05.21.2009 — CE Distributor AVAD is bringing mini trade shows to 20 cities on its Vend-O-Palooza tour.

Up to 41 vendors participate in the affairs, demo'ing product and schmoozing with up to 200 dealers.

That's a lot of vendors and a lot of gear.

Thus, "there’s the issue of powering the event," says Bob Smith, deal of AVAD University. "It’s difficult to pull enough power to run the video displays out in the parking lot, which is where the events usually take place."

Smith tells of AVAD's largest Vend-O-Palooza in Livermore, Calif., when a record-breaking number of A/V vendors exhibited their wares.

"All these displays fed off a couple of extension cords plugged into a wall outlet inside the branch," he says. "What happened was that every time an amplifier vendor demoed his product, the breaker was tripped due to the huge inrush of current, taking out power to half of the tents."

AVAD vendor Panamax came to the rescue with an M5400-PM voltage regulator, straight off the display rack."

"Problem solved," says Smith.