Volume 17, Issue 32 — August 28, 2019

RavePro — Volume 17, Issue 32 — August 28, 2019

August 28, 2019 | Volume: 17 | Issue: 32

Ever since InfoComm changed its name to AVIXA (the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Assocation), there has been so much discussion of user experiences when it comes to technology. In industries like ours, where solutions can be technically complex, it’s easy to lead with the technology — look at all the stuff we can do! Solving problems our users didn’t even know they had is kind of our specialty. Oh, did you not want a scaler with your simple conferencing room space? Too bad, you’re getting one anyway. In reading Chris Gillespie’s column for today, I could almost feel him banging his head against the wall. Read about how he had what was truly the latest and greatest technology in the entire world… that still frustrated his users. It might just change how you approach systems design.

We’re also sad to report the passing of Bill Sharer, past winner of AVIXA’s Educator of the Year Award and arguably one of the best sales trainers in the industry. Joel Rollins, who taught alongside Bill for years and knew him well, writes a thoughtful piece about the important things he learned from him.

-Sara Abrons

COLUMNS

+ Standardize the User Experience [Christopher Gillespie]

Take the time to focus your efforts on understanding HOW and WHY systems are used. Understand the desired experience for customers and you will do far better! I want to clarify that this responsibility of defining that experience belongs to both the integrator AND the end user. I have put a lot of effort into focusing on documenting the experience to ensure the integrator gets a better picture of how we want things to work. But the dealer needs to put a commensurate amount of work into it if we are going to have a great partnership. That is the info that must be communicated throughout the entire project cycle. If the salesperson and the PM know… but the programmer doesn't, it all falls apart.

+ What I Learned from Bill Sharer [Joel Rollins]

To our great loss, Bill Sharer has passed away. For those of you who may not have had the privilege of knowing him, Bill served our industry as a sales and marketing consultant for nearly 40 years. He was a perennial volunteer who wrote many of our most popular training courses on sales and served the industry over and over again on many of our most important committees. He had also been selected for many of our honors, including AVIXA Educator of the Year. Beyond that, he was incredibly thoughtful and engaging as a presenter, and taught many of us techno-types a lot of what we knew about sales and marketing. I could say a lot about Bill, as he was also a close personal friend, coworker and co-presenter of more than 30 years. He was also a lot of fun.

+ Gantt Charts Are The Best Charts: Part 2 [Lee Distad]

With software solutions, you can take your project’s Gantt chart with you and your team can review it on their own mobile devices. That provides a greater level of flexibility and collaboration as the project progresses. With collaborative software, the project manager is able to assign tasks to team members, who in turn are able to filter the Gantt chart to only view the tasks they’ve been assigned and focus on their requirements for scheduling and materials.