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Volume 5, Issue 5 — May 18, 2011
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Training Without the Basics: Frosting Without Cake
By Joel Rollins, CTS-R I've spent the last 25 years in the AV industry. While I've held a number of different positions with rental companies, dealer/installers, and manufacturers, I've also been heavily involved in our industry associations for nearly as long. While a good portion of these jobs were either executive or technical management, they all had one thing in common. In all of them, I was responsible for training people to succeed in our industry, or hiring people that I thought had the ingredients to succeed.
I've also been privileged, especially through my involvement in association training, to get to know many of the top people in our business, and have spent a lot of time teaching and collaborating with them. I hope that I’ve helped them out in some small ways. I know that they have taught me a lot.
These two things, I believe, give me a perspective on the knowledge it takes, and the mindset it takes, to succeed, and to lead, in our industry. I get asked a lot, by employees, readers and friends, what kind of training they should be looking for to further their careers in staging, or the AV field in general.
So I'm a big fan of trade schools, industry association training, manufacturer training, and all those wonderful courses that teach us how to use the technology of our industry better. But NONE of them are what sets the people at the top of the industry apart. It starts earlier than that, with much more basic knowledge, without which no quantity of industry courses will help you become a leader in our field.
So what is it that DOES set the people at the top apart? It's the thing that enables them to make many of the problems in our technology seem simple to them – because they are.
Long division.
Oh, Okay – the list IS a bit longer than that. It also includes the ability to express an idea clearly, to take good notes, and, most importantly, to undertake the study of a new skill all by yourself.
And that’s what, for me, sets the leaders apart. They make an effort to understand the basics of the math and physics surrounding our technologies, which keeps them from the frustration of ever attempting the impossible. They apply the things they have learned in previous generations of technology to the next one, without attempting to treat each new model number of equipment as something totally new they have to learn. They build on their successes and learn from their failures. They teach themselves, rather than waiting to be taught. They seek out the training they need, and campaign for it.
And they read manuals.
Yes. THEY READ MANUALS.
I’ve been really pleased over the last few years that our trade associations, especially InfoComm, have developed courses that are not only MORE advanced, but also some that are LESS advanced – that stress the basics of the science, communication, and project management that it takes to get ahead in this field. My hat is off to them. For too long, we concentrated only on having the uber-geeks teach the geeks, which is great as far as it goes. But careers are built on mastering the basics, and the best people I know are the ones that understand that.
So, for those of you that are trying to get started in the staging field… STOP asking to learn the “tricks” or the “secrets”. There are none. Anybody who thinks there are secrets or tricks is somebody who doesn’t have enough of the underlying knowledge to recognize where they come from. And for our industry to continue to thrive, we need to take the mystery out of it, and I applaud the organizations who are making it so.
So, my best advice for advancement: Just remember that the people who know HOW always work for the people who know WHY. 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 joelrollins@mac.com
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Casio Adds Hybrid Laser/LED Projectors to Lineup Casio America announced recently the introduction of a new family of lamp-free eco-friendly data projectors. Equipped with Casio’s new laser and LED Hybrid Light Source, the family of 12 new DLP-based projectors include light outputs of up to 3,500 lumens, interactive whiteboarding capabilities, short and long throw lenses, and 3D capabilities. All have HDMI and VGA inputs.
This is an impressive introduction to the market as these projectors all have light sources that last about 20,000 hours and ALL of them use less than one watt in standby, making them actually green products.
Want all the specs? Go here: http://casioprojector.com/ Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top NEC Adds 65" LCD Specified at 600 cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 5000:1, the new NEC V651 is a 65” 1920×1080 LCD panel designed specifically for commercial applications. Included with DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI inputs, the V651 can be controlled via RS 232, network or IR and includes an expansion slot supports the Open Pluggable Specification (OPS), which is the industry's first standardized option slot that simplifies digital signage applications. All the specs can be found here: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large–screen-displays/v651 Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Extron Intros Long Distance HDMI and DVI Extenders Last month Extron launched two long distance transmitter/receiver combos in the form of the DTP HDMI 301 and DTP DVI 301 twisted pair extenders for long distance transmission of HDMI or DVI plus bidirectional RS-232 and IR control signals over a single CAT 5-type cable. The transmitter and receiver sets are capable of extending 1080p/60 deep color and 1920×1200 up to 330 feet (100 meters). They’re included with a powering capability and are housed in a compact, metal enclosure.
The DTP HDMI 301 and DTP DVI 301 extenders support EDID and HDCP transmission, ensuring ongoing communication between the source and display. HDMI 1.3 compatibility enables support for 1080p/60 color depth, 3D formats, and 4Kx2K resolutions. The DVI transmitter is equipped with a buffered DVI loop-through to support connection of a local monitor. Both models support simultaneous transmission of bidirectional RS-232 and IR signals from a control system, providing remote control to source equipment or remote displays.
More information on the DTP HDMI 301 is here: http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=dtphdmi301ad&s=0
For more information on the DTP DVI 301, click here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=dtpdvi&s=0 Leave a Comment
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Click here for more information Community's R.5 Goes White Community Professional Loudspeakers is now offering its popular R.5 weather-resistant loudspeakers in both standard black and white finishes.
All R.5 models, including the short throw, two-way R.5Z, the medium throw, three-way R.5HP, the full range, two-way R.5COAX and the R.5SUB 12-inch subwoofer, can now be ordered in black, white or the original neutral light gray finish.
Want to see the specs? Go here: http://www.communitypro.com./index.php/product-list/108-rseries Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top | Philips Glasses-Free 3D LCD is Back (Sort Of) With Dimenco's 52" Glasses-free 3D Display Remember that glasses-free 3D technology that Philips eventually discontinued? Little-known Dimenco is a display company founded by that old Philips group, which is now bringing the product out itself using lenticular displays.
Current 3D technologies use two video channels (L&R) that is enough for glasses-type 3D. To get a realistic glasses-free 3D effect, films will have to be shot from up to 8+ different positions, making next-gen content preparation complicated in terms of production and editing. So-called “depth maps” can offer a solution to this problem by virtually generating the number of channels required, thus, 3D output can be generated for both glasses and glasses-free displays.
So far, 3D auto-stereoscopic (glasses-free) displays were only used in professional industries, such as advertising, visualization, and interactive applications. The reasons why lenticular displays aren’t widely adopted in consumer applications is the loss of 3D resolution and the difficulty to prepare the input content of the appropriate format since most content is driven by Hollywood.
Starting with a 52” 1080p LCD, Dimenco is hoping to bring glasses-free 3D back. If you’re interested, click here: http://www.dimenco.eu/displays/ Leave a Comment
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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).
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
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.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2011 – 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 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. |
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