Us | Gary | Board | Mission | Charity

Us

Interactive Meet And Greet Entertainment LLC owns the Patent-Pending "Video Queue"TM Technology and Business Operating System that allows consumers to wait in the comfort of their own home, in front of their TV or Computer, within our "MAGA-Q"TM Virtual Community to have a face-to-face encounter with a celebrity. And after choosing, purchasing and seeing their items autographed, they receive their investment quality collectors’ items in the mail with a DVD of their personal "Autothentex Authentic Autograph Experience"TM as Proof of Authenticity.

The system is designed to create Niche Communities of Fans who enjoy celebrities and voyeurism, allowing them to chat while in queue, select videos on demand and make purchases, while being easily identifiable for targeted advertising. Sports, TV, Movies, Music, Authors and Famous People are all in demand for autographs from Fans and the number of participants continues to grow.

License our Business Operating System
IPTV delivered through any Electronic Media Delivery System to any unique IP address in a set-top box, television set, computer or satellite, and available as an I.M.A.G.E. operated Service or as a Licensee with our system integrated into your branded Interactive Community Environment, with shared revenue generated from the sale of autographs and merchandise, along with targeted addressable advertising, chat and other revenue opportunities. Also the Operating System is designed to be able to function easily through any OpenCable or Tru2Way system or set-top box.

Contact: Gary Sohmers 508-788-5474 IMAGEGary@aol.com

Gary

Gary Sohmers is known in the media and collecting world as the "King of Pop Culture." He is a 35 year veteran producer, promoter, antiques and collectibles dealer, musician, and radio talk show host. He often appears as a celebrity appraiser for charities and sells at numerous antiques and collectibles events each year, as well as appearing in his tenth season as an appraiser of Toys, Collectibles and Memorabilia on the five time Emmy Nominated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

He has been a featured guest on many television and radio programs over the past 35 years, and quoted regularly in national print for his expert knowledge of the value and history of collectible objects.

His collecting bug began at age 8, when he began to wheel and deal his toys at a yard sale, or so his mother says, Gary developed a respect for collecting from his father's passion for campaign buttons. From here he learned that historical study and revenue generation can be combined to make a hobby an industry. He went from hustling toys to campaign buttons to record albums to everything that is "popular culture" — from Mark Twain to The Simpsons ... style and substance ... childhood and entertainment.
Gary has successfully produced over 1000 consumer events, including concerts, autograph signing and collectibles shows.

Beginning back in 1973, Gary produced a series of concerts at the world famous Aragon Ballroom in Chicago featuring musical artists such as Tim Buckley, Bob Seger, Little Feat, Genesis, Richie Havens and Styx, and worked with great blues acts such as Hound Dog Taylor and Luther Allison. He moved to Madison WI to work with many great acts of the 1970s including Cheap Trick, Spooner (Garbage) and Ted Nugent, while publishing the Madcity Music Sheet newspaper and operating the Madcity Music used record and memorabilia shop.

Gary moved to the Boston area in the early 1980s and began working on the world famous Lansdowne Street as an Event Producer, producing hundreds of concerts in the Metro and Spit clubs, including gigs with Eric Clapton, Prince and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Gary also produced Collectibles Events featuring Celebrity Guests signing autographs and Cast Reunions including "Lost In Space," "The Munsters" and the kids from "Willie Wonka" and others.

Gary's syndicated talk radio show Calling All Collectors which he produces and hosts is driven by his subjects, interesting guests that include other Antiques Roadshow appraisers and his whim of verbiage, as he espouses the values of collecting and the venues to satisfy the desires of collectors nationwide is currently on hiatus.. Gary is appearing on over 50 radio station programs each year doing "psychic appraisals" for listeners.

Gary also regularly performs Stand-Up Comedy and records with his current musical ensemble, Mindjammer.

Gary is an expert in Pop Culture, and available for appraisals, consignments, appearances and consulting in the fields of Pop Culture, Television and New Technology. As a lecturer, he speaks at historical societies, schools, libraries, corporations, antiques shows and other special events on the following subjects:

Popular Culture — Defined by the elements within it, Pop Culture is now recognized as an entity encompassing all that is communication, art and objects that can be attributed to popular acceptance by the masses of its time and preserved by those that enjoy the creation and promotion of the forms. From Mark Twain to The Simpsons, including Barnum, Beatles, Politics, Pokemon and all eras of Childhood amazement, along with the inventors evolution as the century's progress from Gutenberg through Gates.

Collecting — Preserving the past and reliving history, from dumpster diving to Museum acquisition, the passion and profits of collecting have inspired numerous into new careers and directions in their lives to achieve happiness, profits and success.

Nostalgia — Everyone has a nostalgic twinge about something whether it is music, smell, familiar sights or a piece of paper, and "Plucking that Magic Twanger" is a fun and entertaining exploration into peoples' memories and giving them a sense of it's place in culture, history or financial investment.

Rock & Roll — Since its inception in the early 1950s through the shock and schlock of the 21st century, the first 50 years of rock and roll has enough stories to fill volumes, but the value of the historical artifacts that were used and destroyed boggles the mind, as were the posters, flyers, contracts and other ephemeral oddities of the business and fan life of the changing world of popular music.

Autographs – Autograph collecting is about history and investing, and is filled with fraud and deception by unscrupulous dealers with the FBI saying that up to 90% of the autographs for sale online are potentially fakes. Gary has worked with celebrities for over 25 years and has produced cast reunions of "Lost In Space" and "Willie Wonka," and is an expert on autograph collecting.

Toys — For over 200 years toys have been manufactured for the entertainment of children, and every generation has their identifiable and treasured playthings of their past. Touching on their own memories of their youth, the audience becomes the program exploring who had what and why those objects remain important in their memories.

Television — When it premiered in 1939 at the World's Fair in New York no one knew what the outcome would be, its impact on the human conscientious has been profound, and the dynamic of its influences on behavior and habit can be expressed in relation to the acquisitions of the populace.

Investment — Buying investment quality antiques and collectibles involves a process of thinking that includes research and gut instinct, along with the desire to buy items that appreciate in value as they are appreciated by the owner.

Insurance — How to insure "irreplaceable" items, and determine value for the practical homeowner who has accumulated a collection, or two or three, and desires to make proper arrangements in the case of any form of disaster, without overpaying for premiums or having to pay too much to prepare too much paperwork.

Down-sizing — Everyone at some point in their lives has to downsize their living environment, whether it is due to health, age or convenience, and it is always sad to learn that tens of thousands of dollars were thrown or given away after it is too late. The process can be painless by separating emotional value from financial and then knowing what really is worth money before decisions to sell or toss have to occur.

Gary Sohmers, Box 702, Hudson MA, 01749 - 508-788-5474 - wexrex@aol - allcollectors.com

Board

David Bieber, Vice President, Director of Special Products, The Phoenix Media / Communications Group

John Chambers, Co-Head of Investment Banking, Senior Managing Director, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC

Jim Kamnikar, Chief Executive Officer, GoAntiques.com, PriceMiner.com

Steve Nelson, Chief Executive Officer, The Cable Channel

Mission

Interactive Meet And Greet Entertainment (IMAGE) was the inspiration of Gary Sohmers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gary produced a hundred collectible shows with Celebrities signing autographs and saw the possibilities of new technology supporting an industry needing help with authenticity.

Gary feels he is lucky for having had the opportunity to work with some of his heroes over the years, including "Buffalo" Bob Smith, Adam West, Pete Best of The Beatles, the Munchkins of the "Wizard of Oz" and the casts of "Lost In Space," "The Munsters," "My Three Sons" and "Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory."

After attracting over 10,000 people to see each of his "Lost In Space" 25th and 30th cast reunions in 1990 and 1995 in Boston, and producing the 1999 "Lost In Space Return to Earth Celebration" in Hollywood, he used the Internet to reach out to a worldwide fan-base attracting a community of fans who attended the event and communicated as a online social network.

This led to his invention of the Interactive Meet And Greet Entertainment patent-pending "Video Queue" and the "MAGA-Q" Operating System that enables a consumer to get an autograph from a celebrity from the comfort of their own home, witness it being signed and receiving the "Autothentex Authentic Autograph Experience" DVD as their proof of authenticity.

Gary realized many years ago that an autograph from a celebrity who is more or less finished being a celebrity is valuable to many people who cherish, respect and are nostalgic for the memories. This signature can be an IRA for these people, earning them money when they cannot work. But travel is difficult for some and access to celebrities can be difficult for the fans too, so Gary created a "fix" for all of the problems in the Autograph Collectors universe.

The IMAGE technology is built to create a unique interactive social networking community, based on the niche that is attracted to the specific celebrities or their genres. Viewers can socialize with others while waiting in queue, and have advertising and programming of interested directed to them.

The goal is to create a brand name of credibility in the autograph business using the experience as "proof of authenticity."
IMAGE technology is distributed through Cable, Satellite or Mobile phone providers and through the Internet on websites. Each distribution service may have their own unique events within their own communities and we intend to keep consumers aware of any authorized IMAGE autograph signing events.

And IMAGE intends to use this technology to raise funds for Charities as often as possible … we are about helping the world, and we know our communities of fans will help make the world a better place.

Charity

IMAGE intends to use this technology to raise funds for Charities as often as possible … we are about helping the world, and we know our communities of fans will help make the world a better place.

Remember when Katrina flattened New Orleans and Hollywood celebrities did a "telethon" to raise funds …that was very successful and helpful, but it was not enough.

We expect to be able to do that on a regular basis for any charity in need, supported by any celebrity that feels that need and is willing to contribute their signature to assist their cause.

We already know there are celebrities that want to help, and have pet-projects that need support, and all it takes for fans to help out is the opportunity to meet the celebrity to get an authentic autograph.

We hope each licensee will see the need to give back, and pay forward, by offering to create special events for Charity, supporting numerous needed causes all year long.