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 […]

Software always eats hardware. What do I mean by that? Just that expensive and proprietary hardware evolves into software running on commodity platforms. This phenomenon is now happening with increasing speed in AV — and it’s a great opportunity for AV resellers. It’s a chance to leverage software for ease of use, deeper integration of […]

To begin, I want to speak on a personal level. This blog is without a doubt the most important one I have written yet, and as some out there know it almost didn’t happen for various reasons. However, after much cajoling (in a good way) by certain individuals — yes, you know who you are […]

I recieve a lot of emails. I also recieve a lot of spam emails, mostly product pitches from overseas manufacturers. I actually do read (okay, skim) them all. While most of them are tedious and uninteresting there is the occasional gem hidden amongst all the dross; the odd interesting new product that I think worth bringing […]

Very recently, virtual reality has finally grown out of the ridiculous spectacle of the early ’90s into a legitimate display peripheral. Much of the credit for bringing VR back from the brink and into the mainstream consciousness goes to the Oculus Rift, started by a 22-year-old with the world’s largest head-mounted display collection, Palmer Luckey. […]

After my last dissertation on 4k, I had to put up a post that was pure levity, so here goes. I had posted a couple things on Twitter that referenced AV and pop culture mixed together, and it got me thinking of how AV could create some power couples with celebrities, bands, or even other […]

There has been a lot of talk about 4k. There are actually several formats that people are describing when they use the term 4k. There is true 4k from cinema (4096 by XXXX) and then UHD-1/2160P (3840 by 2160) which is what type of displays are hitting the market. For the purposes of this blog, […]

More often than not the inspiration for my editorials and blog posts come from recent events/incidents/disasters in my life. Invariably, in these incidents (and disasters) I have to fall back on my training as an installer and designer. To quote Al Pacino from The Godfather: Part III: “Just when I thought I was out…they pull […]

I feel the need to post about soccer — excuse me, fútbol. The soccer-craze has hit the U.S., finally, after decades and decades of “them” telling “us” that soccer would, one day, be the hottest sport in America and compete for our attention like basketball and football do. My middle school coach said, “You need […]

Sure disruptive, it’s just about become my middle name. However, the industry is almost ready to re-name itself as a newly formed arena of disruption to go along with the standards like digital signage, control systems and more. But then again if I search hard next year, I’ll likely come up with disruptive technologies there […]

A week past my return from InfoComm, I’m finally getting to write my overall reflections on the show and what technology I saw there. For further perspectives, visit my esteemed colleague Alex Mayo, who offers his own perspective. Alex is a bright man and a very talented designer with whom I’m quite fortunate to work. […]

I make no bones of the fact that, despite being a tech guy, I’m not an early adopter, and I can be kind of curmudgeonly. I’ve refused to support Bluray since the beginning, since hardcopy media is so 20th century. Downloads and streaming aren’t the future, they’re the now. Even early on, Bluray seemed to […]

I have seen a lot of discussion about the new acquisition of AMX by Harman. Many have tried to say that because of the large consumer division of Harman, that AMX will be marginalized in the commercial space going forward. I’m quite certain that won’t be the case given that AMX has been placed in […]

There are many A/V/L systems in place at churches of every size, location and style. Many are there because they were the lowest bid price point; others are stitched together over time, mostly borne out of necessity — and yet others are in place because an integrator specified what worked in other churches. Finally, there […]

Lessons are taught as well as learned every day, and this one I consider a major one. I first want to send accolades to my fellow rAVe Publications blogger Mark Coxon for coming to the forefront and speaking his mind concerning the situation relating to Microsoft at the InfoComm show; I think he put in […]

A new study finally sheds light on how important proximate collaboration can be. Those of us in the technology and software space all know about the now apocryphal story of a defiant Marisa Mayer ending the long-standing work from home policy at Yahoo in an attempt to create a more vibrant culture. Of course, Marisa […]

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, […]

This year at InfoComm, I had the good fortune to have time to walk the halls and just talk in person to some of the great exhibitors in more depth. Here are few more products that caught my attention. Joel Rollins really put me on this camera. The Cisco SX10 has some feature other than […]

I wasn’t kidding when I came up with this title – I think I really found a company that’s pioneering future methods for sales and planning for particular segments of the AV industry. The company is World Viz: Interactive Virtual Reality. They are embracing the current rapid advance in affordable and high-quality virtual reality hardware. World Viz […]

LED display wall manufacturers are always present at InfoComm, but I saw a few demos that really showed off the quality of the product and also were an entertaining draw to the booth from some of the lesser known contenders. One of the most newest examples of impressive specs and visual performance is Christie’s new Velvet […]

I’ll start by saying I personally got a lot out of InfoComm14. I was able to connect with my company leaders and peers to discuss the vision for the rest of 2014 and to share strategies and best practices. I was able to connect with many of my AV integrator clients at the booth for […]

I’ve been told that given the cost and time involved in careful commercial display calibration, there was a lull in integrators offering calibration services for the bulk of display installs. With the increasing popularity of video walls over large projectors the market pressure for calibration services is on the rise. When displays are that close, […]

While walking the the halls of InfoComm, you run across things that are worth seeing, but not necessarily in a Disruptive/GameChanging(tm) kind of way. Please ignore my emo selfie that accidentally came out in the viewing window at the Digital Projection booth. You should by all-means check out their impressive new offerings this year, including […]

I know how hard it is to exhibit at tradeshows, and I especially feel for the rugged small business exhibitors who brave the formidable expense intense labor that comes with doing most of your own setup. Sometimes I feel these booths don’t get all the attention they could and you end up finding some particularly […]