I’m sure you’re all pretty sick of hearing about convergence. It’s been the buzzword from InfoComm, NSCA and most of our major publications for, oh, the last decade. IT is coming! Convergence is upon us! Adapt or die! The clarion call has been shouted from rooftops, proclaimed in industry classes and discussed endlessly — in roundtables and keynotes […]
I just learned that Eugene Polley passed away on Sunday at age 96. Most of you are now saying, “Who?” Eugene Polley is widely credited as the inventor of the television remote control. In the 1950s, Polley was the Zenith engineer who developed the Flash-Matic television control unit, along with many other innovations. In his nearly 50-year career, he earned 18 US patents and […]
Peter Shankman is a genius and a social media and marketing GIANT. He’s also a great guy who curates and shares a lot of fabulous content online and shares with his network… in which I am lucky to be included. He just read a great (okay, greatly depressing) posting on BuzzFeed by a guy named Matt Stopera called “48 Things That […]
I’m not at NAB this week, but if I were, I’d be stopping by Booth SU10519 to visit Cabletime USA. Cabletime is the manufacturer ofMediaStar TV, Multimedia and Digital Signage Delivery Systems. Okay, I’ll be honest here. I don’t know much at all about Cabletime and their MediaStar product. Seriously. Like, I’ve heard of it in passing. It could be the best thing on the planet […]
So, I caught the remake of Arthur on a cable movie channel the other day. I’m absolutely NOT a fan of Russell Brand and was quite upset to hear that they were remaking the movie originally. While it was never high art or anything, the original Arthur is a bit of a classic and good […]
Yesterday, I got a very vivid illustration of just how powerful Social Media can be. I grew up in a very small town in Western PA. Very small. Like, 200 houses maximum, small. The town was settled in the early1800s by about 25 families, who lingered and intermarried until today when pretty much everyone is related […]
I recently started a new job, after more than a year of freelance jobs and short-term contracts in and out of the AV industry. I’ve now “tasted” a variety of companies in different segments of our industry and now that I’ve returned to my roots as a systems integrator, I’m discovering that I’ve suffered from […]
It’s New Year’s Eve… the end of 2011. It has been a crazy year in general – for the world, for our nation, for the economy, and both personally and professionally for AVDawn. I will not bore you with endless lists and recaps of 2011, nor will I take this time to play perfect prognosticator and […]
With sincerest apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, I hereby present, “A Pittsburgh Christmas” — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, All the family was scurrying like an A.D.D mouse. […]
This Friday past, the Women in AV (WAVE) held their first ‘international’ tweet-up, with live events held simultaneously in 10 cities around the US and via Twitter, worldwide. For a first-effort, I’d say this event was a rousing success. Thanks to the BlogSquad’s own Jennifer Willard for working so hard to put this event together! In Washington, […]
I’ve gotten a lot of fantastic feedback from my last blog, Preach It – including having the blog featured on last week’s AVWeek podcast by AVNation. And every word is honest truth… As an AV pro, you have to be passionate about your field and about the technology and about the work you do. However, there can […]
The AV industry has existed a very long time now. Our trade association, Infocomm, itself celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2009. Yet, despite this long history, and despite the fact that products from our industry are integral to daily life around the world (mics, speakers, TVs, computer monitors, etc), we are still widely unknown and overlooked by many. It took […]
The East Coast Earthquake and Social Media’s Omnipresence So, I’m sitting here in my living room this afternoon, working on an upcoming rAVe article on Safety Standards when suddenly the entire house starts shaking. The windows rattle, as do the plates in the china cupboard and the frames and decorations on the walls. Having experienced a 3.6 […]
The Economy, US Credit Downgrade and Little Fish I was working on a new Little Fish Tales (on dealing with manufacturers as a Little Fish… stay tuned!) when news broke on Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the US Credit Rating from AAA to AA+ for the first time ever. As the economy has been […]
As an AV pro and a social media enthusiast, I tend to keep an eye on the Twitterverse throughout my day. We’ve developed quite the community of AV professionals on that platform, and you never know when something profound, beneficial or earth-shattering will come across the Twitterfeed that can impact our businesses – a link to an article, research, […]
The other day, I read a blog by Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting) called “Twitter’s Top 75 Badass Women.” This wonderful article – which can be read at http://tinyurl.com/Top75Women – detailed 75 great ladies on Twitter who have a passion for their jobs and share it well. As Ms. Adams wrote: “We got together and compiled a list of […]
Welcome to Little Fish Tales. I have decided that I will periodically devote some of my blog space to real world tales from the small integrator – some rants, some raves, some random observations – all from the perspective of the little guy. In future editions of Little Fish Tales, I’ll share some of the […]
Okay, so I’m not generally one to buck industry trends entirely, but I have to say, I’m simply not on this 3-D bandwagon. Since 2008, we’ve been inundated with 3-D as the be-all, end-all of coming AV display trends. At the 2010 Infocomm, you couldn’t swing aswagbag without smacking a 3-D projector, 3-D flat-panel display, or 3-D […]
