In an astounding turn of events I have found myself in the market for a job. In my 13 years in AV and IT I have been digitized, publicized, patronized, chastised, (and even Super Sized occasionally at lunch time), but I have never been right-sized. . .until now. So far my AV community of friends […]
Many of my friends and followers of my Twitter feed, @AVPhenom, may have gathered that I ended up with a little bit of “unexpected” free time lately. That left me with a touch of extra insomnia as well, and as such I turned to my old friend the DVR. I had Field of Dreams on […]
Last week I took on a press release by Crestron that needed a little help providing specifics and context to a plethora of product features. Many of these highly technical or feature rich product press releases just need help connecting the dots between the features and why integrators should care about them. But what if the […]
OK, so I received only a few nominations last week for my Press Release Re-Write Challenge. There were some great submissions and I reserve the right to keep them in the mix for the next 2 weeks as well. This week however, based on InfoComm being last month, and a recent BlogSquad post by Jeremy […]
My last day of InfoComm was Friday June 15th, and on that day I sat down to do an InfoComm PodCast for RedBand Radio with industry consultant Chris Neto, industry veteran George Tucker, and industry tech manager Mike Brandes. We talked about everything from show standouts, to questionable content, to Rock ‘em Sock’em Robots outside […]
Ready for some summer fun??? If you have read some of my past blogs like Promises, Promises or Press Relief Hyperbole, you may know how I feel about some of the press releases we see in the AV Industry. I’m not sure why there is sometimes such a large disconnect between what manufacturers promote and […]
I gave out my first two Howard Hughes AVator Awards for InfoComm13 earlier this week. Those awards were for Courage and Innovation. The last award I had to consider was the one for Passion. Based on my last couple years of InfoComm attendance, I really thought Innovation would be the one to give me fits, […]
If you read my blog on what I was looking for at InfoComm this year, you may remember that I was looking for three Howard Hughes-esque traits in manufacturers or their employees. Those traits were Courage, Passion, and Innovation. As I walked the floor, I ran into quite a few Tech Managers for Higher Education. […]
InfoComm 13 is over, and after 3 days on the floor there, I started asking myself if I found what I was looking for. I made a comment that I was looking for three Howard Hughes-esque traits in manufacturers or their employees. Those traits were Courage, Passion, and Innovation. I only received a couple nominations […]
AVPhenom has announced that he is considering a class action suit against the HDMI Consortium, citing an estimated $1.7 Million dollars in lost revenue in 2012 from the products revolving door standards. “It seems that HDMI allows manufacturers to draw 2-3 features out of a hat when deciding what to integrate into their cables”, said Phenom. […]
Anyone who followed my last couple posts about my scAVenger hunt on the floor may be curious to know how things turned out. Well we invited quite a few folks to come and try out their Cat5 based extenders on the show floor. Who we invited and what they said: Atlona — Wanted to come, but […]
I usually have a pretty good sense of direction, but when in new cities, I have to get my bearings. The other night I was out walking back toward my hotel, after finding the convention center, and using that as my known landmark. As I was walking, a white SUV passed me, then slowed and […]
My scavenger hunt was a success. I received a box of Cat5e cable from Windy City Wire in Booth 3287. They showed me how their wire is marked with ascending and descending footage, so I was able to pull 300 feet easily, thanks to their rack pack spooling technology! Look for the associated video that […]
InfoComm 2013 is the perfect opportunity for manufacturers of AV gear to tout the genius of their new AV wares. It is the one show that most commercial AV Peeps attend, looking for the product that will catapult them head first into new verticals and increased profit margins. Naturally, given that, manufacturers write press releases […]
I threw this idea out on Twitter last week, and I’m gonna try to pull it off on the show floor Thursday. I am going on an a scAVenger hunt. I will be looking for: 300 feet of Cat5e mod plugs termination tool Two small displays from different manufacturers (1080p) Two HDMI cables, less than 10 […]
OK, so I took my first spin around the InfoComm floor just to get a feel for what is out there this year. To be fair, I didn’t do a deep dive with anyone yet, so I am going to reserve my judgments and just offer some praise at this time. I found my self […]
So I’m getting ready to make the trek from Orange County California to Orange County Florida for InfoComm 2013 and I am developing my plan of attack for the floor. With 1000 exhibitors, a plan is a must. However, a good plan must have the end in mind, so I need to know what I […]
Press Release: June 3rd 2013 Lake Forest, California Audio Video industry veteran Mark Coxon, admittedly jealous of all the press releases being released at this time of year, has decided to debut a revolutionary wireless communication device at InfoComm 2013 under his AV Phenom brand name. “This device is a real ‘Game Changer’!” said Coxon […]
Last year, I wrote a letter to InfoComm to try and ease any awkwardness between us before the show. I did go to the show, but I snuck in and out in a day, so I am unaware of whether my letter eased any of the potential strain on our relationship. Given that I will […]
Alright, so I’m sure I will shock very few when I say that I read a lot of AV news and product press releases. Every time I start with the gleam of optimism. Many times end up slightly disappointed. Other times I find something truly exciting. This week, I didn’t find disappointment or excitement, but […]
So with nearly 1000 companies on the floor exhibiting this year at InfoComm 2013 and a sea of attendees that will exceed 35,000, there is the potential to leave after 3 days transfigured into an AV Zombie, repeating taglines and promises ad hoc and mixing your adult beverage of choice with all the Kool Aid you were given on the plane […]
So I’ve been reading a lot about the new 4k format for televisions and I’ve seen a few 4k displays, both out in the retail space and here in our shop. I’ve read numerous 4k tweets, posts, and blogs, like this one by John Sciacca. I’ve even watched an hour long video starring video guru Joe Kane discussing the subject. So after all this 4k exposure, […]
OK, so I know this comes on the heels of another post where I leveraged Star Wars to offer criticism on the Switch Wars, but being that yesterday was May 4th, the official Star Wars birthday I just had to write something else. Star Wars and AV have a long history as well, and anyone who […]
In a fit of self awareness, (followed by associated depression and fetal thumb-sucking ), I felt it might be necessary to introduce myself formally to rAVe readers. For anyone who may follow me or be familiar with some of my work in the industry, you may already know my take on a variety of AV issues. For […]
So I’ve been reading some AV “news” lately, and much of what I’m finding in this arena is not actually writing but regurgitation. Blame it on a slow news day if you must, but it seems many sites just repost manufacturer’s press releases ad hoc and call them“news.” Now if press releases only related newsworthy […]
If anyone has been following the Crestron/Extron/AMX Video Shootout of their HDMI switchers, let me start be saying. . . WAKE UP! I’m sure the 5 minute demonstrations have lullled you into a slumber, so get some coffee. I will first take AMX out of the fray here, because their response video was awesome. 1 minute of “who cares”, with some quick red asterisks pointing out […]
