I was honored to be invited to be the MC for the first birthday celebration of the merger between Barco and projectiondesign this morning; but, problem was, I was nervous. After 20-some years of interviewing all sorts of industry experts, pundits, executives and spokespeople, I can’t remember having more butterflies than I had this morning just seconds before going live (we streamed this video live) to kick-off the birthday celebration.

Here I am sitting between two general managers, Wim Buyens of Barco and Jorn Erikson or projectiondesign — two industry leaders and icons — and I can barely remember my first question; let alone my second. But, I had to go on and had to pull it together.

Just as we’re about to go on, a giant birthday cake and champagne is placed on the table in front of us; I am relaxed now — cake is forthcoming!

On to the interview: Barco and projectiondesign celebrated with a “We Are One” campaign that completes the merger of the two separate display manufacturers into one BARCO brand.

Unlike the Panasonic takeover of Sanyo of a few years ago and the infamous InFocus debacle takeover of Proxima of a decade ago, this merger worked. And, you can credit that to Messrs. Buyens and Erikson — they did it right!

projectiondesign and Barco are now one BARCO.

We recorded the live-streamed video interview I did with both company’s leaders and you can watch it here. In it, I ask all about the projectiondesign brand name and what will become of it, what the corporate structure will look like and what the future holds for the two companies.

Congratulations to Barco and its management team! Bravo…