Well, here we are in 2013. And, as with each year, I need to pick out the things that I am going to complain about this year. But this year there is no contest. It is the “dumbing down” of our industry. There is certainly no doubt that we live in an era of increasingly fast technology […]

This week, we conclude our interview with Dr. Peter Bocko, Chief Technology Officer at Corning, about his presentation for Digital Signage Expo on the future of the display industry. Register for DSE and get a discount with the code “rave”! Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window […]

This week, Joel Rollins speaks with Dr. Peter Bocko, Chief Technology Officer at Corning, creators of technical glass products from fiber optics to Gorilla Glass. The keynote speaker for this year’s Digital Signage Exposition, Dr. Bocko is also one of the creators of a video that has become an internet sensation – “A Day Made of Glass.” He […]

Well, it’s the first of January. For the next two to three months, I will accidentally call it 2012, until the idea of the New Year finally sets in. But, as we will all have to do, I sit here thinking about the year ahead. And one of the things I have great plans for […]

You’re in for a special holiday treat this week as Joel Rollins interviews Santa’s AV guy. Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Joel Rollins talks with Chris Gibbs of Exponation about the upcoming Digital Signage Expo – and why you should be there. Visit digitalsignageexpo.net and be sure to use the discount code: rave when signing up! Having trouble listening to the podcast on this page? You can subscribe using RSS or iTunes. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Last Friday morning, the technical crew of my staff was standing outdoors, indulging in a few minutes that we refer to as the USB or “union smoke break.” One of the things that we all remarked on was that winter was setting in, and it was getting cold. We had no idea at the time how cold […]

I think you’ll all enjoy this week’s episode of THE WEEK on rAVe Radio. I kick around a number of subjects I thought interesting to the AV market (such as Sony’s new simulation projector and Google’s Code-IN), and then talk with Bill Waldman, an advocate of the “Maker” movement in technological education and enablement in the U.S. We discuss Maker […]

This week, after commenting on a number of AV items in the news, Joel speaks with Bill Waldman, a technology educator and advocate of the Maker movement in technology education. Find out what Makers and Maker spaces are about, and whether they will help us get more qualified job applicants in the future. Show Links: […]

This week, I talk with Ike Eckstein, president of Visual Word Systems in NYC, about the unique challenges of being a Manhattan-based AV company, and what it has been like since Sandy. Ike is a genuine NYC character with a unique viewpoint, and I think you’ll enjoy the perspective of a colleague who describes his company […]

Last week, I had a great conversation on The Week on rAVe Radio, with Jennifer Willard of Women in AV and Sara Abrons of rAVe Publications. We talked about women in the current AV workplace. One of the things I brought up with them was the low ratio of women in certain hands-on technical portions of the business, especially in the systems […]

This week, Joel talks with David Stout of KBZ, a longtime New Orleans resident and Hurricane Katrina survivor, about the AV industry’s recovery after Katrina, and what we can expect after Sandy. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

Well here it is, more than two weeks after Sandy. Much of the area is still recovering, and much has not even started yet. So, on this week’s episode of “The Week,” I decided to talk with David Stout. David is an old friend, an AV businessperson, and a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. I wanted […]

Joel speaks with Mario Maltese, executive director of the Association for Quality in Audio Visual Technology, about adopting quality metrics in the AV industry. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

I think you will all enjoy this week’s episode of The Week on rAVe Radio. I talk with Mario Maltese, long-time industry educator and Executive Director of the Association for Quality in AV Technology. In it, we discuss quality management systems, when and why to adopt them, and how to get education in the kind of quality […]

Joel Rollins speaks with Jennifer Willard and rAVe’s Sara Abrons about Women in AV not being just for women — and they also discuss the effect of Hurricane Sandy on New York and the AV industry. Story Links: Sandy by Joel Rollins: www.ravepubs.com Please Help Our AV Friends by Jennifer Willard: http://bit.ly/Uu1vkd WAVE Demographics Survey: http://bit.ly/PriUN5 Podcast: Play in new window | […]

Well, I got through Sandy pretty well here. Connecticut, although hurt badly, had less flooding and is recovering quickly. My place got power back yesterday, just shy of a week. Our friends and neighbors in NY and NJ bore the brunt of the storm, and now it is up to those of us who fared […]

Joel Rollins talks with Randy Lemke, retiring CEO of InfoComm International, about his time at InfoComm, his successor and the future of the AV industry. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

I think you will all enjoy the interview I just did with Randy Lemke, the CEO of Infocomm International, for this week’s edition of “The Week” on rAVe Radio. It has been posted and is available at our website ravepubs.com. In it, Randy talks about his time withInfoComm, his newly-chosen successor, and the future of the AV industry. Don’t miss it. […]

THE WEEK talks with Jim Smith of Polycom about Telepresence, Unified Communications, the future of conferencing – and the mistakes we all make in getting there. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

I had a great weekend, working on this week’s edition of “The Week” on rAVe Radio. I had a great discussion with Jim Smith of Polycom, who is one of the real “Road Warriors” of theTelepresence industry. Jim and I have been friends a long time, so I was able to prevail upon him (while he is on vacation, […]

In this episode of THE WEEK, host Joel Rollins introduces us to Bayardo Carrillo, an industry veteran who has done everything from live events production to web and mixed media. This busy corporate media and event producer shares tips about the life, the technology — and even what to do when things go wrong. Podcast: Play in […]

Joel Rollins talks to Terry Friesenborg, CTS, Senior Vice President, International DevelopmentInfocomm International about the world-wide AV market of today.   Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS

We normally talk about our great moments. The times when everything went great, the times we did the big show, the times we hit the big budgets. But it isn’t all like that. I got an email a couple of days ago that challenged me to do an article about the bad ones. Since I […]

Okay, this one is worthy of note, and my hat is off to the propellerhead who thought it up… the Curiosity Rover’s wheels leave the Morse code for “JPL” in its tracks. JRR

I was talking to an old friend from my Newton user group days online the other day – he happened to catch one of my blog posts. He agreed with me that despite its drawbacks, it was an enabling technology because it allowed for mobile email – in 1992. But, thinking about it, it caused […]

Well, we have had a lot of responses from people nominating their AV “Heroes”… and many of them were surprising. Some, I am afraid to say, were important names that I had just put away in the back of my mind somewhere. And a few were people that I hadn’t even heard of. Several people […]

OK, I was at InfoComm with the rAVe crew, and I wore the da-glo shirt, and I’m proud of it. It was a genuinely weird cultural experience for me, to be in a booth full of young people at a convention and have them all sit silently, messaging the world.. and each other. But they’re enthusiastic, bright, and have an impact […]

This week, we have watched America’s just outrage over Olympic uniforms made in China… Aw, come on – give me a break. First, let me agree there is some reason for the outrage. The uniforms look like school uniforms from the Sound of Music. They don’t belong on the awards podium – they belong on […]

I’m sitting here writing this on my iPad, on the first morning of my summer vacation. We’ll skip right by the fact that I am up early, writing blogs and answering my work email. Sometimes, I’m sure we have forgotten what vacations are supposed to be, and I’ll admit to being one who criticizes my […]

Well, it’s Sunday, and I had to get up early this morning to help out a client with the taping of a sunrise service. Not something I usually do on Sunday. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE to get up early – in the afternoon, that is. But the event is nearly over now […]

Well, I am just back from InfoComm, and I have decided to do something that I’ve never done before. Each year, before the show, I tend to write an article about what I expect to see at the show. But I very rarely write anything afterwards about it since a tradeshow is primarily about product, and […]