Joel Rollins

rAVe Rental [and Staging] contributor Joel R. Rollins is the founder of Steamroller Digital 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.

Famous Last Words

Each year at this time, I am alerted to the coming of spring by that special fragrance that’s in the air, by those sounds that indicate the coming of a new season. In our business, that fragrance is the smell of shrink wrap and packing peanuts, and it harkens the coming of new technologies that […]

I arrived home last night after a whirlwind day of post-show meetings and goodbyes in Amsterdam. Now, with a profound case of jet-lag, I am sitting down with all my notes and recordings to put this year’s show into some perspective. First, however, let me say something about the effort in which I was fortunate […]

An AWESOME day today — the crowd is great, the mix of manufacturers and buyers is strong, and around the new tech exhibits it can be difficult to move. And that’s great for a trade show. Gary and I did a new edition of “THE WEEK” live from the floor, and its being posted today, […]

Well, ISE 2014 is nearing opening tomorrow morning. The rAVe booth is up, but is the center of a construction area as the stands on either side of us are running late. So, as I sit here writing this, I am being coated in a fine layer of sawdust and can barely hear myself think. […]

We all talk about digital signage systems as if they are the wave of the future, or at the very least as if they are very “now”. To be proven wrong, you need only take a look at the Displaymaker signage system, marketed by Eastman Kodak circa 1988. When I was at Audio Visual Systems, […]

Happy New Year, readers! Last month’s column left our hero (yours truly, since I’m writing this) promising to explore the skill set required for the successful rental and staging technician. It’s quite a list, starting with a firm understanding of how things work in the physical world, and this month moving on to include interpersonal […]

In my last newsletter article, I took on the art of end-of-year predictions. Predictably, I copped out by predicting that we wouldn’t get any smarter about a lot of things. Today, let me continue my proud tradition of journalistic excellence with another major exposé of a bogus holiday tradition that many of us indulge in […]

As I mentioned in my last column in rAVe’s Rental and Staging e-newsletter, I read a lot of business books but totally embrace the ideas in very few of them. Most of the time, I am very pleased to get just one or two ideas from each one that I can apply to my own […]

Well, another year draws to a close in the rental and staging industry. As I sit here, filling out a box of Christmas cards with comical pictures of Santa holding a MacBook Pro, I am reflecting on what has happened in our industry this year. It has been an interesting year, both in the audiovisual […]

Over the last two issues, we’ve talked about the emerging generation of executive clients, and how the attitudes and expectations of that generation will change the way they make business decisions, and thus (if we are smart) the way we do business. Among these changes, broadly, are the tendency to distribute information more widely and […]

Last month, we talked about the idea that the next generation of client will have changing standards in quality, production values and even the very nature of work and communication. I proposed that these changes would create fundamental differences in the way they made purchase decisions, especially those involving the public communications aspect of what […]

I have always had two ways of defining a professional. The first, and the one I use most often, is that a professional is someone who gets paid for their work. Admittedly, sometimes, in the audiovisual industry, this is a difficult thing to achieve. The second way I have had of defining a professional is […]

From my first days in the industry, I was cautioned against knocking the competition. And, truth to tell, it’s a really bad idea. The CIA would call it blowback, my wife would call it uncouth, and my old-time hippie neighbor Dave would call it bad karma. Whatever, saying nasty things about the competition always, always, […]

Picture this: You’re shopping for a new car. You have a vacation road trip coming up, and you really want new wheels. Your friends have recommended that you look at a couple of cars, at a couple of different dealerships, at a couple of different manufacturers. You approach a salesman at one of the dealerships, […]

Well, InfoComm is over. And I say that with somewhat of a sigh of relief. I spent a lot of the show seated at the podcasting table in the middle of the cacophony that was the rAVe booth, behind a group of overly energetic young people doing some kind of a line dance reminiscent to […]

Big day today – trying to see the show while hosting half a dozen podcasts. Great guests today, Gary, Jennifer Willard from WAVE, Jim Smith from Polycom, and this afternoon a group of attendees from “Down Under” at 2:30. In terms of the show floor, it is packed, much busier than yesterday. Lots of new […]

Been having a great morning at the show. The industry is obviously picking up steam, so I have talked to a lot of friends in the booths who are encouraged by the new products and the level of business. At the same time, InfoComm’s marketing thrust is obviously showing. There are more people here representing […]

OK, this is what I call product confidence. Barco has set up a number of free meeting rooms with large displays, and no way to connect to them except the provided ClickShare systems. I tried it (full disclosure: I DO know ClickShare already), but was also around when new users tried it. And it worked, […]

Great show so far — the crowd on the floor seemed a little light at first, but after many years of staging shows here, I can tell you that that is often illusionary, because the convention center is spread out so far. This place is one enormous barn – I remember the first time I […]

Is Your 401k HDCP Compliant?

I have discovered a new way to keep my employees from talking to clients in intimidating AV jargon. It’s easy – just send them to open a retirement account. I did this yesterday, and realized that they talk just like we do – and it is an eye-opener. “Good afternoon, Mr. Rollins. I understand you […]

In today’s THE WEEK, rAVe RADIO’s Joel Rollins talks to PLANAR’s Senior Director of Global Product Marketing Steve Seminario about the future of Planar and what the company is going to have at InfoComm. Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

The live events industry has grown massive, driven by a confluence of factors. The music industry continues to rely heavily on concert touring to replace revenues lost to digital distribution and piracy; sporting events are getting bigger and more global, with branded spectaculars from ESPN’s X Games to a year’s worth of run-up games to […]

This week, following the news Joel speaks with Matt Ivey of Atomos about the new products they’ll be bringing to the show. With this episode, The Week begins a series of interviews with manufacturers and participants about the upcoming Infocomm Exhibition. Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new […]

The world of commercial audio visual, the world of shows and installations, is a world that is increasingly multilingual. But it’s not just the languages that we people speak — it’s happening in our inventory as well. Think about this: Only twenty years ago, virtually all AV equipment was controlled through switches or relay closures, […]

After the news, Joel talks with Neil Willis, CEO of Hypersign and a new rAVe Radio sponsor, about Hypersign and the current state of the digital signage market. Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

Last week, we skipped the AV news to address industry safety issues with Scott Tiner, so this week we catch up on some important (and controversial) issues in industry news… Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

In a special edition of THE WEEK, Joel talks with Scott Tiner, rAVe columnist and assistant director of user services at Bates College in Maine, about safety in the audiovisual industry. Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

TerrorBytes

Like most of you, I have been watching the evolving story in Boston over the last couple of days. Like most of you, I am aghast at the depths of human cruelty – and yet uplifted by the fact that, while causing bloodshed, mayhem and death, the terrorists (and that’s what they are, no matter […]

Deadly AV

Well, it has been an interesting, and not necessarily good, week. First, the story about the digital signage system collapsing and killing a child in an airport, and this morning, the news that a crew member was killed in a horrific fall from the rigging in San Antonio. Around my office, we often use the […]

After the AV news, Joel talks with Chris Gillespie, longtime friend, colleague and trainer, about training stagers vs. installers – the needs of each, and how the skill sets and attitudes are different… Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

After the news, Joel speaks with Chuck Wilson, Executive Director of the NSCA, about his new book. Links: UnderTheSocialInfluence.com nscafoundation.org Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS

Nothing goes away on the Internet

I was explaining to a friend the other day that nothing on the Internet ever really disappears. This is been the subject of a number of posts on this blog, including posts by myself, by Gary, and by many of the bloggers. I really can’t stress this enough, and I am constantly warning friends never […]

Joel Rollins

Famous Last Words

Home Again After ISE 2014

Day 1: ISE 2014 and the RAI is Rockin’…

Ready for ISE in Amsterdam

30 Years of Digital Signage

The Skill Set

A Guide to Standard Resolutions

“Remote” – a “Must Read”

2014: Will We Get Any Smarter?

On Your Marx

2 B or not 2 B (What Makes the Next Gen Client Different)

The Moving Target

Damning With Faint Praise

The Jawbone of an Ass

Is Bigger Really Better?

Infocomm Day 2

The Mix at InfoComm 2013

REALLY Gutsy Move by Barco at InfoComm 2013

InfoComm 2013: The Early Verdict from Joel

Is Your 401k HDCP Compliant?

THE WEEK – Episode 30: InfoComm Spotlight – PLANAR’s Steve Seminario Talks with rAVe RADIO’s Joel Rollins About Where They Are and Where They’re Going

InfoComm: 10 Trends in Live Events 2013

THE WEEK – Episode 29: Upcoming for InfoComm

Open Up!

THE WEEK – Episode 28: rAVe Radio welcomes Hypersign as sponsor

THE WEEK – Episode 27: Another Big Week in AV News

THE WEEK – Episode 26: Staying Safe in AV

TerrorBytes

Deadly AV

THE WEEK – Episode 25: The Same – Yet Different

THE WEEK – Episode 24: Interview with Chuck Wilson, Executive Director, NSCA

Nothing goes away on the Internet