By Mario Porto Director of Strategic Accounts, HB Communications “THIS SYSTEM SUCKS! NOTHING WORKS!!!” How many times have you heard that comment? If you’re like most of the people I’ve spoken to over the years, you’ve heard it more times than any of us would have liked. I recall meeting an architect from a very […]
By Jeremy Boyd, CTS Systems Design Consultant, AVI Systems Apple is not the end-all-be-all in the electronics space, but Apple’s products are often indicators of where we are headed. The iPod was an indicator of how we would start to consume music and the iPhone was the catalyst for many of us to look at […]
By David Danto Director of Emerging Technology, IMCCA A funny thing happened to me last year. I woke up early at a hotel in the middle of a business trip because I had to give a presentation to a client. I ate some breakfast in my room, showered and dressed and then gave that presentation […]
By Rob Sheeley CEO, Vaddio Well friends, I just want to say a few words about my upcoming departure and a few thoughts about what it has been like to have been a part of this amazing adventure we call Vaddio. Starting simply as a call to my friend Tom back in November of 2002, […]
By Premier Mounts As we all know, the industry is changing in front of our very eyes and one change that concerns us all is that many products have become more and more commoditized, and the result is eroding margins. Premier Mounts is directly addressing the changing nature of the market in order to serve […]
By Ron DeVoe Principal, Successful Sales Consulting InfoComm is now 75 years old and while I am not quite that age, I look around and found that I have become an “old dog” of the AV industry. You can spot an “old dog” fairly easily. Sometimes he is identified as one who remembers easels, speaks […]
By Matthew Thompson Integrated Commercial Design There have been many statements made comparing and contrasting the IT industry and the AV industry. The main reasoning has been the collective technical industry acknowledgement that something needs to change, particularly in the AV industry. For AV integrators, the change has meant the call for IT competency in […]
By Melody Craigmyle Vice President of Marketing, Almo Pro A/V Before I started in the A/V industry, I was vice president of marketing for the largest AutoCAD reseller and integrator in the country. Our world was architects, engineers of all disciplines, interior designers and facilities managers. I remember the first time I heard the phrase […]
Kevin A. Busza ICD Systems Since when does a manufacturer representative provide a services component on its line card? Yes, I am referring to services such as system programming, system commissioning and professional design documentation. Symco, Inc. a Mid-Atlantic manufacturers’ rep sees the potential, and is making the offering to its network of dealers. If […]
By Josh Srago Presentations like rAVe founder Gary Kayye’s Krystal Ball do a phenomenal job of painting broad strokes over where we are headed as an industry, but when the information is incomplete or disregards alternatives, it can leave those in attendance with the wrong impression. In the spring of 2013, Gary gave his Krystal […]
By Ron Devoe Successful Sales Consulting A phrase often quoted from the Bard is “a rose by any other name is still a rose.” While it does not roll off the tongue quite as well, it can be said that a rep by any other name is still a rep. For over three decades, I […]
Guest blog via Weezer Group The Newark Star-Ledger reported earlier this month that Panasonic will abandon consumer electronics to focus on professional products only. WOW! Many I spoke to in past few months thought the pro side of the “Big Boys” (Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, etc.) was hurting but consumer was OK. Just OK, not […]
By Cheryl Goldin Waveguide Consulting It’s not every day you get a chance to work hands-on with architecture students, to give them exposure to the business of building technology, but Waveguide, Spinitar and Crestron had that opportunity as sponsors of USC’s fluxHome team competing in the U.S. Department of Energy’s biennial Solar Decathlon. “We started […]
By Sam Taylor EVP & COO, Almo Professional A/V It is a sad day for me to see Mitsubishi cease production of its large format LCDs and entire projector line. I started in the industry in 1987 for a company named Electrograph. Mitsubishi was our primary line and the company was instrumental in our early […]
By Joel Hagen Chief This week Chief celebrates InfoComm’s AV Week with a series about racks. This post is the first in a series about rack systems. I sat down with Rob Zurn, Chief’s Product Manager in charge of rack system products. Zurn has more than 20 years in the AV industry and has seen his share of rack systems from the dealer […]
Aaron Gutin VP of Sales and Marketing, Access Networks By the end of 2013, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth. (Cisco Visual Network Index 2012-2017) For the past 10 years, there has been a consistant proliferation of network dependant devices enriching our everyday lives. You know the list: […]
The focus of this series “Power of Content” is to help people with content strategies and how they relate to digital screen media. Content for Digital Signage/DOOH has been the industry’s worst enemy. In an upcoming article I will discuss how this directly affects consumer’s attitudes about brands on DOOH networks everywhere. I have always […]
By Paul Self I have been the acting interim GM for the IMAX Private Theatre for the last two-plus years and have the inside scoop on the entire program. This has been a great consulting gig for my new business and it was a great chance to work with some really talented people. Many have […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. One of my wow moments of InfoComm 2013 was checking out two amazing products, which in my opinion are game changers in each of each of their specific markets. Spending time with QSC […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. Well the receptions are all but done, big parties are finishing up and ProAV geeks are starting to head back home! What will be the big lasting story of InfoComm 2013 and the […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. We teach our kids it’s not polite to point, but what if they have to annotate? Boeckeler Instruments, Inc booth (3513) developed a video overlay system that allows presenters to draw and point […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. Why would someone expect to be talking about space automation, mobile working and bring your own device (BYOD) at InfoComm 2013? Most federal agencies are dealing not only serious budgetary challenges; they also […]
One of the highlights of the just-concluded Projection Summit was the hybrid side by side demonstration. This featured four hybrid projectors, sometimes called lampfree, lampless, laser, alternative light source, zero-lamp or solid state projectors, running the same content so attendees could do a fair comparison of the image quality. Projectors from Casio, Panasonic, Sony and […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. One fascinating new area I noticed at InfoComm 2013 is manufacturers are showcasing their technologies in integrated building solutions. I wasn’t able to visit too many specific related manufacturers on Day 1. This […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. Do you need secure wireless audio system that is great sounding and secured with military grade AES 256 encryption? If you haven’t seen Sacom/Sabine Inc. (Booth 1275) and you’re in the market for […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. The biggest gathering of technologies showing off their “stuff” is in full swing! Five minutes early, the InfoComm 2013 exhibit floor opened, and my first mission was to check out the manufacturers in […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. For the third year in a row, the InfoComm 2013 show started off with what seems to have become a standard practice in itself. This year the group of 50+ was welcomed by […]
Well, here we are! Less than 24 hours before the InfoComm13 show floor opens and our AV industry lights up like New York Times Square!! Having been here since Sunday, I can tell you things have surely been steadily picking up. First and foremost, I want to send a HUGE shout-out to the crews of […]
By Snorre Kjesbu Over the past decade, I’ve worked on a number of different projects aimed at improving communications using video conferencing and telepresence. In that time, I’ve been fortunate to be involved with key innovations at first Tandberg then Cisco that have had great impact on video collaboration: Forging life-like experience with immersive telepresence […]
Required disclaimer: This represents the opinion and experience of me personally and does not represent any specific policy, law or official guidance. We’ve all been there during an installation when your customer on the project says, “Hey, let’s add a drop here!” It doesn’t matter if your project was a design/build or some reiteration […]
In my 18th year as part of this industry called AV, I am truly amazed at what has become of this great field we are in. While I have not been around as long as many of you, I still remember the days of the shoot outs. Not with projectors mind you, but with the […]
Simple fact: Customer service is the single most important factor to any business… and most only get fair ratings. A simple KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is how we treat the customer before, during and after the sale. This is often referred to as the “Feel Good Factor.” Basically the goal is to not only help the customer […]
