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Hi, I’m Dawn… And I’m an AV Professional

thesingoffI’ve gotten a lot of fantastic feedback from my last blog, Preach It – including having the blog featured on last week’s AVWeek podcast by AVNation. And every word is honest truth… As an AV pro, you have to be passionate about your field and about the technology and about the work you do.  However, there can be a downside to this passion for the industry. It can become an obsession, an addiction that impacts your life.  Hi everyone.  My name is Dawn.  And I’m an AV Professional.

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, “What the heck? Just last week she told us, ‘EMBRACE IT! Embrace and share the industry!’”  Well, yes. We do need to evangelize AV and, honestly, to make a career out of it, you do need to love the field or it’s just another pain-in-the-ass job.  Seriously.  But… well… it *can* become an obsessive love, and if you’ve worked in AV for more than five minutes, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Have you ever been on an “immersive” amusement ride and nearly given yourself whiplash trying to turn backwards in the seat to see what projector they’re using to create the effect?  You’re an AV professional.  Been out to eat at a restaurant or sports bar and gone up to the manager to insist on resetting their satellite boxes or monitors because the scrolling logo offended your sensibilities?  You’re an AV professional.  Watched a massive extravaganza – like the Super Bowl Halftime Show or Olympics Opening Ceremony – and spent your time critiquing and criticizing the tech as much or more than enjoying the performances? Oh yeah, you’re an AV professional.

It’s rather endemic to the field – Most of the AV pros I’ve spoken to have experienced this at one point or another. Being married to another AV pro, such experiences are a constant in my own life.  For example, watching the chick-flick “Never Been Kissed” almost always brings my hubby to tears at the end… No, not the part when Michael Vartan shows up to finally kiss Drew Barrymore, but right before that, when she thinks he isn’t coming and drops a handheld mic, windscreen first, heavily onto the ground. That’s pain, right there, for most AV professionals!

Most recently, we had one of these AV pro moments while watching “The Sing-Off” on NBC.  Now, Harry and I both sing, and we’ve both played instruments, so we love watching a show like this, where incredibly talented vocal artists compete for a record contract. Each episode opens with an AMAZING production number featuring up to 70 singers. While we are regularly blown away by the talent on the show, and the spectacular arrangements they pull off for these opening numbers, inevitably the conversation becomes, “Hon, how many frequencies you think they need for all of those wireless mics? Can you imagine setting up *that* wireless system?  I mean really…”  Yup, we’re AV professionals.

How about you?  Got a great story about a moment when you realized just what a big AV geek you are?  Share it in the comments below. After all, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery!

Dawn Meade, CTS – also known as AVDawn – is an industry veteran with experience in integration, AV sales, and social media. You can find her on Twitter (@avdawn), on her AV tech blog (www.avdawn.com), and of course, here at rAVe as a staff writer and as part of the rAVe BlogSquad.  Her hubby, Harry Meade, CTS-D, is also on Twitter (@MrAVDawn).

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