Control rooms are not just for super high-end earthquake monitoring and city traffic surveillance anymore. Control rooms are being used in all sorts of applications including social media marketing efforts. Check out the details of Christie’s control room tour now: Show links: For more information on Christie’s Control Room Roadshow, click here: https://www.ravepubs.com/ Podcast: Play in new […]

In this episode I rant a bit about why SMART Technologies’ products continue to be spec’d by AV dealers, meanwhile there are not only companies like Promethean that have a superior technology, but there also several manufacturers with projectors, boards and LCDs on the market today that have their own built-in interactive technologies. So I ask this simple question: who’s buying […]

By Gary Kayye When you think of digital signage, you nearly immediately think of LCD monitors. Whether they are mounted horizontally or vertically (mostly vertically), the LCD monitor has become the staple of the digital signage market. Nearly every article you read about digital signage and way over 90 percent of digital signage case studies […]

Today, I tell you all about our October rAVe Survey and how YOU can win an iPod Touch or Nano simply by taking it! Show links: http://bit.ly/HR4f5Q Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

The convergence of AV and IT has been a huge point of contention in the AV industry, but perhaps you should be thinking about the relationship between the two industries as more of a partnership. AVDawn, a rAVe BlogSquad blogger, posted a great blog about how CompTIA (basically the InfoComm of the IT industry) cites InfoComm’s standards, practices and procedures as the way to do AV. […]

Most graphic design majors in college are relegated to designing websites when they graduate. But you’ve got the ultimate job for them when they graduate, and you can sell their services profitably! Use their skill set to help you design creative content for digital signage systems and more. The future of the AV industry is […]

One of the best kept product secrets in the AV industry is a product from Peerless-AV — yes a mount company. It’s called HD Flow (www.hdflow.com) and it allows you to send HDMI signals (up to 1080p) wirelessly over an 802.11n network up to 40 meters. But, it doesn’t just do one-to-one HDMI; they even have a version that takes two HDMI inputs […]

If you’ve ever wanted Apple’s wireless video streaming product to work with BOTH Macs and PCs, well Barco’s ClickShare does just that. It creates a wireless network that’s capable of sending whatever is on a laptop’s screen to a connected projector (via ClickShare) wirelessly just by pressing the ClickShare button. All you have to do is connect a ClickShare button to any […]

InfoComm’s new Executive Director, succeeding Randy Lemke, is David Labuskes -a VP ofRTKL Associates. RTKL is the 5th largest architectural and engineering design firm in the world. David currently leads their practice in technology systems encompassing voice, data, audio-visual, wireless, environmental media, electronic security and acoustics. So, he’s got what it takes to COMPLETE the AV/IT convergence. Show Links: rAVe [Publications]: InfoComm International Appoints David Labuskes as New Executive […]

Visix’s latest is in the form of a solid state media player with a 60GB drive. Designed to fit behind an LCD hanging on a wall in a digital signage system, it’s perfect for simple digital signage systems… Show Links: rAVe [Publications]: Visix Adds Super-Slim Media Player Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

rAVe founder Gary Kayye will present a new keynote at the NEC Showcase roadshow in New York City on Oct. 17 called Creating Creative Presentation Environments. It focuses on creating immersive environments — ones that use projectors to completely “immerse” clients in the meeting, the classroom, the museum, the restaurant, the retail store, or the […]

Sure, everyone’s got warranties for all their gear- and as most manufacturers would say, you don’t need warranties as their gear never breaks. But, in case it does, everyone needs at least a two year warranty. But, Vaddio one-up’ed their competition by offering a one-year, free Advanced Replacement program. We talk about this on today’s program. Show Links: […]

POLYCOM is the first, and only, VTC company to add compatibility with not only Skype but also Facebook Video and Google Talk with their RealPresence system today. Everyone’s been wondering when you’d be able to connect Skype calls into VTC systems – that day happened today, October 8, 2012. Today, POLYCOM changed videoconferencing forever… Show Links: rAVe [Publications]: Polycom Introduces Open-Standards Based Scalable Video Coding (SVC) Protocol […]

Gary Kayye highlights the NSCA’s $100 discount for the inaugural MNEC Industry Symposium (Mass Notification and Emergency Communications). Show Links: NSCA: MNEC Industry Symposium Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Gary Kayye emphasizes the continued need for high quality analog distribution. Show Links: rAVe: Extron Ships High-Res VGA Line Driver with EDID Minder Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Gary Kayye talks to Clark Brown, Sr. Vice president of Sales of NEC Displays to get the word out about NEC high-brightness projectors and video walls. Show Links: rAVe: NEC PH1000U Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Gary Kayye talks about Utz Baldwin’s new start-up Ube. Ube is an ad supported and cloud-based home automation platform. Show Links: rAVe: Utz Baldwin’s New Company, Ube, Aims to Eliminate Crestron and AMX fromHomeAV Market Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

In our first episode of Rants and rAVes, Gary Describes the upcoming ALMO E4 AV tour in New York.  He also gives a preview of his E4 Krystal Ball keynote. Show Links: ALMO E4 registration info: http://www.almoproav.com/Events/e4/ Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Almo Professional A/V today announced final registration for the last stop on the Fall 2012 E4 AV training and networking tour, taking place at the Meadowlands Expo Center in the New York area on Oct. 3. The event will feature hundreds of new and Almo-exclusive products from over 30 manufacturers, including Almo’s newest commercial audio partner, Atlas Sound. Atlas will exhibit and […]

Hosts: Tim Albright, and  Gary Kayye A few months back, Nortek had all these products spread out among different companies. Some of them even making the same thing; like speakers. Gary wrote a piece where he encouraged Nortek to put them under one company and brand them as such. Enter Core Brands, Nortek’s new group […]

On Sept. 6, rAVe founder Gary Kayye will speak in San Francisco at an NEC Showcase event. Kayye will give a new keynote called “Creating Creative Environments — The Future of Projection.” He will explain how projection technology isn’t just for classrooms, boardrooms and meeting rooms any more and how he thinks it’s all about […]

Although we gave our Best of InfoComm 2012 Best New Technology Award to HDBaseT technology, if there was an omnipresent theme at this year’s show, it was Unified Communications (UC). To be perfectly honest, UC’s been around as an acronym for years – and it’s become one of those buzz-worthy terms that marketing and PR […]

Welcome to THE ONLY, truly, all-new LAUNCHED AT InfoComm products issue of any publication on the show floor. This issue is filled with products launched AT InfoComm – not a bunch of extra stuff or stuff that was pre-launched. This is truly a LIVE from InfoComm issue. And, we’re proud of how we put this […]

Almo Pro A/V, in partnership with InfoComm International, has completed the spring leg of its 2012 E4 AV Tour, which started in Irvine, Calif., in April, then wrapped in Washington, D.C. last month. In total, the two events were attended by nearly 1,000 resellers, integrators and consultants, who earned approximately 230 InfoComm CTS renewal units. […]

Jeremy Burkhardt is gone, Mark Terry is on his way out and and the company is going to make MAJOR changes — only some of which have been released. What Nortek is saying in public is this: Mark Terry, president of AVC Group, will leave the company. “Mark and his team have done an outstanding […]

Rising energy costs, green issues and customer expectations of an integrated home mean that today’s installers are being asked to include control of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) in homes. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, Dave Robinson, managing director of Sensible Heat, will lead a CEDIA course in the ISE Education Zone […]

Note from Gary Kayye: I have been intimately involved with InfoComm for nearly 23 years. I’ve seen staff come and go — and volunteered under three separate InfoComm Executive Directors and CEOs. Randy, by far, is the one person who’s had the most impact on InfoComm and the ProAV industry overall. His vision has not […]

Finally, this month we published our founder’s, Gary Kayye, Annual Kayye’s Krystal Ball feature in our rAVe ProAV Edition eNewsletter. Although many of the technologies referred to in his annual predictions article are specific to the ProAV market, many of them encompass the HomeAV market as well. It’s his 12th Annual Edition and he even […]

By Gary Kayye, CTS I have to admit, the first time I ever saw a digital signage media player I thought, hey, that’s just a small, repackaged PC. And, I was right. The manufacturer will remain nameless (as there are so many of them) but it was, in fact, just a repackaged Windows-based PC with […]

CHICAGO 2010 – July 20, 2010 Hyatt Regency Chicago Join your SYNNEX Professional AV team, industry experts, and top manufacturers for FOCUS Chicago 2010, a one-day event to educate, support, and connect Professional AV dealers and IT resellers engaged in this evolving market. This is a FREE EVENT with lunch and cocktail reception. Hear expert […]

By Gary Kayye, CTS I was thoroughly and completely impressed with InfoComm’s integration of digital signage at this year’s show – InfoComm 2010 in Vegas.  If you missed it, you missed a show ever bit as good as the DSE itself. OK, sure, there weren’t nearly the same number of DS manufacturers at InfoComm 2010 […]

On Thursday, June 10th24 from 12:30-2pm, rAVe Founder and UNC Journalism School professor, Gary Kayye, will be teaching his most popular seminar ever:  Social Media Marketing for ProAV Dealers Do you feel like you’re missing out on social media? Or do you think it’s just a passing fad? Everyone’s been talking about it lately, and […]