If you live in North America and you’re in the AV industry, then you likely know that InfoComm 2023 is coming June 10-16 to Orlando.

With literally hundreds of exhibitors, hundreds of learning opportunities/workshop sessions and tens of thousands of attendees slated to be at the event, it can be hard to determine how you can extract the most value from the show as an integrator.

Never fear! As a long-time InfoComm attendee and a contributing editor at rAVe for the past 10 years, I’m here to help!

Personally, I find InfoComm a great place to learn, explore and connect.

Learn

One of the best reasons to go to InfoComm is to learn. You can learn about products on the exhibit floor, take formal training or workshop, or get your CTS certification at the show.

Before you go, look at your business or role and decide what kind of training may help you address a new market or gain new skills for the next career advancement.

My top three recommended areas for building new skills are:

1. Network-centric protocols like Dante, QSYS, IPMX and SDVoE.
2. UI and UX design principals and strategies.
3. Better, human-centric needs analysis approaches.

The AV systems of tomorrow need to be user-centered, easily operated and leverage the power of the network.

Explore

The show floor has over 500 exhibitors which means if you spent only 3 minutes in each booth, you wouldn’t make it to all of them over the course of the three-day show.

Wandering in circles is inefficient (and sweaty). Never fear! AVIXA built a tool to help you map your show, adding your must-see exhibitors and courses to a list and map. This will add a little structure to the chaos and keep your cross-convention center traffic to a minimum.

Build in time between any scheduled courses or booth appointments to explore the area around these pre-identified points of interest. Some of my best AV discoveries and connections have come from interactions with companies I knew little about or weren’t on my radar before I discovered them on the floor.

Create a game to find three new products that could fit into your business and seek them out.

Pro Tip: Use the Infocomm Show Planner to create a list of the exhibitors you want to see and the classes you want to take.

Connect

I saved the best for last. The InfoComm show is a great place to network, deepen connections and find new business.

As an integrator, it’s important to know that the show floor has an increasing percentage of technology decision-makers walking around. Some technology managers associations, like HETMA (Higher Education Technology Managers Association) have a large presence on the floor and in the panels and curriculum.

If you’re looking for new relationships, InfoComm is a place to find them.

As for existing relationships, of course, in-person gatherings deepen those as well. Get strategic. Which manufacturer would you like to do more business with? Which company would you like to explore working for?

Pro Tip: The show is also a great place to host a potential or existing client. One of the best InfoComm shows I attended was one where I walked the floor with a potential customer, showing them different ways to tackle their challenges and building real-time trust as a subject matter expert that closed the deal for our company.

Finally, there are a plethora of events that happen at the show as well. If you’re an introvert and have trouble connecting, you could do something low-key like the AVIXA Women’s Council Breakfast (open to everyone no matter how you identify) or even Morning Yoga.

There are several social-media-based events like AVNation’s #AVTweetup or the #AVintheAM gathering (IYKYK).

There are lots of nightlife events as well, with the Peerless Party being the premier example the last few years (if you can get a ticket!).

Pro Tip: Finally, what better way to meet … ME! I’ll be on the floor all week, teaching classes, participating in panels and working in our booth for AVI-SPL #2561.

Check out my schedule here and DM me on LinkedIn or Twitter if you’d like to connect!