When looking back on last year, the best description that neatly wrapped up our collective experience in a bow was from Leslie Jones on a 2020 recap show on Netflix. Her character said, “I’d say it was a train wreck and a s*&tshow, but that would be unfair to trains and s*&t.” Seriously though, let’s […]
Wirepath Home Systems, LLC (doing business as SnapAV), announced Wednesday that its parent company has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) relating to the proposed initial public offering of the company’s common stock. The manufacturer and distributor is in the connected home technology market […]
Here’s a scenario: Your church has just installed a new audio mixing console. The church’s demands of working audio, video and lighting gear are often heavily placed on volunteers. Training is, therefore, crucial to their success. Are you thinking about having your volunteers fully trained on the new console after one training, just one day […]
In a recent blog, Gary Kayye wrote about the current global supply shortage of semiconductors. Take a moment and read the blog and the linked Wall Street Journal article. They both raise some important concerns about what the next several quarters will bring in regards to this shortfall. Unfortunately, my blog is not going to […]
SnapAV announced Thursday it will acquire Access Networks later this month. The acquisition will expand SnapAV’s networking portfolio and solutions, and add new products and services such as system design, configuration, monitoring and support. “Adding Access Networks to the SnapAV portfolio enables our partners to tackle any size commercial or residential network project,” GPaul Hess, […]
“We need an engineer on-site today.” “Hello?” I said into my phone. “Um …Who am I speaking with?” “You are the project manager for Important Customer’s AV project, right? It is nonoptional that we get an engineer on-site today.” I was across the country at the office Halloween party receiving a call from the Eastern […]
PSA and USAV today announced this year’s award winners at TEC 2021 live at the Sheraton in Downtown Denver. The Superstar Vendor Achievement Award was awarded to Altronix for security and ALMO Professional A/V for AV. rAVe is here at TEC 2021 covering the show at www.ravepubs.com/tec2021. “PSA and USAV would not be successful without […]
Over the past 14 months, higher ed technology professionals have been scrambling. Whether we were sticking webcams on tripods, placing cameras/mics in classrooms or working with faculty on how to use all of the above — the past year has been more about preparing for tomorrow than for the next six months or year. While […]
ISE distributed a release today letting the AV market know that, although it planned for four different regional ISE events in lieu of the traditional ISE Show (canceled due to COVID-19), it turns out that country-based regulations will not allow the organization to have the show in two of the intended locations, including Munich and […]
I was in the middle of writing a blog post on a different topic altogether when I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal that immediately captured my attention. Published Monday, March 29, the piece is titled, “As Concerts Prepare to Return From Pandemic Lockdown, Roadies Have Moved On.” I was curious to […]
THIS IS A PROMOTED POST Hey, everybody! I’m Emily Holler, a new writer to rAVe, here with a recap of April’s SDVoE LIVE! episodes. I’m taking the reins from Steph Beckett for the month, so don’t kill me if I’m not as funny as her. Spoiler alert: No one is. Today, we’re going to be […]
I have a half dozen LCD TVs around my house. We have at least 40 LCDs in our office. However, I’ve always wanted an OLED. But, I haven’t been willing to invest — even though I am an image snob. Honestly, I’ve been really happy with the QLED from Samsung. But, let’s be real — […]
Many years ago, I worked for a facilities-based CLEC selling POTS (plain old telephone services), DSL, T1 (1.5 Mbps), bonded T1 lines (3 Mbps), phone systems and VoIP (voice-over-IP) solutions. This experience helped me to really understand the business criticality of quality-of-service internet bandwidth and continues to help me to this day. After IT/telecom, I […]
This just in #AVtweeps: TEC 2021 will be held LIVE at the Sheraton Downtown Denver in Denver, Colorado, May 3-5, 2021, and virtually May 3-6, 2021. Gary and the rAVe team will cover the show, recording product videos and interviews just like always! TEC 2021 will be one of the first industry shows to take place in […]
Do not underestimate what I am about to tell you. In case you haven’t been reading the tech sections of the newspapers lately, there’s a global semiconductor shortage (branded as the “chip shortage of 2021”) and, although it hasn’t affected our market yet, it will, starting in late July. So, who cares? Well, you’d better, […]
I always anxiously await the arrival of my copy of the Harvard Business Review. While I realize that may sound a bit nerdy, I think it is an amazing resource for anyone who thinks about leadership, management and business operations. In the March/April edition, there is a story called “How to Shift from Selling Products […]
Microsoft just completed its “2021 Work Trend Index: Annual Report.” And parts of it are frightening. While the world debates the future of work after the pandemic, this Microsoft report mainly zeroes in on the state of work today. This survey was conducted by among 31,092 full-time employed or self-employed workers across 31 markets between […]
Rant time — I’ve been leading sales teams, directly and indirectly, for close to 15 years now, and I’ve been fortunate to hire a lot of salespeople. I have made many mistakes, learned a ton and I continue to learn more every day. However, here’s my problem: There are way too many salespeople and way […]
On March 31, THE rAVe Agency Founder and Director Gary Kayye was joined by ViewSonic’s Ryan Strayer, Dan Sharpe and Chris Graefe for another installment of our LAVNCH & LEARN sessions. The session — titled “Collaborative Education and Workplace Solutions” — aimed to discuss ViewSonic’s exciting new products designed to foster collaboration in workplace and […]
First let me say thank you, with a title like this one, I am surprised anyone is reading this blog. Let’s face it, asset and inventory management is not exactly a topic that sparks interest and debate. Part of the reason for that is that no one really enjoys doing this tedious, boring work. Yet, […]
THE rAVe Agency has announced a joint venture with XTEN-AV, the world’s first cloud-based AV design software. The venture will provide additional resources, including marketing, product information and data, and sales support, to integrators and manufacturers. Each of THE rAVe Agency’s strategic talents was created to serve, inform and educate integrators. rAVe [PUBS] shares the […]
Every job has a bill of materials. Telephone or network jobs only need a handful of suppliers. However, AV jobs get materials from everybody and their brother. There are enough quality manufacturers to fill a convention center — it seems they may even do that again soon. There are some lessons to learn here. The […]
The Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA), founded in 2019 by Joe Way, PhD (University of Southern California) and BC Hatchett, M.A.Ed. (Vanderbilt University), has filed formal articles of incorporation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the State of California. This move positions HETMA to further its mission of advocating for technology managers’ needs and […]
SnapAV has acquired HCA Distributing in Denver and Salt Lake City yesterday. But, financial details of the acquisition aren’t being made public. Trevor Hansen, manager of the SnapAV Volutone business unit said of the acquisition, “We are proud to add HCA to our growing network and be able to serve our partners in these two […]
By Tom Kehr Almo Pro A/V During the spring E4v, I was asked about my resources. For me, that’s an almost overwhelming question. Yes, I’m a bit of a bookhound, but there are also people, organizations, websites and papers that I’ve found invaluable over the years. Like many of you, I tripped into this whole […]
As you may recall from previous columns, I serve on the overall planning committee for a regional faith-based event in North Carolina. Pilgrimage, a large-scale event for United Methodist youth and their adult leaders, traditionally takes place in person during the second weekend in November each year. As you can imagine, that was not the […]
SYNNEX Corporation and Tech Data today announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which SYNNEX and Tech Data will combine in a transaction valued at approximately $7.2 billion, including net debt. The combined company, with approximately $57 billion in estimated pro forma annual revenues and a team of over 22,000 associates and […]
For each column in this series, rAVe writer Paul Konikowski takes a deeper dive into a recent security event or data breach, shedding light on supply chain vulnerabilities, infrastructure, and cyber-physical security. In my last SecuringAV column about the SolarWinds hack attack, I asked rAVe readers an open-ended question: If extremists think that Big Tech is […]
With well over 2,500 preregistered attendees tuning in live last week for the spring 2021 edition of the E4 Evolution (E4v), Almo Professional A/V extended the opportunity to learn and earn AVIXA CTS Renewal Units through the E4v Flex Experience. E4v Flex is a month-long, on-demand opportunity for integrators, end users and tech managers to access […]
During End User Day of LAVNCH WEEK 3.0 in February (in partnership with HETMA), I enjoyed listening to end users speak about AV security. It was particularly interesting to me since I had just written a blog on how the SolarWinds hack should serve as a lesson to the AV industry. I was tweeting a […]
Integrated Systems Events (and its co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA) has announced ISE Live & Online, a series of local events in Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and London — which will be supported by a digital offering via CISCO. This series of events will take place of the traditional in-person large trade show format. Integrated Systems Events […]
Last year, AV/IT distributor Almo Professional A/V pulled together a top-rate virtual experience for resellers and tech managers. E4v is a digital version of Almo’s in-person E4: a regional, industry-education-focused show that typically features Almo vendors and their offerings. This week’s event, the spring E4v (“v” for “virtual”), marked Almo’s third full E4v Evolution, the […]
