Volume 19, Issue 20 — May 26, 2021

rAVe ProAV Edition — Volume 19, Issue 20

May 26, 2021 | Volume: 19 | Issue: 20

A great AV (and life, I guess?) lesson I’ve learned recently is to roll with the punches. In any AV situation — an installation, trade show, presentation, etc. — there are so many moving pieces that stuff can just … go wrong. Also, none of us are strangers to Murphy’s law: If there is a chance for things to mess up, they will! That was solidified for me during LAVNCH WEEK 4.0 today — my camera died in the middle of an interview with my friend Hope Roth. She is, luckily, a total rock star and kept going with only my disembodied voice responding to her until I could get it fixed. We love live events! Speaking of all that, tomorrow is ProAV Day, and I hope you’ll join! We’ve had a blast so far, and I can’t wait to see what the final day of LAVNCH WEEK 4.0 has in store. Register here!

Also, speaking of Murphy (see what I did there), Murphy Daley wrote an excellent column about how AV project managers (and others on any given job/install) can support their AV programmers. In addition, she advises about how to help them do their best work!

Tony Sprando and Kate Couch also have a column this week about where customers fall down. Is it bad for customers to get really stuck on the price of a product or service? How can you break this cycle? What should customers focus on instead?

Finally, check out the latest and greatest from Extron, ScreenBeam, Brightsign, Yamaha, Resideo and more.

See you tomorrow at LAVNCH WEEK 4.0!

— Steph Beckett

COLUMNS

+ Setting Up the AV Programmer for Success [Murphy Daley]

An AV system brings in many devices, audio and video signals that must be sent to a lot of destinations. This kind of chaos has to be channeled through a control system — a layout simple enough for any user to handle. All but the most basic AV projects need their own control system. As an AV project manager (PM), I have to facilitate the creation of a successful control system inside the AV project for my customers. That’s where our heroic programmers come in. A good programmer is gold. I have to put them in a position to do their best work. To do that on a new AV project, I know I have to get a set of answers.

+ Where Customers Fall Down [Tony Sprando]

Over the past 20 years, I’ve done many audiovisual jobs. But for as many jobs as I’ve done, I’ve also calculated twice as many bids. As someone who works in delivering a service, you notice a pattern when giving a bid. You will find that when you go out and assess what clients need, finding the right services for a fair price may never be enough. Oftentimes, no matter how much you try to give someone a deal, they will not think it is cheap enough.

+ The Changing Face of the Corporate Workspace [Adam Cox]

2020 was a tumultuous year and one that will cast a long shadow over almost every aspect of our lives. For many of those normally working in offices, one of the most significant changes has been being forced to work from home as most countries around the world went through various stages of “lockdown.”