Introduction: Education is It! Editorial: The Final Sayye by Gary Kayye A Mid-Year Review of my 2003 Predictions News:1. New Philips Ethernet-Based SmartCards Provide Television Command, Control, and System Reporting
2. Easy Design From Da-Lite
3. Industry Mourns Losses: Harry McGee, Michael Lever, Takeshi Morishita
4. Gateway and SMART Announce Bundled Solutions
5. New Large-Scale Video Distribution From Logical Solutions
6. Runco Employs New Widescreen DLP in New Home Projectors
7. New Design, High Resolution Output From Barco's New Digital Cinema Projector
8. MARGI's Presenter-to-Go to Get Distribution Boost With NEC Deal
9. ICIA Releases 2002 Compensation and Benefits Survey
10. Bob Walsh Joins Kayye Consulting
Introduction Education is It! Education is it! All of a sudden, universities, colleges and even K-12 schools have money. Actually, they've been some of the largest buyers of ProAV gear in 2003 and this summer is big so far. Penn State with 50 projectors, Georgia Tech with 80 projectors and bids on the street for projectors, classrooms full of ProAV stuff and tons of SmartBoards. Great news, huh? Well, it depends on who you ask. Many say it's tough to be profitable in the educational market, and with some educational institutions all of a sudden demanding projectors at a specific price (without negotiation) that makes making money difficult. But, the good news is that they're not just buying projectors. And, when's the corporate market going to recover? Well, it's happening now. Just last week I met with four dealers in the northeast who all said things have changed for them in the past two months. They are busier than they've been in two years, hiring project managers and installers again and have a lot of jobs that are pending PO's any day. And this week, I've been in the southeast hearing the same stories. So, hang in there, we may be climbing out of the slump! Cross your fingers… Finally, in this issue of Gary Kayye's rAVe we continue our tribute to industry icons with another AV Hall of Fame Award winner Jack Root. After featuring a few east coast Hall-of-Famers, Jack is a West Coast icon having started AVHQ – a leading rental company in the ProAV and Video markets for over 20-years — and serving on ICIA's Board and helping to steer the future of the ProAV market for years. Congratulations Jack! Please take a moment to read Jack's story. Thanks for reading rAVe. Forward this eNewsletter along to anyone in the ProAV market you think might benefit from reading it. Thanks, Gary Kayye, CTS
Click above for more information Editorial — The Final Sayye by Gary Kayye A Mid-Year Review of my 2003 Predictions It's that time of year again. The year is half way over and it's time to review my 2003 predictions. Each year for Sound & Communications magazine, http://www.soundandcommunications.com , I write a "crystal ball-style" article that addresses products, technologies and trends that I believe will make an impact in the upcoming year – this year's article also appeared in our inaugural issue of Gary Kayye's rAVe in February. And, each year, about half way through, I take the opportunity to review the year's predictions and see how well (or poorly) I'm doing so far. So, here it goes: The AV/IT convergence trend will finally be real in 2003: Well, so far, so good. Now, every projector manufacturer has network-enabled projectors, every switcher manufacturer either has integrated network-compatibility or using an IP to RS232 adapter, can make their boxes IP-able. Both Crestron and AMX have networked control systems. Crestron's RoomView, however, is the big winner here! It's a free software application that, when used with any Crestron eControl control system, can monitor every room, device and person using any AV equipment. Finally, in 2003, there will be an ROI on Videoconferencing: If you haven't seen or aren't already selling Sonic Foundry's MediaSite Live, you're missing the proverbial GIANT boat. MediaSite Live, while not a traditional VTC product, is the "bomb" (to use my daughter's apparently hip term) when it comes to real applications of streaming video and audio via IP networks. It's destined to be one of the top new products of 2003, if not the top new product of 2003. It not only streams video and audio but also data (i.e. PowerPoint slides or ANYTHING on your desktop) but it's also perfect for web-based training applications. I highly recommend that you check it out and become a dealer as it will get you started into streaming with something that is a "real" application using IP-based integration – and won't be as hard to justify as a ROI as VTC technology still is today. IT departments will become more influential buyers of AV than AV departments: This is certainly happening in many places of the world already. In university communities, they are, in fact, the decision-makers for most AV applications. And major corporations are quickly making the transition. But, want to know a secret – the fastest way to win the heart of the IT manager in buying AV gear? Show them Crestron's RoomView. Chinese and Taiwanese projector manufacturers are coming: Even if you haven't noticed or seen them, they're here and affecting everyone. Why do you think prices have dropped so quickly on projectors and plasmas recently? You got it! The economy will, finally, start to recover in 2003: Well, in many places around the world, this is true. Right now, in the USA, the government and educational institutions are the largest buyers of AV equipment and in Germany, it's the manufacturers. It appears that we're seeing signs of recovery and there's growing optimism that the second half of this year will see a major recovery of some kind. Well, let's hope so, but the jury's still out on that one. Back to top Gary Kayye's rAVe Sponsorship Interested in sponsoring Gary Kayye's rAVe? (919) 969-7501. Or write to advertising@kayye.com.
Click above for more information News Got a news tip? Send them to rAVe Editor-in-Chief Denise Harrison — dharrison@kayye.com 1. New Philips Ethernet-Based SmartCards Provide Television Command, Control, and System Reporting Philips Institutional Television (iTV) came out with their first Ethernet-based SmartCards for controlling televisions in venues such as stadiums, schools, factories – anywhere a number of televisions on the network might display the same or location-based programming. There are three models: the NET-EC, NET-SC and NET-WC, which can either complement or replace existing RF based networking with a broadband Ethernet application. They use existing SmartCard technology combined with Broadband connectivity. Users can control the TVs from one central source from a remote location. The SmartCards also regulate the volume, channel selection, and can schedule when each TV is turned on or off. The NET-SC card adds the ability to accept, decode and display digital streaming video using standard Ethernet infrastructure and protocol, and users can integrate browser navigation, Internet applications and their own video content into presentations. The NET-WC card adds 802.11b wireless functionality, so TVs can be setup without extra wiring. (The NET-EC and NET-SC cards can also be upgraded to wireless). The NET-EC will be available in Q3; the NET-SC will be available in Q4. The NET-WC availability date is to be announced. For more information, go to http://www.itv.philips.com/ 2. Easy Design From Da-Lite Da-Lite Screen Company gives integrators a quick way to design custom screens. The Screen Design Software, available from Da-Lite's website, lets you make selections from case length,slat length and fabric size for both electric and manual screens, and frame dimensions on fixed wall and rear projection screens. The software is a download. To download, or learn more information, go to http://www.da-lite.com/education 3. Industry Mourns Losses: Harry McGee, Michael Lever, Takeshi Morishita Several of our industry veterans passed away recently. Harry McGee, former ICIA president, passed away June 13 at his home in Daytona Beach Shores, FL at the age of 74. McGee began his career with ICIA's predecessor, NAVA, as the association's convention director and then became executive vice president and led the effort to change the association's name to the International Communications Industries Association. McGee was also a major player in InfoComm's 10-year partnership with the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Under his leadership, ICIA began Institute for Professional Development courses at InfoComm, and he initiated efforts to rejuvenate the entire ICIA educational curriculum. As a longtime supporter of the American Society of Association Executives, McGee worked to bring more associations to Fairfax, which now hosts more than 300 national and international trade associations. After more than 20 years of leadership, he retired from ICIA in 1989 and was named an honorary past president and a lifetime member of the association. "Harry McGee was not only a monumental figure in ICIA; he cut a similar profile in the industry. Through Harry's guidance, ICIA and InfoComm led the industry from its heritage to its future," said Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., executive director of ICIA. "The future that Harry created is the AV communications industry of today. We all owe him a debt of gratitude." We also lost industry veteran Michael Lever June 3. Lever was most recently with Audio Visual Innovations (AVI) as vice president of education sales. Prior to that, he was a regional president at MCSi, and was a leader in the AV industry for more than 30 years. President and CEO of Audio Visual Innovations Marty Schaffel said: "Mike and I have known each other for 20 plus years as both competitors and friends. It was a thrill to be working together with him after so many years as adversaries. But we still enjoyed a special friendship and mutual respect. Mike was a very kind, honest and sincere person. He cared about the company, the customers and fellow employees. I have only attended the funeral of one previous employee of AVI who passed away suddenly. This was twenty years ago. Attending Mike's funeral will be very difficult. He had great hopes and plans for his new role at AVI. We will all greatly miss him. We all lost a great fellow employee and wonderful, caring friend." Japanese AV veteran and pioneer, Takeshi Morishita, passed away on May 23 in Tokyo at age 72. A leader in the Japanese AV industry for 40 years, Morishita helped create InfoComm Japan during his time as chairperson of the JVRA. He was also one of the most active participants in InfoComm USA shows for many years, and commonly led a group of attendees from JVRA member companies around the show. Morishita most recently served as an advisor to Audio Visual Communications Limited, Tokyo, Japan, after long serving as its Chairman of the Board. He was also a chairperson of JVRA (Japan Visual Equipment Rental Association) for many years, until right before his death. 4. Gateway and SMART Announce Bundled Solutions Gateway and SMART Technologies now provide bundled solutions for the education market. The products feature SMART Boards combined with Gateway's plasma displays, PCs and projectors. The products include: 1. SMART Board interactive whiteboards/Gateway computer/Gateway projector 2. SMART Board for Plasma Displays/Gateway's 42" plasma TV 3. Expression 303 multimedia cabinet, which stores the Gateway and SMART peripherals. It's a lockable, mobile cabinet with a control panel for laptop connections, power and audio control. 4. SynchronEyes compute-lab instruction software from SMART, which allows teachers to monitor and control all the students' Gateway PCs. (One of the benefits is teachers can provide one-on-one instruction to a student using their own PCs.) The products are under Gateway's Alpha Classroom product line. With Gateway's marketing pipeline to education, this could represent some significant new sales for SMART. For more information on Gateway's Alpha Classroom and Alpha Campus vision, go to http://www.gateway.com/work/ed/index.shtml 5. New Large-Scale Video Distribution From Logical Solutions With the DTX-1D, a new video distribution product from Logical Solutions, you can drive a signal up to 1,640 feet (or 500 meters) between a monitor and computer on a single fiber. Each DTX-1D system consists of a pair of compact electronic units connected by a single strand multi-mode fiber optic cable. The transmitter unit connects to the computer with a 2 meter DVI-D male-to-male cable, and the receiver unit connects to the monitor or projector with a second 2 meter cable. Both DVI-D cables are supplied. The receiver module requires an AC/DC power converter (provided) while the transmitter is powered by the video card in the CPU. The system is DDC2B compliant. For more information, go to http://www.thinklogical.com/products/dtx-1d.html 6. Runco Employs New Widescreen DLP in New Home Projectors Runco International announced two new projectors using TI's widescreen DLP format, the "Matterhorn" DLP chipset: the Reflection Series CL-510 and CL-510L are 1024 x 576 resolution (16:9 aspect ratio). According to TI, they are the first to ship a "Matterhorn" unit. Runco claims a new color balancing system for better gray scale tracking, color reproduction and black and white levels. They have integrated video processing/scaling, a full-command RS-232 interface, 1700:1 contrast ratio, 900 ANSI lumens and weight 22 lbs. The CL-510 offers a variable throw distance of 1.75:1 to 2.0:1, while the CL-510LT provides a longer variable throw distance of 2.3:1 to 3.0:1. Runco, who currently dominates the home theater market, is really positioning these products well and it would probably be a good idea if some ProAV integration firms considered a Runco dealership as these products may become cross-over products into high-end boardrooms. Retail pricing on the CL-510 is $5,995; $6,995 for the CL-510LT. For more information, go to http://www.runco.com/Products/DLP/cl510.htm 7. New Design, High Resolution Output From Barco's New Digital Cinema Projector Barco's new DP100 has a different design and some powerful resolution and light output. Barco included a fully integrated projector head and separate pedestal for more flexible installation. The design allows on-site replacement and service of the lamp and other key elements, and air and water-cooling for enhancing the DMD reflector and lamp life. It also includes Constant Light Output software for extending good performance over time. The D-Cine Premiere projector is equipped with a hermetically sealed optical assembly. The DP100 uses the TI m25 DLP Cinema technology and has 2048 x 1080 display resolution and 18,000 Cinema lumens of light output, minimum contrast ratio of 1700:1 and DLP Cinema CineCanvas, CineBlack, CinePallete and CineLink image control. All projector controls have been centralized, and placed as close to the port window position as possible. Controls include up to 14 Digital Cinema or Alternative Content display configurations, connectors and 19" rack mount equipment. Local status and diagnostic indication are available on a touch screen panel. Local control is also available via a clearly indicated push button array. Set-up and network control is via Barco's D-Cine Communicator software. Pricing is to be announced. For more information, go to http://www.barco.com/digitalcinema/en/products/product.asp?element=1721 8. MARGI's Presenter-to-Go to Get Distribution Boost With NEC Deal In a special, time-limited promotion, NEC is offering free MARGI Presenter-to-Go software with its 3.3-lb. LT75z and LT150z projectors from July 1 through September 30, 2003. Presenter-to-Go is valued at $199. The version offered with the NEC projectors allows Palm users to conduct presentations directly from their handhelds to the projector without needing access to a laptop or PC. The SVGA resolution LT75z and XGA resolution LT150z have one-touch setup and operation, 1000 ANSI lumens, a 700:1 contrast ratio and NEC's VORTEX Technology for image enhancement. LT75z and LT150z customers can fill out the claim form available on the NEC Visual Systems Division website at www.necvisualsystems.com and fax or mail it to NEC to receive the Presenter-go-Go. Complete promotion details are available online. The LT75z's estimated street price (ESP) is $1,895 ($2,750 Canadian), while the ESP of the LT150z is $2,750 ($3,620 Canadian). For more information, go to http://www.margi.com/pressroom/06_23_03_NEC_Bundling.htm 9. ICIA Releases 2002 Compensation and Benefits Survey ICIA released the results of its 2002 Dealer Compensation and Benefits Survey. Among the findings was that systems integration continues to grow in importance for dealers and is the most popular primary sales function. Rental and non-integrated sales, or box sales, continue on a downward trend. Business and industry are the dominant market, but government, education and religious institutions continue to grow as well. On the upside, 69.6 percent of respondents expect an increase in gross annual revenue in 2003 and 38.5 percent expect an increase in staff, compared to 18.8 percent in 2002. On the downside, only 54.2 percent of staff received increases in salary in 2002 compared to 81 percent in 2001. Just 68.1 percent of companies offer retirement plans. This and other reports are available at http://www.infocomm.org 10. Bob Walsh Joins Kayye Consulting Chapel Hill, N.C. — July 8, 2003 — Robert E. (Bob) Walsh, an AV veteran with 36 years of experience in the industry, has joined Kayye Consulting's team of consultants. Walsh will serve the company as Management Consultant and will work both with new business development and with projects for current clients. "We are excited about the addition of Bob Walsh to the Kayye Consulting team," said Kayye Consulting CEO Jody Thomas in making the announcement. "Bob is widely respected as an industry professional, and his experience in the ProAV dealer world speaks for itself. Bob will be able to contribute significantly to Kayye Consulting's growing customer base of dealers and manufacturers that are looking to differentiate themselves in this increasingly competitive industry." Bob joined the AV industry in 1967 as a sales representative for Midwest Visual Equipment Company, where he worked in a variety of sales and marketing positions with progressively increasing management responsibilities. Three years ago, the organization, then known as Midwest Visual Communication, was acquired by MCSi. Bob, most recently Vice President of sales and marketing for MCSi's Midwest Region, directed the consolidation and realignment of their 45 sales representatives spread over nine offices. "Kayye Consulting is the leading AV industry consulting organization so I am delighted to join Gary and Jody," said Walsh on his appointment. "Gary's technical background has been highly valued by AV organizations, both vendors and dealer/integrators. I've known Gary for many years, ever since he first joined Extron. I've contracted with Kayye Consulting for training services for our sales organization and his insight provided energizing enthusiasm for our team. I'm very pleased to be able to add my business experience and extend the scope of services of Kayye Consulting. I've dealt with many business issues over the years and look forward to helping other companies overcome the many challenges of today's business world." Some of the programs with which Walsh has experience and expects to oversee for clients of Kayye Consulting include - business plan development
- sales management and accountability programs
- sales compensation plans
- leveraging IS info for sales strategies
- account development strategies
- sales training, forecasting
- advertising and marketing
- customer satisfaction
- employee communications.
Attn: Dealers
Want to Send a Newsletter to Your Customers But Don't Have the Time? If you're a dealer in the business segment (rather than consumer) and would like to send out a customized newsletter to your customers and prospects (and want to do it spending only ten minutes a month!), ask us about it by writing to dharrison@kayye.com
Click above for more information
Feature Article Gary Kayye rAVe
AV Hall of Fame
Jack Root Introduction — New Feature Although I have only been in this market for a little more than 16 years, I have had the privilege to work with some of the industry's most famous people. As everyone knows, history provides the path to the future and it has been amazing to be able to sit down with many of these famous figures over the years and learn about what made this market grow and evolve. Jack Root: Mid-Life Career Change Leads to Major West Coast AV Company Back in the '60s, Jack Root was the sales and marketing director for Lighthouse Lamps. Part of his responsibilities was presenting the season's new lamps to the 36 sales organizations throughout the U.S. "We were using 8" X 10" photos of the lamps, which we distributed to the salesmen, usually during a dinner," says Root, "and I found so many of the salesmen were either sleeping or jumping ahead in the presentation. Their focus was definitely not on the presentation." Root took it upon himself to give the presentations a little more dazzle and he was soon projecting the images of the lamps onto a screen. "From then on, I began to think about how our industry could use presentation technology," said Root. Six years later, even though he was well into his career at 44 years old with a family, he made a career change by leaving the lamp company and purchasing a small AV company in Los Angeles. In 1967, Root became the owner of Audio Photo Incorporated and changed the name to AVHQ. It was a company of five employees who mostly handled the AV for three hotels – the Century Plaza, the Beverly Hilton and the Biltmore Hotel. They did convention photography, the AV for small meetings with 16mm sound projectors, old lantern glass slide projectors for medical meetings, and of course, the Kodak slide carousel. "I joined NAVA in 1968 and I was blown away by the size of the industry at that time because the first thing I saw was Earl Bower, who was there with 36 people from his organization, all decked out in the same blue blazers," remembers Root. "I wondered how I could ever compete against a company like that. It was like me playing Sampras with my racket! NAVA and the members and manufacturers represented then served as an indicator to me of how important this industry was." Root says: "NAVA, the predecessor organization to ICIA, turned out to be a vital key to helping to grow AVHQ." "NAVA began to shift its focus from the education market to the industrial and business areas and that was the biggest explosion for the industry and for us," says Root. "At AVHQ, we embraced that shift, not so much because we were so terribly smart but because we just couldn't make any money bidding on projectors for the school market. Even if you won the bid, you had to open the case, get the serial number, write in on the outside of the case, reseal the case, ship it, then wait for 90 days to get paid. So when we saw we needed to get out of this business and into something else, we did. Other AV companies who thought that way were mostly the ones who grew." Over the years, Root served on most if not all the NAVA/ICIA committees. He was a board member of ICIA, has served on search committees and was honored with the ICIA Distinguished Achievement Award in 1996. And his company thrived. One of his biggest thrills during the growth was in 1979, when they moved from the 10,000 sq.-ft. building in L.A. to a 33,000 sq.-ft. facility in nearby Inglewood. "It had a huge viewing room and computerized bar coding for our equipment." Another big thrill was in the 1980's, when they purchased the first GE Taleria Video Projector on the West Coast. "We ended up with the largest inventory. We also made our deal with Phillips and imported the first giant 64 monitor Vidiwall from Holland." And another came in 1989, when they were selected to do the "Predators Ball" for financier Michael Milken. "That took all of the meeting space at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the Century Plaza Hotel……every room had video, slide projectors, sound recording of all presentations, laser pointers, and anything any of the presenters wanted. It was the most complex and demanding job ever and all of the presenters were the big names in the financial world. For us it was the first over half a million dollar contract." AVHQ grew throughout the years and was acquired in 1996 by the Samuelson Group in the UK. Root stayed at the helm until 1991 and left AVHQ with a healthy 200 employees handling events such as the Academy Awards and the SIGGRAPH animation conference. He spent the next years as a consultant and retired in 2002. "The growth of our company, in my judgment, is due to the number of excellent co-workers who were working with me back in the old days and many are still there," says Root. "Our greatest successes were due to our priorities and guiding values – our co-workers, our service, our equipment, and keeping up with state-of-the-art technology. The AV industry and my co-workers, who were the ones I credit with growing the company, have meant so much to me and my family, and continue to be an important part of my life." The other important influences on Root's life, he says, include the U.S. Marine Corps. "For its outstanding training, its ideals, its outstanding principles of conduct, its focus on self-reliance and teamwork," he says. "I served twice, once during World War II, Japan, and again during the Korean conflict. In 1945, he was promoted to 1st. Lieutenant and in the Occupation of Japan. "I was given the additional designation of "Special Services Officer" — that was the AV and entertainment assignment in those days. "We were stationed in Kumamoto on Kyushu Island and given instructions to build a new recreation room for the troops there. I was in charge and among other things imported flushing toilets for the latrines." In Japan, at that time there were no toilet bowls — just holes in the ground and no separate facilities for men and women. "We held our first dance with the young ladies from town and when the orchestra began to play, there were no girls to be found. They were all in the ladies toilets flushing away for the first time in their lives!!! So much for modern technology!!!!!" "The other most important influence in my life, is my wife, Hap," he continues. "She's been my aide and support and we have been married for 55 years. Where does he see the industry going today? "Obviously, consolidations are so significant today," he says. "To start a small AV business today would be a most difficult chore. Most businesses that are the smaller members of ICIA have a major chore ahead of them in order to grow and compete. "Second, there is no question in anyone's mind that communication is the key area today, whether it is in industry, government, media, universities, the hospitality industry — it's all over and it is changing rapidly. I'm personally amazed at the video explosion, the proliferation of plasmas — all the things that we never even dreamed would exist." These days, Root spends his time playing tennis, going to the theater, reading the Wall Street Journal, reading ProAV news, spending time with his wife and family and a has a hobby of digital photography. Speaking of tennis. Root will celebrate his 80th birthday this year with a trip to New York for the U.S. Open where he will, less his racquet, no doubt take in a few shows. "Along with having had a wonderful career in the AV business, I'm glad to be alive!" he says. "Most importantly, I have been blessed." Well, that's it for the 11th edition of rAVe! Thank you for spending time with me as we muse the industry's happenings. To continue getting my newsletter, or to sign up a friend, click the link below. To send me feedback and news tips, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write to me at gkayye@kayye.com. Click here to forward Gary Kayye's rAVe to a friend Click here to subscribe A little about me: Gary Kayye, CTS, founder of Kayye Consulting. Gary Kayye, an audiovisual veteran and columnist, began the widely-read KNews, a premier industry newsletter, in the late 1990s, and created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which later became InfoComm IQ. Kayye Consulting is a company that is committed to furthering the interests and success of dealers, manufacturers, and other companies within the professional audiovisual industry. To read more about my background, our staff, and what we do, go to http://www.kayye.com Back to top
Gary Kayye's rAVe contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |