It has been 18 long months since we last met in person for an InfoComm show. It’s no secret that rAVe takes hundreds of product videos at every trade show; it’s one of the things we’re known for! We were so excited to head to Orlando for this year’s InfoComm 2021 and see all the new tech […]

What YOU Can Do To Prevent Hackers From Hijacking Your Smart Device’s Microphone   For each column in this series, rAVe writer Paul Konikowski takes a deeper dive into a recent security event or data breach, shedding light on supply chain vulnerabilities, infrastructure and cyber-physical security. OMG, did you watch the Apple “Unleashed” stream? No, not the […]

First, let me say this was an extremely difficult list to narrow down to only 10. Not to mention the struggle for what goes first and what goes last. But, in my experience, these are the top 10 reasons for a career in AV! 1. Job Security I’ve been doing this for 20+ years now. […]

In Part 1 of my “Simple Expectations of InfoComm 2021” series of blogs, I explained some of the elements of how InfoComm 2021 will be like no other InfoComm we’ve had in history — for OBVIOUS reasons. In part 2, I explained why showing only one product in your booth is critical to success at InfoComm […]

Over the past couple of months, we have seen some in-person conferences begin to resume. The biggest in our industry, InfoComm, is coming up in just a few weeks. AVIXA has been very clear that unless it is told by authorities to cancel the show, the show will go on in person. Yet, there are […]

For the past 18 months, firms in most industries have struggled with the dual challenge of hiring new employees and retaining current employees. Retaining employees has become a major issue across our country as the number of people quitting their jobs has been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that […]

This is the second article in my “How to Get the Job You Want” series. To view the other articles in this series, click here. I had been working in data storage and backup for about 10 years when I got a Dell catalog in the mail. When I opened and skimmed through it, I […]

One of the reasons I advocate for internship and apprenticeship opportunities for young people is because of the opportunities that I experienced myself as a young person starting out. When I graduated from high school, I enrolled in the tech program in college to become a chemical engineer.  I applied for and joined an organization […]

Over the past several months at my institution, we have been implementing a new Information Technology Service Management Tool (ITSM). After looking at several different products, we chose to go forward with TeamDynamix. The cost is reasonable (not cheap, but reasonable), even for small higher ed institutions (like us). Cost was a factor in our […]

I took my third business trip post-vaccination today and headed up to New York City for Sony’s first-ever AV Tech Expo at its 25 Madison Ave. location. I’d say it was worth the masking, walking and mouth-sweating (inside the mask). The expo was primarily focused on the new B (for high-brightness) and C (for high-contrast) […]

Why did the pipeline get shut down if the hackers only attacked the business end?  For each column in this series, rAVe writer Paul Konikowski takes a deeper dive into a recent security event or data breach, shedding light on supply chain vulnerabilities, infrastructure and cyber-physical security. By now, most people heard about the Colonial […]

Written By: Kate Couch Sustainability was at the top of the global agenda before the pandemic in 2020. But this thought was put to the wayside as disposable wipes, masks and gloves now litter our sidewalks. With governments having bigger fish to fry, will the fight for sustainability come back? Though maybe not just yet, […]

We’re fewer than 100 days from InfoComm 2021 week — the first InfoComm since 2019 and the first time two InfoComm shows will be in the same town two times in a row in over 20 years. I don’t think we need to review how and why we came to where we are with this […]

Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando  In 2019, Fox News reported the following: “Ajay Bhatt, who led the intel team that created the Universal Serial Bus [USB], told NPR the design of USB ports used to plug in devices such as keyboards, mice, printers and thumb drives is a bit annoying. Frustrated users have […]

  Health and wellness is a booming industry but does it involve audio and visual?  Written By: Kate Couch The health and wellness industry is a much bigger industry than most people realize. In fact, according to the Global Wellness Institute, the wellness economy is currently valued at 4.5 trillion dollars and represents 5.3% of […]

There’s no Anna Kendrick, but in many ways, it’s like a Hollywood movie. The collaborative presentation platform Pitch just raised $85 million more. Pitch began as just another startup in Berlin; it set out in 2018 to change the way we present and collaborate. Not exactly a new and novel idea. Hundreds of companies have […]

What AV systems can be put away? Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando Design over function is often an argued topic amongst the design community. We think that these things are in lieu of the other, but that isn’t always the case. In many circumstances, the ability to get maximum function and purpose out […]

Several months ago I started a podcast here on rAVe called #DearVendor. The idea behind the podcast is the AV industry is an ecosystem — we are only healthy if all parts of the industry are healthy. In the podcast, I give tech managers (aka in-house integrators) an opportunity to tell manufacturers, integrators, programmers, designers […]

In the connected world of cloud-based signage, security has to take precedence over performance and functionality when operating over corporate IT networks. This is often painful for AV managers. Even the flashiest, most impressive AV systems are inherently flawed if there is potential for a network to become a point-of-entry for hackers. In my experience, […]

By Claire Kerrison Futuresource Consulting The outbreak of COVID-19 forced higher education campuses across the world to adopt distance learning overnight. “The education technology industry has been one of the few to witness growth as a direct result of COVID-19,” said Claire Kerrison, senior market analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “This is reflected in the Futuresource Higher […]

When looking back on last year, the best description that neatly wrapped up our collective experience in a bow was from Leslie Jones on a 2020 recap show on Netflix. Her character said, “I’d say it was a train wreck and a s*&tshow, but that would be unfair to trains and s*&t.” Seriously though, let’s […]

Do not underestimate what I am about to tell you. In case you haven’t been reading the tech sections of the newspapers lately, there’s a global semiconductor shortage (branded as the “chip shortage of 2021”) and, although it hasn’t affected our market yet, it will, starting in late July. So, who cares? Well, you’d better, […]

On March 31, THE rAVe Agency Founder and Director Gary Kayye was joined by ViewSonic’s Ryan Strayer, Dan Sharpe and Chris Graefe for another installment of our LAVNCH & LEARN sessions. The session — titled “Collaborative Education and Workplace Solutions” — aimed to discuss ViewSonic’s exciting new products designed to foster collaboration in workplace and […]

First let me say thank you, with a title like this one, I am surprised anyone is reading this blog. Let’s face it, asset and inventory management is not exactly a topic that sparks interest and debate. Part of the reason for that is that no one really enjoys doing this tedious, boring work. Yet, […]

Need a creative software platform to drive your digital signage displays? Well, Fugo, formerly Pixelart, wants to be that company for you. Here’s a video explaining what Fugo is: COVID-19 has turbocharged digital signage as it’s helping everyone reopen. Things like touch-free experiences, facial recognition, proximity sensors, people counting and bridging the physical and online […]

Image and Graphics By: Kate Couch with Canva   When cleaning out spaces and redesigning how to decided what AV systems to reuse and what ones need new life.   Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando   With spring just around the corner and the days becoming more consistently in the 50s it’s time […]

During End User Day of LAVNCH WEEK 3.0 in February (in partnership with HETMA), I enjoyed listening to end users speak about AV security. It was particularly interesting to me since I had just written a blog on how the SolarWinds hack should serve as a lesson to the AV industry. I was tweeting a […]

By Matthew Rubin Futuresource Consulting The past year has been one of the most volatile on record for the professional displays industry. As COVID-19 spread across the globe, supply chains were interrupted and end-user demand plummeted in some of the biggest markets. Add into the mix the increasing appeal of LED, which makes it a […]

By Chris Pennell Futuresource Consulting Futuresource’s Home Working survey asked 1,500 employees across America, France, Germany, and the U.K. about the impact COVID-19 has had on their working patterns, as well as the use of work technology in the home. The findings indicate that post-COVID-19, respondents expect the changes to working patterns to continue in […]

By James Kirby Futuresource Consulting The Industry Begins to Recover The broadcast and video content industries have experienced significant changes over the past 12 months. The outbreak of COVID-19 has come as a substantial external shock, hindering the creation and supply of premium content. At the same time, demand for video content in the home […]

For educational institutions far and wide, public and private, kindergarten to graduate school, Google services have one thing we all love — the price was right! For many of us, that meant it was free. There have always been some premium services that you can choose to pay for if you are a Google school, […]

Photo By: Robert H. Pexels.com  Solving problems of outdoor electronic screens and touch screens.  Written By: Kate Couch with collaboration with Tony Sprando  Outdoor TVs, touch screens, and monitors are nothing new. They’ve been used for decades to display things like game scores, travel plans, city maps, advertisements, bus and train routes, and general outdoor […]