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 […]

Did you know that what you think of rAVe is not all that rAVe is? OK, are you one of our readers that reads our eNewsletter? You are, great! But, did you know that we actually have seven, yes, seven, different newsletters? Yep, we have seven, count them – seven: rAVe ProAV – this is […]

Their army has assembled On the border of the land.        Some say they want no battle But to work hand in hand. Yet there has been a small invasion Into the outer realms One which may show intentions Of what is still to come. Reminiscent of a battle At an ancient date But played out […]

Does the value of your product really come down to the lowest price? In an effort to sell more, dealers and systems integrators are often setting the price of their technology based on an aggregate price that they believe will help make the sale happen. Sales may happen, but the value of your brand, manufacturers […]

When we think of convergence, we of course refer to how the industry’s two realms of technology potentially merge together to create seamless system implementation where all components, potentially including devices, form reliable AV/IT integration whether on-premise, in the cloud, or both. However, questions continue to arise about the convergence and if it indeed has […]

Last month I installed a mount for a 46” Samsung TV I hung on the wall in my daughter’s bedroom. It was, literally, déjà vu to the last time I installed a TV — some four years ago — when I realized that having a TV light enough that one person can hang it on […]

There’s a scene in the Disney film The Emperor’s New Groove that defines my attitude towards user interfaces. “Why do we even have that lever?” was a regular catchphrase in meetings at my old office whenever the design and programming teams met to discuss the of client’s automation systems. We would shout out “Why do […]

I’ve gone to quite a few movies in my day.  I love films, especially some of the more thought provoking ones like Kassovitz’s Hate or Nolan’s Following. Nothing ruins a film more for me however than noticing that every time the shot goes to the kitchen there is a Pepsi can on the table or somehow […]

Ask yourself these questions so your customers never have to. Among many attributes, it takes humility, an inquisitive nature and great listening skills to be a good salesperson. Those attributes seem almost obvious, right? OK, I’ll give you that. I think what takes a little more thought and may not be as obvious is the […]

Wow, what an InfoComm! Although the show was barely 45-days ago, the aftereffects are still being felt like tremors following an earthquake. We shot over 1300 videos of new products that debuted on the show floor- an industry record- we recorded over 25 InfoComm-related podcasts, blogged some 100 or so times, wrote news stories on […]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Switch Wars   In the decades prior to the Switch Wars, the Republic was seen by many as a failing entity, plagued by corruption and mindless proprietary methodologies that led to systems plagued by inconsistent performance, especially those where the paths were not being traversed across the […]

It’s good to try new things. Just accept that sometimes things won’t work out. Author James Altucher is famous for saying something to the effect that “90% of everything just doesn’t work out, but you have to keep trying.” Well, I’m nothing if not open minded. One weekend the administration of the mall where the […]

I am amazed at how much traction my last post on 4k vs UHD stimulated.  I have had some great discussions on my arguments in the comments, on LinkedIn, and via email.  They included compliments as well as constructive criticism or some clarifications on some of the finer details.  I love that interaction with readers, especially […]

In today’s new global economic state, many companies are looking to improve their bottom line through efficiency gains, productivity tools, and collaboration as opposed to more traditional models of market growth. Large companies are now seriously re-thinking just about everything in their business processes. In the quest to make a workspace more productive, almost nothing […]

How many sales people do you have that transitioned from technical staff into sales? How many of those people had proper sales training? How many of your sales staff has had any formal sales training for that matter? Does it matter? Of course it matters. Back a while ago in my blog I recalled the […]

Despite some negative stereotypes about people who enjoy video games, most modern games have a social focus. From massive multi-player games that host thousands of people in the same persistent world like World of Warcraft and Dota II, to party matching systems for match based games, which is most of them. Even solitary games now […]

Many months back, in late 2013 I had a conversation with a friend of mine in the business from Canada. Maybe that makes sense to those of you who have followed my blogs, since my first one emanated from the Great White North as it involved one of the major integrators in the Canadian market. […]

There are rules to live by, and mostly they’re pretty universal. Some our parents teach us, like that touching a hot stove is a bad idea. Others are taught to us as part of the Social Contract, like signaling before changing lanes (To be honest, where I live, an alarming majority of drivers haven’t heard […]

After my last piece on 4K and UHD and the infrastructure challenges we face in order to implement it in its best form, I honestly thought I’d be done with the topic for a while. After all, the most recent piece I wrote on 4K before that was in May 2013, almost a year prior. […]

A few months ago I wrote a column, and a subsequent blog post about how manufacturers don’t reach out to technology managers. It is all still right here on the rAVe site if you need to get caught up.  I called out the manufacturers and blamed them for not being the best possible salesman.  I […]

I tell this great story as if it was only yesterday. Back in my early days in AV integration sales in the late ’90s, within three months of being hired by the company, the owner comes into the sales cubicle area and a few of us turn to look at him as he starts speaking. He […]

  The one word that best encapsulates my job is this one: Communication. Ultimately, my job is to be a liaison with my dealers. I provide them with the information that best meets their needs; from product knowledge to logistics schedules to best practices. In order to be effective at that, I also need listen […]