Early in September 2008 Titanium Imaging of Ottawa, Canada called and placed an order with Gilbert and Company Inc. for a TELMAX WS-17 Teleprompter.  They requested that the Teleprompter be delivered to The NASA Hilton in Houston Texas for a production they were working on involving the Canadian Astronaut Robert (Bob) Thirsk who is to be one of the first Canadian Astronauts to remain on the International Space Station for a long stay, living there for 4 to 6 months.
The Teleprompter was to be delivered to Houston on September,12, 2008 and the productions were to take place on the following Monday.
Gilbert and Company Inc. did exactly what they were instructed to do and shipped the Teleprompter earlier enough so it could arrive on Friday the 12th.
During this week Hurricane Ike was in the Gulf of Mexico and headed near Houston TX.  “Willie Puerstl of Titanium Imaging called our office early on the 12th of September to inform us that the production had been moved to Dallas Texas because they were evacuating Houston,” Says Edward Gilbert, founder of Gilbert and Company Inc.
“My first reaction was to call UPS and find out the status of the delivery to see if I can re-route it to Dallas so Titanium Imaging could still have it in time for the shoot.”  It turned out that the Teleprompter was already on a UPS truck and out for delivery in Houston.
“During the course of the day I stayed in close contact with Willi and Chris Puerstl of Titanium Imaging as to the status of their order, and whether or not we could get it moved from Houston to Dallas,” says Edward.
UPS had grounded their overnight flight leaving Houston and all of the business and residents were told to leave Houston.  Things looked grim, and the possibility of getting the Teleprompter moved from Houston and Dallas was not that good.
“At this point it seemed impossible to get a Teleprompter to Dallas for this shoot.  There was no way to get another Teleprompter shipped from Florida to Dallas by the following Monday because of the storm, So I started on plan B.  I quickly prepared another TELMAX WS-17 Teleprompter and made the decision that if we could not get the one already in Houston moved to Dallas, I would take the 16 hour drive over the weekend from Florida to Dallas to get it there myself.”
“I was not too surprised when Edward came to me late Friday afternoon and asked me if I wanted to ride with him to Dallas to deliver a Teleprompter, because that is the type of guy he is; believe me, when he says he will do whatever it takes to make a customer happy, he means it,” Says Amir Shabazz Production Manager of Gilbert and Company Inc.
“After several calls to UPS I was able to get someone on the phone that was in a position to help us, she told me that there was an emergency ground vehicle that had to leave Houston for Dallas and that she would try to get the package on this vehicle so it could reach Dallas,” says Edward.
There were no guarantees whether or not the Teleprompter would get out of Houston, UPS told him that the only way that he would know if the package got out of Houston was to check the tracking information in the morning.
“I went home not knowing what would happen, so I put the new Teleprompter in my car and waited to find out,  do I drive to Dallas, or did UPS get my package move for me?” says Edward.
Edward woke up the next morning and immediately checked the UPS tracking information for the package.  To his surprise, UPS got it to Dallas, and the tracking report show that it was out for delivery.
“This was a big relief, I called Willi Puerstl and gave him the good news, and believe it or not, went back to bed.” Say Edward.
Willie Puerstl of Titanium Imaging had this to say:
Just want to take a moment to thank you for your outstanding help when we needed to get the teleprompter from Houston to Dallas in diversion of the Hurricane Ike.  It arrived safely and in a timely fashion, I believe that without your interception and assistance it would have never arrived in time for the video shoot. We are extremely pleased with the teleprompter and its flexible diversity in being able to use it not only with the camera but as well as a standalone. The program is quite easy to learn and operate considering that I had no previous experience with this product.  As well,  I was extremely pleased with the set up of the teleprompter, as it took no time at all and was quite easy to do. I strongly believe that professionals to every day videographers would be able to easily use and love it.  My colleagues here in Canada were extremely impressed with the quality of the teleprompter and furthermore, how inexpensive it is. In saying all of that, I would strongly recommend your product and once again, would like to thank you for your "out of your way" assistance, as without your help the video shoot would have been a bust!
If you would like to learn more about Titanium Imaging Click Here
To learn more about Robert Thirsk Click Here