Mike Swales 1980s retouched
May 23, 2016

@40 Stories- Projector Presentation

Shared by Workplace Specialist, Mike Swales

Back in the early 1980’s, myself, the owner of our Steelcase dealership at the time, and a Steelcase sales rep were all in Houston, TX for a sales presentation at the Steelcase showroom.  I remember preparing the night before in the hotel room for our sales pitch to Ford Aerospace.  We were reviewing our projector slides, which featured modern worksettings and new Steelcase products, including Series 9000.  The slides also showed the contrast between a well-designed workplace and a poorly designed one.

We would practice our presentation with projector slides just as you would now with a PowerPoint.  Back then, you could put the projector in a little suitcase and bring it to your clients.

At the time, we were pitching increasing office productivity.  Another big topic to present was managing the electronic office.  The computer was new, so businesses were interested in learning how to manage their employees with new technology.  Story telling was just as important back then as it is today to help clients understand how these tools would impact an office environment.