The Tim Sinnaeve (Barco Residential) Interview

Barco Residential celebrated its one-year anniversary at CEDIA Expo 2015 with a beer party — and with a 4K demo that was the best on the show floor (yes, it was better than Sony’s). And it wasn’t just because they showed a clip from Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens! Barco Residential is taking aim […]

The Tim Sinnaeve (Barco Residential) Interview

The Brian Savarese (EPSON) Interview

Epson is the world’s leading projector company based on sales stats. And, they only sell 3LCD — no DLP. So, they’ve achieved that with a technology crutch, if you will, since a customer who’s set on DLP no matter what can’t get a projector from them. Epson, however, seems happy with that arrangement since it […]

The Brian Savarese (EPSON) Interview

The Jeremy Burkhardt (Origin Acoustics) Interview

In one year, Origin Acoustics signed up 2,000 dealers in over 50 countries, has designed (and is shipping) over 140 different products and has created an industry buzz that no other speaker company has been able to match so far. Origin Acoustics’ founder, Jeremy Burkhardt, took time to talk with me after the company’s press […]

The Jeremy Burkhardt (Origin Acoustics) Interview

The Conversation

Those who know me know I like to talk. I’ll leave that thought there for now. Recently, in a business discussion I was asked “Why do you answer every question with a story?” I sat there for a few moments and – yes – was speechless (imagine…). Now I’m not sure exactly what my answer […]

The Conversation

Convergent TechWeek 10/15

The Man in the “Iron” Machine Comic-Con returned to New York just this past week, which meant everyone from superheroes to cartoon characters were roaming the streets and subways. The multitude of costumes were awesome (as would be expected at one of the signature costume-based shows of the year), however one person in particular stood out — the one dressed as the Iron […]

Convergent TechWeek 10/15

Five Virtual Meeting Personas – Which One Are You?

(An earlier version of this post appeared in SMART’s Next Level Collaboration blog.) As a remote worker, a virtual meeting is part of my daily life. Over the years, I’ve come to notice a few emerging persona that seem to be specific to a virtual meeting. Engaging when you’re working remotely isn’t always easy, and I’m […]

Five Virtual Meeting Personas – Which One Are You?

Michael Rogers Gives Opening Keynote at CEDIA Future Home Experience 2015

Michael Rogers spoke to a standing-room only audience about what he called the “virtualization of America and the world” in last night’s Opening Keynote at CEDIA Future Home Experience 2015. Rogers, known as “The Practical Futurist,” insisted that more and more of the things we do every day are going to be in the cybersphere. The virtualization […]

Michael Rogers Gives Opening Keynote at CEDIA Future Home Experience 2015

Of Book Worms and Booth Babes

My wife is a beautiful and extremely intelligent woman.  She currently does promotional marketing work, as it pays well and is typically done on the weekends, which allows one of us to always be with our kids. She has worked everything from auto shows to BlizzCon and ComicCon to technology trade shows.  The roles have […]

Of Book Worms and Booth Babes

InfoComm: Because a Napkin Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

By Ann Brigida InfoComm International A while back, I was chatting with a bunch of AV experts from every corner of the industry about a hot topic: project documentation. We were working on an ANSI standard for verifying the performance of an AV system. The basis of that standard was documentation. In other words, in […]

InfoComm: Because a Napkin Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

AV Standards, or Is It the Double Standard?

By Ron DeVoe Successful Sales Consulting I have enjoyed having guest editorials published with rAVe. In times past my contributions have been more for entertainment than insight. However, this rambling is a result of my increasing awareness of the double standard that we, in our beloved industry, seem to ignore and that deals with women […]

AV Standards, or Is It the Double Standard?

Top Five AV Installs in Higher Education

Audio visual technologies offer endless possibilities by transforming the way students learn and interact.  This is the main reason why we continue to read about more and more universities installing AV technologies in their facilities and all throughout campus.  The design standards of campus buildings have absolutely evolved since I was in college, and it […]

Top Five AV Installs in Higher Education

It’s Social Marketing: Facebook to Consumer

Facebook is all about making connections — between friends, family, businesses, etc. Any business will include making a connection with its target audience as a priority in its marketing efforts. Whether it be through direct marketing, newspaper advertising, phone calls or even word-of-mouth, that connection is key to getting a message across. So back to […]

It’s Social Marketing: Facebook to Consumer

Haggling: You’re Doing It Wrong

Haggling and negotiating is to be expected when striking a deal. Of course, like anything, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. What constitutes appropriate negotiations is, naturally, dependent on context. How you go about getting a good deal on a new car is different from how you negotiate the price […]

Haggling: You’re Doing It Wrong

Convergent TechWeek 10/9

Telemedicine and the World’s First Virtual Care Center At first glance, it looks like the inside of any office with cubicles and computer monitors – with one exception – many of the employees are dressed in hospital scrubs. These workers are actually nurses taking care of patients, though there are no hospital beds, no waiting rooms […]

Convergent TechWeek 10/9

The Smartest (and Most Empathetic) People in AV Are Not Men

View image | gettyimages.com I continue to be perplexed by the assortment of mainstream tech companies that seem to be INTENTIONALLY acting stupid and operating in the 1970’s. Fortune Magazine blames it on culture. CNN says it’s because of the men. And, the Huffington Post says that, even with the attention being drawn to the […]

The Smartest (and Most Empathetic) People in AV Are Not Men

A Grand Day for Polycom With New Market Solutions

Today, Polycom marked a 25th anniversary in the industry by announcing Innovative Solutions that will Transform Collaboration Experiences along with being the First to Put People at the Center of Collaboration. They conducted a pre-launch day yesterday for press and analysts (which I was invited to but unfortunately was not able to attend), followed by an […]

A Grand Day for Polycom With New Market Solutions

In Memory of Denise Harrison

I was saddened to learn of the passing of my first ever editor, Denise Harrison. If you’ve been a long-time reader of mine, then you likely have read her work. Denise was the first person who made me sound better. I have always been what is considered a prolific writer — but that doesn’t mean […]

In Memory of Denise Harrison

Words Mean Things

Everyone knows the expression “it’s not what you say, but how you say it” but how often do people think about its implications. I do. Since my job centers on communications I spend a lot of mental energy finding the best way to communicate with my customers. This past week a friend shared his customer […]

Words Mean Things

Convergent TechWeek 10/2

A High School Student, An Inexpensive Ebola Test and a $50,000 Grand Prize  A science fair took place where 20 finalists’ projects – originally selected from thousands of submissions from more than 100 countries – came from 11 countries: Bosnia, Canada, France, India, Lithuania, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This […]

Convergent TechWeek 10/2

Innovators to Laggards: Where Do You Fall on the Technology Adoption Curve?

(An earlier version of this post appeared in SMART’s Next Level Collaboration blog.) Occasionally, I come to grips with the fact that I’m in my mid-forties… especially when I look at how far technology has come since I was a child. Every once in a while, something comes up with my kids, and it makes me feel […]

Innovators to Laggards: Where Do You Fall on the Technology Adoption Curve?

It’s Social Marketing: Facebook

Founded in 2004 by Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook continues to remain a relevant social media powerhouse. Its mission is “...to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” The statistics for Facebook are incredible. 968 million daily active users on average for June 2015 844 million mobile daily active […]

It’s Social Marketing: Facebook

Vidyo-enabled Healthcare Consultations Aim to Increase Efficiency, Improve Patient Outcomes – The Interview

In my second Convergent TechWeek, I included a recent story on teleheath and the utilization of a well-known industry company’s videoconferencing solution: Vidyo-enabled Healthcare Consultations Aim to Increase Efficiency, Improve Patient Outcomes HACKENSACK, N.J. AND AURORA, CO. – August, 2015 – Diabetes is a costly chronic health condition that places immense strain on patients, families, healthcare providers […]

Vidyo-enabled Healthcare Consultations Aim to Increase Efficiency, Improve Patient Outcomes – The Interview

A World Without Cables: Top Three Coolest Uses of Wireless Displays

Wireless displays are one of the more exciting frontiers of technology. As little as three years ago, most of the world’s displays could only be accessed through a traditional video cable. Video transport standards and cables + adapters meant that the use-case model for displays hadn’t changed since the Xerox Star of the mid-1970s. One […]

A World Without Cables: Top Three Coolest Uses of Wireless Displays

It’s Social Marketing: Picture Perfect Posts

If you’ve had the chance to browse through some Instagram posts, you’ll notice that not all pictures look exactly the same. Some photos look like they might have been altered a smidgen, as if someone has used Photoshop to edit its appearance. These photos have been edited, yes, but not with a special app. It’s all […]

It’s Social Marketing: Picture Perfect Posts

Convergent TechWeek 9/25

IoT Continues to Open Pandora’s Box According to a PricewaterhouseCooper’s report (from October 2014), more than 20 percent of U.S. adults own at least one wearable, and soon we’ll be using them at home and work for a variety of purposes, with as many as 50 billion new connected devices by 2020. The Internet of Things has of […]

Convergent TechWeek 9/25

The Making of: AV Power Up! – Episode 24: Women of Technology and Intrigue

It all began here: I attended the WIN Breakfast at InfoComm 2015 and afterward the Council meeting, in part because of media responsibilities with rAVe, as well as the fact that we had done a show prior to InfoComm (our Episode 6 “We’re Talking a WIN for the AV Industry” with Erin Bolton, Jane Johnson […]

The Making of: AV Power Up! – Episode 24: Women of Technology and Intrigue

So, What’s Up with the Smart Home Market?

The ’90s were all about home theaters. But, let’s face it, that market is dying a rapid death. In some areas, thanks to the 1 percent mantra, having a home theater isn’t an indicator of family-fun, it’s more of a sign of braggart. But, having a smart home is a badge of environmental courage. Smart […]

So, What’s Up with the Smart Home Market?

Kayye to Keynote COMM-TEC S14 and rAVe to Report LIVE from Germany Next Week

For years, I have been told that COMM-TEC’s Solutions Day (this year’s being branded as S14) is the best regional AV event in the EMEA. Of course, as you all know, COMM-TEC is the leading pan-European distribution partner of AV/IT technology and carries the top brands in the industry and I have been an admirer of the COMM-TEC founder, […]

Kayye to Keynote COMM-TEC S14 and rAVe to Report LIVE from Germany Next Week

It’s Social Marketing: Using Your Instagram

By now your Instagram account should be set up, and you should be ready to start sharing photos! Remember that Instagram is a social medium to share content via the use of photos or videos. These photos can be pretty much whatever you want them to be; if this account is a personal one, then you […]

It’s Social Marketing: Using Your Instagram

Why Your Perception Should Change

When you meet a person for the first time, you usually ask questions to get to know them on a more personal level. You typically start the questions by asking them about their career, education, whether they are single or married, and if they have children. Based upon their answers, you start to form an […]

Why Your Perception Should Change

The Problem (Still) With Whole Home Integration

We are better — thanks to companies like Sonos and Apple, to be frank — but not there, yet. Hey, at least one of those companies does exhibit at CEDIA Expo. Let’s be honest, the custom home integration market is still, way, way too complicated. But, is it a people problem or a product problem. […]

The Problem (Still) With Whole Home Integration

Here Comes 16K!!!

Rumors are swirling!  Sharp is getting ready to ship 8K displays only 4 years ahead of any real content and others seem to be hot on their heels. With the rapid proliferation of 4K and the current, unwieldy amount of content, infrastructure, and bandwidth currently available to distribute it, it is only natural that we’re […]

Here Comes 16K!!!