As you step up to your door, you feel the cold wind blow on your face. We are deep in the fall season, and we know what that means: Halloween. Memories of the creepy, scary monsters take the chill at our backs and send it down the spine. Sure, there is candy to sweeten the […]
When customers come to AV resellers and installers to ask them to provide an AV installation, part of the service is project management. Someone has to communicate with the customer and stay on top of the progress and any changes that are made. Customers are familiar with project managers; they usually have a whole set […]
From my experience, AV installations are permanent. The rooms, digital signage, multipurpose rooms and auditoriums that line my portfolio of installations have that in common: They are set up and left for use for many years. At most, there is one specialist that will interface with the controls to make sure the audio and video […]
Like G-force when a roller coaster takes off, the COVID-19 lockdown shoved me deep into my own seat. Forces greater than myself took away the freedoms I was used to. Possibilities were restricted. But work still had to happen. I had to find new ways to reach out of my space to work with others. […]
Working As a Team It’s down to the wire. It’s going to take all hands on deck to save this install. We have to get it done — too much is on the line. Twelve hours of work today? Could be more. This one is going to take as long as it takes. Every integrator […]
Ask the Right Questions An AV system brings in many devices, audio and video signals that must be sent to a lot of destinations. This kind of chaos has to be channeled through a control system — a layout simple enough for any user to handle. All but the most basic AV projects need their […]
“We need an engineer on-site today.” “Hello?” I said into my phone. “Um …Who am I speaking with?” “You are the project manager for Important Customer’s AV project, right? It is nonoptional that we get an engineer on-site today.” I was across the country at the office Halloween party receiving a call from the Eastern […]
Every job has a bill of materials. Telephone or network jobs only need a handful of suppliers. However, AV jobs get materials from everybody and their brother. There are enough quality manufacturers to fill a convention center — it seems they may even do that again soon. There are some lessons to learn here. The […]
“This means I’m going to have a very difficult conversation,” I once heard the project manager say. She had found out from the project team that a change was needed. Clearly, she dreaded the change order. It’s been said that no customer wants to be presented with a change order, and I’ve seen AV installers […]
“But they sent the wrong color. Did you know that this job has an open ceiling plan? We have to have gray or it will stand out.” The cable on-site was blue, and we needed 1,000 feet of gray right now or the schedule and budget would go off the rails. I called the cable […]
In my time as a project manager for users and integrators, I’ve supported many international projects. National projects inside my country — America — follow the practices and customs I know. When I oversee work done in other countries — even multiple countries at once — I have learned to look for specific gotchas. At […]
Any salesperson will tell you: Everything is sales. Of course it is. Isn’t our life and our work about convincing people to see the value and take action toward a goal? We want to come together and put some money on the table. Invest some capital into the idea. That’s the only way ideas become […]
