Latest headlines: Scott Tiner on what AV can learn from WWE, Christopher Jaynes on the productivity killer aka “double join,” plus more!
September 9, 2020 | Volume: 18 | Issue: 33
My, oh my, it’s already September.
Hello, #AVtweeps, and thanks for joining us for volume 18, issue 33 of the rAVe ProAV newsletter.
This week, we have a ProAV-packed issue with updates like:
LG entering the fitness equipment business with a new 15-inch touch display.
Extron and NEC Display newly partnering on an Extron certification for displays and video-wall processors.
Crestron shipping the new generation of its VC and UCC system.
Vivitek releasing a portable WUXGA projector. And Epson released some new projectors for K-12, too.
BrightSign introducing an entry-level media player priced at just $135.
Yamaha UC entering the ceiling mic-array market.
I could go on, but then this bulleted list would get terribly long.
Also, enjoy the column features (toward the top) and industry news (toward the bottom) with our many recap articles from LAVNCH EMEA, a new trends report from AVIXA, and another update on the Shure-Clear One case — currently in the U.S. District Court in Northern Illinois. Yay.
P.S. Lots coming up in the virtual-event world: You’ve got P2Pv from the NSCA (Sept. 22-23), the SYNNEX LAVNCH Days (next up, a COLLABSolv Day on Oct. 8), Futuresource Consulting’s Audio Collaborative 2020 (Nov. 4-5) and more.
World Wrestling Entertainment is a sport that relies on fan engagement and interaction more than any other. A big reason for that is the fact that it is staged. Yes, there is a substantial degree of physicality that goes into it, along with choreography and excellent timing. Yet, in the end, we know it is not real, and that is why the fans are so important. The WWE athletes need fan interaction and cheering to make the show. They need to be “distracted” by the fans at times to make the story work. WWE tried for a few months to put on shows without fans, and the rating plummeted. There were complaints about how boring it was. What fans did not know is that all the while, behind the scenes was a growing audiovisual masterpiece, the ThunderDome.
If I walk into a video-enabled room with my team to meet with external vendors, I’m not asked to join the meeting to turn on my camera. I’m already on camera with the team. This is also true of audio. Of course remote users can hear me; I’m in a room that’s in the call. So why, when I want to share content, do I need to join the meeting? The answer lies in some interesting history of how video conferencing emerged from voice technologies and ignored the content use case early on. This is true for Zoom, WebEx, Teams, GoToMeeting and many other systems. If you spend a few thousand dollars, you can build a pretty great video conferencing room – users can walk into the room, and, fairly simply hold a video/audio conference with remote users. But all this breaks down when content is shared (as it is in most meetings).