Volume 12, Issue 15 — August 9, 2019

RaveEd — Volume 12, Issue 15 — August 09, 2019

August 9, 2019 | Volume: 12 | Issue: 15

We have a bunch of interesting columns today, so if you’re on vacation and need a break from family, or if you’re gearing back up for school starting again, take a few minutes to read what our subject matter experts have to say this month. Scott Tiner has two columns — one with a revised take on AVaaS, and the next on whether certification (mainly, AVIXA’s CTS) is worthwhile. Christopher Gillespie also talks about the true costs of meetings — how much money is wasted when millions of meetings start five or ten minutes late because people can’t get the technology to work? That’s worth thinking about.

We also have exciting news — this week we announced our Best of InfoComm 2019 awards! These are linked below, but Gary Kayye also did a livestream announcement on LinkedIn Live, which you can view the recording of here. We gave out almost 100 awards, none of which any companies had to pay, or even fill out an entry form, to enter. If a product was on the show floor at InfoComm 2019 in Orlando, it was considered. Check out the awards and let us know what you think.

-Sara Abrons

AWARDS

+ The BEST of InfoComm 2019 Awards [Gary Kayye]

We sent videographers to shoot product videos at EVERY SINGLE BOOTH at InfoComm 2019 — and since we shoot videos of every new product, it gives us the ability to collectively pick the best-of-the-best. No one pays to enter, no one pays to win and the products and companies awarded didn’t have a clue that they won — until we announced these at Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 2 p.m. — at the same time everyone else found out! So who won and why? In our awards, you’ll find every major product category covered — from projectors to speakers to UCC gear — and everything in-between. There are over 100 product categories — each one with a winner!

COLUMNS

+ Tiner’s New Take on AVaaS [Scott Tiner]

Software has become a critical piece of our industry and will continue to grow and make some of what we do today irrelevant. However, I would argue that there are many things that software simply cannot replace, such as all the hardware we deal with as an industry. You still need projectors, displays, microphones and speakers. How you connect those pieces to each other has changed half a dozen times over the past twenty or thirty years. This next change, putting these on the network, is more than just another version of the VGA to HDMI to DisplayPort changes over the years. It will change our industry, but not kill it. So, our boxes continue to exist, but what we think of as the "glue" in our AV systems slowly shift to the cloud.

+ You Got Drones in My Huddle Room [Joel Rollins]

But the important function of a teleconferencing drone or robot is a psychological one that is often underappreciated. The robot puts you at the table with a presence in the room. Beginning with Marshall McLuhan, we have understood that the feeling of "presence" is one of the things that keeps us mentally attached in a meeting or event. I know that not only do I feel more conscious of the fact that the robot is in the room, leading me to NOT check my email or watch the latest YouTube video when the conversation got boring, but it's also a constant reminder to the rest of the group that I am an equal participant. This feeling of presence and equality is one of the reasons that I have long been a proponent of virtual reality meetings. But that is another story. In the meantime, I will wobble around to today's conferences in my robot.

+ The Cost of a Meeting [Christopher Gillespie]

One of the things that really took quite a bit of effort to shift my thinking was the realization that EVERYTHING has a cost. And in order to spend money, you need to justify that cost. Not the cost of the widget (the CIO couldn't care less about that); you need to show the overall opportunity cost.

+ Does Certification Matter? [Scott Tiner]

As a manager, I'm often faced with the question of what requirements we should put into a job description when we are ready to hire a person. Experience is always the easiest one to figure out. You think about how senior the position is and then you base years of experience or type of experiences on that. Education and industry certifications are different and always cause a lively discussion. Do people really need them? Do they matter?

+ Friction, SB-327 and Zoom’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Week [Leonard Suskin]

While this particular story is about Zoom, it isn’t really; every connected device and every piece of software carries within it the potential for security risks. How we find these vulnerabilities, how we mitigate them and even how they arise in the first place is of import to us all. Last week it was Zoom, last year, Crestron, a few years before that, AMX.No, it is not about Zoom. It’s about all of us.