Blog

Kiosks honoring Memorial Day, American sacrifice

May 24, 2012 by Chris Gilder — Founder/CEO, Meridian

I'm sure we are all looking forward to this Memorial Day weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and undoubtedly we will be grilling, but it's also good to remember the origin of the day. Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day offers a day of remembrance for all who have died serving our country. Memorial Day is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor sacrifice.

It was with great honor that the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center in New York requested Meridian to build kiosks for the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site. As the Founder of Meridian, I was able to visit ground zero and witness the devastation and sacrifice experienced made by many, many people. It was an emotional experience that I was proud to share with all our staff.

Our kiosk helped to inform visitors about the day-to-day progress of the construction at the World Trade Center site and to access images and artifacts from the Museum's collection. Individuals could also pledge to volunteer in remembrance and learn about contributing memories and objects to the Museum. It was humbling to see how self-service technology can be utilized in such a way as to connect people from all over and create a wider reach in order to communicate progress. Self-service technology can be utilized for many positive opportunities – from education, service, entertainment, community involvement, shopping; each day the list continues to develop. Our company has continued to grow and expand and is proud to manufacture our kiosks in our home state of North Carolina. Being so close to Ft Bragg; many times our facility hears the military practicing, bombs and guns; however, we all understand that is the sound of freedom.

In 2000, the country adopted the "National Moment of Remembrance", which requests that at 3 p.m. local time, all Americans honor those sacrifices with a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing for a moment of silence or to listen to "Taps." At 3 p.m. on May 25th, the entire Meridian team will take a moment of silence in remembrance, respect and most of all, in honor of the sacrifices made by our military past and present and all servicemen and woman in protecting our county.

Have a safe and honorable Memorial Day.

About Chris Gilder

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Chris Gilder, CEO and founder of Meridian Kiosks, brings more than 20 years of entrepreneurial successes to the senior management team. Meridian has been recognized as a leader in the self-service kiosk industry and an innovator with the development of the Self Service Technology Center in partnership with Intel, HP, Microsoft, Zebra Technologies and Storm.

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