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Volume 10, Issue 17 — September 5, 2012
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Justifications – Revisions – Modifications – Value Engineering
By Chuck Wilson
NSCA Executive Director These four things can bog down a schedule more than anything when trying to secure a design-build or negotiated project. Our members are reporting more and more often that end users are going through every aspect of a proposal with a fine tooth comb looking for cost savings.
Justifications often are directed at your margins or labor rates. Too often the integrators are being questioned about $125 plus technical services rates for a security or AV project. You need not apologize, but do be prepared. The question will be why only $75 (example) for install rates but $125 (example) for service when we had the same tech on the project. The answer is easy if you take time to explain how productivity ratios factors into the equation. Margin justification can be made simple as well if cost breakouts are mandated. Don’t apologize for needing to make a profit on equipment sales.
Revisions are a pretty good sign that you aren’t the only bidder on the project. After the first or second round you need to stop and figure out where the questions are stemming from. As mentioned last week, turning over detailed drawings (without the proper disclaimer) while still in the revisions phase is a bad idea. It only allows for more scrutiny by the owner and possibly other vendors.
Modifications to your proposal once your best and final price has been established can be a trap. Modifications once the customer signs off on the proposal can be to your benefit. Documentation is the key. If you deviate from the original design you take on additional risk. If it is your proprietary design, modifications to save costs simply need a reduction in a performance statement agreed upon by the customer.
Value engineering to match a budget is fine when expectations are managed and well documented. Don’t ever downgrade a system in the design phase without substantiating the logic behind the changes. On a consultant-led project keep the design professional in the communication loop every step of the way. Remember that one little change could switch the professional liability for performance from them to you.
In the end, never ever accept a contract for a project if you are given a "conditional substitution." It’s either an approved substitution, or it’s not. Try as hard as you can to avoid contracts with arbitrary performance criteria if any revisions from the original design are made. It’s just not worth the risk.
Chuck Wilson is the executive director of the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), a not-for-profit association representing the commercial electronic systems industry. At the helm of NSCA, much of Wilson’s time is spent assisting contractors with the challenges of today’s business environment. He often gives lectures and presentations at key industry events, and has been published in numerous leading trade journals. Reach him at cwilson@nsca.org
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Why Doesn’t Every Integrator Get It?
By Amy Fulton
rAVe BlogSquad It is amazing how many people don’t see the value in investing in marketing. It annoys me since I am so passionate about it. With that being said, I am lucky enough to work for a company that believes in our brand and our commitment to position ourselves to our clients as a leader in the industry.
Did you know that marketing your company doesn’t have to be hard or expensive? With a little creativity you can generate some serious interest that can lead to additional traffic, more customers and new opportunities.
I think it is so important right off the bat to determine the company’s vision. It is key that a marketing director understands what the objectives are, plus the vision and goals of the brand. Successful companies must have the confidence in that person to let them spread their wings and fly with it. Nothing is worse than holding back creativity because of the inability to trust and empower employees. Establishing the brand with consistency across the board with everything from proposals, brochures, website, etc. is essential, and if in the right hands, marketing can position your company in a whole new light.
Self-Promote. Everyday there are amazing things that you and your staff do to enhance your brand and image that you probably don’t even realize. Somebody needs to spread the word! Trust me, your current and future clients want to hear your success stories, your community outreach and the personal side of your company. Open the door to your communication. Take advantage of guest opportunities to be interviewed for articles in trade publications or speaking engagements. Make the time. It is a free way to get your name out there and use these articles to help educate your clients after they have been printed.
Leverage your happy customers. Utilize your good relationship — ask to develop case studies and have professional photography done. Trust me, you need a professional photographer! Amazing photos will open up many doors so make the investment.
As integrators, we have great opportunities to grow beyond our small marketing budgets to team up with our supporting manufacturers and industry publications. Let’s face it, it is a win-win situation. They want to be in front of your clients as much as you do. Manufacturers as well as magazine editors are ready to support your efforts, and I have not run into a situation yet that when presented with a fresh idea they are not willing to support it. Get creative and reach out…what is the worst that can happen? They say no?
Social Media is always a hot topic for me. It is the wave of today. Wake up… it is the way we communicate now. InfoComm was an entirely new experience for me this year. I was able to meet in person with so many people that I have met through social media that I communicate with every day. Without this resource, I would have never met or learned or expanded my network. Use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube. These are the platforms people use to get their information. If you are not involved, you should be. Reaching out to the masses and expanding your brand to the public is part of the mix. Every day we are gaining new opportunities that come from social media both within our industry and the outreach to clients — six degrees of separation.
E-marketing is another tool that is cost effective and gets information out. Monthly newsletters have been effective for us. I have to imagine that others would feel the same. Once a month, clients get a recap of some fresh new products, latest industry news — they see our personal side of who we are (we are more than just AV, we care about our clients and what they need). All of these things are creating an image, a brand — the image that I want our clients to relate to when they see our name. We are a resource of information for them, and through this medium they gain knowledge and confidence. Our open rate is pretty high and every month something results, whether a box sale, a bid request, a service call — it makes all the hard work worth it.
On the same note, I also do one internally every month. I think it is important to find a way to communicate to our staff all the happenings that go on within our company, we are not all under the same roof. We not only highlight big sales, completed jobs and messages from our president, but we again show our personal side. Everything from births of babies, charities and sporting events, company picnics, vacation pictures. It is a connection — it might be a small connection, but it bonds us as a company, as a family.
Events are a favorite of mine. I guess I am the girl that loves to socialize, so it comes with my personality. I think they are an important part of the mix, and from two perspectives. One is client appreciation and the other is new business development. Both are important in their own ways. Our client appreciation events are not to make money (well, to be honest, everything we do is to make money), but it is more about continuing to build and foster a good working relationship. It shows our clients that we are a sound company and we care about our clients. We might not close a deal one month later, but if an event and networking event goes well, they will remember us; they will spread the word to others that we are a company they want to do business with. As far as I am concerned, that is a win all around.
New business development events are equally as important. It gives us the opportunity to present our offerings to new prospects, to begin the process of growing their confidence in our ability to provide them the right solution or service offerings. We do this on so many levels. We have a new business development woman who attends networking events, luncheons, seminars, trade shows, etc. We recently did a speaking lunch and learn at ILTA, which is the International Legal Technology Association. The event proved to be highly successful and has opened their eyes to new solutions and a company that can provide them. These opportunities are priceless for growing your name throughout the marketplace.
It's also critical to keep your website up-to-date. If you are researching a company or have a need, what is the first thing you do? You look them up online. Everything we do goes back to our website. It is our billboard. What we can offer, photos of recently completed projects, product offerings, blogs, ways to contact us, news and events — it is all there. Before they even need to reach out, it is all there. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Blogging kind of falls under PR. Blogging opens a lot of doors for conversation. It doesn’t need to be 100 percent technical or a white paper. It just needs to be someone’s opinion of what they think. I love that about blogging. I want to read something light and maybe learn something from someone else’s experience. I take it for what it is. We blog about advanced technical topics, but the Marketing Chick needs to understand it before I push it out.
I can go on and on and on. These are just a few things that we cover in our marketing department. I love my job because it is something new every single day. I am creating a brand that I believe in. There are a ton of topics I didn’t even cover, but this blog would be WAY too long and you probably have already lost interest. Marketing is a key function in presenting your company to the public in the right eye. Make the investment, see the value and respect those who do it well.
Amy Fulton is a member of the rAVe BlogSquad. Find more of her blogs here.
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Selecting the Proper Screen Material for Your Application
By Digital Projection, Inc. Have you ever used a screen material other than white for a projection application? If so, what color? Light gray, dark gray, or even black? What effect does screen color have on your projected image? What about the effect of the screen surface and material from which the screen is made?
To solve these questions, Digital Projection International’s (DPI) Application Support team projected video in an ambient lit room onto a screen that was white on one side and gray on the other (see figure below).
The left side of the screen is matte white while the right side of the screen is a dark shade of gray. In this ambient lit environment, the gray screen material produced a more vivid image. The gray side of the screen uses a material with angular reflective properties (see description below). The fact that the material is gray helps to preserve black level, even in the presence of ambient light. This increases the perceived contrast of the image, making it look as if it has more detail and resolution than the white section of the screen, which appears more washed out. Screen selection plays an important role in how you design for a projection application, so let’s take a closer look at these material types.
A matte white screen is typically described as having either unity gain or a gain of 1.0, and is an evenly diffusive material. That means when light from the projector reflects off the screen, it diffuses evenly in all directions (see figure below). However, it is important to note that when ambient light reflects off the screen it also diffuses evenly in all directions including back at the audience, therefore making the image from the projector look dim or washed out.
Angular reflective screen material, which is typically dark gray, is often a better choice when designing for ambient light applications. With an angular reflective material, light hitting the screen reflects at an opposite angle. Projection light bounces almost straight back to the audience, while ambient light at more extreme angles bounces away from the audience (see figure below).
For projectors to be an effective solution for media rooms, careful selection of the screen material is vital. DPI performed preliminary testing with angular reflective screens and the results indicated the following rule of thumb: Two thousand lumens of light output produces great looking images on 16 square feet of screen material in venues with typical ambient lighting. Two thousand lumens per 16 square feet equates to 125 foot-lamberts, if the screen was unity gain.
Put another way, for typical general-use ambient light environments:
- A 2500-lumen projector will produce great imagery on a 6' x 3.375' angular reflective screen.
- A 4500-lumen projector will produce great imagery on a 8' x 4.5' angular reflective screen.
- A 7000-lumen projector will produce great imagery on a 10' x 5.625' angular reflective screen.
- A 10,000-lumen projector will produce great imagery on a 12' x 6.75' angular reflective screen.
- A 16,000+-lumen projector will produce great imagery on a 14' x 8.875' angular reflective screen.
Typical general use ambient light environments are defined as multiple types of indirect artificial lighting, but no direct light falling on the screen, and no sunlight pouring into the room.
Although this is just a rule of thumb, we think it provides a good guideline.
This article was reprinted with permission from Digital Projection, Inc.
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This Month from rAVe's BlogSquad Back to Top Nortek Combines Brands into One Nortek, Inc. just announced the formation of Core Brands, a new group that combines 10 of the company's formerly independent audio, power management and control brands operating within its Technology Solutions segment.
Including Nortek's Aton, BlueBOLT, Elan, Furman, Niles, Panamax, Proficient, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire and Xantech brands, Core Brands has more than 190 years of combined experience in the residential, commercial and professional markets and over 4,300 direct customer accounts in multiple distribution channels in the U.S. and worldwide.
This is something that rAVe founder Gary Kayye suggested that Nortek should do in an open letter to them this past May that you can read here: https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7870&Itemid=182
Core Brands will be based in Petaluma, Calif., with offices in Carlsbad and Riverside, Calif., and Marblehead, Mass. Bill Pollock, who has served as president of Panamax, will lead Core Brands. Dave Keller, vice president of sales and marketing for Panamax/Furman, will handle worldwide sales. Keith Marshall, president of SpeakerCraft/Proficient, will be in charge of channel management, and Paul Starkey, president of Elan, will lead marketing for all brands.
"The formation of Core Brands reflects the strategic refocusing currently taking place as we pursue new markets and new opportunities to serve our dealers, channel partners and end users," said Nortek President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Clarke. "We expect that combining the unique capabilities of each of these 10 formidable brands will deliver new and powerful benefits they can only achieve as a group."
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Extron Debuts Fiber RS232 Control Inserter Extron's new FOX RS 104 is a four port RS232 inserter for long-haul transmission of control signals to remote source and destination equipment over fiber optic cabling. Each port provides a bidirectional fiber optic connection to an Extron FOX Series transmitter and receiver for the insertion and extraction of control data, while maintaining a continuous pass-through link for video and audio.
RS232 data from the Ethernet port is inserted onto one or more of the fiber optic outputs, providing remote monitoring and control. Output reclocking on the inserter’s buffered fiber optic outputs ensures signal integrity, sending the fiber optic signal at its original power level. It maintains the performance of optical signal transmission while providing bidirectional control from a control processor, eliminating the need for separate control system wiring to remote devices. Available in multimode and singlemode models, the FOX RS 104 is compatible with the line of FOX Series extenders, distribution amplifiers, switchers and matrix switchers.
Here are all the details: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=foxrs104
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Chief Ships iPad Mounts Chief is now shipping its kits designed for integrating iPads into AV environments. The kits include the FSBI2B portable iPad interface, which works with the latest two generations of the iPad. The snap fit is designed for easy removal for the user on the go.
The KRA400B weight plate accessory, also available separately, accommodates the minimum weight requirements of K1-series dynamic mounts. The weight allows the gas spring arms to function ideally with the FSBI2B.
Chief has bundled the portable iPad interfaces with Kontour Series mounts for fast and simple ordering.
- K0W1I2B — Kontour single display pitch/pivot flush mount with FSBI2B portable iPad interface
- K1C1I2B — Kontour single display column mount with FSBI2B portable iPad interface and KRA400B weight plate accessory
- K1D2I2B — Kontour dual display desk mount with FSBI2B portable iPad interface and KRA400B weight plate accessory
Here are all the specs: http://www.chiefmfg.com/Products/K1C1I2B
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Share Article Back to Top SurgeX's Adds IP Integration to Surge Eliminators SurgeX has announced a new line of IP-enabled surge eliminators called Axess Ready. With Axess Ready, integrators now have a complete line of IP integrated surge eliminators, from stand-alone solutions up through the company's NEMA panels.
Axess Ready products are fully equipped with IP network connectivity, no additional hardware needed. Once connected, a web interface acts as the control and monitoring dashboard, providing a number of useful power management functions. Schedules can be created with single or multiple conditions to conserve energy by powering down equipment when not in use. Installers can also remotely reboot connected equipment in real time if a problem is identified, or schedule a shutdown at a pre-determined time. Axess Ready can also automatically power-cycle locked up gear.
When used in conjunction with the SurgeX Cervella platform, all Axess Ready products are automatically discovered and can be securely controlled by Cervella. Cervella, when used in combination with SurgeX's new Axess platform, delivers the most comprehensive and fully integrated power protection, device management, control and reporting system in the industry. When installed on a network, Cervella aggregates outlet-level energy and power information collected from each connected Axess, Axess Elite or Axess Ready devices into a single interface, while providing comprehensive reporting of the system's power status, energy usage and overall network health.
To learn more, go here: http://www.surgex.com
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Share Article Back to Top Whitlock Launches v-Scheduler for Enterprise Customers Whitlock has launched the new v-Scheduler, which the company describes as a one stop solution for room and video conferencing meetings across the enterprise as it enables customers to schedule meeting rooms and automate video meetings from a simple user interface anywhere, anytime and from any device.
Powered by software made by MyVRM, v-Scheduler provides a simple user interface on a platform that integrates with a customer’s legacy systems and enables the scheduling of rooms, resources and services. In addition, v-Scheduler talks directly to Polycom, Cisco, LifeSize or Vidyo to automatically launch both point-to-point and multi-point video meetings.
Whitlock’s v-Scheduler interface can be accessed via an Internet portal, Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, Lync, Lotus Notes and even mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Androids.
For complete specs, go here: http://www.whitlock.com/sites/ddev.whitlock.com/files/Whitlock%20v-Scheduler.pdf
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Panasonic Ships LF5 Panasonic is shipping its new LF5 Series LCDs, including the 42” TH-42LF5U and 47” TH-47LF5U. Along with 1080p resolution and a wide viewing angle of 178 degrees, the LF5 Series features a slim, 18.6-millimeter bezel, allowing the displays to be used in multi-screen video walls. The company claims a 500 cd/m2 brightness and a 9-ms response. Both can be mounted vertically or horizontally and are built for continuous, 24-hour operation.
The TH-42LF5U and TH-47LF5U are available now and list for $750 and $1,005, respectively.
For more information go to: http://www.panasonic.com/business/digital-signage/TH-47LF5U.asp
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Share Article Back to Top AmpliVox Upgrades All Wireless Mics to 16 Channels All new AmpliVox Sound Systems wireless microphones will broadcast over 16 UHF channels, instead of two. This upgrade includes all wireless sound systems and wireless lecterns, with no price increase over earlier two-channel models.
The new 16-channel UHF frequencies expand the capability and range of earlier two-channel models by allowing multiple mic users in the same venue to select separate channels. The additional channels also enable users to avoid interference with competing wireless frequencies, assuring no frequency mix in any venue.
The new AmpliVox 16-channel UHF microphones are available as a handheld wireless mic or can be ordered in a bodypack-style transmitter with receiver.
You can find out more about AmpliVox here: http://www.ampli.com
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Share Article Back to Top Chief Releases 2012-2013 Catalog Chief has released its 2012-2013 print and online catalogs.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top Women in AV Expands E4 AV Tour Involvement Women in AV (WAVE), a group seeking to educate, support and inspire women in AV through collaborating, mentoring and networking opportunities, announced recently it will participate in the Fall 2012 leg of the Almo Professional A/V E4 AV training and networking tour, which stops in Dallas on Sept. 13 and New York on Oct. 3. WAVE’s participation on the E4 tour is sponsored by Chief Manufacturing, NEC, Samsung and Premier Mounts.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top AVI-SPL Expands Sales Leadership Team AVI-SPL announced last month that it has added Amber Arsenault, Alisa Bauman, Scott Grimm and Matthew Thompson to its sales leadership team. The addition of four new sales managers is part of AVI-SPL’s aggressive growth campaign designed to increase its U.S. market share.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top Jay Shinn Joins FOR-A FOR-A Corporation of America has named Jay Shinn as its sales manager for the Northeast region, effective Aug. 1. Shinn has extensive experience in the broadcast technology industry, having spent thirty years at Grass Valley in various roles, including the positions of general manager of production switchers and senior sales consultant.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top Premier Mounts Moves to a New Location Premier Mounts is moving this month to a new headquarters in Fullerton, Calif. (from Anaheim, Calif.). In addition to the move, Premier Mounts will also be moving the majority of its shipping operations to a new logistics center in Tennessee for expedited, nationwide shipping.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top Vaddio Joins D-Tools Manufacturer Vantage Point Program D-Tools, Inc. announced this month that Vaddio has joined the D-Tools Manufacturer Vantage Point (MVP) program. Based in Minneapolis, Minn., Vaddio is a manufacturer of specialty PTZ cameras and camera control systems used in the audiovisual, video conference and broadcast industries.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe ProAV Edition 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 industry, 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 anything good (or bad). Don't like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below. 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 February 2004, is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in November 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in January 2009. We added rAVe GreenAV in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in July 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com To read more about my background, our team and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2012 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln. – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: Sara@rAVePubs.com
rAVe contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |
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