End users in the AV industry are a unique group that should not be ignored, and last week’s End User Day of LAVNCH WEEK was specifically created for them and only them. The final session of LAVNCH WEEK End User Day — and of LAVNCH WEEK overall! — was our panel discussion. The panel, “Insider […]

We’re continuing with our theme of providing corresponding blog posts to go with our LAVNCH WEEK coverage! Scott Tiner, director of client services at Bates College and member of the rAVe BlogSquad, delivered our Tech Talk about the interesting and symbiotic relationship between a vendor and customer. Below are his tips and advice for cultivating […]

We’ve made it, everybody! The last day of LAVNCH WEEK arrived — and it left just as quickly. Our team is tired but proud — we created something brand new and released it much quicker than initially planned. LAVNCH is the industry’s first all-digital event we put on with Zoom and our other partners last […]

During our live LAVNCH WEEK Tech Talk, Paul Richards of PTZOptics shared that, these last few months, “connected churches” are discovering just how large their communities really are. And once social distancing is relaxed, many houses of worship won’t be going back to the way things were in their AV systems. For bigger houses of […]

It’s day four out of five for LAVNCH WEEK — the industry’s first all-digital launch event we’ve been putting on with Zoom and our partners this week — and today was House of Worship (HoW) day. This day was created specifically for two audiences: house of worship integrators and AV/IT providers (maybe even volunteers) who […]

The UCC Panel of our LAVNCH WEEK Wednesday covered some things that everyone has been thinking about but maybe not talking about. “What’s Next for UCC Integrators and Power Users?” It’s one hell of a title because it’s something that keeps us all up at night — we’re living in a weird world right now […]

By: Madelyn Welch and Leah McCann For today’s UCC Day “Tech Talk,” we were joined by industry veteran Dr. S. Ann Earon to compare unified communication collaborations options and discover where the battle lines are today. With more than 38 years in the industry, Dr. Earon has dubbed herself the “fairy godmother of the industry.”  […]

I was shaking in my boots (with excitement) to hear from Zoom for our LAVNCH WEEK UCC Day keynote. Zoom has been in the news a lot recently, but a lot of us think the platform has done a fantastic job of responding to criticism about its security measures, then directly addressing them with timeliness […]

Back again with another LAVNCH WEEK preview — and I got the opportunity to speak with Joe Way from the University of Southern California. He will be joining us for End User Day of LAVNCH WEEK on May 1. This week has been more successful than we could have imagined so we at rAVe are […]

Even as the world starts to return to “normal” (or, at least, we’re feeling more of a sense of normalcy now than we did in March — but still social distancing, please), it’s important to keep sharing perspectives and learnings among each other, so that we can take them well beyond the COVID-19 crisis. That […]

Today Zoom announced security enhancements with the upcoming general availability of Zoom 5.0, a key milestone in its 90-day plan to proactively identify, address and enhance the security and privacy capabilities of the Zoom platform. By adding support for AES 256-bit GCM encryption, Zoom will provide increased protection for meeting data and resistance against tampering. […]

By: Madelyn Welch and Leah McCann Ameet Shah of Prohaska Consulting joined us today to talk about his two favorite topics: the first being programmatic buying and the second being digital out of home.  With those two things as his favorite topics, we think we found the right speaker today for our LAVNCH WEEK Digital […]

For day two of our first-ever LAVNCH WEEK — created and launched by rAVe in partnership with Zoom — we were particularly excited to have a full day of content specifically positioned around a huge market in our industry: digital signage. So, naturally, we found an expert on DS trends and forecasting to kick off the […]

Oh my god I’m back again — with another taste of something you can expect to see during rAVe’s LAVNCH WEEK! Anthony Coppedge is a marketing and digital sales consultant who also happens to be a member of the rAVe BlogSquad. He’s also very clued in to the HOW world — and that’s why we […]

The ProAV Panel of LAVNCH WEEK yesterday covered something that’s been on many of our minds. The title of the talk will give it away: “AV Careers, Workforce Development and Pivoting Your Products and Services.” In other words, how can you, and your business, pivot in this “new normal” and keep your head above water? […]

In the greater context of AV systems and design, Mark Coxon asked in his Tech Talk presentation for LAVNCH WEEK today, “Why do we bother with all this stuff?” There’s no ONE answer to using audio and video to tell a good story. So how do we do it? Turns out a lot of the […]

“Artificial intelligence is already at work changing you”: a provoking idea, direct from our second LAVNCH WEEK ProAV Day keynote presenter, William Ammerman — author of McGraw-Hill’s “The Invisible Brand: Marketing in the Age of Automation, Big Data, and Machine Learning.” Ammerman’s keynote today for ProAV Day of LAVNCH WEEK, “AI and the Voice User […]

Today in history marks the first-ever day of LAVNCH WEEK, the industry’s first virtual launch event — proudly created and successfully launched by rAVe in partnership with Zoom. Kicking off the day with the very first session of the week was AVIXA CEO David Labuskes. Who better to kick off LAVNCH WEEK than Dave Labuskes? […]

P.T. Barnum is credited for saying,”There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” You may have heard other variations of this old saying, such as “There’s no such thing as bad press.” Does this apply to recent headlines about Zoom? If you have lost track, I will do my best to summarize and put it all […]

Hello, and welcome to the first day of LAVNCH WEEK if you’re registered, but if not, never fear because you know we always have tricks up our sleeves. Because of the nature of this project, we had to limit our registration to a certain number of people, so for the first order of business, I’d […]

Digital Signage Expo (DSE) announces a partnership with THE rAVe Agency for the AV industry’s first all-digital launch event, LAVNCH WEEK. Created by THE rAVe Agency in partnership with Zoom Video Communications, LAVNCH WEEK (pronounced “launch” week) is a five-day virtual event that combines keynote presentations, interactive panels and video content. DSE is proud to […]

Peerless-AV has announced a product partnership with Blue Planet Energy to develop the Blue Ion LXHV, a patent-pending, premium grid-optional energy solution that brings together a wide range of sustainable energy options to power critical infrastructure and businesses. Through a ruggedized, custom enclosure manufactured by Peerless-AV, Blue Planet Energy’s non-toxic battery system and an integrated […]

Kramer Electronics’ KDS-8 is a zero-latency, SDVoE-based (10G) AV-over-IP transceiver for distributing AV signals via Ethernet over copper cable. The KDS-8 streams up to 4K@60Hz (4:4:4) resolution signals over a 10G network interface, providing lossless compression. The KDS-8 is a fully standard and compliant SDVoE codec, and it enables compatibility with other software and hardware […]

Hello, everyone. I’m back with another video — giving you a preview of what you can expect from LAVNCH WEEK. Yes, I’ve gotten slightly better at explaining what it is since my last video (emphasis on slightly). LAVNCH is a special platform we at rAVe have built to host a variety of things: new product […]

Hello, everyone! Your LAVNCH WEEK emcee here! I’m taking some time to interview a few of our fantastic speakers before LAVNCH officially kicks off on April 27. What’s LAVNCH? I’m so glad you asked because I obviously need the practice of explaining it to people! LAVNCH is a new platform we’ve built at rAVe to […]

The AV industry doesn’t quit, even when the world slows down. So when 2020’s biggest AV trade shows started to release their postponement and cancellation announcements one by one, starting as early as February, it was time to expedite the release of a new platform, called LAVNCH — something rAVe has been working for more […]

Today Verizon announced that it will acquire BlueJeans, a cloud-based enterprise videoconferencing and event platform, pending regulatory approval. The transaction will combine BlueJeans’ meeting platform with Verizon’s UCaaS business immediately, according to the news release, and will be deeply integrated with Verizon’s 5G product roadmap. Here’s what rAVe founder Gary Kayye had to say: “The […]

Peerless-AV has expanded its line of all-season outdoor TVs with the 86” UltraView UHD Outdoor TV (UV862). Delivering native 4K resolution (3840×2160) and a brightness that is three times that of the average of indoor TV, the new 86” UltraView UHD Outdoor TV is shipping in May. Peerless-AV’s 86” UltraView UHD Outdoor TV operates at […]

THE rAVe Agency, rAVe [PUBS] and Zoom are collaborating on a one-of-a-kind virtual event. If you receive our newsletter or follow us on social media, you’ve likely heard about it. LAVNCH WEEK (pronounced “launch” week) is a five-day virtual event focused exclusively on AV education through high-level keynotes, interactive discussion panels and new product launches. […]

AVIXA has been publishing a monthly ProAV Business Index since mid-2016, gauging sales and employment indicators for the ProAV industry. The index is calculated from a monthly survey that tracks trends. Two diffusion indexes are created using the data, the AV Sales Index (AVI-S) and AV Employment Index (AVI-E). This month’s AV Sales Index (AVI-S) […]

Peerless-AV is offering a bundled solution available immediately to deploy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As hundreds of testing and treatment stations are opening across the country to meet healthcare needs, the locations call for rapid triage and information sharing, often in inhospitable environments. The bundled solution includes a 49”, 55” or 65” UltraView […]

This story has been updated to add a letter sent to NEC Display partners and customers. Below is the official press release from NEC Display today. Before you read it, here are my thoughts: Unlike nearly every merger in our industry’s history, this is a new display company that will be made up of two […]