As a college professor, I am fortunate to have met and even participated in the education of some really talented and bright students. In addition to teaching a New Media Technologies class that includes social media marketing, I also teach a semester-long course on personal branding. Basically, it’s a 4-month class where you create and […]
There has been a lot of confusion around the term 4k which is currently being used by marketing departments to describe a multitude of screens with varying resolutions. As a public service, I thought I’d step in and try to clear up any confusion. And with that I offer you AVPhenom’s Definitive Guide to Determining […]
With all that we presently know in terms of AV, IT and Internet of Things (IoT), I truly believe we are expanding into a full technology realm of elaborate innovation and boundless potential. As I’ve previously written on IoT and innovation, the components of technology change and growth are appearing before our eyes on a regular […]
I’m back from CEDIA 2014, and had a blast. As a video shooter, I had the unique perspective of checking out EVERY booth in my section, no matter how big or little. As usual, I saw more new products and ideas than what I expected going in to the expo. Like my other tradeshow blogs, I want […]
As a lover of both words and technology, I take particular notice of word choices in the technical realm. One recent change I noted was when the OS on my phone upgraded itself to Android 4.4.2. In addition to the various cosmetic changes, there was a shift in label of one particular icon from the […]
I was on the road with an AV reseller/partner recently who asked me what companies (excluding my own) I think are the most exciting in the AV space. My answer surprised her — NanoSys and 3M (she’d never heard of NanoSys and still viewed 3M through the lens of their legacy line of projectors). So […]
What’s more important: building a better mousetrap or simply solving the problem of mice in the house? Your answer depends on your perspective. The people living in the house simply want to not have mice in their home. The people selling the mousetrap want you to buy their newer, better mousetrap. So, who’s correct? If […]
A couple of weeks ago Gary wrote an insightful blog post that speaks to all of us who do lots of business travel. If you haven’t already read it, you should. https://www.ravepubs.com/five-simple-services-every-business-traveler-wants-actually-needs/ I have to concur with all of his findings, although (spoiler alert!) it hadn’t occurred to me to perform emergency plumbing repair on […]
Having attended probably 15 to 17 CEDIA Expos over the past 20 years, I feel I am comfortable in saying that this year, the 2014 show, is the best they’ve had in the past six years. Don’t get me wrong, last year’s event was well attended and was a good show, but there was a […]
I will start by saying I was dragged reluctantly kicking and screaming into the Twitter-verse about 5 years ago. I had no time or inclination to tweet, post, share, pin, or instagram anything whatsoever. Only some inside baseball on how social media affects SEO changed my mind, as I was helping launch a new division […]
On a random side-note, has anybody really read Frank Sinatra’s lyrics to “High Hopes”? They are weird. For instance — a ram trying to destroy a hydroelectric plant? I’m coming to CEDIA this year with an open mind — and like many attendees, I really want to be blown away with a clear winning product or […]
Well, another round of trade shows is upon us and once again the marketing spinnerets are at work spinning nonsense into innovation and trying to capture the consumer in the web. We’ve seen it all year with the misuse of the term 4k and with the unnecessary curving of our LCD and OLED screens, and now […]
Well, the annual eye-candy AV show known as CEDIA kicks off this week and I thought I would write a quick blog that, hopefully, you can print out and keep with you to make sure you see these seven things while in Denver: 1. The projector market is back! For years, the projector has been […]
Note: This series is being written along with two outstanding women in the industry, Penny Sitler of Draper Inc. who will handle content and interview for Part Two and Kelly Perkins of AVI Systems, who will handle the same for Part Three. I am handling this Part One of the series. And why not? — […]
An interesting study crossed my newsfeed this week, and engendered some interesting discussion amongst my peers and I. From the Academy of Management website: “Men who engage in small talk before getting down to negotiations — compared with those who launch right into it — not only make a much more favorable impression, but also […]
I’m sitting in a midtown hotel lobby in New York surrounded by what I call a technology inversion. What’s that? Well, in general, the evolution of technology follows fairly predictable patterns. Large problems are given attention by large institutions (governments, academic communities, corporate research labs) and their solutions are then productized. These products are then […]
The construction industry has fully adopted virtual design. Driven by a combination of government policy and strategies for more efficient, cost effective design practice, building information modeling (BIM) has become widely accepted as a transformation of analog text and 2D graphics, to 3D, digital electronic imagery and information. BIM as a design software tool is […]
Half of one billion dollars in audio, video and lighting technology sales over the next 12 months. And that’s just from one segment of the house of worship market, representing only about 2 percent of all churches here in the United States. It’s likely your business hasn’t seen the majority of your sales come from […]
In this series, Women in AV: The Three, three high level women executives in the AV industry will be interviewed and give their unique perspectives on their backgrounds, the industry and certain issues that women are facing in the current technology business climate. This blog series preamble is dedicated to all of the women in […]
If you travel a lot for business, I’ll bet you can name the top five services all business travelers want off the top of your head — without thinking about it. But, if you’re not a weekly road warrior, you might not realize what you want (aka NEED) when you travel until it’s too late […]
MOOCS, class capture, blended learning and flipped classrooms are all the buzz in today’s higher education tech world. Several factors drive these changes in technology and pedagogy. Some institutions are trying to find ways to cut costs, others are trying to figure out ways to make some extra money and many are simply trying to […]
I had a bittersweet weekend. I moved my eldest daughter in to college. And, if you’ve ever done that for your own kids, you know that last line is a massive over-simplification of the process. I mean, moving someone in to college entails a plethora of things including spending thousands of dollars on dorm room […]
Christie, a company historically known for high end display, video wall and projection technology is continuously doing something which can only be described by a singular statement — blowing your mind. For those who may not yet be aware of what they do (that should be very few), Christie is a leading provider of high-performance […]
What perfect timing! The same day that I had the awesome pleasure of being in front of a best and brightest class of 22 CTS candidates from the Atlanta market of the AV industry, my five year old grandson started his first day of kindergarten. Today we both had a great day of back-to-school. Once […]
Recently I had a lengthy conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of trying to reacquaint dealers and vendors alike with focusing on benefits over features. We both admitted that we’ve done a lot of thinking on this subject. Comparing notes, both of us have observed that the number one priority we hear […]
Sara Abrons recently shared a video of Human Projection Mapping done by Omote artist Nobumichi Asai. It is an amazing display of what can be done today in AV if you are able to combine your creative skills with available technology. It has been asked repeatedly if being in the AV industry ruins the “magic” of […]
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 […]
Yesterday I stumbled across an interesting article about an artist combining projection mapping and real-time face tracking. This is demonstrated in a new video called Omote by artist Nobumichi Asai, where, as the model’s face moves around, her face changes dramatically. It changes, adding dramatic eyeliner, blush and lipstick, and then morphs into less human […]
Last week I published a blog on the Internet of Things and convergence, basically highlighting two companies — Cisco and Google as those leading the way in IoT and IT. However I felt the need to clarify that while I mentioned the cloud collaboration environment that Cisco has built through acquisitions as strategic to an overall […]
There is an encouraging shift happening in the AV Integration industry. This shift is happening at the integrator level and at the manufacturer representative level. If you are a not a part of it, you will absolutely need to be or you will be left behind — barefoot and in the cold. This shift illustrates […]
The ‘AV selfie’ was the talk of town at InfoComm 2014. And, in general, people sure do love selfies. Why are we so fascinated with them? One reason is that we all love to see personalized accounts of other folk’s adventures! So how do you get ’em right? Check out our team’s tips below. #AVSelfie […]
My absolutely favorite aphorism for sales comes from the movie Jerry Maguire, when the titular character’s mentor and guru Dicky Fox says “The key to this business” *claps hands* “is personal relationships!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyxWWYeXKBw As a manufacturer’s representative my job role is all about personal relationships: making them, and keeping them. In fact, it’s more about […]