As some of you will know, a few years ago I moved home to Connecticut, the state that I was born in. However, I moved to the southern part of the state, about 75 miles from the town that I was raised in. And it wasn’t until recently that I made the trip to drive […]

Recently, a rep from a firm that we work with fairly frequently asked me to name the most important tool in my toolkit. I believe he was expecting me to name the Leatherman I constantly carry on my belt, since (among other things) he reps a line of multi-tools that are supposedly more sophisticated than […]

As many of my readers will know, I have just returned from the ISE show in Amsterdam. As many of you may know, from my articles, blogs and podcasts, I am pretty enthusiastic about this particular show. Not only does it combine InfoComm and CEDIA, it also features more exhibits of products and product lines […]

Well, here we are at the close of ISE Day Four. My feet hurt, and my new sneakers are definitely trashed. But it has been a great show, and it broke all records. This morning, at the closing keynote, the director of the show announced that we had not just broken ISE attendance records, but […]

This afternoon, Annabelle and I had the opportunity (a rare one) to stop Amanda Beckner, vice president of learning at InfoComm, to talk about the direction being taken by InfoComm’s education department. Amanda is a person of rare energy and enthusiasm. I have at times in the past been critical of InfoComm’s educational department and […]

OK, folks, this show is tiring. I am sitting here at lunchtime on Day 3 of the (now) four-day show, wondering if my new sneakers will make it through four full days. However, this morning Annabelle Kayye and I got a number of great interviews… First, we sat down for a discussion of 4K scaling […]

Well, Day Two has gone really well, although like last year I am certain that my brand-new running shoes will be completely trashed by the end of the show. Seriously, folks, with 1,200+ exhibits in a dozen buildings, the last two years I have bought new sneakers to wear at the show, and thrown them […]

Today’s interviews: Well, first of all, Annabelle and I had a chance yesterday evening, before the show opened, to interview Steve Montgomery of IHSE about their new distributed KVM technology, which allows secure access to keyboard, video and mouse over an encrypted network. Today we first interviewed Steve Scorse of SiliconCore about their new high […]

Well, the signs outside read “Welcome to ISE 2016”, so I’m sure I’m in the right place. However, the show is still in a state of uproar at 6:02 PM the night before opening. Folks, this show is massive. I’ve been part of setting up for many InfoComm shows (in fact, many shows) and have […]

Well, February has come around again and I am in the process of preparing for rAVe’s annual odyssey to the ISE show in sunny Amsterdam. As with any trip of this length (especially overseas), I begin with the technology items that I need to take with me for my podcasts, my videography, and my photography, […]

Last month, we looked at the ways that a rental and staging company can use videoconferencing and collaboration technology to maintain better contact with clients, and to better support shows in the field during planning and direction. This month, I thought we would take a look at how these technologies can be employed when the […]

Last month, we talked about the growth of remote meeting, videoconferencing, collaboration and support applications, especially in the installation portion of our industry. One of the things that I asserted in that column was that it was time that these applications came into general use in the rental and staging portion of our industry. I […]

Over the last few years, a revolution in teamwork and technical support has taken place in the installation portion of our industry. Once network ports began appearing on the equipment that we sold, remote administration, remote monitoring and remote support all became possible, but it really has taken a couple of years to convince clients […]

Well, fall is upon us, and along with it comes the fall meeting season. For those of you in the rental and staging portion of the industry, this is a time of year when clients who have been away for the summer suddenly call in a panic to book a meeting for tomorrow (if you […]

This weekend, I was involved in a long conversation with a couple of colleagues from the industry. At one point during the discussion, I was asked what my favorite new technology announcement was. And I think that both of my colleagues were surprised that I did not mention some new piece of AV equipment. My […]

Last month, we talked about the changes in trade shows that have come in the digital age, most notably the way we register people for shows now, and the way we tracked their information within the show and afterward. For many years, this has been based around a magstripe card which you allowed employees to […]

Last week, I returned from InfoComm. It was the usual manic event, with the usual results. 39,000 people crowded the aisles to see products and services from over 400 suppliers. Many, many of us took the opportunity to rub elbows with our peers from around the world, increasing the sale of beer and soft drinks […]

This month, we will be finishing up a three-part series on the art of troubleshooting in AV. Over the last two months, we have been examining the troubleshooting process, how it has changed, and what we can do to make the process more efficient in the future. For those of you who missed the first […]

Last month, we began talking about the highest form of art when it comes to audiovisual systems: troubleshooting. In that article, I began to make the point that the use of a logical troubleshooting methodology began in your head, rather than by swapping equipment or blind experimentation. I don’t think many people had an argument […]

“The difference between Stupidity and Genius is that Genius has limits.” – Albert  Einstein This month, I open with a favorite quote. And this is not just because I get paid by the word. If that were true, I would’ve used a much longer quote. I do it because I am lazy. Now, I am […]

Last month, we talked about the idea that the big voice in marketing and product success is now the small voice, the collective voice, and largely as established by social media. I gave many readers to think that I was in favor of the voice of the masses being the loudest voice. Not necessarily. A […]

While at ISE 2015, we had a chance to check out NEC Displays’ new DOOHapps interactive projection game builder. It’s something you will want to see!

Dataton is known for some of the best real-time control applications on the planet. At ISE 2014, the company launched a 4K media server and the smallest mapping module I’ve ever seen.

At the NEC stand here at ISE 2015, NEC Display has a great demo where you can design and build your own virtual fish-tank. It’s a great application demo that uses all sorts of AV technology and, of course, takes advantage of the NEC Displays. Here’s the video.

Well, there have been a lot of posts here about the fate of the big-box stores, and what it means to us in the audiovisual industry. I have watched the impending demise of places like Best Buy and Circuit City with a fair degree of indifference. I don’t shop there a lot, because of course […]

I have often reflected, both in this column and elsewhere, on the cyclical nature of our business. Here we are in January, first month of the year, and some of those cycles are due to begin again. I’ve always thought of this process as an annual cycle, beginning in January and ending right after the […]

Last month, we talked about rental companies that grew out of audiovisual sales companies. As I pointed out, there are a number of differences between the personnel and equipment required for rental and those required for sales and demonstrations. There is, of course, another kind of specialized rental company which in the industry we refer […]

Well, time for another article that makes me feel old. Believe me, I don’t do this on purpose. I usually do it because one of the young(er) people who works for me asks a question that prompts me to wax philosophical. I try to pretend that this makes me feel like an elder statesman, when […]

Picture it: October 31, 1970, just about dark. Joel Rollins is applying some last minute upgrades to his Halloween costume. Dark sweats, red cape — check. But the mask has got to go. A mangled pair of black glasses — better. Deftly, he fashions two letters out of duct tape and smooths them onto his […]

In western society, some of the most frequently told jokes revolve around the three most common lies in circulation. They follow a number of patterns, many of which I will not go into in a column that winds up in general circulation. I have, however, defined the three biggest lies as told in AV. The […]

Sometimes, in my role as the general manager of a small AV company dealing with large clients, and being part of planning both their permanent installations and their events, I stand at a crossroads that can give me some perspective. Or get me hit by a car. The key for me, and for all of […]

Well, here it is — July. This is the time of year when I have to stop, catch my breath and regroup with my team. The “tradeshow season” really is finished with InfoComm, after having started (at least for me) in February with ISE in Amsterdam. So not only have I been on the road […]