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By Joel Rollins, CTS-R Sorry, folks, that this issue is a couple of days later than we expected it to be, but a number of things have happened for the rental and staging industry over the last few days, and I wanted to tell you about them.
The first and foremost is the return of actual rental classes to InfoComm’s Institute for Professional Development, held just before the InfoComm trade show. As you all know, I was really enthused when InfoComm brought Andre LeJeune into the internal teaching staff, reviving him from the limbo we IPD rental instructors had disappeared into. Well, he’s come out of the gate running with a course on show management to be presented at the Institute for Professional Development held just before InfoComm. The course is called Staging and Events Management, and it’s something Andre is a master of. More information can be found at http://infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/10699.htm. There are still seats available. I complain to InfoComm all the time that there aren’t enough reasons for Rental people to attend InfoComm education, but this is one of them. Go.
The other item is a really interesting organization, now touring the country in a really off-the-wall way.
To make a long story short, last month I participated in an interesting forum called the InfoComm 100 (something I’ll be writing about shortly). Seated at my discussion table for two days was Bridget Cline, President and CEO of Industrial Strength Inc. and Pilot House Audio Visual. I’ll shorten the story even further for you: Bridget’s crazy. Not crazy in a bad way. She’s incredibly bright, engaging, and energetic, the kind of natural leader who was able to stand out in a roomful of leaders, some of whom (mea culpa) are not easy to lead. But crazy in a creative way, as you’ll see when you read the following.
One of the meeting highlights was the presentation (to Bridget) of the InfoComm Women in AV Award. Besides her business acumen and accomplishments, Bridget was presented the award for her efforts to help women advance in our traditionally male-centric industry. Bridget created FAVE (Female Audio Visual Executives, Inc.), an international, non-profit trade association designed to mentor and encourage young women to join the ever-expanding AV/media/visual arts field, while providing support, scholarships and networking opportunities to seasoned veterans.
OK, so a lot of us (myself included) complain that there aren’t enough women in the field. Some of us have even made some efforts to recruit more women, with mixed results. But Bridget takes the effort to a whole new level. And here’s an example of why I called her crazy:
Bridget is taking the FAVE effort on tour, with her co-conspirator Kristen and her Great Dane, Chelsea. They’re calling it "2 Dames and a Dane", taking place between now and the end of June. For people who join during that period, Bridget’s company will match their membership dues (it's only $45 per year) and put it toward the organization’s first scholarship. It’s a trip throughout the East Coast, talking to fellow AV companies, schools, radio stations, "persons of interest," etc. They'll be blogging, Tweeting, and (hopefully) pod-casting the entire thing. When asked why the Great Dane was along, Bridget said, “We decided to bring Chelsea along for a couple of reasons – first, she loves rides in the car and is much better behaved than my other two Danes (Buttercup and Sam), and second, we figured that 2 "dames" traveling wouldn't get quite the amount of attention that a 180-lb black dog would get, so… “
See what I mean about crazy?
Besides that, they’re hosting a breakfast at the InfoComm booth at the show to create awareness of the organization and the role of female execs in the industry.
More info can be requested from kristen@faveinternational.org or through http://www.faveinternational.org/
I’ll be meeting with Bridget during her road trip, doing an interview and trying not to upset her 180-lb. dog. We’ll be talking more about the group, and you’ll be hearing more from me on this group that is not only something the industry needs – but is crazy to boot.
–JRR rAVe Rental [and Staging] contributor Joel R. Rollins, CTS-R, is General Manager of Everett Hall Associates, Inc. and is well known throughout the professional AV industry for his contributions to industry training and his extensive background in AV rental, staging and installation. Joel can be reached at Joel can be reached at joelrollins@mac.com
Back to Top QSC's New 1000-Watt K Series Are Awesome QSC has done it again and showed why they are always near the top of the speaker leader-board with the new K Series of compact, somewhat lightweight, high-performance loudspeakers. Housed in an ABS molded enclosure and integrated with an advanced DSP, the new K Series are designed for touring applications with a spec that sets it apart: 1000-watt, Class D Amp module that powers all four speakers in the Series (the K8, K10, K12 and the KSub, their subwoofer).
This is definitely a departure from the norm and QSC calls it Directivity Matched Transition – smaller diameter woofers have wider coverage patterns than larger ones so QSC simply matched the HF device to the LF dispersion allowing for what they say is the smoothest and flattest frequency response across the entire sound field, regardless of which sized speakers you use.
The new QSC K Series ships this month and you can read all the specs at: http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/K_Series/
Over the years, QSC has done great things, especially in the price/performance arena. I’m looking forward to hearing these at the show.
–JRR
Back to Top Barco, NEC and Samsung All Tout Bezel-less LCDs for Wall Apps NEC was first to the market in announcing their bezel-less LCD with the X461UN. Everyone decided to order it and it’s one of the hottest products not quite yet on the market today. Enter Barco. Last month, Barco entered the field with their NSL-4601 and they claim they are days away from shipping. Then comes Samsung. With no ship date yet, their 460UT line is also a 46” LCD when set side by side with another in the line, you barely see the bezel.
It’s going to be a race to see who ships first, for sure, but the real winner may come from who can support it long term. NEC’s got the upper hand there with customer service awards out the wazoo, but Barco’s got some fans out there who’d like to see them come back into the flat-screen market. Right now the only success Barco is seeing in display is with their leadership position in LEDs.
One thing is for sure — at InfoComm, prepare to be wowed as each of them will have their bezel-less monitors at the show — and wait, what’s that I hear? Ah, a rAVe Scoop: An “S” company just whispered in my ear that they’ll be in the bezel-less display market too!
InfoComm, we love it and we will be there! Will you? You’d better be: http://www.infocommshow.org/infocomm2009/public/enter.aspx Back to Top Barco Releases New Software for Digital Lighting Products Digital and automated lighting has been transformed, as we all know, by companies like Barco with new LED and LCD-based systems. Barco announced in the last few weeks that new software is now available for the High End Systems Digital Lighting family, including the DL.3 Digital Light and the Axon media server.
The v1.5 software release not only fixes some bugs that were identified, but also expands feature functionality and provides a host of improvements and updates. Major features include frame blending, for smooth, slow motion playback, and the expansion of “collage generator capability,” which allows users to create a setup that is now up to 16 fixtures wide by eight fixtures high. A new “segmented collage” feature enables advanced users to pre-slice their content in order to create large collages with very high overall resolutions.
On the feature front, Barco added automatic content encoding validation. This unique process scans content as it is being loaded into the system, in order to ensure correct encoding, trouble-free playback, and the elimination of performance issues that might result from encoding errors. That’s cool! Finally, other upgrades include new graphic effects, PAL support for the SDI input, plus the ability for users to add HD-SDI cards in the Axon media server. In addition, the Content Management Application (CMA) now displays more detailed data, such as movie length, resolution, frame rate and frame count.
To read all about it, go to: http://www.barco.com/events/en/products/product.asp?element=4529
We’re certainly seeing a big stage of refinement in media servers for shows – and the addition of features such as validation during loading can save us all a lot of time. We’re also seeing a huge blurring of the lines between show control, media servers, lighting controllers and projection devices – and, in the long run, that’s good, too.
–JRR
Back to Top Extron Ships SMX System Matrix with HD-SDI Extron say that they have “immediate availability “of a new 4×4 multi-rate SDI matrix board and two new 16×16, 4-Gbps fiber optic matrix boards for the SMX System MultiMatrix, Extron's modular, field-configurable matrix switching platform. These new matrix boards bring the total number of available SMX matrix boards to 41, covering all popular analog and digital A/V signal types from composite video and wideband RGB to 3G-SDI, DVI, and HDMI, as well as stereo audio. The SMX System MultiMatrix is ideal for use in applications that require the switching of different signal types and a cost-effective upgrade path for ongoing I/O or signal format changes.
The SMX Multi-Rate Serial Digital Matrix Switcher Boards are designed for routing multi-rate SDI and HD-SDI serial digital video signals from 19 Mbps to 2.97 Gbps. The boards are fully compliant with the SMPTE 424M standard for 3G-SDI. In addition, two boards can be used together to switch SMPTE 372M dual-link HD-SDI digital video signals. They are available in four I/O sizes: 4×4, 8×4, 8×8, and 16×16.
See the HD-SDI multi-rate board specs here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=smxsdi&allparts=1
Extron’s matrix switchers have changed the way we switch and route signals over the years, and this is no exception. With all due respect to their many competitors, the gray boxes are the defacto standard. As a modular system, MultiMatrix will probably not have the impact on the rental industry that the Crosspoint has (at least not yet) but it will certainly have its place in installations and higher-end, repeat shows.
–JRR
Back to Top If you can only take ONE CLASS at InfoComm, What Does rAVe Think It Should Be? In evaluating the plethora of courses offered at InfoComm 09 this year in Orlando that Rental/Stagers might have an interest in, here’s the one we think you’ll overlook that you should SERIOUSLY consider: Session # IS39
Title: Display Color Management Instructor: Extron’s Steve Somers
Description: As digital signage, digital cinema and content creation proliferate, proper color rendition in displays is paramount. This course bridges color space theory and practical application where display matching and maximal color performance are required. Topics include: matching display colors, color calibration standards, display/print disparity, color spaces and performance.
Sure, maybe there’s a lot of digital signage crap in the description, but that’s marketing fluff written to get people to attend. The meat is in the display calibration portion of the class and Steve is a MASTER. A Jedi Master. Seriously, ATTEND this class – you WILL NOT regret it!
Find out more at: https://www.infocommshow.org/networknow/public/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionID=1360&FromPage=nz_ALSessionSearch.aspx
I can’t agree more. Steve is one of the people I’ve learned the most from over the years, and is an incredible teacher. Make the time, go, and be prepared to learn a lot in a short period of time. Trying to learn just a little from Steve is like trying to get a drink from a fire hose.
–JRR
Back to Top NEC Opens Voting for Best of InfoComm Award NEC Display opened up a website where YOU can have a say in the first Best of InfoComm Award to be bestowed on the best product or service at InfoComm 09. The winning company will be awarded $25,000 to give to the charity of their choosing. As you probably know by now, InfoComm 09 will take place on June 17-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Public voting for the award competition, sponsored by NEC Display, is open through June 5, 2009, at http://www.necdisplay.com/best/vote
The five entries with the most public votes will be announced at the NEC booth on June 17 and then judged by the following panel of industry leaders:
• Lyle Bunn – Principal and Strategy Architect, BUNN Co.
• Gary Kayye – Futurist and Founder, rAVe Publications
• David Keene – Executive Editor, NewBay Media
• Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D. – Executive Director, InfoComm International
• Steve Sechrist – Sr. Editor/Sr. Analyst, Insight Media
• Chuck Wilson – Executive Director, National Systems Contractors Association
So, go vote at: http://www.necdisplay.com/best/vote
Obviously, contests that require that somebody go and express an opinion help manufacturers refine their products, and are good for the industry. My only question with this one is the absence of anyone who daily buys, sells, or installs these products from the judging panel.
–JRR
Back to Top For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe Rental [and Staging] 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% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the rental and staging industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions — in this case, it’s industry-veteran Joel Rollins' 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).
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rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe Ed [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January of 2009.
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Back to Top Copyright 2009 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 510 Meadowmont Village Circle, Suite 376 – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |