Welcome to another edition of rAVe! If you are still deciding whether or not to get to InfoComm early to come to the manufacturers forum, read my editorial this issue. I give you ten excellent reasons to join me there. Personally, I can't wait. With all the happenings lately, this is the IDEAL panel! Also this issue, I'm announcing an auction for my favorite charity, Swim for Smiles. The highest two bidders get a FREE ad in rAVe in the pre- and post-InfoComm issues!!!! Read the details below. Finally, congratulations to Sandy Schroeder, soon to be retired from Shure, and this year's recipient of NSCA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was given the award at NSCA and gave one of the most heartfelt acceptance speeches ever. I've worked with Sandy in a number of capacities over the years and he's the consummate professional. Best of luck in your future, Sandy, and enjoy a well-deserved retirement somewhere warm and QUIET. Enjoy the issue! Gary Kayye, CTS Special Announcement Join Gary Kayye as he Moderates the Fourth Annual InfoComm Manufacturers Forum! If you're interested in candid, insightful opinions about the current and future state of the AV industry, it's an event not to be missed! And, it's free to all attendees! To read about last year's forum, go to http://www.ravepro.com/issues/2006/07/vol4_iss13/index.html#d2 For registration information, go to http://www.infocommshow.org/html/842_2572.htm Charity Auction Donate to Swim for Smiles – Win a Free Banner Ad in rAVe! Swim for Smiles began in 2005 when founder Gary Kayye had a vision to create an exciting, worthwhile charity event that would inspire young swimmers to use their talents to help others. It started as a swim meet between the CCR Sharks swim team and the Hope Valley Farms' Flying Fish swim team to raise money for the children's hospitals at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. Only one summer later, it was adopted by the entire Chapel Hill-Durham summer swim league, with the co-chairs for the 2006 event being Frank Comfort, UNC's head swim coach, and Dan Colella, Duke's head swim coach. Kayye's dream is to eventually take Swim for Smiles national. With more than 2,500 summer swim leagues in the U.S., each has an average of 10 teams, with most team rosters listing more than 75 swimmers. Summer swim leagues are known for great fun and competition. The Triangle area is no different. In Chapel Hill and Durham alone, there are more than 25 summer swim league teams and a half-dozen year-round teams. To send in your bid, write to Gary at gkayye@kayye.com with your proposed donation. Submissions must be received by May 25, 2007. For more on Swim for Smiles, go to http://www.swimforsmiles.org/ Thanks to our sponsor D-Tools, worldwide leader in easy-to-use, highly accurate system design software. System Integration just got easier!
rAVe — the most widely-read eNewsletter in the ProAV industry — is offering a way to extend the life of your application stories. Within the newsletter, we will link to your case study in a special section called AV in Action – the Case Study Quarterly. The entire rAVe subscriber list can read YOUR case study/application story for three whole months. Space is limited. Contact Sara Abrons at sabrons@kayye.com.
Editorial 10 Reasons Why You Should Attend the Manufacturer's Forum at InfoComm By Gary Kayye 10. Just look at the panelists. Heck, just having Andrew Edwards, founder of Extron, and George Feldstein, founder of Crestron, on the panel together is reason in itself to go. 9. I think I will sit George and Andrew next to each other. 8. Harman's Michael MacDonald will be there and his $5 billion company was purchased last month for $8 billion. 7. What else are you going to do Monday afternoon before the big pre-show party? 6. The panelists don't get the questions before the event – making their comments unscripted. 5. Extron's new dealer policy has caused quite a stir in the market and the person who created it will be on the panel! 4. The HD videoconferencing market has taken off but now Cisco is banging on the ProAV door. Come hear what Tandberg president Rick Snyder thinks of the IT giant's plan. 3. Christie Digital is one of the oldest projector manufacturers in the market, have one of the most loyal dealer channels and they're still profitable. How'd they do it? 2. You (the audience) get to ask questions of the panelists! 1. I will make an announcement that will SHOCK you!
Special Announcement rAVe eNewsletters Sponsoring Digital Signage Pavilion at InfoComm Digital signage is one of the fastest growing components in the AV industry and is one more factor driving the convergence of the worlds of AV and IT. InfoComm's Market Reseach forecasts digital signage to reach over 1 million displays by 2009 and industry players estimate that digital signage orders are growing by 10% each month. Digital signage is bringing AV into supermarkets, car dealerships, retail stores and other places where AV has never appeared before. rAVe is the media sponsor for the Digital Signage Pavilion at InfoComm. Here are some of the events you won't want to miss. Experience the most dynamic digital signage applications presented by more than 100 companies demonstrating their newest products and technologies. The pavilion features displays by the top companies in the field, including Accordent, Ingram Micro, Matrox, Omnivex, Scala, Stampede, Wireless Ronin and X2O Media. Gold Sponsor: Sony Media Sponsor: rAVe Supporting Organization POPAI, the global association for marketing at-retail Experience applications for environments ranging from airport terminals to casinos and office buildings in the Digital Signage Application Showcase in Hall E. Sponsored by Sony and integrated by Spinitar, the showcase will feature fully functional signage applications deployed around the world and impacting your everyday life. Part of the display area will focus on where the digital signage industry is moving. Dynamic Digital Signage Super Monday Session Manufacturers Training Choose from nearly a dozen Manufacturers Training courses, June 18-21 – all focused on digital signage. Subjects range from Design, Specification and Installation to Fast and Easy Mounting Technologies, as well as How to Webcast Live Video and Media Successfully over the Internet and Fiber Optic Applications and Products for AV. Learn from the experts at Avocent, Chief Manufacturing, Communications Specialties, OmniMount Systems, Peerless Industries, Roku and VBrick Systems. The modest fee is only $25 to attend each product- and service-course by InfoComm exhibitors. And you receive a $25 coupon to spend at the InfoComm Show Store on books, market surveys, software, hats, shirts and much more! Use the TRAINING SEARCH at www.infocommshow.org to see the complete list of offerings. Interested in Exhibiting? The Show floor is nearly sold-out. Contact EXHIBITSALES@ INFOCOMMSHOW.ORG to secure your booth today.
New HD 3D Projectors From Christie up Resolution by 41 Percent The company says its new platform allows images to be powered at 120Hz from a regular workstation computer – full, true HD stereo images can be powered by basically any computer graphic card. There are four models in the series. The Mirage HD3 is specified at 2,800 ANSI lumens, the Mirage HD6 at 6,000 ANSI lumens, the Mirage HD8 at 8,000 ANSI lumens, and the Mirage HD18 with up to 17,500 ANSI lumens. They can be used as single projector systems, or scale up to high-end multi-projector arrays. Accessories include ChristieTWIST image warping and edge-blending module, input modules for dual SD/HD-SDI, DVI and legacy interface modules, and HD lenses. For more information, go to http://www.christiedigital.com
Panorama Labs Says Magneto-Photonic Crystal Projector is Operational The company hopes the platform will be used for digital cinema projectors, rear projection TVs, home theater projectors, commercial displays, mass storage, and telecom switching devices. They expect it to compete with LCD, LCoS, and plasma in digital display, and DLP in theatrical display. For more information, go to http://www.panoramalabs.com/index.html
Premier Shipping 360-Degree Mount for Flat Panels This mount is PERFECT and will be a big hit in ProAV as its flexibility for installations is second to none. You can position the tilt upward 35 degrees and 10 degrees downward. MSRP is $349.99. For more information, go to http://www.premiermounts.com/product.asp?partID=1452
New Optional DVI I/O for Broadcast Pix Slate Switchers MSRP is $900, and it will be available late this year as an option for the Slate HD I/O board. For more information, go to http://www.broadcastpix.com/
New ProAV Racks From Mayville The Stantron Presentation Rack is mobile, designed for classrooms, conference rooms and board rooms. The PowerMount system is for mounting vertical power strips within the rack. This is a nice design — PowerMount systems offer a 180 degree swivel feature to rotate the power strip during maintenance or integration. The entire strip can face the front, middle or back of the cabinet. The rotating feature also reduces bends in cabling, and more power can be added as needed. For more information, go to http://www.stantronracks.com/whatsnew/Products.aspx
Minicom Showcasing Complete Player-to-Screen Distribution at Digital Signage Expo Also on display will be the DS OpticVision, a long range, optical fiber extension and distribution system that extends multimedia transmission by up to 19 miles between the media player and LCD/plasma screens. It does this, says the company, without loss of signal. Nice. For more information, go to http://www.minicom.com/pressreleases_in68.htm
New Public Flat-Panel Kiosks From Bretford The FPDK02 has a CPU holder for applications such as those mentioned above. The company also intends these for facilities where workers can access company networked information from wherever they are, rather than having to return to their specific workstations. These kiosks have keyboard trays that fold up when not in use, to keep them safe and out of the way. Both of the kiosks attach directly to the wall at walk-up height but can also be mounted lower for wheelchair access. The monitor and keyboard tray both mount independently on the track, so the users can make height adjustments. The FPDK01 includes a 31.5" aluminum alloy wall track and the FPDT02 includes two 31.5" wall tracks (one for the CPU holder). Prices start at $520. For more information, go to http://www.bretford.com/products/overview.asp?id=326§ion=6
Digital Signage Products From Planar on Display at Digital Signage Expo The prototype of the new iS40 Integrated Sign display appliance will be shown with a 40-inch display and uses the CoolSign digital signage content software. The iS40 will ship later this year. The DS15 is an all-in-one integrated kiosk using a flat-panel touchscreen and an optional magnetic stripe or Smart Card Reader. As for the new commercial displays, the 57-inch m57L, which began shipping in March, is a direct-view LCD monitor. The 40-inch Bobcat X LCD is for standalone applications. They will also show the 46-inch Bay Cat X and 50-inch rear-projection monitor. For more information, go to http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=111133&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=999697&
InfoComm, Telecom Conference NXTcomm, to Co-Locate in Vegas for '08 InfoComm has 800 exhibitors, 28,000 attendees and more than 450,000 net square feet of exhibit space. InfoComm will occupy the North and Central Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2008 and 2010. NXTcomm is a new conference co-owned by the Telecommunications Industry Association and the United States Telecom Association. It focuses on the business and technology of communications, information and entertainment. NXTcomm, which will occupy the South Hall, has more than 450 exhibitors, 200,000 net square feet of exhibit space and more than 100 educational sessions, For more information, go to http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/avindustry_4287.htm InfoComm also announced that more than 6,500 ProAV professionals have earned a CTS credential. InfoComm says this is a 44% increase in CTS holders since January 2006. Also, ANSI has officially accepted InfoComm's letter of intent to formally begin the application and review process that will ultimately lead to the ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 Personnel Certification Accreditation of the CTS and CTS-I exams. For more, go to http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/
EduComm 2007 to be Keynoted by David Pogue and Alan Kay David Pogue is the personal-technology columnist for The New York Times and an award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. He is also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. Alan Kay, a personal computing visionary, is responsible for much of how we interact with technology, from the graphical interface and the laptop computer to client servers and P2P networking. EduComm is co-located with InfoComm. As part of the conference, attendees can also explore the EduComm Pavilion: "Tomorrow's Classroom – Today." This special area of the exhibit floor will provide an in-depth look at the latest technologies from EduComm sponsors, including Anystream Apreso, Dell, Extron Electronics, Sonic Foundry and SMART Technologies. For registration information, go to http://educomm.educatorsportal.com/
Schroeder Awarded NSCA Lifetime Achievement Honor Sandy Schroeder has been named as the 2007 recipient of the NSCA Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given annually to an individual making exceptional contributions to the industry at large. Schroeder, who has spent most of his long and celebrated career holding a number of marketing and sales titles at Shure Inc., accepted the award during a special presentation made at this year's President's Reception at NSCA Expo in Orlando. "I have known Sandy for more than 20 years," NSCA Executive Director Chuck Wilson notes. "His career has been filled with service to our industry, dedication to improving our association, and strong professional ethics. I cannot think of a finer gentleman who is more deserving of NSCA's Lifetime Achievement Award." Since the late '80s, Schroeder has served the NSCA on its Expo committee and industry advisory board, given support to its leadership conferences, and assisted in the sponsorship of countless Expo events ranging from the Expo Jam to training sessions. For almost a decade now, he has also led funding drives on behalf of the NSCA Education Foundation that have routinely netted five and six-figure sums, and has been instrumental in encouraging other manufacturers to contribute as well through a matching campaign championed by both Shure and Atlas Sound. May 31st of this year is his last day with Shure before officially retiring. "My greatest pleasure has been working with the people I've met throughout the industry," he confides. "I'll always relish the friendship and camaraderie I've found. If you have to work for a living, it should be enjoyable, and on that level I've been blessed. Among lifetime achievements, that's the best reward anyone could ask for." For more details, go to http://www.nsca.org
Well, that's it for this edition of rAVe! Thank you for spending time with me as we muse the industry's happenings. To continue getting my newsletter, or to sign up a friend, click the link below. To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write to me at gkayye@kayye.com or for editorial: Denise Harrison at dharrison@kayye.com A little about me: Gary Kayye, CTS, founder of 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. Gary Kayye's rAVe was launched in February 2003. rAVe Home Edition co-sponsored by CEDIA launched in February, 2004. To read more about my background, our staff, and what we do, go to http://www.kayye.com Copyright 2007 – 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 Gary Kayye's rAVe contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors.
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