I’ve talked before about how frequently I receive queries from end users. It’s because when people Google one of the brands we distribute our website comes up, and my name, phone number and email are right there. I don’t sell to end users. I have dealers for that. But I always take the time to […]

You have most likely run across one of these pictures posted on social media, showing a high-end corporate campus or university with an engineered walkway through a large expanse of grass that is marred by a dirt trail worn through the landscape as a shortcut. It’s just as likely that you’ve seen these in real […]

From my experience, AV installations are permanent. The rooms, digital signage, multipurpose rooms and auditoriums that line my portfolio of installations have that in common: They are set up and left for use for many years. At most, there is one specialist that will interface with the controls to make sure the audio and video […]

People often throw around the expression that “history repeats.” In truth, the original axiom — it’s attributed to Mark Twain, although I suspect it’s even older — states that “history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.” It’s certainly true that if you stick around long enough, you begin to see patterns — that what’s happening […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST  In case you haven’t heard, Sony’s new three-part Th!nk AV Thought-Leadership Symposium debuted this year at almost the perfect time. In between the sleepy holiday season but before the frenzy of spring (which officially begins March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere), the timing of Th!nk AV couldn’t have been better. […]

Being a technology manager in AV has been a wild ride. For years, many of us have felt like we were crashing the party. At first, we were not welcome at InfoComm, then that slowly changed. Then, when manufacturers started communicating directly with us, visiting us on-site, offering training, etc., integrators were not happy. Then […]

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 […]

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 […]

Imagine you were walking the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center at InfoComm 2018. You walk up to a random person without looking at their badge and shake their hand. What are the odds you just shook hands with an integrator? A. 50 percent B. 40 percent C. 30 percent D. 20 percent If […]

I still remember my first concerns about user engagement with the technology we provide. It was over a decade ago; we were fitting out four conference rooms per floor over about a dozen floors. Video teleconferencing in two, local presentation in the other. Pack up, head for the elevator, repeat. It was one of my […]

This year saw some of the best new technology breakthroughs in decades, but manufacturers and systems integrators still don’t understand why innovative gear fails to succeed in the house of worship market. It seems counter-intuitive, but approaching the top of the technology apex in audio, video and lighting isn’t generating the kind of sales one […]

By Mario Porto Director of Strategic Accounts, HB Communications “THIS SYSTEM SUCKS! NOTHING WORKS!!!” How many times have you heard that comment? If you’re like most of the people I’ve spoken to over the years, you’ve heard it more times than any of us would have liked. I recall meeting an architect from a very […]

Hello to the rAVe World! I am told that many of the readers of this publication are manufacturers reps and integrators. That is good, because I am calling all of you out right here, right now. You may want to do some homework before reading any further. I wrote a blog about this in April, […]