A Move Away From AV?
Throughout my entire career, I have been an advocate of using technology to help educate. When I was in college, training to be a teacher, I began thinking …
Home Technology’s Rise of the Smart Displays
Digital assistants are all the rage these days and they seem to live in so many places like your car radio, watches, smart phones, tablet, computers and the …
My Most Popular Tweet of the Year (And What It Says About Our Industry)
For those of you that aren’t on Twitter or don’t follow me there, I am pretty active on that platform as @avphenom. Most of my tweets deal with …
Situational Awareness
Have you noticed the dramatic rise over the last two-plus years in corporate AV/IT client demand for collaborative technology, huddle spaces and similar …
Oculus Connect 5 – The Experience
Last month, we discussed the Oculus Connect Developers Convention, a meeting I had recently attended in virtual reality. This month, I thought we would address …
What Keeps an AV Professional Up at Night – Part the Second
I’ve spoken about the things that keep an AV professional up at night — in part the growing rise of one-box, easily configurable solutions sharply …
Is the AV Industry Getting Soft?
Technology is an ever-changing environment, and the world of AV technology is no different. Change allows technology industries to thrive, given that the …
Selling Maintenance Services
One of the joys of the AV business is that as networked-capability increases the performance potential of integrated AV, it also increases the complexity, …
Air Quality Control and the Future of Smart Homes
It’s been a year since the massive fires my fellow Sonoma County, Californian’s and I had to experience. Many homes, businesses, state parks and …
Integrators or VARs?
Over the past several years my job has evolved more and more into the IT world. This has given me an interesting opportunity to see how vendors act differently …
Wellness Checks
The connected era we live in is pretty amazing. A huge proportion of my job can be done by phone, text, and email. But there’s still replacement for meeting …
Murphy Was an Optimist
The most often ignored or forgotten problem in AV/IT systems can be summed up in this quote from Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to prepare you are …
Barco Restructures, We Dissect the Announcement
Barco announced today a restructuring plan to align the organization with changing market demands and growth opportunities while enhancing the company’s …
Zoom Continues to Impress
If you have been paying any attention to the video conferencing world over the last several months, you have undoubtedly witnessed the incredible growth of the …
HDMI Surprise
So it turns out that I can still be surprised. That I’m not as jaded and world weary as I thought. That I have not yet seen everything. Long story …
Take Control Of Your Landscape: A Guide To The Connected Outdoor Environment
Some of the most impressive properties that I’ve helped design and create into smart controlled experiences for their occupants all included a healthy …
AV=Actual/Virtual
Last week, I attended Oculus Connect, the conference for Facebook/Oculus virtual reality developers. It was one of the best glimpses I have yet seen into the …
Today, We’re Launching THE rAVe Agency
As you may know, I have been teaching both new media advertising and branding at the University of North Carolina (UNC) for more than 10 years now. Nearly …
Scheduling, Software as a Service and the Day I Sat Through the Same Presentation Four Times
I don’t know if “As a Service” has replaced “experience” or “convergence” in the AV buzzword bingo game, but it certainly …
Dashboarding Your Success
This month at CCUMC, I will be discussing how Bates College began to turn around its service operations by using data, metrics, SLAs and dashboards. This is …
Selling Soft Serv(ices) — Hurdle Three: Liabilities
Back in the spring, I launched a series of blogs on The Hard Truth about Selling Soft Service(ices) focusing on why AV has had a hard time turning the corner …
Building Product: Avoiding the Data-Driven Trap
I spent part of the weekend with some friends who are in the early stages of a new startup. While we don’t always talk shop, it’s inevitable that someone …
Gaming for Theater Rooms, Plus Ça Change
As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Gaming now occupies a place in end-users entertainment options that is as mainstream …
On Diversity
“I’m a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are.” –Homer J. Simpson I’m with you, Mr. Simpson. …
Operating Through an Emergency
Despite our industry’s change from box sales to services, I still see some integrators who don’t seem to understand how a service must deliver value to …
Spotlight : Michael Frank, CTS-D, Senior Consultant, Thorburn Associates
Every week, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Michael Frank. Here is his …
Digital Audio Wars and the Resurgence Of Hi-Fi
There has been a resurgence of Hi-Fi over the last several years, and it’s a trend I’ve watched both develop and blossom from format wars and …
(Video) Compression Is Good for You
By Tom Vanthuyne Business Development Video Products, Silex Insight Ever since ancient civilization, people have been compressing goods; think olive oil, wine, …
Credentials, What Are They Good For?
One of the items that popped up in my feed this week was the news that Google no longer requires job candidates to possess a four-year degree. Further …
Spotlight : Peter Kolak, Senior Manager, Conferencing Services(Unified Communications) at Juniper Networks
Every week, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Peter Kolak . Here is his …
#AVisLIFE: Vocational Explorer Post Has Teens in Durham, NC Lead Broadcast Operations for MiLB Durham Bulls
Photos by Sara Abrons 70 youth ages 14-20 years old direct, produce and execute the broadcast operations at MiLB AAA baseball team the Durham Bulls and have …
IoT Is a Potential Hacker-Fest
Everyone, everywhere is talking about the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). And, every tech company is trying to find a way to claim their products are part …
