Latest headlines: Christopher Gillespie on the importance of language and communication in technical industries, Leonard Suskin on diversity and inclusion in AV in 2020, plus news from Nureva, Enplug, Atlona, Mackie and more
January 20, 2020 | Volume: 13 | Issue: 2
Hello! I hope you’re all surviving after the swing of things has picked back up after the holiday season — we are busy bees as we prepare for ISE! So busy, in fact, that we’ve already created the site and we are populating it with the bare necessities you can expect to see on the show floor. Check out all of our coverage here: https://www.ravepubs.com/ise2020/
Our columnists have also been putting in work, and bring up some interesting subjects for your viewing pleasure. Christopher Gillespie writes about the importance of communication/language in our industry. Leonard Suskin writes about diversity and inclusion in the future of AV. Finally, Mark Coxon writes about his take on the HRT Huddle Hub. Check them all out!
In other news, Enplug can help you use Zoom to broadcast a meeting over an entire digital signage network, Nureva has a new HDL200 for small and medium UCC spaces, Barco released the UniSee 500, and more.
There are many words that have dramatically different meanings based on our experience and, most importantly, context. Take the name of our industry: AV. It means audiovisual, right? Not to everyone. If I was in IT, there is a good chance that I might define AV as anti-virus. And if I'm in the self-driving automobile space, then it's actually autonomous vehicles. So as we can see, it's important to ensure that we are on the same page as other folks PRIOR to getting into depth on what we want to accomplish.
Those who follow know me to be a supporter of diversity in an industry which remains too white, too male, too old – and I say that as a white male rapidly approaching the half-century mark. What frustrates me about the discourse? Too much of it focuses on why we need diversity. On how diverse workforces are more productive. On how they are more creative. And yes, on how there is a moral imperative to treat everyone equitably regardless of gender, race, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other aspect of one's personal identity. We know that diversity at the highest levels provides an example and an aspiration, and tells everyone entering the field that someone like them can accomplish anything. We all know this.
The part of the HRT HuddleHub diagram that WAS very interesting showed a wall-mounted camera/microphone/soundbar under the display and three concentric arcs depicting wireless transmission of those USB peripherals to the laptop. It seemed to show a fully wireless inbound and outbound connection to all of the devices you would have in a huddle room, eliminating not only the need for an HDMI connection, but also the need for hardwired USB. For anyone that has to buy USB extenders for their meeting spaces, you know how expensive and problematic they can be, so this feature would be an amazing advantage.