Volume 15, Issue 6 -- March 30, 2021

Volume 15, Issue 6 — March 30, 2021

March 30, 2021 | Volume: 15 | Issue: 6

I’m excited to hear from an old friend and a great writer, Jacob Blount, today in a column that revisits his experience bringing Pilgrimage, a regional faith-based event in North Carolina, to (virtual) life back in March 2020. We are also graced with a collection of gold, “Resources for Becoming Your Best AV Self,” from industry veteran Tom Kehr. (You’ll want to bookmark that one.) Lastly, a #retweet from Gary Kayye’s ProAV intro last week, as it’s particularly relevant to our Rental [and Staging] readers: “Although it’s not public information yet, I do know that both Coachella and Stagecoach will be canceled for 2021. A lot of stagers saw these concerts — set for the summer — as kick-offs to a #WeAreOpen movement in live events. But, as I mentioned in my Kayye’s Krystal Ball in January, it appears that large live events won’t restart until October… ISE is happening — but, as four smaller shows — all over Europe.”

nikibell

If you know, you know. Original meme found here.

In product-updates land (find these stories linked below), Sony has a new entry-level production switcher; Squirrels released a screen mirroring and media streaming receiver application; and Tightrope Media Systems unveiled an automated solution for bringing live event streams and on-demand video to the web and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Speaking of Tightrope, in case you need a good laugh today, I willingly subject myself to embarrassment for your amusement, you know, for the greater good: Here’s 8.45 seconds of me absolutely failing to balance on Tightrope’s slackline at InfoComm 2015, accompanied by Joel Rollins’ hilarious narration. “Better you than me.”

— Leah McCann

COLUMNS

+ A Fully Virtual Regional HOW Event [Jacob Blount]

As you may recall from previous columns, I serve on the overall planning committee for a regional faith-based event in North Carolina. Pilgrimage, a large-scale event for United Methodist youth and their adult leaders, traditionally takes place in person during the second weekend in November each year. As you can imagine, that was not the case for the 2020 annual event. Read on to learn more about how our team pivoted in 2020 to provide a community-driven, inspiring and engaging event without physically gathering. You’ll read a lot about the culture of producing a virtual event and a bit less about the technology used. My goal is to shift your framework of thinking: An integrator shouldn’t simply install technology for the buyer and end users to define how they want to use it. Drive the thinking of your customers; use their experiences as a selling point for new business — and you’ll thrive.

+ Resources for Becoming Your Best AV Self [rAVe Team]

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.