Article

Who's who: Sam Matheny

The technical sales manager of FotoZoomer built his first kiosk in the basement workshop of his co-worker's neighbor.

February 8, 2004

Sam Matheny is the quintessential start-up guy. He is psyched about his product, and he'll go anywhere, anytime, to show it off. A self-professed "technology junkie," his title changes as he is needed in different roles. A few months ago, he was the director of product development at FotoZoomer, a photo kiosk manufacturer. Today he is on the road as the technical sales manager.

He actually built FotoZoomer's first kiosk in the basement workshop of his co-worker's neighbor. That was three years ago. Back then, he was a trainer for FotoZoomer's parent company, Graphic Enterprises Inc.. He trained staff on networking skills, and elements of digital photography. Then he got the self-service bug.

Matheny admits he has always been a fan of Kodak's PictureMaker kiosk. "I still have things in my wallet that I've made with it." But he also saw the terminal's limitations. "I knew there was need for a way to make large-format prints quickly and easily." He's talking poster-sized pictures consumers can make from personal photos.

Matheny got books on user-interface design, and did all the research he could. And being in North Canton, Ohio, FotoZoomer has always kept an eye on self-serve behemoth, Diebold. "We follow them very closely. Our kiosk designer worked there. Our kiosk is like Ft. Knox."

He took the concept and ran with it. "I knew we could make a touchscreen fun, colorful and basic, for the average user" he said.

Matheny and company built the large-format kiosk, then discovered the market growing for small-format prints. So they added that feature to their kiosks, too. "We knew there was a market there. Small-format justifies the ROI for a photo kiosk. But we offer much more."

Matheny said he looked at the Kodak units he always admired and thought, "OK, these guys have 1,000 of kiosks out there. We have to establish ourselves in non-traditional markets."

So FotoZoomer started to talk with art stores like Deck the Walls, the Great Frameup, and with sports organizations like the NBA, about producing posters.

"We have this tremendous stored-image library," said Matheny.

Changing places

Matheny never figured himself for a sales guy. Yet that's what he's up to these days. "I need to make sure that our sales team has a complete knowledge of us and our competitors," he said. "I know retailers say, `I like your product, but I like Kodak better.' We have to know how to respond to that." He explained that FotoZoomer salespeople often under promise and over deliver.

He also enjoys the balance between sales and engineering. "Normally engineers can't communicate with anyone but other engineers. But they often understand the product best."

Matheny uses his knowledge to follow up on sales calls and answer questions for prospective customers. He will be in this role until FotoZoomer goes back into R&D mode. He said he has demo'd the photo kiosk so many times he dreams about it.

He travels for weeks at a time, and sometimes has to think about where he is when he awakens. Matheny sees himself as a hard-charging advocate for FotoZoomer and the self-serve industry.

"The industry is really working toward something. I think self-serve is going to explode in the next five years. We're in the midst of it now. It will be the highest growth industry."

But there is work ahead. "Our product is not necessary. It's an impulse buy and it's fun. But we have to really sell it."

He said overall in the United States, there is still a learning curve as far as kiosks are concerned. "People know ATMs and gas pumps, but they still need an education," he said.

He said he went to a sales call recently at a big-box retailer. The prospect curtly gave him 45 minutes to get to his point. "Two hours later, she was laughing, pulling pictures off of her desk to make posters out of them, really having fun."

Tecnlgy lover

Matheny's car license plate says it all. He laughs about the "tecnlgy" message that tails him. "I own a digital-camera watch. I own more digital cameras than any one person needs. I own more computers than any one person needs." He said his wife cringes when gadget ads come on television. "She asks me why I need something, and I say, `why don't I need it?"

Matheny has a computer background and has, appropriately, been self-taught in the self-service industry these three past years.

But he is actually trained as a chef. "I went to college to be a chef, and figured out quickly that the best way to hate a hobby is to make a living out of it."

He turned to the imaging field 10 years ago. He came up with the idea for the photo kiosk, along with colleagues Randy Breit and Scott Waite, whom he calls his mentors.

"We had to prove this concept to our CEO." Matheny, Breit, Waite and Rob Miller are the four named on the patent for the FotoZoomer flagship kiosk. "We have a handpicked team of really creative people. There's no way I could do this myself."