La Famiglia At the climactic moment of the Godfather, the heads of the Five Families call a meeting of the Commission to try to end the war between the Corleones, the Tattaglias, and the other families (including the Barzinis, who nobody but the Godfather yet realizes are behind the whole thing). During that meeting, the Don concedes several “favors” to his enemies, in return for one item – which makes his most important point of this great management training film. At the climax, the Don stands, looks at all his enemies, and says that he makes these concessions for selfish reasons. He must bring his son Michael home, freed of all the “false” charges of killing the Turk and his corrupt police bodyguard. He pulls himself up from his chair, and confesses to being “a superstitious man” – and tells them that if ANYTHING should happen to his son – if he should be accidentally shot while trying to escape, if he should hang himself in his cell, or if lightning should strike him, that he would blame his enemies for it. From this moment, I pull the most important lesson. That the key to greatness is always, and only, our people – and that because of it we must take their lives and careers more seriously than anything else in business. My people develop my business. My only job is to help them develop themselves (whether they realize it or not). That means taking it as seriously as Don Corleone does. I need to provide them with the kind of training that not only helps them do their job better, but helps them get to the next job. I need to provide them with that path, and totally resist the idea of keeping somebody in a job because they’re useful there. In fact, if the next job that advances this person’s career is outside my company, I must help them get it. I’ve been involved in developing schools and training for this industry for over 20 years. I’m proud to say that key people in many companies have been students, or employees, of mine. But I’ve actually heard otherwise reasonable business people say things like: “I don’t like to send my people out of the company for training because somebody always tries to hire them out from under me.” I have a really simple answer for that one: take such a personal interest in their careers and their progress that they become the recruiters. I want my people to get other offers. And then to compare them and realize that they don’t match either the money, or the career satisfaction, that they get in my company. And, if they do happen to get that rare offer that truly helps them advance their career, that they don’t have to hide it from me – that I’ll sit down, help them examine it, and if it truly is that good, help them get it. And, in fact, if you’re at all worried about your people leaving because they get another offer, you’re already doing something wrong. I try to treat it this way because a number of great bosses have done the same for me. In fact, they’re still some of my closest friends. And because the ultimate lesson of the “Family” is LOYALTY. And because I’m a superstitious man. JRR
Thanks to our sponsor, Da-Lite Screen Company PSCo Hoisting 103-Inch Panasonic Plasma New ISE exhibitor PSCo brought a new flat-panel stand that helps you hoist up that huge 103-inch plasma from Panasonic. In fact, it can help you lift it up to more than 3 meters high. The Screen Lifter works with just a touch of a button to adjust the height. It also has a built-in mechanism that lets you switch the display from landscape to portrait and back again. This is a welcome product, especially for Panasonic, since it makes it much easier to specify this big screen for exhibitions, road shows, retail outlets, conferences and more. For more information, go to http://www.psco.co.uk/screenlifter_video.asp My rental crew lives in terror of the day I suggest adding 500 lb. plasmas to the rental inventory.
Barco, JVC Team on LCoS Projection Technology Barco and JVC, working together using JVC’s D-ILA projection technology, developed a new projector, the Barco LX-5, exhibited at ISE. Barco says the D-ILA technology enabled the LX-5 to achieve 10 megapixel resolution and 10,000:1 contrast ratio. The LX-5 is specified at 4500 ANSI lumens. This projector could work well in some rental and staging applications because you can display up to four WUXGA (1920 x 1200) images and you can adapt the color temperature to accommodate ambient lighting. For more information, go to http://www.barco.com/Presentation/en/products/product.asp?gennr=1904 Now that’s what I’m talking about. We’ve been chasing lumens too long. Now let’s chase megapixels, and give those windowing processors something to work with. -JRR iCinema Research, projectiondesign, Collaborate on 3D 360-Degree Immersive Experience
AVIE consists of a 360 degree stereoscopic immersive interactive visualization environment with motion and shape tracking systems and a multi-channel audio system. The 3D is created by a combination of multiple projectors and multiple sound sources. The audience can participate with interactive features. For more on AVIE, go to http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au/projects/infra_avie.html Quite an achievement. I’ve done quite a lot of 3D for shows, but this is far more intensive than anything I’ve seen before. As they say, the next best thing to being there… -JRR
Toshiba Waves White Flag Toshiba has officially given up on the high definition DVD format war. Last week, Wal-Mart, Netflix and Best Buy all declared allegiance to Blu-ray and quite quickly afterward, Toshiba buckled and the format war, at least between HD DVD and Blu-ray is over. The decision is reported to be owing to recent major changes in the market and long-term impact of the format war. Toshiba said HD DVD will continue to get support and service even though they are ceasing development, manufacturing and marketing. For the CNN story, go to http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/19/toshiba.hdd/index.html This is news? Anybody who hasn’t known that the handwriting was on the wall for HD-DVD for at least the last six months, if not the last year, wasn’t paying attention. It was already dead, they just finally printed the obituary. -JRR Da-Lite Announces Da-Lite Screen Green Exchange Program Da-Lite Screen Company in a new initiative announced its Da-Lite Screen Green Exchange Program. This is the first of many “green” programs that are being implemented by Da-Lite. Da-Lite also replaced its Warsaw, Indiana manufacturing paint spray booths with more environmentally-friendly powder coating lines designed to reduce VOC emissions. The new Exchange Program helps you recycle old screens when a new Da-Lite screen is the replacement. The customer will receive the necessary shipping materials to return the old screen to Da-Lite when the new screen arrives at the installation. It will be the customer’s responsibility to ship the product to Da-Lite for recycling. The recycled screens can be sent directly to the company’s headquarters in Warsaw, IN. For more information, go to http://www.da-lite.com/screengreen/index.php A good move on Da-Lite’s part, as it’s not only the right thing to do, but good business. Green has become the rage in corporate America, and this is a shrewd move. I hope their dealers will emphasize. Now, about batteries…. -JRR END OF REGULAR NEWS
Barco Shows LED Breakthrough Gary Kayye first called attention to Barco's NX-4 system in his “Best of InfoComm 2007” Report. “It uses 4mm indoor LEDs and has, BY FAR, the blackest black I have ever seen on ANY LED display,” says Gary. Barco describes its new NX-4 LED panel as a “breakthrough.” Designed for indoor use, with Black LED technology, the NX-4 claims to deliver the deepest contrast ratio of any product on the market, at 4000:1. Barco says it’s a true black LED (not just a black package, but a radically new design, using black silicon resin instead of the traditional white epoxy.) Each LED, says the maker, outputs the deepest blacks and brightest luminance levels of any product on the market (2000 Nits). Integrators should note it also uses a frame built of carbon fiber to make it stronger, lighter and (as long as we are making claims) as much as 10 times less sensitive to deformation. For more information, go to http://www.barco.com/corporate/en/products/product.asp?GenNr=1839 This certainly answers some of the contrast ratio issues we’ve had with LED – and the dot pitch and packaging are great. It took me a while to get that it was the LED package and resin they were talking about as a “Black LED.” I was about to point out that black was the absence of light – until I realized that was exactly what they were doing. Nice work, Barco. JRR More Recent Headlines Christie Projector Creates Images on Giant Ferris Wheel in Rio Christie Roadie 25K DLP projectors are powering a spectacular display of artistic images upon a 100-foot diameter Ferris wheel on Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana Beach. A trio of stacked Roadie projectors deliver a total of 75,000 ANSI lumens to reach the wheel, located more than 154 feet away. The projectors rest on a 39-foot scaffolding tower constructed to resist the area’s high winds, which can reach up to 80 mph. To read more, go to http://www.christiedigital.com Element Labs Versa TUBES Create Backdrop at Grammy Awards. The Grammy award ceremony’s spectacular stage set-up featured Element Labs’ Versa TUBE HD product, which provided both lighting and video effects as backdrop to the acts and award presentations. This year’s show, which featured over 1,700 Versa TUBE HD modules, was designed by Bob Dickenson, also known for his work as lighting designer on the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, the 78th Annual Academy Awards and the Athens Olympics Opening Ceremony. Dickenson chose the Versa TUBE HD in order to have a product that could function as both video display and lighting device. The Versa TUBES on the set were consistently white-balanced to accomplish very dynamic lighting effects during performances, while providing video background during the award ceremony presentations. For more information, go to http://www.elementlabs.com/VersaTUBE.html
Well, that's it for this edition of rAVe! Thank you for spending time with us as we muse the industry's happenings. To continue getting my newsletter, or to sign up a friend, click the link below. To send feedback, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write to Contributing Editor Joel Rollins at joelrollins@mac.com, Publisher Gary Kayye at gkayye@kayye.com or Editor-in-Chief Denise Harrison at dharrison@kayye.com A little about Gary Kayye, CTS, founder of rAVe and Kayye Consulting. Gary Kayye, an audiovisual veteran and columnist, began the widely-read KNews, a premier industry newsletter, in the late 1990s, and created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which later became InfoComm IQ. Kayye Consulting is a company that is committed to furthering the interests and success of dealers, manufacturers, and other companies within the professional audiovisual industry. rAVe Pro Edition was launched in February 2003. The rAVe Home Edition co-sponsored by CEDIA launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. To read more about my background, our staff, and what we do, go to http://www.kayye.com rAVe Rental [and Staging] contains the opinions of the authors only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. Copyright 2008 – Kayye Consulting – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact Kayye Consulting, 400 Meadowmont Village Circle, Suite 425 – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – 919/969-7501. Email: dharrison@kayye.com |
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