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The Good Friends Network

Friends

If you’ve been in AV for more than a short time, you’ve most likely heard people in the industry talk about the Good Ol’ Boys network.  It doesn’t carry a very kind connotation and has been used to describe activities in the industry that range from sexism to favoritism to nepotism.  I think there has been a lot of progress made in combating these attitudes and practices and I am hopeful that this network fades into obscurity altogether, so I am not focusing on it for this post.  Instead, I’d like to promote a different group in AV, the Good Friends network.

My first job in AV came through a friend of mine, Doug Peckins, who I worked with at IBM Direct.  He and I used to run South Mountain together in the Arizona heat (crazy, I know) and we would occasionally have lunch together.  He left IBM Direct to go to an AV company, and a few months later I got a call from him asking me if I wanted to come interview.  I had no AV experience or knowledge, but based on his support and endorsement, the company gave me a shot.  14 years later the industry is still stuck with me.

3 years ago when I was out of work, rAVE’s owner Gary Kayye immediately recommended I post a blog about my search here on rAVe to expedite the process.  Penny Sitler at Draper quickly connected me with her West coast manager, Randy Reece who actually coordinated a job interview for me with a large integrator.  A Twitter friend of mine, Chris Neto promptly sent me a posting about a West coast position with Chief Mounts.  Another Twitter connection, Joel Hagen, made sure my application got into the right hands at Milestone and again, the rest is history and the industry’s chance to get rid of me was missed!

I find myself in the position I am in only through the good graces of those I can call true industry friends.  Given the debt I have owed so many, I am eager to find ways to pay it forward.  I have one industry friend who’s residential firm wanted to start doing commercial work.  Many times he would call me to ask about 70V audio, or distributed video systems, or line arrays vs. point source speakers, and I felt honored to help him avoid the bumps and bruises I earned while transitioning form residential to commercial AV myself.

I have another friend who entered AV a couple years ago in his 50s, with no prior AV experience.  He and I get to talk a couple times a month about small tips or tricks for breaking into new residential builders.  I was humbled to get a thank you from him a couple weeks back, as some advice I had given over the phone while at InfoComm apparently landed him the second biggest contract his company had ever received.  It didn’t surprise me that he won the business.  He’s an amazing relationship builder and a better salesperson than I’ll ever be.  I just provided a small piece of perspective that he executed perfectly like only he could.

Will my small deeds ever measure up to the kindnesses I’ve been shown?  Most likely not.

We have some really amazing and selfless people in this industry.  Some are highly visible due to their work in our trade associations and prominent industry events.  Others are less visible, but they are there constantly lending a hand where they can to share some small advice or create an introduction for a new job or make sure you have some side work to feed your kids while you are in transition.

So, with that said, I’d like to thank my personal Good Friends Network for always being ready to pitch in and assist.  I am happy to see this network becoming more prominent in our industry.

Shout Outs to my friends mentioned above as well as Tom and Maggie George, Karen Davis, Maris Ensing and Tricia Rodriguez, Matt Cutone, and to Jay Rohe, Mitch Golden, and Steve Durkee.  Thank you all for your confidence in me and for the opportunities to work with your teams.

 

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