The thousands of travellers passing through the Ottawa International Airport daily will get a peek at one of the city’s top technology companies as well as a piece of Hollywood hardware.
Ross Video has set up a mock showroom centrally located in the passenger terminal as part of the YOW Showcase Program, which connects the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport with local Ottawa companies. It gives the latter a front-and-centre seat for three months to a portion of the nearly five million travellers that pass through the airport each year.
The large display resembles a Ross Video control room, with a switcher, camera equipment and video displays looping through information about the company and Canadian celebrations. It’s centrally located: Just inside the main pickup and dropoff area, before the baggage claims and arrival gates on the ground level.
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“There could not be a better place in the airport,” says company chief executive David Ross, the OBJ-Ottawa Chamber of Commerce 2016 CEO of the Year. He adds he was pleasantly surprised by the prime real estate YOW was offering to showcase the company.
“I thought it was going to be some small piece of paper, laminate display, but they said ‘No no no!’ … We decided that we would take advantage of every single square inch.”
This is the second installation as part of the YOW Showcase, with Ottawa 2017 taking the first opportunity to promote events and programming throughout the year.
“With so many people travelling through our airport each and every day, the YOW Showcase is the perfect platform to celebrate what we do here in the capital, on a global scale,” said Mark Laroche, president and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, in a statement. “Ross Video is a shining example of Ottawa’s place as a world leader and we are proud of the role our airport plays in their success.”
This isn’t the first time the Ottawa airport has showcased local tech companies. Around this time last year, it hosted “Shopifly,” at two-day event where Canadian Shopify merchants set up shop in the airport hoping to attract sales from tourists and passers-by.
The control room display itself is locked off, as there are some pretty expensive pieces of equipment inside, not to mention an Emmy Award. Ross says he was apprehensive about letting thousands of people walk past the company’s prestigious award, but he realized security isn’t exactly lax around the airport.
“This is probably the safest place in the world to put an Emmy,” he quipped.
