Volume 18, Issue 10 — March 11, 2020

March 11, 2020 | Volume: 18 | Issue: 10

Welcome to the first March issue of rAVe ProAV, where we have all you could ever want: a full look at the mergers and acquisitions we’ve seen so much lately in the industry, Gary Kayye’s breakdown of his top 10 at ISE 2020, and so much breaking news!

I have to say, my favorite piece of news that I include in this issue is that Panasonic and Disney are teaming up for a unique projection experience for a new attraction at Walt Disney World Resort. It’s no secret that we at rAVe are a little bit obsessed with Disney and a lot a bit obsessed with 4K projection, and this is both of those in one! We simply love to see it. Also, I’m sure it’s not lost on you that I include a Disney song in just about every one of my intros. In honor of this special piece of news about Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, here’s the song that’s usually playing when you walk into Magic Kingdom. Aaaaaand now I wish I was at Disney World.

Don’t worry — if the Disney news doesn’t strike your fancy, we have plenty of other news for you to read. Enterprise Connect is postponing the show to August and will be moving it to San Francisco. Plus, more merger news. You’re shocked, I know.

Catch ya on the flip side!

— Steph Beckett

COLUMNS

+ Mergers, Acquisitions and the AV Ecology [Mark Coxon]

I remember reading a book back in the late ’90s called “Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare” by Paul Colvinaux. It was one of the first ecology books I read, and although the science was still evolving itself, there are a couple points in the book that have stuck with me over time and that I have found perhaps even more relevant given the course of recent events. This year has brought more mergers and acquisitions among AV integrators, most notably at the top with Diversified buying Sensory Technologies and AVI-SPL merging with Whitlock Group. It seems these types of mergers always cause some initial trepidation in smaller firms, wondering how they will keep up, compete and fight off the large behemoths.

+ Here’s a Breakdown of My Top 10 From ISE 2020 [Gary Kayye]

Every year, I like to release a top 10 list of my favorite things that I have seen at Integrated Systems Europe. Last Wednesday, in collaboration with Almo Pro A/V and Barco — I hosted a webinar in which I expanded on just that. But I understand that not everyone can attend every single webinar, so here’s a breakdown of what we talked about.