Remember that scene in Total Recall when the Governator and his dark haired sidekick beauty evade the bad guys by projecting 3D images of themselves that the bad guys unknowingly shoot at while the real Schwarzenegger saves the day? Remember watching it and thinking “Yeah friggin’ right?” Obviously that level of futuristic technology does not exist.

Well if it did it would be because of these guys: Geomagic, a worldwide software and services company specializing in digital shape sampling and processing (DSSP).

And what, pre tell, is DSSP?

Enabled by advanced optical measurement systems and 3D-data processing software, DSSP is the process of digitally capturing physical objects and automatically creating accurate 3D models. Everyday, Geomagic software enables engineers and designers to transform scan data from physical objects into highly accurate digital models for applications ranging from ensuring the NASA space shuttle Discovery STS-114 mission’s safe return, to reconstruction of legacy parts and molds for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, to new processes that speed quality inspection for companies such as Schneider Electric and Alcoa Howmet.

There is no argument - Geomagic is one cool company with one innovative product. They have been acknowledged by a number of distinct honors in the tech business world: three-time winner of the Triangle Business Journal Fast 50 Award for being one of the fastest growing private companies in the Triangle area of North Carolina, 2006 winner of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s Technology of the Year Award, and in 2005 Geomagic chairman, CEO and President, Ping Fu, was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine.

More recently, Inc. awarded Fu and Geomagic the Bernie Goldhirsch Award for Courage at the 2006 Inc. 500 Annual Conference, which - for those of you who recall - took place HERE. Yes, 2006 was a big year for Savannah, when the highly acclaimed magazine gathered in our fair city for a conference centered around the 500 fastest growing companies in America. The town was all a-jazz with entrepreneurs and other such braniacs that we couldn’t get enough of. Even Bill Clinton was here!

As many of you (totally) recall, Savannah rolled out the red carpet and Inc. 500 companies took notice. It wasn’t long after that The Great American Hangar Company expanded their operations locally, relocating their primary import distribution center to Savannah.  Company founder and CEO Devon Rifkin admits that he began looking at Savannah after visiting for the first time during the 2006 Inc. 500 Conference. “I absolutely love the city - not only for its beauty and history, but also for its infrastructure,” he said. “The ports are world class, the business climate is great and I can’t say enough about the gracious and professional welcome we received from SEDA. Savannah is not a sleepy little secret anymore.”  Heck yea!  That’s what we like to hear!

Like The Great American Hangar Company, Geomagic is no stranger to Savannah. And, whether their recollections of Savannah from the Inc. conference played any part in their decision to come back, coming back they are. In a big way.

Convergence 09 is Geomagic’s three day annual conference and it begins on Tuesday (February 24th) at the Westin at Savannah Harbor. The conference will train Geomagic customers on how to get the most out of their Geomagic products, to explore the latest 3D scanning technologies, to glimpse the future of DSSP and where the industry is going, and of course to promote networking and the sharing of ideas with the best minds in the industry. Heck, they even provide you with materials to help you finesse your way to the conference: check out these “Boss Justification” letters. Now that’s just funny.

Along with Ping Fu, Bo Burlingham will give the keynote address for Convergence 09. Burlingham is an editor-at-large of Inc. magazine and the author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big, which was one of five finalists for the 2006 Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award. His most recent book, co-authored with Norm Brodsky, is The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up. (Many of you may remember Burlingham from his speech at last year’s SEDA Annual Luncheon.)

Ultimately, we couldn’t be happier to have the Geomagic company, customers and friends here to Savannah. And, to whatever extent, we are super pumped about what seems to be continued ripples from the Inc. 500 conference.

So, bring it on Geomagic! We tip our hats to your great success and hope that great ideas will continue to build (hopefully some of which are cultivated in the creative soil of Savannah.)

Plus, if it weren’t for folks like you there’d be no one to help us avert the enemy come 2084.

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