It’s the final day of LAVNCH WEEK 12 — rAVe’s virtual event series that combines thought leadership, education and the latest AV news The day’s theme: ProAV. While seemingly a very broad topic, Steph Beckett and Gary Kayye helped cover everything from microLED to AV project management. This is your recap, but if you’d like to watch the full day’s content on demand, you can do so via the LAVNCH platform here.

The Human Side of AV: Where Technology Meets Storytelling

Alesia Hendley, industry thought leader and influencer, kicked off the day with a keynote on designing experiences that connect people and build trust. Hendley covered how to integrate storytelling and emotion in AV technology. “Most of all, we are creators of connection. When we lead with that mindset, the human side of AV becomes the most powerful part of what we do,” she said.

Hendley explained that there are three stories that should be told through AV design: the brand story, the human story and the technical story. “When all of those do align, technology completely disappears, and impact takes over,” she said.

The bulk of the presentation dove into how to achieve all of the elements of AV design — emotion, experience and energy — and what this looks like for different audiences.

Scaling Real-Time Power: Disguise in Action for the ProAV Market

In the next session of the day, Beckett sat down with Ely Stacy from Disguise to discuss the scalability of the Disguise platform for different ProAV installs. The company is known for creating visual experiences at concerts and arenas, but did you know there are options for projects of virtually every size?

Stacy presented on new technologies and opportunity spaces that have emerged over time, and how Disguise has capitalized upon them. He also showcased pre-visualization software and how it combines several AV elements to achieve fantastic results.

From Lamps to MicroLED: The Evolution of LED Displays

In the first panel of the day, Beckett brought on Megapixel’s Brad Koerner and Nanolumens’ Brice McPheeters to talk about everything LED.

The panel kicked off with discussing the evolution of LED projection technology. McPheeters identified decreasing cost as a driving factor in LED’s popularity, and Koerner attributed a demand for luminous spaces to the pressure to constantly innovate.

The group took a deep dive into the specifics of emerging LED technologies and their advantages and pitfalls, as well as a brief history and science lesson on what prompted the introduction of microLED.

As far as the next big innovation in LED, McPheeters anticipates a future in which the virtues of LCD and LED combine for an even better product.

How Integrators Can Stay Profitable Amid Rising Costs

Beckett next joined Graham Kelly of TD SYNNEX and Jeremy Codiroli of AVI-SPL to for a brief conversation on how to stay successful in the midst of an inflated market.

Codiroli highlighted the importance of open communication about rising prices and what these changes should look like in order to build trust with clients. Kelly talked about TD SYNNEX’s customer-owned product program, which allows customers to learn about upcoming price changes and get ahead of them.

“I think when that’s the focus of the entire picture, as to what you need as a customer, you know, long term, I think the cashflow kind of answers itself, because you’ve now got an ongoing relationship.” Codiroli said.

The panel concluded with the main takeaway that companies and customers benefit from a mutually dependent relationship, so planning ahead and understanding expectations are critical.

Lumens OIP Bridge — The AV Connectivity Game Changer

Next, Chester Lee showcased Lumens’ new solution that solves multiple-adaptor connectivity issues — the OIP Bridge. The product is an AV over IP decoder that converts IP video to USB and HDMI, along with other capabilities. Lee described the OIP Bridge as something that is applicable to several settings — including education, meeting rooms and digital signage. Lee called it an AV solution, not just a Lumens solution.

Visit mylumens.com for more information.

AV Project Management for Dummies

On this final panel of LAVNCH Week 12, Doug Greenwald from ProjX360, author and project manager Murphy Daley, Brad Malone from Twin Star Consulting and Hal Truax from PCD gave a crash course on AV Project Management for dummies.

Here are three tips the panel provided for AV Project management:

• Greenwald highlighted the importance of being professional and honest about struggles. Obstacles are inevitable, and acknowledging them early on is the best way to get past them.
• Malone and Greenwald both discussed having a clear “line of demarcation” when managing and meeting expectations of customers, and Daley shared that being open and transparent about difficulties with customers and stakeholders can be rewarding.
• Change is a part of life, and is also a huge part of AV management. Daley and Malone talked about the prevalence of project redirection and the vitality of openly communicating this.

ProAV Day was the last of the LAVNCH WEEK 12 series. To view missed content from the full event, click here. (As a reminder, each day of the LAVNCH WEEK 12 was worth 3.0 CTS, CTS-I, or CTS-D RU credits, but the credits can only be earned live.)