Latest headlines: Murphy Daley on the BOM’s incredible journey, Tom Kehr’s AV resources, plus news from ARX, Prolights and more
April 14, 2021 | Volume: 10 | Issue: 7
“Helpful resources” is the theme of this issue of rAVe HoW [House of Worship].
Titled accordingly, “Resources for Becoming Your Best AV Self” comes to us from Tom Kehr of Almo Pro A/V. “The BOM’s Incredible Journey” by Murphy Daley is a much-needed checklist related to your favorite (?) project element, the bill of materials. Then, Kate Couch and Tony Sprando’s “Audio Visual Glossary” is just that — a glossary about terms in AV! Helpful, indeed.
It’s kind of funny that these three columns coincided in the same timeframe; perhaps it means the industry is in a mindset to recognize how amazing it feels when we lift each other up by providing support — even if it’s not asked for.
How will you support your friends, family or HoW colleagues today?
Some projects have time to complete. Some projects are urgent. The tighter the timeline, the more monitoring required. Each AV integrator has tools for gathering this information. These include forms from purchasing, the warehouse and info from the suppliers. The delivery tracking numbers will come from FedEx, UPS and other delivery services. All these different sources of information have to be aggregated and tracked. I create a Microsoft Excel sheet for each job to track and update it as I go. I’ve gathered questions to consider as the equipment is on its way.
Like many of you, I tripped into this whole AV thing. My first lessons started in college, learning how to over-and-under wrap 50-foot mic cables and putting microphones away at the end of the day. When the school installed a new console in their auditorium in the spring of 1986, I met the integrator, David Bretzke, who sold them the new 48-channel console. That also turned into my first all-nighter. Thus began a two-year, part-time internship with David — and I soaked up everything I could. David was my first mentor, my first resource. But over the years, I’ve found many invaluable resources to build my knowledge upon — people, organizations, websites and papers.
Whether you’re new to the audiovisual world or an old pro, a glossary of words to help you understand what we’re referencing in our articles and communications with you is a helpful tool. Below is some common audiovisual lingo with its proper definitions. It’s broken up into different categories: video, audio, AV IT, lighting and general.