This Selling AV question came from Lance Feldenkress on Twitter, “How do you best qualify an opportunity?” I initially look for these three things. Tune in to find out what they are. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
My oldest daughter is extremely smart. She is artistic, creative and is an amazing writer. She does very well in school; however, her one challenge has always been math. She usually starts slow and then builds steam toward the end of the year. As parents, we always reinforce that the thing that matters most is […]
I did something today that I have never done before. I Googled the words Alexa and Crestron together. This may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was. In commercial systems, unlike their residential counterparts, there has not been a huge push towards voice control yet. The office is not an intimate […]
So, unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve seen hundreds of posts about remote work, video conferencing and collaboration in the last few days. The craziness of today’s events has forced companies to adopt video conferencing and remote collaboration solutions on a scale that we haven’t seen. Some think that this bodes well for the […]
If you’re like me, you’ve seen a slew of articles about “opportunities” for the AV industry during the current pandemic. Most of these are marketing pieces, meant to promote a manufacturer’s products or to promote services by addressing the fear, uncertainty and doubt that is part of the current Zeitgeist. Work form home solutions and […]
In this time of increased demand for remote work solutions, we need to make sure we’re adding value and easing fears, as opposed to opportunistically capitalizing on them. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I remember reading a book back in the late ’90s called “Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare” by Paul Colvinaux. It was one of the first ecology books I read, and although the science was still evolving itself, there are a couple points in the book that have stuck with me over time and that […]
Sometimes you read an article that makes you say “I need to interview that person!” Well this was that article and David Dewane was that person. Tune in to hear some amazing thoughts and ideas on people, space, and today’s modern workplace. Cedric Price’s Fun Palace concept is here as well- http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/fun-palace-cedric-price.html
Are you a brand trying to reap the benefits of Social Media without actually putting in the work to be social? Find out why that’s a bad strategy on this Selling AV. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
There’s a tendency to over-complicate the simple and over-simplify the complicated. How fancy should you be with your designs? Find out here. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
A couple months ago, I saw a post from Liberty AV on social media. It showed a picture of a device that seemed to wirelessly share a laptop to a larger display. There are a lot of devices that allow someone to share their screen wirelessly to a display — Barco ClickShare, Crestron Air Media, […]
Collaboration had to be one of the most-used buzzwords of the last half decade. It’s been used to describe everything from wireless screen sharing to interactive flat panels to teleconferencing to cloud-based file sharing apps. Marketers LOVE to slap “collaboration” on their boxes and press releases. I even heard a story about a sales rep slapping […]
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. It’s not just a catchy Mazda slogan, but it’s also the tale of the last few projects I’ve worked on. In a world where we hear many that like to complain software and hardware companies are talking to customers directly and that the scourge of “good enough” is ruining our businesses, I […]
I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! It’s the day after Christmas, which means for many of us, yesterday was the culmination of a long build-up of anticipation. Planning family gatherings, curating the holiday meal menus, baking cookies, making fudge and braving the web and the local retailers to find that perfect gift […]
After writing a couple blogs in 2017 about the equally loved and hated potential of “as a Service” (aaS) models to take off in AV, I took a break for a while and watched as the industry discussed the idea. If you missed my original posts on this, you can catch up here: AV as […]
This week I’m in flooding social media with a rant in a common way everyone starts their presentations. Click play to hear why you should never start a meeting with your “About Us” slide. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Earlier this month I had the amazing opportunity to be the master of ceremonies at AVIXA’s AV Executive Conference (AVEC). I’m still not sure why they entrusted a room full of leaders and executives to me, but I’m so happy they did because I had an amazing experience. Why was it amazing? Well, for one, […]
Earlier this month at Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft announced that soon Microsoft Teams, the company’s web based video meeting and productivity applications, would be natively compatible with Zoom and later WebEx. If you missed this part of the story, rAVe founder Gary Kayye wrote about it here and it’s been a very popular article, especially in […]
Big meetings can be nerve-wracking, and it’s tempting to plan your responses down to the letter. This week I talk about the difference between being prepared and being scripted. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Sometimes we need to leave tech speak behind and adopt analogies that everyone can understand. Today I offer a fun way to talk about audio. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I often have people ask me how they maintain profitability in a world where technology is becoming more and more commoditized and where the average selling price (ASP) of technology in each room seems to be decreasing year after year. I am sympathetic to these concerns for sure, as it is never a good thing […]
Seeing that this episode is 101, I thought I’d go back to basics. Responsiveness is the stone in your sling that will help defeat Goliath. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
I apologize in advance. This post is not going to focus on UC, collaboration or digital signage. I am not going to mention AVaaS. There will be no debate about 1 Gbps vs. 10 Gbps AV-over-IP. Instead, I want to share a thought I had the other day about the future of the hologram. Real […]
On this episode of the Company Lore podcast, Bryan Meszaros of OpenEye Global talks to me about the importance of understanding the interplay of technology and quality content in company storytelling and placemaking. Bryan can be found on Twitter here — @bryanmeszaros OpenEye Global can be found here.
Join me on a mission to help companies tell their stories through the use of technology and architecture. In this inaugural episode, I talk to keynote speaker and author Kindra Hall about her book, Stories That Stick, as well as how companies can use story in their spaces to connect and engage with their customers […]
When meeting with a client, not all roads have to lead back to your product or service. In this episode, I talk about how connection may be a more realistic and valuable goal for your meeting than a PO. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Join me and my guest Mike Brandes from QSC at Barley Forge Brewing Company in Costa Mesa, CA. We talk about art, soccer, and even a little AV. Pull up a chair and hang out with us!
If you’re a movie fan, you’re well aware of the ongoing conflict often portrayed between humans and machines in a dystopian future. Think “West World,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Terminator,” “I, Robot” and “The Matrix.” I can’t help but wonder if these movies are so popular because they reflect our own personal experiences of the […]
If you’ve been reading my blogs lately, you already know I’m a huge proponent of escalating the rate of evolution in our industry in order to best meet the needs of our customers and continue to be relevant. I’ve been promoting developing better business acumen and having earlier conversations with our customers on a deeper […]
AV is an industry built around communication, but often times we fail to communicate or even understand our true value proposition. Listen to this episode to find out what we should be communicating to our clients. Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
It’s July 16th, the end of another Prime Day where Amazon, the online behemoth, is slated to do nearly $6 billion dollars in sales in just two days. Estimates show that Amazon accounts for anywhere from 38 to 49% of US eCommerce which gives them a commanding lead over second place eBay, which accounts for […]
