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Volume 6, Issue 10 — October 18, 2012
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A More Perfect Union
By Joel Rollins
rAVe Columnist Of all of the relationships in our industry, none is more important, or more misunderstood, then the relationship between unions and audiovisual suppliers. This relationship is as shrouded in myth as a Greek tragedy. In fact, the greatest sources of trouble are the misconceptions on both sides. Sadly, misunderstandings can also be expensive on both sides of the equation. Therefore, I thought it would be good to address them here.
First, let's address the myths:
- Unions are deliberately difficult, and seem to exist to challenge the right of the audiovisual supplier to work with their clients.
- Independent audiovisual suppliers are out to cheat the union of work that is guaranteed to them by contract.
Those are the myths. The truth lies somewhere in between them.
First, it is important to acknowledge that sometimes there are difficulties. However, more of these difficulties result from the different configuration and purpose of the two organizations than from any deliberate malice. Often, these difficulties result from the two sides misunderstanding each other, or their failure to take appropriate actions to prevent misunderstandings. These faults lie on both sides of the table.
Let's start with an illustration of the stereotypical attitude of the audiovisual supplier towards in-house unions in a venue.
An AV supplier walks into a bar…
In the dark bar, rooted to a stool he never seems to leave, is the head of the local stagehands union. He sips his cheap beer, and growls indifferently as the AV supplier enters. Seeing him, the AV supplier asks, "Hey, how many convention center stagehands does it take to change a lightbulb?"
The stagehand just sips his beer, and jerks his thumb at another guy seated farther down the bar. It's the head of the local electricians union. The stagehand growls, "We don't change light bulbs — it's their work."
So the A/V guy asks the electrician, "Hey, how many convention center electricians does it take to change a lightbulb?" The electrician answers in a surly voice, "Eight. You gotta problem with that?"
But before the A/V guy can answer, the stagehand growls, "Just remember it takes one of ours for every one of theirs."
However, while that story is being told by the AV guys in the booth, the stagehands and electricians are on the loading dock, smoking as usual, and telling the story of the AV supplier trying to sneak a semi-load of equipment onto the floor by passing it through a bathroom window one piece at a time.
The misunderstandings have a couple of real sources:
First, think about the differences in the basic work format of the two groups. The unions typically serve a facility, or geographical location. They provide services to everyone who comes into that venue. The suppliers follow clients. They are not rooted to a particular location, and simply want to serve the client wherever they go.
Therein lies the rub.
Also, remember that the union is essentially a political organization, chartered to serve its member workers. Unions have protected working conditions in America for many years, regardless of what you think about their current position in the workplace.
In organized venues, they typically establish rates for the various jobs, policies regarding crews and hours, and in most cases have a very defined working agreement with the venue over what work their members are entitled to. They typically adhere to either a strict or modified form of a working agreement format set out by their national headquarters. Usually in a contracted venue, the management of the venue has very little authority to make exceptions to these agreements — they can only ask.
These contracts are usually very standard and straightforward, if a bit long in some instances. However, because they are a political organization with some power in the venue, there can be an element of bread-and-circuses voting among the local rank-and-file.
On the other hand, the AV supplier is chartered to produce a profit — period. They go where the client goes, work the hours and jobs the client needs worked and, in my experience, pay very little attention to rules or policies because they are, for the most part, private, entrepreneurial companies. It’s that typical undefined “whatever it takes” style that has a tendency to aggravate venue unions… especially when they either don’t bother to understand the rules or deliberately try to get around them.
I have been on both sides of this conflict, at many points in my career. Let me tell you the plain and simple truth: NOBODY wins. Especially because the argument will almost certainly involve the end client in some way. At the very minimum, it’s going to wind up costing them money. At the worst, they will have to participate in an argument among their suppliers during a time they are already confused and stressed — they’re trying to hold an important event.
So here are some very simple procedures for avoiding these kinds of problems:
AV suppliers: Meet with the unions early! Take all the available information about your show. Get the entire working agreement and go over it point by point. Do this while going over your show, making sure that you understand which rules will apply to the things that you are doing. And make sure that at least one of the union personnel in that meeting will be somebody in charge on the day of the event.
Note: The oldest trick in the book is to not do this so that you can claim ignorance on the day of and try to get around the rules. It never, ever, ever works. Also note that if you need exceptions to the working agreement, such as operating positions for your people for specialized equipment, this is the time to negotiate them. You will not get them on site on the day of the show.
Unions: Be forthcoming about explaining your working agreements to incoming suppliers. Don’t let them be able to claim that you did not explain something to them. And, if your local has a BA or senior head who seems to have to throw the book at clients on-site a lot, get rid of him. He is not doing the job of explaining these things upfront. If you have a head of department or BA who brags about the additional charges he got on site on the day of, elect someone new. These people are costing you future business. And, just as a good working practice, remember that you are there to secure the work for your members and to assist the client in having a good show.
We’ll address these things a little more in an upcoming article and on the blog. In the meantime, be sure to pay attention to scheduled breaks for the crew. And a “Win with Hoffa” button wouldn’t hurt.
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contributor Joel R. Rollins, CTS, is general manager of Everett Hall Associates, Inc. and is well known throughout the professional AV industry for his contributions to industry training and his extensive background in AV rental, staging and installation. Joel can be reached at joelrollins@mac.com
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Christie Laser Projector Shines at IBC in 3D
By Matt Brennesholtz
Insight Media Christie Digital used a 63,000 lumen laser projector at IBC in the first screening of a full-length movie using a laser-illuminated projector. You read that right — 63,000 lumens, topping the 55,000 lumens Barco showed earlier in the year, with Barco in partnership with IMAX and Kodak.
The Barco/IMAX/Kodak demo showed the possibility of using a single projector to light up a really big screen, the kind IMAX likes, with a single projector. That demo used a 70-foot-wide (21.3 meters), matte Harkness screen with a 1.0 gain.
The Christie demo used a smaller 52-foot-wide (16-meter) silver screen with gain. Smaller is relative, of course, this is still a bigger screen than you will find in your typical multiplex even if it is smaller than the largest screens IMAX uses. Instead of using the 63,000 lumens to illuminate a super-large screen, the Christie demo used the high projector output to show Hugo in 3D at the 14 foot-lamberts specified for 2D presentations.
In his pre-show presentation, Dr. Don Shaw, senior director, Product Management, Christie Entertainment Solutions, asked, “Why is this [3.5-4.5 Ft.-L] sufficient for 3D when the 2D standard is 14 Ft.-L?” His answer, of course, was that it wasn’t sufficient, especially since 3D movies are often shown at even lower light levels, down to about 2 Ft.-L. Since there is no 3D light level specification for the cinema, he says this isn’t even “wrong,” since there is no specification defining “right.”
Shaw cited a couple scientific studies that said 3D caused eyestrain, headaches, trouble seeing, blurred/double vision, dizziness, disorientation and nausea/motion sickness. Shaw attributes some of this to the low light levels and low frame rates used in 3D presentations. While 24Hz may be marginally acceptable for 2D presentations, he contends it causes additional problems in 3D. Shaw said the problem was only partly due to the light level and frame rate. But Christie, as a projector manufacturer, can’t do anything about bad 3D content.
In addition to screening the full length of Hugo 3D at 14Ft.-L, Christie had a separate demonstration of 3D content at both 3 Ft.-L. and 14 Ft.-L. Clips from Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Puss in Boots and Hugo were used for this demo, but it was unclear if there were two different color grades for the content shown at these two very different lightlevels. This is when Dr. Shaw discussed the technology.
At this demo screening, there were two additional speakers: stereographers Demetri Portelli (‘Hugo’) and Corey Turner (‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’). Turner, who is currently VP of Post Production for Paramount, said, “Technologies like this will only help filmmakers fall even more in love with 3D. It will also finally give audiences a way to see all of the wonderful detail that the director and many members of their crew put into each and every shot. People will no longer cautiously question, '…is this really in 3D?' because they will be able to see and detect all of the subtle depth cues intended for the presentation.”
To produce 14 Ft.-L in 3D, the demo at IBC used a prototype Christie laser projector with 4K DLP imagers and a Christie Integrated Media Block (IMB). 3D technology from XpanD was used for the presentation. The movie was shown at 24 frame per second and tripled flashed as most movies are (not a high frame rate demo). This was a limitation of the content, not the projector or IMB.
The lasers were in a separate rack and connected to the projector head with a fiber optic cable. The manufacturer of the lasers was not specified but since Shaw used a photo of NECSEL lasers in his presentation and pointed out that Christie and NECSEL had the same parent company (Ushio) and that NECSEL is the “world’s leading supplier of projection grade lasers,” it is pretty safe to assume NECSEL lasers were used in the demo.
Don’t expect 14Ft.-L 3D in your multiplex cinema any time soon. Shaw said that he expects Christie to have projectors for the largest screens in about 18 months but even he expects “cost benefits and positive ROI will remain elusive.” He does not foresee widespread adoption of laser technology in the cinema for several (5+) years. We are looking forward to it, however.
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InfoComm: Wireless Mics and White Spaces: A Changed (and Changing) Landscape This column was reprinted with permission from InfoComm International and originally appeared here.
It’s been more than three years since the United States threw the metaphorical switch that transitioned the country from analog to digital broadcasting. In the process, it created a controversy around what are called “white spaces” – the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum that acts as a buffer between TV channels, and forced AV pros out of a popular frequency range. Considering the scale of the switchover from analog to digital, three years probably isn’t enough time to completely resolve a technology challenge of this magnitude, especially as it relates to pro audio and wireless microphones.
“You could say that the green flag has been waved but none of the horses have left the gate yet,” is how Chris Lyons, manager of technical and educational communications at Shure, described a situation that remains fluid, though not nearly as chaotic and often acrimonious as it was just a few years ago.
How We Got Here
To review: When the transition to digital broadcasting took place, it freed up large amounts of spectrum, much of it in the 700 MHz to 800 MHz range, which held analog TV channels 52 to 69. The valuable RF real estate was coveted by many large interests, including cellular carriers and members of the White Spaces Coalition, including Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP and Samsung, who saw it as a spawning ground for a wireless consumer device market worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Broadcasters, audio professionals and live events stagers, on the other hand, who had long used the white spaces frequencies in a highly controlled manner, voiced concern that a massive influx of unlicensed consumer users would wreak havoc on their operations, particularly for events such as sports. Producers of other live events, including theater owners and houses of worship, whose productions increasingly depend on the use of wireless microphones, were in that same camp.
In a series of decisions, the FCC acted mainly in favor of cellular carriers, public safety and the White Spaces Coalition. RF microphone systems using the 700-MHz spectrum were essentially evicted and the spectrum auctioned. That left the pro audio industry with pieces of spectrum beginning at 470 MHz and running up to about 698 MHz, where members of the White Spaces Coalition were eyeing bandwidth for new devices.
However, the FCC also provided some amelioration for events professionals and pro audio: at least two 6-MHz channels reserved specifically for professional wireless mic use in each geographic area (some markets even have more). In other words, in every U.S. market, there is supposed to be at least 12 MHz of available bandwidth in a desirable frequency band reserved for wireless mic use.
Of course, large wireless configurations — generally greater than 16 microphones — will require additional spectrum. To address this, more TV channels can be reserved to protect RF audio against interference from various TV band devices (TVBD, formerly known as white space devices, or WSD) that will be introduced in the consumer marketplace in the next several years. Licensed microphone users, such as broadcasters and their content providers, can reserve more channels directly; unlicensed users, such as live-entertainment productions, can submit a request to the FCC 30 days prior to their performances and, pending approval, reserve additional channels.
Following so far? There’s more.
The FCC also mandated the establishment of a database listing available frequencies nationwide and conditionally approved several private companies to administer the databases, of which two have completed their work and been certified: Spectrum Bridge and Telcordia. Channels reserved through one database administrator should be shared automatically with the other database providers so that mic users only need to register once with the database of their choice.
Finally, in a concession to wireless mics users, the FCC also placed significant restrictions on the use of RF devices in the old TV spectrum. For instance, unlicensed consumer devices fall under strict emission rules that prevent the direct use of IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wi-Fi) in a single channel, effectively making the new spectrum unusable for Wi-Fi technologies. In addition, smartphones and other wireless devices must also monitor the spectrum locally once every minute to confirm that no legacy wireless microphones, video-assist devices or other emitters are present.
And So?
Harold Blumberg, a frequency coordination specialist and consultant whose corporate event work recently included a convention for a large international real estate company in Orlando, Fla., that required 147 channels of wireless audio, says that despite everything, uncertainty clouds the future a RF operations. For example, he says, the need to apply for additional RF channels for large projects more than 30 days in advance may prove unrealistic.
“If you pick your frequencies 30 days out, you often find that things have changed when you actually get to the site,” he explains. As a result, on-site scans using commercial scanning software will be more necessary than ever as the most effective way to identify portable local radios, for instance, or challenges caused by local topography or the shielding afforded by various building construction.
“Compared to three years ago, it’s been steadily getting worse,” he says, noting the loss of bandwidth and the potential to lose even more in future government auctions. “A lot depends on how well manufacturers are able to fit more signal into less bandwidth with new technologies.”
Manufacturers are, indeed, adapting their technology to the new spectrum landscape, using digital RF filters to fit more channels of wireless into single bands, such as Shure’s new ULXD series, which can squeeze up to 47 channels into a TV channel. Lyons notes the irony of increased demand for RF audio systems at a time when the sector has become more complicated, comparing the allure that producers find in wireless audio to air conditioning: “Once you have it, it’s hard to live without it."
Geoff Shearing, president of Masque Sound, which in addition to working on numerous corporate and other live events is also one of three major AV systems providers to New York City’s theater district, agrees that the RF landscape is anything but settled in the wake of the white spaces controversy.
“We’re still waiting to see what will happen when [TVBDs] come on the market,” he says. “All we can do in the meantime is play by the rules and register our microphones with the database.”
Shearing says the shift has been complex, coming at a time when the average large theater production uses as many as 60 channels of wireless audio — three times what it required 20 years ago. He says he’s keenly watching the market develop new systems that can compress more channels into less spectrum, but that few of those systems have reached the market yet and none have been tested in high-density RF environments such as Broadway. And not all of the announced systems have products that fit theatrical requirements, such as very small beltpacks.
Masque and other major event systems providers also rely on software programs to help them manage their frequency allocations. One of those is IAS, a software program developed by Professional Wireless, a company Masque acquired several years ago. It lets users virtually drag and drop microphones of various manufacturers into a database that automatically calculates the best frequencies to use. Even with that kind of technology assist, Shearing says Masque and other major Broadway RF vendors, such as Sound Associates and PRG, bump into each other on occasion. “Normally, we’re competitors, but when it comes to Broadway, we have to work closely together and share information to make it work for everyone,” he says.
Few places even come close to what Broadway RF users have to contend with, but manufacturers are looking to make the process easier with seminars, free software, training and, in some cases, new services. For instance, Sennheiser will announce the availability this September of a new service through which the microphone maker will offer to register events that require spectrum beyond what’s normally available in a given market.
“We offer a lot of DIY guidance for this, but we also know how to push the buttons faster, which can make it easier for users,” says Joe Ciaudelli, director of advanced projects and educational services at Sennheiser. Pricing hasn’t been announced for the service, but Ciaudelli says it will be scaled to the event’s needs and “be in the hundreds of dollars, not the thousands.”
RF was always a complex proposition, and the white spaces turbulence made it more so. But technology has a remarkable propensity for being able to fix what politics scrambles. New RF audio systems will address newly constrained spectrum and a new informational infrastructure is already coming together around it. Like everything that digital technology has disrupted, it’s mostly a matter of getting used to it.
[Note: Since this story was first published, it was edited to clarify the two separate white spaces issues that affected pro audio: the FCC’s auctioning of spectrum in the 700 MHz range and its allowance of new wireless devices in the 470 to 698 MHz range.]
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InfoComm International Appoints David Labuskes as New Executive Director and CEO InfoComm International announced a new executive director today, David Labuskes, CTS. He is currently vice president of RTKL, a division of ARCADIS, one of the world's leading architectural and engineering firms and founder of the company's Technology Design Practice. Labuskes' responsibilities at the company are full operational, financial and marketing strategy for the delivery of design services around the world. He's responsible for key account business development, client relationship management, P&L and product development. He also has over 20 years of IT and software development experience.
Current Executive Director and CEO Randal A. Lemke said, "I've had the pleasure of knowing and working with Dave for more than 10 years. I was delighted when I heard the search committee chose him."
rAVe founder Gary Kayye said, "David is an AV insider, exactly what we needed at InfoComm. His technological expertise and leadership at RTKL is legendary and he'll be a great leader of InfoComm and visionary for our industry."
The InfoComm search committee for the new executive director and CEO was made up of Johanne Belanger, Lee Dodson, Matt Emerson, CTS, Jim Ford, PE, Greg Jeffreys, Mark Valenti, CTS and Tony Warner, CTS-D, who chaired the committee. In March, InfoComm retained Korn/Ferry International to assist in conducting the search.
Current InfoComm Executive Director and CEO Randy Lemke, Ph.D. announced this past January that he planned to retire at the end of the year. Lemke joined InfoComm in 1996 as vice president of education. In 1997, he pioneered InfoComm Academy Online, an Internet-based training system for the AV industry, which currently has 3,000 students enrolled daily. He became executive director and CEO of InfoComm in 2000.
Lemke holds board positions, and has been the chairman of Integrated Systems Events, LLC, a joint venture European trade show company, and InfoComm Asia PTE, Ltd., a joint venture company in Singapore operating InfoComm's Asian tradeshows. He is the founding and current chairman of the STEP Foundation, a jointly supported foundation composed with other industry associations to bring sustainability to the process of planning, designing, integrating and operating technology systems and reduce long-term environmental impact from technology deployment. He has also served as chief executive of ICIF, InfoComm's charitable foundation.
In January, Lemke said, "It has been an honor to serve the needs of such an exciting and innovative industry these past years, and it's with mixed feelings that I leave the wonderful team of professionals and close friends I have made here at InfoComm."
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Share Article Back to Top Christie Add Four New 1-Chip DLP E Series Projector Models Christie also added four new 1-chip DLP E Series projectors to its product lineup this week with the Christie DHD675-E, Christie DWU675-E, Christie DHD775-E and the Christie DWU775-E. The new Christie E Series models offer a dual lamp design that provides increased brightness ranging from 6,450 to 7,200 lumens, a choice between HD (1920×1080) and WUXGA (1920×1200) resolutions and delivers up to 5,000:1 contrast ratio thanks to the Dynamic Contrast feature.
These models are aimed at board rooms, conference rooms, auditoriums, government, higher ed and houses of worship. They also include an optional dual processor warp module for blending and warping images, color matching and an optional stacking system, making it ideal for rental and staging applications.
The new Christie E Series models feature a dust-sealed light engine and dual mercury lamps that have the unique ability to optimize lamp configuration to maximize lamp operation in 24/7 applications. Also included is a high brightness six-segment color wheel (RGBCYW) with an optional rich color wheel (RGBCYM) available when color precision is needed. Christie says the color wheel ensures radiant colors while eliminating artifacts from rapidly moving content.
The new E series projectors will ship in November.
To see all the specs, click here: http://www.christiedigital.com/en-us/business/products/projectors/1-chip-dlp/e-series/pages/default.aspx
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New AVB-Based Yamaha-Branded Dante Card Ships The Audinate Dante-MY16-AUD Mini-YGDAI interface card marketed by Yamaha Corporation has been updated to allow remote head amp control. The updated version allows the head amps in the Rio3224-D and Rio1608-D I/O rack units to be remotely controlled from an M7CL or LS9 digital mixing console.
The Dante network audio protocol, developed by the Australia based Audinate, is a network-based audio platform that Audinate says guarantees low jitter and latency of audio over a network. Yamaha’s collaboration with Audinate began in 2009 with the development of the Dante-MY16-AUD interface card, and this year’s release of the Yamaha CL series digital mixing consoles saw the world’s first implementation of Dante as the standard built-in protocol. With this update the Rio3224-D and Rio1608-D I/O rack units that could previously only be used with the CL series can now be used with digital mixing consoles such as the M7CL and LS9 that do not feature built-in Dante communication capability.
Get more specs here: http://www.yamahaproaudio.com
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Ships High-Res VGA Line Driver with EDID Minder Extron is now shipping its new Extender Plus VGA and Audio Line Driver with EDID Minder. This one-input, one-buffered-output line driver extends VGA-QXGA and HDTV component video along with audio signals up to 250 feet (75 meters). Unbalanced computer stereo audio is converted to balanced, line level stereo audio to eliminate noise usually associated with unbalanced audio when distributed over long cable runs. It features EDID Minder, which automatically manages EDID communication between connected devices to ensure that the source powers up properly and reliably outputs content for display. The Extender Plus is available in Decora-style and AAP form factors, providing convenient AV access and signal extension for a wide variety of environments.
To maintain signal integrity over long distances, the Extender Plus provides video amplification and peaking control to compensate for attenuation that can occur in long cable runs. Proper signal compensation supports a more detailed image with greater contrast. It also offers EDID capture mode, selectable resolutions and refresh rates and real-time status LED indicators for system monitoring. Both versions also include an energy-efficient, external universal power supply for worldwide compatibility.
To see all the specs, click here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=extenderplus&s=5
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Share Article Back to Top Vewell LCD Tiling Video Wall At InfoComm MEA, a little-knows Chinese manufacturer, Vewell, will show its LCD video wall with narrow bezel display. The company says the gap between the two displays can be as narrow as 1 millimeter.
With high brightness spec of 700 cd/m² and offering 1920×1080 resolution display, the video wall supports inputs such as VGA, HDMI and DVI as well as SDI. It can be controlled via IP or RS485. Vewell also claims the display has a 50,000 hour life.
Here are the stats: http://www.vewell.com/tiling.shtml
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Dual Link DVI Fiber Optic Extender Now Shipping Extron is shipping its DDX 102 Dual Link DVI Fiber Optic Extender, a transmitter and receiver set for long haul delivery of DVI signals over fiber optic cabling. It uses all digital technology to deliver perfect pixel-for-pixel transmission of video images up to 2560×1600, including HDTV 1080p/60. The extender delivers dual link DVI-D signals up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) over two multimode cables or single link DVI signals over one fiber optic cable.
The DDX 102 transmitter and receiver feature industry standard LC-type connectors and can be used for point-to-point fiber optic applications with dual link DVI requirements. The units connect directly to the DVI source and display devices, eliminating the need for additional mounting hardware. EDID Minder automatically manages EDID by maintaining continuous communication with the source, ensuring that it powers up properly and reliably outputs content for display. The transmitter also provides an EDID capture mode to store display EDID.
Check out all the specs here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=ddx102&search=DDX%20102
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Share Article Back to Top Christie Introduces Twist 4K At IBC in Europe this month, Christie introduced Christie Twist 4K, a product that will warp, blend and color match multiple 4K projectors. Create large, ultra-high resolution canvases on almost any shape or surface. Christie Twist 4K includes quad DVI inputs so you can use standard 4K sources. Inputs include four DVI-D at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30Hz for display of full 4K resolution (4096×2160), four 2048×1080 quadrants or two 2048×2160 split screen halves.
You can see all the details here: http://www.christiedigital.com/en-us/products/accessories/Pages/Christie-Twist-4K-141-001102-XX.aspx
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Share Article Back to Top For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe Rental [and Staging] Edition out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue! For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100 percent opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the ProAV industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that's why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad). Don't like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below. To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter. Instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas, Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I've been in the AV-industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don't think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue, which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition. Everything we publish is Opt-in — we spam NO ONE! rAVe ProAV Edition is our flagship ePublication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA and launched in February 2004, is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in November 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in January 2009. We added rAVe GreenAV in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in July 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com To read more about my background, our team and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2012 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln., Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe Rental [and Staging] 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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