Volume 16, Issue 10 — May 23, 2019

rAVe Home — Volume 16, Issue 10 — May 23, 2019

May 23, 2019 | Volume: 16 | Issue: 10

Welcome to a pre-InfoComm issue of rAVe HomeAV. Although InfoComm is not a residential AV show by any means, more and more residential contractors have been attending — in fact, according to AVIXA, more than half of the CEDIA members are also at InfoComm. So, obviously, you’re interested in what’s going on in commercial AV and markets like digital signage and UCC rooms — being very network-centric — are perfect cross-over projects for your teams. In addition, restaurants and bars need your services and as AV-over-IP is primetime now, InfoComm is the perfect show for you to attend to see the latest in AV-over-IP products. In fact, so far, I count at least six new manufacturers in the AV-over-IP market entering it at InfoComm and now over 260 AV-over-IP products. And, in case you haven’t heard, Audinate’s Dante platform added Dante AV — an AV-over-IP channel for 1G IP-based video over any existing Dante network. So, you should consider attending.

But, if you can’t attend, here is where we will post ALL our news (and videos, and podcasts, and photos) from InfoComm — it’s already filled with pre-show content.

Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention our story about SnapAV purchasing Control4. SnapAV spent at least three years looking at the control market as they called me about it in 2016. But, their best strategy, in the end, was to buy someone and Control4 is a perfect match for them. But, I am sure you’ve read enough pundit opinions about it, so I’ll leave it at that. But, as we all know, control is all moving to apps and the cloud — so that hardware-based thing better be re-thought.

Oh, one thing that I will mention before turning you loose to read this issue — check out the vidoecast (Vodcast) I did with a start-up called XTEN-AV below — you can’t miss it as the headline is, “XTEN-AV is About to Make D-Tools Obsolete.” Don’t believe me? Watch it. Then, head over the LinkedIn and see the comments on the video (I posted it there, too, as the commercial integrators are going wild over it and one CE asked if they would have a residential version of it and they answered late last night — “yes.”

Enjoy and follow it live at InfoComm here and please connect with me on LinkedIn here.

-Gary Kayye

COLUMNS

+ Does Your Touch Panel Spark Joy? [Leonard Suskin]

When it comes time to choose which items to keep or which to discard, Kondo doesn’t tell her clients which items should spark joy; this is a personal journey for each family to choose what they value, the presence of which items gives them happiness. She may be the guide, but the journey is theirs. What can we learn from that? It’s easy to make assumptions based on our biases, based on industry trends, based on our experiences. While we still need to offer choices and still need to share the benefits of our knowledge, there is one truth for any of our projects: It is not about us.

+ De-stress at Work — The Three-Level To-Do List [Christopher Jaynes]

There are plenty of platitudes about the stressful life of an entrepreneur and most are true — but everyone in the modern workplace, not just entrepreneurs, find stress creeping into their day. As a founder, I have to balance my amazing family, two-to-three weeks of travel a month, board meetings, growing a tech company while remaining innovative on the product front. About two years ago I discovered an approach to managing this stuff that probably had the most impact on reducing the stress of anything I’ve tried (though our new yoga-at-work Mondays are pretty awesome). It’ll probably surprise you: I make analog to-do lists.

+ Proper Process For Troubleshooting [Lee Distad]

I have a lot of empathy for my installing dealers, because I’ve been there. They want what I always wanted: solutions. And in order to reach a solution, you have to follow a process. Otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels, burning time and money.