Volume 6, Issue 3 — March 31, 2017
AV Insider
Tech Chaos
The Floating Point
Rants and rAVes
Selling AV
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March 16, 2017
Episode 100: Meridian Audio: The Pioneers of High Resolutions Audio
Ryan Donaher, VP at Meridian America, speaks with me about 2-channel audio, surround, gorgeous sounding/looking towers, car audio, personal audio, DACs, amps, pre/pros, high resolution audio, and some new gear as well that you can only find on this episode of AV Insider.
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March 10, 2017
Episode 10: [Insert Binary Joke Here]
It’s our 10th (or is it second?) episode of the Floating Point! Host Hope Roth (@beerandpie) is joined by Patrick Murray (@controlhauspat) to talk standards, certifications, and to panic slightly about the future.
It’s a wild, wild west out there… but we’d like to see some better standards for programmers. How do you go about doing that? Do we need a CTS-P? The problem is, so much about AV programming is manufacturer specific, so it doesn’t fall under Infocomm’s purview.
Which brings us to the million dollar question… do we still need to purchase controls in a box? Patrick thinks the future is all Raspberry Pis. Hope thinks the future is standardized and pre-configured control systems. We both agree that the future for people who write terrible code and don’t know how to architect a system is fuzzy at best.
And then we laugh about that time that Patrick kept programming in the middle of the stormy seas (no, that’s not a metaphor).
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March 28, 2017
Episode 24: Programming & Certification
In this episode, Dayna Baumann (@DaynaBaumann) joins host Christa Bender (@AVChrista) to talk about what it is like being a new person in the audio visual industry.
Christa and Dayna start the show off with a “woo-hoo” and then Dayna explains her role at Control Concepts. Dayna provides key information that is needed for a programmer to update or change programming code.
Dayna talks about her quest for her CTS certification and why it is important to her. Dayna and Christa reveal that they will both be at the Women of InfoComm Network event in NYC on April 6.
These topics and more can be heard on this episode of Tech Chaos.
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March 29, 2017
Episode 584: LG at DSE Is Not Just OLED
There’s no question that LG‘s brand-new OLED Wallpaper is the most popular new display format at DSE (thanks to the fact that it’s half-the-thickness of an iPhone) — and, they’re showing it as a stand-along 55” display, in a curved wall as well as an in-glass dual-sided display. But, LG is here in Las Vegas for the annual signage show also showing their new direct-view 1mm LED product as well as their large form-factor LCD and 4K LCD displays. So, Gary was joined by LG’s VP of Business Development, Dan Smith, on today’s podcast who talked about all three and LG’s leadership in each technology.
Of course, you can see LG’s offerings here or you can follow their DSE launches here.
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March 23, 2017
Episode 583: The Prysm Digital Canvas — Collaboration on Steroids
The word collaboration is hackneyed in AV — but, I feel we need keep using it as it does, in fact, define a trend in business. People want to connect, share and work in groups — whether they are in-person or working via the Internet. Many would argue that Barco started all this, in AV at least, with their wireless collaboration system ClickShare, but, truth be told, it has been around in AV forever — thanks to Extron, Crestron, Kramer, AMX, FSR and the like. They’ve been building systems that allow people to connect in meetings for years.
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March 14, 2017
Episode 582: Planar & Leyard Will Show 0.9mm LED and New Rental Solutions at DSE
Last year, Leyard showed a technology demo of a 0.9mm indoor LED wall. Now, they’re shipping it and it, along with a host of other digital signage-focused technologies that will be at the Digital Signage Expo in two weeks in Las Vegas – in booth 407. Planar and Leyard have always been focused on the digital signage market and is one of DSE’s largest exhibitors and their CMO, Jennifer Davis spoke to Gary Kayye about their DSE plans. They’ll show the 0.9mm as a large indoor wall in addition to their CarbonLight series aimed at a wide range of rental and staging applications and their 4K displays.
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March 13, 2017
Episode 581: BrightSign Will Debut an HD OPS Player and Demo Their New Series 3 Players at DSE
Gary caught up with BrightSign CEO, Jeff Hastings, today and they talked all about DSE – the Digital Signage Expo DSE is the world’s only dedicated digital signage show and it’s in two weeks in Las Vegas. BightSign will use DSE to make the North American of their new OPS digital signage player that’s unique as it’s only about $400 but has all the capabilities of all their other FullHD players. In addition, all eight models of the BrightSign Series 3 players – including both HD and 4K 10-bit color (with HDR) models – will be demonstrated at their booth (booth 419) at DSE and both days will culminate in free beer (and, you can collect drink tickets by seeing their Bluetooth-capable connectivity with the beer tap in their booth, too).
For the sixth year in a row, BrightSign’s media players will power the DSE entryway – an impressive installation of four columns encased in a total of 18, 48-inch Samsung displays. Peerless-AV supplied the mounts and OpenEye Global generated the eye-catching content that will inform attendees as they enter and exit the show floor.
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March 9, 2017
Episode 580: Almo to Launch Hospitality Division During E4 AV Tour
Stephen McKay has been helping the Hospitality industry with AV services and products for over 15-years – now he’s doing it with Almo ProAV. As the Senior VP of Special Markets at Almo ProAV his role is to help Almo’s integrator partners sell and integrate products and services into he Hospitality market (i.e. hotels, dorms, hospitals, etc). And, it’ll all be launched around the E4 in Chicago – including a pre-show “Hospitality Day” the day before the E4 AV Tour on Tuesday, March 21st at the Drury Lane Conference Center.
I was joined by both Stephen McKay and Melody Craigmyle, Almo ProAV’s VP of Marketing, who not only talked about he Hospitality event but also the entire E4 AV Tour. I will be delivering my all-new 4K Keynote: 4K: NO MYTHS, NO EXAGGERATIONS – JUST THE FACTS and it gives you 1.5 InfoComm CTS RUs and there are another 10 courses, during the March 22 event, that also include InfoComm CTS RUs. Plus the event includes over 45 manufacturers with new products and services and even an IoT session.
We talked about all of this – and how to register for the Hospitality Day, on todays podcast – listen here:
Also, if you want to attend the Hospitality Day, get in touch with Apryl Lamberti at alamberti@almo.com.
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March 8, 2017
Episode 579: Almo’s Todd Heberlein Will Help ProAV Integrators Ease Into Doing Digital Signage
I was joined by Almo ProAV‘s Todd Heberlein to talk about how his role is to help ProAV integrators get into the digital signage market. Digital Signage happens to be the fastest growing segment of the ProAV market (growing by double-digits for the past four years in a row) but a lot of AV integrators have yet to start digital signage services — short of just installing them. So, how do you get started in digital signage? Listen to my Rants and rAVe’s podcast today and Todd will tell you why he would likely start you with BrightSign media players (even though they sell a plethora of brands) as well as what set of services Almo can provide to get you started without having to hire someone who’s dedicated to the process.
Finally, Todd will be leading a digital signage experience class at the Almo E4 AV Tour later this month in Chicago (March 22) and then in San Jose (on April 19th) and space is limited to only 20 attendees — you can register for it here. It’s sponsored by BrightSign and they use BrightSign media players, too.
If you are interested, you can pre-register for my The State of the Digital Signage Market webinar to be held May 16th — and it’s free. Here’s a full description and the link to register.
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March 7, 2017
Episode 578: Sharp’s DSE Debuts Will Floor (and Ceiling) You
Gary caught up with one of DSE’s biggest exhibitors, Sharp’s Gary Bailer to talk about their plans for the biggest dedicated digital signage show on earth – happening at the end of this month in Las Vegas. In addition to launching three new monitor series (including one that can be mounted in any position you can imagine), Sharp will introduce the USA to their new Open Architecture Platform for digital signage. Sharp is in booth 1207 at DSE and if you want the pre-show scoop, you should listen!
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March 6, 2017
Episode 577: All About Audio — Why Audio Matters in AV
In today’s podcast, Gary is joined by Almo ProAV Director of Business Development Rob Ziv, who talks about the state of A in AV. Gary’s “AV Starts with A” webinar for Almo last week, was a huge hit and they continue their offline discussion after the webinar in his podcast. They talk about Dante, networked AV and where the money is in audio gear.
You can watch (or listen) to the AV Starts with A (And the A is way more profitable than V) webinar here.
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March 2, 2017
Episode 576: Do You Know What InfoComm Is Doing?
Jennifer Davis, CMO of Leyard is a member of the InfoComm Leadership Search Committee and, although InfoComm is known for their giant trade show each June, their education, certification and leadership development is second-to-none for commercial AV professionals. Jennifer’s committee is trying to find the future leaders of the proAV community and many of them come from the hundreds of volunteers that teach, led committees or serve as though leaders within InfoComm – people from integrators, manufacturers and even design consultants in AV. She and I discuss what’s going on over at InfoComm and how you can benefit!
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March 1, 2017
Episode 575: Almo ProAV Now Offers Control System Programming AND Engineering Design Services for ProAV Integrators
I was joined by Eric Olson, Almo Pro A/V’s Business Development Manager, who explained how they are now offering control system programming services for not only Crestron and AMX but also for Extron too. Almo is aiming this service to smaller integrators that may not have their own on-site programmer or if they need help with lager systems designs. In addition, they’ll even help you engineer a system – both services you can charge for (in addition to selling the gear). Today’s podcast explains these service offerings and, if you are interested, your can contact Eric directly at:
Eric Olson, CTS, DSCE
P. 888-420-2566 x4082
E-mail: eolson@almo.com
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March 21, 2017
Episode 51: Spirit of the Job
If you are bidding jobs that have already been designed, you most likely have to choose between bidding to win and bidding responsibly. This week, I tell you how to do both.
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For all you REGULAR listeners of rAVe Radio out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are – we are 100 percent opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the ProAV and HomeAV industries, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories – that’s why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write or say anything good (or bad).
To send me feedback, don’t reply to this newsletter. Instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas, Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com.
A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I’ve been in the AV industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don’t think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue, which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition.
Everything we publish is Opt-in – we spam NO ONE! rAVe ProAV Edition is our flagship ePublication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA and launched in June 2004, is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in December 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in June 2009. We added rAVe GHGav [Green, Healthcare & Government AV] in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in August 2012. rAVe Radio, our podcasts, were launched in 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com
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