Latest headlines: Mark Coxon on apps and collaboration devices, Nathan Haynes on mentors in the AV industry, plus news from BenQ and more
October 22, 2020 | Volume: 18 | Issue: 39
Hello, rAVe Pro readers, and happy Thursday! Today’s newsletter contains the following:
Columns: Mark Coxon writes about the newest generation of collaboration devices and the apps that come with them. Does requiring an app for these devices and solutions create too much friction? I can’t answer that for you, and neither can Mark. But — he can give you points on either side. It’s a worthy read. Next up, Nathan Haynes — NEW BLOGGER ON THE BLOCK, Y’ALL — writes about the mentors. In our industry, are there a lot of them? He argues that we could create a whole different workforce if mentorship were more ingrained in our industry. Finally, our last two columns come from Omar Prashad and our own Leah McCann. Omar writes about the dangers of offering free services to clients right now and Leah talks about Panasonic’s recent venture into the education space.
Product News: LG Business Solutions has a new workstation monitor, Amate Audio has a new high output point source, Visix released a new version of its AxisTV Signage Suite software and more.
Industry News: We have all the latest on the Almo Pro A/V fall 2020 E4 Evolution. Plus — check out the new additions to DPAA.
Currently, collaboration devices offer a variety of additional features. Those features include wireless screen-sharing, wireless USB connection of room peripherals back to the devices in the room, the ability to do virtual rooms, the option to connect multiple displays together in extended desktops or in broadcast style modes, Outlook/calendar integration, the ability to act as a host to cross-platform soft-conferencing applications, far-end sharing of collaboration canvases and tools, far-end screen share and a single sign-on meeting credential to launch calendared events. Now of course, not all of these features are available on all of the devices out there, and you’ll likely need to explore each one and decide which device is appropriate based on the use case and the pros and cons. However, there is one commonality between this new generation of devices and that is they all have their own apps.
We’re seeing leading voices in AV take packages and buyouts, or just flat out retire and focus on golf swings and garage studios. So it’s no wonder I’m constantly being asked for referrals for reputable lead technicians from companies across North America and the United Kingdom. Ironically, the jobs are there, but no one’s sending resumes or CVs. So where are the technicians? Or, maybe, where’s the knowledge or path getting lost? So here we are, my point: Where are the mentors?
One interesting strategy I have heard espoused by more than one of the knowledgeable sales leadership voices was that sales teams should be using this time to focus on strengthening long-term relationships with customers. It seems like sound and logical advice that’s always applicable. My issue is many of these people were suggesting the pathway to achieving this was through doing things for free or at no margin. When we give something to a customer for free, we’re really doing two things: We’re helping another company at the expense of our company, and we’re hoping (consciously or subconsciously) that doing this will leverage the very powerful psychological principle of reciprocity. Here are three reasons that’s a bad idea.
Panasonic, who you most certainly know for cameras, and probably for projectors and displays too, has been making moves in the higher education space this year. To learn more, I spoke with Panasonic’s Hamid James, product manager for remote production, and Hank Reed, senior territory account manager.
