Volume 19, Issue 23 — June 23, 2021

rAVe ProAV Edition — Volume 19, Issue 23

June 23, 2021 | Volume: 19 | Issue: 23

Gary Kayye and I just talked today on rAVe [TV] about how excited we are for trade shows to return. With CEDIA around the corner and InfoComm soon after that, the world finally feels like it’s starting to right itself again. Is that dramatic? I just really want to meet the people I’ve interacted with during countless online events. I’m so ready!

Sticking on the trade show route, CEDIA released the content overview for the show, which maybe used to be something you all didn’t care much about, but don’t sleep on CEDIA! With this year’s IMCCA partnership, it’s becoming ever clearer how HomeAV and UCC have converged (due to COVID) — so rAVe is covering the show like never before.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that rAVe also has some extra special coverage tech we’re working on for InfoComm 2021! Check that story out as well. At InfoComm this year, I’ve also pledged to take the CTS exam. (Yikes.) But all that aside, there is so much to look forward to!

Enjoy this newsletter — literally packed to the brim with the latest and greatest. I hope you all have a lovely rest of the week!

Bye!

— Steph Beckett

COLUMNS

+ The “New” Workspace Is Really Just Digital Transformation [Scott Tiner]

I write about this because I see many predictions being made about the new normal. Some of these are from prognosticators who are guessing. In some cases, they guess knowing they are predicting more than what will actually happen but they want to shake things up. In this new reality, AV firms have two major challenges on their hands: First, they need to decide what parts of these new ways of working they will keep, and second, they have to understand which customers are truly committed to a strategy of digital transformation.

+ Pitch Perfect in Berlin [Bob Snyder]

As much as people gripe about PowerPoint, no one has been able to jiggle that rock, let alone seriously dislodge that mainstay of Microsoft’s bluestone wall of business productivity software. “Death by PowerPoint” became a familiar phrase in global culture and defenders only sound like America’s NRA when they argue “It’s not the tool; it’s the user!” Pitch launched its vision in October 2020.

+ Sustainability — Sustaining the Humans [Tom Kehr]

When designing an audiovisual system, we often discover that our main challenge is the actual room. Crazy, isn’t it? We try and work around and implement, as best we can, a technology solution when maybe a better solution could involve a lot less of that technology stuff. Did you know that LEED has a prerequisite for acoustic performance in schools? The EQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) Prerequisite: Minimum Acoustic Performance Required in LEED BD+C for Schools refers to the ASA/ANSI S12.60 standard and ASHRAE Handbook, Chapter 48, Noise and Vibration Control.

+ Professional Power Amplifiers — A Market in Recovery [James Kirby]

Despite the rise of powered speakers, the amplifiers market has continued to see regular replacements and new opportunities over recent years, driven by innovation and demand at a macro level. However, moving into 2020, the entire professional audio market was severely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. The professional amplifiers market itself experienced significant losses, with rates of decline well into double figures. Despite this decline, there remained some key areas of positivity and stability throughout the crisis and full market recovery to 2019 levels is expected over the coming years.