Volume 20, Issue 42 — November 9, 2022

rAVe ProAV Edition — Volume 20, Issue 42

November 9, 2022 | Volume: 20 | Issue: 42

Writing to let you guys know of how wonderful of a time I had at Zoomtopia 2022. (The show is still going on today, by the way, I am just leaving today!) This trade show/conference hybrid was one of the most fun I’ve ever attended. From great sessions to cool products and fun swag and a concert from Nelly (????) it was such a cool experience.

The theme for this newsletter is all about the diversity in our industry. Scott Tiner writes about some of the ways you can look for diverse candidates during a hiring process. If you’re wondering why that’s so important the answer is clear: The more diverse your place of work, the better innovation will be. I’m a firm believer that people from all different walks of life will together come up with the best ideas — Scott also writes about this a little more eloquently. Read his piece.

Also, AVIXA’s report on the racial pay gap is incredibly important. Please go read it and learn more about where our industry stands with this. It’s the first step in continuing to make it better.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’ve got to go catch my plane.

— Steph Beckett

COLUMNS

+ Diversity in Hiring [Scott Tiner]

I recently had a position open on my team, and decided that we were going to make recruiting a diverse talent pool a priority. As many have discussed over the years, IT tends to be a very homogenous area (high percentage of white men). This homogeneity leads to groupthink, customers not feeling like they are welcome or understood and a wide variety of other issues. Bringing in diverse experiences, thoughts and beliefs is clearly the best way to improve teams and the service they provide.

+ Better Is Not Good Enough: The Racial Pay Gap Still Exists [Peter Hansen and Joé Lloyd]

ProAV is facing what is probably the tightest labor market in its history, with company labor needs greatly outstripping worker availability. As detailed in our latest “Macroeconomic Trends Analysis” report, these conditions have created major hiring and retention difficulties that companies are struggling to solve.