Who is LOUIE ALVAREZ?

Autobiography INTRODUCTION

What do you know of Louie Alvarez’s expertise in the industry? What has been his hands-on industry, real-life experience with equipment, hardware, software and even the Internet? As your first stop and primary source for support, service and upgrades you should know what the extent of expertise will be to ensure quality support. Following is a brief summary of the experience and expertise brought to the relationship with Louie Alvarez, all 20+ years in the industry condensed into a single page outline.

Awards & Engraving Industry SHOP EMPLOYEE

As a trophy shop employee for nearly four years with Central California’s oldest most respected trophy shop he rose from a simple grunt engraver to head of the engraving department, overseeing 3 employees and 5 systems, earning double the national average. Equipment and software used included the Dahlgren Wizzard XL, Dahlgren System 1 control unit w/ SuperPro and used DesignCAD along with CorelDRAW v3 to create logos.

Awards & Engraving Industry SHOP OWNER

6 months or so after leaving the trophy shop but with continued involvement in the Awards & Engraving industry through writer, instructor and speaker (see below) he had seriously considered opening an awards shop. At the time few were interested in this new technology called laser engraving. Being so technology oriented that he was/is, he wanted one, so he invested. As the only laser engraver for a 100+ mile radius for the first few years in the business it was easy to dominate and develop a name, reputation, profit and gain the valuable experience as owner of “Lazer Awardz.” Equipment and software used included the Epilog Summit 25 watt laser engraver, Seiko 4104 full-color sublimation system, CorelDRAW, PhotoShop, and many other lesser-known software titles.

Awards & Engraving Industry CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Neer & Associates, Inc.

Publishers of “Technology Today”

Publishers of “P&I News”

National Business Media (NBM), Inc.

Publishers of “A&E Magazine”

Association of CorelDRAW Professionals

Publishers of “CorelDRAWPro Magazine”

Awards & Engraving Industry WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR

Neer & Associates, Inc.

Producers of “REI” trade shows

Producers of “P&I” trade shows

National Business Media (NBM), Inc.

Producers of “The B.I.G. Show – Best In Graphics” trade show

Awards & Engraving Industry SEMINAR SPEAKER

Neer & Associates, Inc.

Producers of “REI” trade shows

Producers of “P&I” trade shows

National Business Media (NBM), Inc.

Producers of “The B.I.G. Show – Best In Graphics” trade show

Awards & Recognition Association

Producers of the “ARA Las Vegas Show”

President of AWSOM, Inc.

Five (5) years as President of Alliance WebSite Services Organization Management, Inc. dba AWSOM, Inc. The only dedicated Internet website development company in Central California in the late 90′s. Building, hosting and maintaining the largest companies in the area’s websites from the early days of the Interent in mid 1995 to the Dot com bust in 2000. CheckMate Lasers by LECME, inc. is an excellent example of the expertise, creativity and knowledge garnered from those years and presented here.

The AWSOM Hour RADIO TALK SHOW HOST

For two and a half (2½) years host of “The AWSOM Hour” the “Only Live and Local Computer and Internet Radio Talk Show in Central California.” Every Saturday morning an hour was dedicated to live support calls, covering PC’s, Internet and software related issues. Topics included the AWSOM Trivia of the Week, the AWSOM Review of the Week, the AWSOM WebSite of the Week and the AWSOM Download of the Week. As an avid technology enthusiast and talker the marriage of radio and technology was a natural for Louie’s talents.

CheckMateLasers.com, XM8 Blog, XM8 Forums & LouieAlvarez.com WEBMASTER

CheckMateLasers.com, XM8Lasers.com & LouieAlvarez.com in all their entirety are built, managed, hosted, maintained and updated solely and exclusively by Louie Alvarez.

Maintaining three (3) in-house Microsoft Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition Servers running IIS 6.0 Web Server, Microsoft Exchange 2003 Mail Server, SQL Server 2005, Coldfusion Enterprise Server, Serv-U FTP Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server, WordPress Blog Server, MySQL 5.1.30 and server monitoring software the Servers are maintained and kept online 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the specific purpose of educating potential customers in the details of the LECME, inc. family of laser systems and for direct support to all the LECME, inc. existing customer base.Here you’ll find computer expertise and awards & engraving industry experience dating back as far back as late 1989 thru today.

XM8 Forums contains articles written, training sessions conducted, seminars spoken at, radio talk show support, etc. etc. (updated to current technology of course) by Louie Alvarez. The menu system, the engravers sections, the assorted forms and links, database driven private and secure Customer Support Center are all the brainchild of Louie Alvarez. Visit LouieAlvarez.com for the “Laser Lowdown”, the All Things Laser podcast

This is the type of expertise and experience you can expect from Louie Alvarez when you become a LECME, inc. customer, this is what we bring to all the customer base. To not only build a profitable and successful lasering business but to also assist you in developing your online presence, supporting you during your computer and/or Internet crisis and of course with years of experience in business contributing the hard-gained knowledge necessary to make a successful business occur.

Awards & Engraving LASERPRO SALES REP

Worked for five (5) years with Kurt Koser of Koser Enterprises, Inc. (West Coast Distributor). Louie was officially the LaserPro Sales Representative/Dealer for territories consisting primarily of the Southern California, Southern Nevada and Utah areas (Also assisted in covering the Northern Nevada, Arizona, Colorado & New Mexico territories.). Traveling upwards of 40,000 miles a year with his mobile demo office (a converted 20′ toy hauler) provided much onsite hands-on experience across the entire Southwest.

Awards & Engraving VYTEK SALES REP

After five years with LaserPro Louie decided to venture into the large format laser engraving/cutting laser systems to gain knowledge and experience in large companies, industrial industry and high dollar equipment sales and support. Vytek manufacturers a wide range of laser systems, particularly large format open bed laser engraving and cutting systems with YAG and Green laser marking systems. Vytek exhibits at over 32 trade shows a year, most in the Las Vegas area. That said, Louie gives credit where credit is due, for educating him on show floor sales, corporate training and support including integrating CRM into the company sales structure. They also made Louie realize that his element was as an independent and should consider partnering up with a manufacturer to build laser systems with modifications that Louie always had requested on laser systems he had previously been involved with and to sell said laser equipment direct. No more sales rep!

Awards & Engraving CAMTECH SERVICE REP

After leaving Vytek, Louie received a call from a colleague at Camtech lasers, based in Western Canada, who was looking for a service and support representative to conduct on-site support calls for their customer base in the North American market. Working with their large format 4′x8′ laser systems most of the service was software related training to get their customers up and running and functional. This was during their recent acquisition by AXYZ the mid-range CNC Router manufacturer also based in Canada on the Eastern coast, unfortunately their production and development of laser systems was put on hold so this position turned out to be temporary, simply long enough to learn, service and support their existing laser systems.

Awards & Engraving LECME, inc. SALES MANAGER

Here Louie is today. LECME, inc. – Laser Engraving Cutting Marking Etching systems began as an authorized GCC LaserPro distribution company representing their CO2, YAG, XY gantry & galvo systems, and eventually developed into CheckMate Lasers, its own line of laser equipment covering desktop models, direct competing models to GCC, Epilog and Universal. With large format lasers directly competing with Vytek and Camtech. Finally with metal marking lasers, competing with the industrial lasers on the market. CheckMate Lasers has become “The most complete family of laser systems in the world at the most affordable unheard of pricing structure.” With over 45 years combined experience in industrial equipment field from sales, to service, to support, if CheckMate Lasers by LECME, inc. didn’t carry the right laser system for your needs it probably did not exist in the typical market sources.

Awards & Engraving CHECKMATE LASERS DISTRIBUTOR

With these distressing economic times it seems to be a stretch for companies to spend $25,000 – $35,000 – $45,000 or in some cases $100,000+ for a laser system. Reasons vary and are many, either their credit has been marred due to the financial disaster of the day, can’t justify that large of an expenditure, banks won’t loan due to their tight credit squeeze, lease company rates are to high, or for whatever the reason, the days of free flowing money, and no second thoughts to spending 10’s of thousands of dollars are long gone. With little doubt those days are long behind us and we probably will never see that kind of disposable income or excessive spending again. I believe, I would hope we’ve learned our lesson!

With that in mind Louie began his quest to locate a manufacturer that could take his designs (and he knows the best that GCC, Epilog, ULS, Xenetech, Gravograph, Trotec, Vytek, Camtech, etc. have to offer) and build a laser system based on his specifications at a low cost. Granted in order to meet the targeted price point some sacrifices had to be made, such as, stepper vs. servo motors, glass vs. metal laser tubes, fast vs. superfast speed and in some cases off-the-shelf vs. proprietary software.

In order to bring pricing down to 1/3 or even 1/4 the typical laser system cost and meet the budgets of the companies needing and wanting laser systems Louie felt the sacrifices were well worth it and would be acceptable to laser system buyers. You simply cannot scoff at the HUGE money savings that gains a well built, feature rich laser system at an extremely low cost. Low enough that checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, even personal, family or friend loans could be tapped into without hurting overall business operational funds. AND LECME, inc.’s lease company(s) can far more easily finance $20,000 or less amounts with little more than a business history and first and last months payments at ridiculously low payment terms than the typical laser system of the day being sold at $25,000 – $100,000+ that now requires financial records, tax returns, large deposits, co-signors, house collateral, first born, I think you get the picture of how difficult high dollar loans are these days. Simply nearly impossible to obtain.

Well after diligent research, in-depth meetings, lengthy conversations, extensive emails, Louie located and developed a relationship with a manufacturer with over two decades equipment manufacturing and over 10 years of laser specific construction. This factory takes Louie’s specifications and build laser systems that Louie knows the NEW laser customer would desire, hence, the release of multiple laser models under the brand name CheckMate Lasers. With portable to desktop to industrial sized, including metal marking solutions coupled with mid to high power laser tubes LECME, inc. has a laser system that can meet nearly all the needs, requirements and budgests of a interested prospective laser customer.

So anywhere in the United States to International prospects/customers don’t hesitate to contact us for all your LECME (Laser Engraving, Cutting, Marking, Etching) needs. We are here to serve you.

Louie Alvarez, the Blogger, the Podcaster
Finally here we are today. When Louie first was exposed to the Internet it was about the beginning of 1994 through a professor at the local University, the only browser around at the time was rudimentary and text based, Netscape hadn’t even been released yet, domain names were free, Amazon, YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter and all the Internet big guns of today weren’t even being thought of at the time.

Louie who was always into technology, particularly computers and was even a member of KIPUG, a local computer users group (yeah I was a geek and proud of it). So fast forward through today and Louie felt with all that knowledge and experience gained over the years, that that he truly enjoys sharing had decided to join a few of the engraver’s forums online. The response from his very first posting was so encouraging he determined to get as involved as time would permit. Turns out CheckMate Lasers has had an enormously successful launch, engulfing all his available time and efforts to keep up with the unprecedented growth.

Louie’s conclusion was the better way to assist the laser industry, keep up with the growth of CheckMate Lasers and specifically market and support existing and prospective customers was to create information that could be stored, shared, expanded on and always available. Hence, Louie took the extensive content from LouieAlvarez.com and merging it into the CheckMate Lasers Support Center, adding in the XM8 Blog, the Laser Lowdown Podcast, the XM8 Forums, articles, tutorials and videos. When time permits CheckMate Lasers using Louie’s expertise in the broadcasting and print industry will begin reporting on the industry in general, such as at trade shows, the active in the industry, manufacturers, new products, new processes, everything that the laser owner could come to find of use, in order to make an educated decision when ready to purchase a laser system but also to provide ongoing relevant and useful information for the typical laser operator. Essentially “All Things Laser” from the NEW leader in the industry; CheckMate Lasers, putting the industry in check!