances and establish new ones.  Jim Edmiston, Celestron’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Product Development, gave the welcoming speech and introductions to rounds of applause that could be heard well into the next room.  Joe Lupica, Celestron’s President and CEO, followed next with his opening remarks regarding what a banner year it’s been for Celestron, and the positive direction the company is going.   These are very exciting times for us all indeed.  Awards were then presented to our International Distributors who significantly contributed to Celestron’s growth and increased their sales volumes.  The Meteor Award was presented to Victorinox for being “The Rookie of the Year.”  Victorinox’s stellar performance enabled their business to grow very quickly throughout the year.  Unfortunately, their representative was unable to attend the banquet, so their award will be presented at a later date.  The Galaxy Award was won by Mr. Paul Wyss of P. Wyss Photo-Video of Switzerland.  Mr. Wyss accepted the award for being the “Overall Player of the Year.”  P. Wyss Photo-Video won the best all around Distributor who had the best sales at all price levels in many different categories.  Mr. Wyss was so surprised and honored for receiving this award that his excitement literally “brought the house down.”  The final award presented was The Cosmos Award.  This award was won by Baader Planetarium of Germany.  Baader Planetarium was our MVP for having the best performance by a Distributor in the large market section.  Mr. Thomas Baader, wearing a huge grin, proudly displayed his award and acknowledged his 2 representatives, Michael Risch and Jan Glockenthőr, and had them come up to the front for the group photo.  Although only 3 awards were presented that evening, all of Celestron’s Distributors were recognized for all their hard work throughout the year - not only selling our products, but also providing excellent support for their Dealers and for the customers as well.  Congratulations to all the winners and to all of our Distributors for your dedication and bringing Celestron’s products out to the global marketplace.   It’s teamwork and team players that makes Celestron number 1 in telescopes.  Let’s see who’ll win next year’s awards.