Earlier this week I regaled you with pointless yet amusing tales of Holiday retail strangeness. As promised, here are some more. I used to work for a Western-Canadian retail chain whose Boxing Day sales were legendary. People actually lined up around the block in the middle of the night in brutal Canadian winters for a […]

Below is part of the first case study I wrote for Smartcomm back in August, and I was eager to show just how lovely the cinema room was, especially being a newbie. This was a great chance for me to learn about home cinema, screen ratios, speaker configurations (I could go on!)… but also an opportunity to […]

Yes I’m sorry, I dressed up a cat… Happy Christmas!

I’ve had Apple Pie on my mind all week. Yep, Apple Pie! Most times that wouldn’t seem like such a thought provoking topic, heck, who doesn’t love a great Apple Pie. Case closed. If you REALLY don’t like Apple Pie, please leave a comment and tell us why. I’m so genuinely curious what there could […]

If you sit back and define a mission statement for the Pro AV Industry, you will come across what I feel is the key objective that ultimately drives everything we do on a daily basis. The main goal of this industry is to provide technology that enables people to have more effective communication. No matter […]

Even though it’s been years since I left retail, I still feel all the things I used to feel when Christmas rolls around. I know that I’ve made it clear that I’ve served my time in retail, but if I’m honest, part of me misses it. Even though I don’t have to hustle and work from open to […]

In the words of Donald Trump, “Without passion, you don’t have energy; without energy, you have nothing. Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.” I stumbled across this quote the other day and couldn’t get it out of my head. There is something so real and relevant to Mr. Trump’s words. Everyone wants to […]

“If you want to destroy this sweater – Just pull this thread as I walk away…” – Weezer Go ahead ‘n’ pull, you might get what you want or a surprise worth waiting for, depending on your point of view. With the music business still in disarray and profits bleeding out like a moonshine still at the […]

There are not enough word to describe how violent this is. I caution you prior to watching it. I also caution you on the cuteness. Happy Friday!  

My company is lucky enough to be involved in several of the new developments in London, including One Hyde Park and The Heron, and looking at some projects we are working that are not yet at 1st fix stage, I cannot believe the changes occuring in the London skyline! The below images give you an idea of how different the capital is going to look […]

Normally, we’re pretty secretive about new projects and new initiatives around here atrAVe. We’ve found that nearly everything we do gets copied by another so-called AV industry trade publication out there in their attempt to keep up with our level of creativity and speed to market – yes, I’m proud of our team here, so […]

It is way too easy to surround ourselves with noise.  And we try to for some reason.  I think that most people are afraid to sit in a quiet place and actually be with themselves.  Most of us don’t like to be alone nor sit in silence – left with only our thoughts.  I’m not […]

We are very big on training here at Australian Presentation Systems, attending as many training days as possible. One of our newly promoted sales staff Emma has recently completed the online course Infocomm AV Essentials. Emma has been with us for over four years – starting in reception then going on to manage customer service, and now […]

OKAY! A little cause to celebrate today, against one of my pet peeves. Something for which I have wanted to lean out of my living room window and shout, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” And one of the things that made me give up cable television two years […]

Once again, the Women in AV have blown my slippers off with the power of our group to pull off an amazing feat for the AV industry!! This past week, we hosted our first WAVE Tweet-Up (they’ll be more in case your missed). It was spectacular, and, worldwide~ we might add! 10 cities across the US hosted local events […]

This Friday past, the Women in AV (WAVE) held their first ‘international’ tweet-up, with live events held simultaneously in 10 cities around the US and via Twitter, worldwide.  For a first-effort, I’d say this event was a rousing success.  Thanks to the BlogSquad’s own Jennifer Willard for working so hard to put this event together! In Washington, […]

Due to my Browns par-for-the-course loss last night, I thought I’d share these lovely videos that essentially sum up everything I have felt about my team for the last 26 years. Even if you’re not a Browns fan, I know you can appreciate them. The first video is from the Houston game earlier this season, […]

There are a few things I am not ashamed to admit, despite the fact that a majority of society (and my friends) judge me for them. I drink more Diet Coke than should be legally allowed. For breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Before bed. When I’m sick. All time time. Sometimes I wish I could carry around […]

I was just discussing screen size with an acquaintance, and the conversation forced me to confront an ugly truth. I have screen envy. When I got my 60-inch Hitachi plasma five years ago it was, by the standards of the day, a really big screen. Now, just the other day I found myself looking at […]

To all the people that bought the Logitech Revue when I said to because of its price drop a while back; you can expect to be getting a sweet update to Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)! If you haven’t already (but, you should because it’s a streaming media set-top box that requires it), connect your Revue to the tubes […]

Are you one of the lucky individuals who scored a Kinect on Black Friday or maybe you already had one? Either way, if you have the XBOX 360 +Kinect, go turn it on and update the to the new dashboard, go ahead, I’ll wait. Last night the new dashboard update went live to all users and, well, […]

This Friday, December 9, 2011 at 7pm ET, 5pm MT, 4pm PT, we’re going to create a 1st in the AV industry by getting together–across the world– for a Women in AV Tweet-Up! Whether you can attend in-person at a venue below or on Twitter wherever your travels and time zone allow– let’s meet ladies and connect with each other about ourselves, the […]

If you have been in and around the AV industry for any length of time, you probably realize that things don’t always work out of the box once you get to the site. Despite frustrations with manufacturers and products, most people realize that there are conditions onsite that vary widely and can’t be pre-engineered to […]

Well, maybe it just feels like you’re stealing for roughly 10 Ninja Lincoln’s ($47.99).  Yeah, that’s right, this weekend only ROKU decided to give us all more reason to score one of the most popular set-top boxes on the market right now, their ROKU 2 HD! Here’s the deal, if you have been considering joining the rest of the world who […]

Calling all AV Ladies! Are you ready for our first ever Women in AV National Tweet Up? I want to take a quick moment to formally introduce myself. My name is Olivia Dumanovsky and I am the marketing associate for Pakedge Device and Software, based out of Foster City, Calif. I have always had a passion for technology, marketing, […]

I love dogs. They are hilarious, often stupid, sweet, and always loyal. Also, dogs dressed up as people / characters crack me up. Today’s Fuggedaboutit Friday is dedicated to: hilarious dogs. Enjoy. Comment below with a picture of your dog or your favorite funny dog!   And, they’re not really funny in this picture, but I just […]

So here we are, in the middle of the commerce-crazy, pre-holiday period. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Big-Box Wednesday, Gifts-for-your-Goldfish Thursday… the market is endless in its ability to create reasons to buy, and the statistics to back it up. In addition to being bombarded with “special” days on which we are supposed to troop like […]

As a custom audio visual integrator I used to hate the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend! I bet you did too! Don’t even play like you didn’t, I KNOW you did, I KNOW IT! We have always looked at this weekend as the start of our customers bugging us about pricing on TVs. Every […]

There are a lot of people I have met over the years that absolutely love what they do. AV is a great industry to showcase this mindset as we constantly get to work with new and exciting equipment and solve interesting problems. Historically speaking, this craftsmen (craftswomen) paradigm was evident everywhere. People would take pride […]

A blog posted by Oliver Richardson (sales and marketing director, DB Systems) stated that in 2012, we’ll see “an evolution of AV technology, such as touchscreens, multi-touch etc, rather than seeing something truly revolutionary.” I’m inclined to agree; whilst I have read of significant developments in areas such as digital signage and 3DTV, I am not sure if we will […]

As a lifelong salesperson and manager of salespeople, if there is a single thing that you can do which will increase your sales, your closing ratio, and your income it’s this: Follow up. Get your prospects’ contact information, and, with their permission, follow up with them. Call them, email them, I don’t care, but if […]

Many readers that follow my musings on rAVe BlogSquad may have also seen my own AV related blog,ProAVSchool.com. As a long-time industry member, I have come to realize how challenging it can be to learn the ins and outs of the Pro AV field, as there aren’t a lot of comprehensive resources available. The goal ofProAVSchool is to fill […]