Volume 11, Issue 12 — June 25, 2020

rAVe UCC — Volume 11, Issue 12

June 25, 2020 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 12

Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I read about, listen to something about, or watch something about UCC, I feel like there’s this wild race to innovate with the next big thing that’s “going to solve everyone’s remote collaboration and UCC needs!” While I’m all about innovation, as I’m sure you all are too, something that Colin Birney said today during LAVNCH WEEK 2.0 really resonated with me: “I’m all about innovation, but to do it you have to have a great base to work from.” So, say you already have a great base of products and AV customers in your wheelhouse — you may have a leg up in this new innovation space. If you don’t, why should a customer choose you to take a leap with?

This reminds me of my time in advertising agencies. I worked for this big ad agency that did a lot of really boring, but really necessary stuff, in digital. Can you guess what that was? We developed rich-media banners. That’s it! Rich-media banners. But guess what: Rich-media banners are still very much in demand. We did the boring stuff really well, so we were always the go-to firm for it. Clients always came to us for that particular thing. It was only because we were masters in rich-media banners that we could even flirt with the possibly of pitching more fun, creative projects to our clients. But it was the foot in the door we needed to shift into a bigger group within the agency. Eventually we grew out of doing just rich-media banners. But, at the end of the workday, that was always what we did best.

Scroll down to see the latest innovations in UCC in this newsletter, along with a column or two that I hope will get you thinking, moving and grooving.

— Leah McCann

COLUMNS

+ Future of the Integration Business: Human Resources [Michael Timmes]

Many integration company leaders found themselves suddenly managing predominantly remote teams. In many cases, employees and their spouses have been working at home alongside children trying to focus on remote schooling. HR policies have not only needed to get creative to handle some of these situations but also needed to factor in what employee work-life balance can look like beyond COVID-19. The pandemic is providing us all with an HR reality check: Something like this can happen, and it can also happen again. As a result, integration firms find themselves reimagining HR policies.

+ Strategies for Times of Crisis: How to Survive in the Short Term and Thrive in the Long Term [Scott Tiner]

Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This quote is reasonably relevant today, as we have all been “punched in the mouth” by COVID-19. Most successful firms had developed strategies years ago and have been consistently and successfully following them. Developing a clear strategy and sharing that with your firm is critical to success. The strategy guru, Michael Porter, suggests two basic strategies: Do what your competitors do, but do it cheaper, or do something that only you can do.

+ Sessions We Loved From InfoComm 2020 Connected [Steph Beckett & Leah McCann]

The first-ever virtual InfoComm 2020 Connected was held Tuesday-Thursday of this week, and it was packed with products, education and networking. This was a historic event — the first-ever online version of InfoComm — so we wanted to make sure we were there for it and provided our coverage/insights. Here’s the recap of some of our favorite sessions from InfoComm 2020 Connected.