Dascom just announced that Max Kopsho has joined its Dascom Systems Group an executive account manager focused on AV/IP business development. With more than 30 years’ experience working at Legrand, Barco, Kramer, Christie and the U.S. Army, Kopsho has enjoyed many directing roles in sales, program management, business development and technical operations. Kopsho brings extensive […]
Legrand | AV will be teaching 15 courses at InfoComm 2019 covering a wide range of topics; sessions will be led by experts from Chief, Da-Lite, Middle Atlantic, Vaddio and others from the AV industry. Jerilyn Veldof, instructional designer at Legrand | AV, said she’s excited for the holistic approach that the various brands can […]
The audiovisual industry has been converging and will continue to converge with the IT industry to deliver unified communications and collaborative solutions. The convergence of these markets bring the best of what AV has to offer with the best of IT has completely together. AV brings to bear the enhanced lighting, acoustics and collaboration technology […]
Recently there have been a few people who would have you believe that “Networked AV is the single biggest threat to cyber security today.” Are the people who are saying this seriously stating that Networked AV poses a bigger threat to cybersecurity than social engineering or the other countless cyber security issues that end users […]
I have known about this AV/IT and collaborative (could even be videoconferencing) solution for a long time, but I was recently reminded of it and thought I should write a little something about it. This is an AV solution in a medical environment. Sweet right? What can be more purpose driven or allow someone to […]
OK, so before you go saying AV/IT and the -c- word (over ten years going now) is here, hold on a minute. I read in many corners of the industry, as well as hear the discussions that AV – we still have a problem. IT is laying in wait and even moving into our territory to do […]
After completing the first show of the new season of rAVe Radio’s AV Power Up with great guests Cory Schaeffer, TJ Adams and Joey D’Angelo at QSC, it got me to thinking about my standing in the industry, as well as my thoughts about it. These three individuals who have major profiles in the industry […]
I want to preface this by stating an important point. Nothing will ever replace the value of face-to-face meetings. A firm handshake to close a deal or the ability to spend time with people building strong relationships is incredibly important. The emphasis of this article is on the building and adding to the personal nature […]
When we discuss the ways that AV can become more IT, It is important to emphasize that the transition to becoming more IT is not one that should take AV away from their core competencies. I have had a lot of discussions lately with some of the best minds in AV and we seem to […]
Shure Wireless Systems Dominate American Music Awards (11/30) The 43rd Annual American Music Awards were broadcast on ABC on Sunday night, November 22. Hosted by Jennifer Lopez at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, the program presented the fan-voted honors along with a series of high-profile performances, highlighted by a vocal interpretation of the classic […]
From business topics to technical topics to end-user topics — all taught by some of the industry’s leading experts — experienced AV professionals will not want to miss our MasterClass program. See below for example instructor lineup and topics: InfoComm MasterClass: Projection Optimisation Instructor: Greg Jeffreys, CEO, Paradigm Audiovisual Ltd Greg Jeffreys is founder and CEO […]
A great collaboration space allows the people to interact freely and share ideas openly as if they would whether they were using technology or not. The purpose of the technology is to SUPPORT the message and to ENHANCE communication. In my earlier blog about this subject I mentioned that part of the needs analysis should […]
With so many products available out there for collaboration and huddle spaces that could be considered “off the shelf” one would have to ask themselves why a consultant and/or design engineer needs to be in the mix at all. In this blog I will discuss some of the considerations a design engineer and consultant take […]
It seems that every time I hear about collaboration in our industry lately it is referring to AirMedia, ClickShare, Brio, Via, Enzo or similar “Mirror Op” technologies and the emphasis is almost always on wireless and BYOD. These examples are great success stories and they have a great place in today’s marketplace. But I fear […]
Does your business have moral compass? How much does it guide you as an individual? Are you able to contribute to your Business’ Moral Compass? This week I was reminded of a very important lesson about loyalty and tough business decisions. The lesson reminded me both on a business level and on a personal level. […]
Who is the best person on your integration team? Where are you getting the highest value? Is it the engineer who can design a flawless system and bring it life through a detailed program report and drawing package? Is it the project manager who manages time, scope, and cost with incredible resource management skills and […]
(An exerpt from the book Da Vinci Sales – The 7 Keys to Selling Like Leonardo) Sales is a dog eat dog world. In sales you don’t have time to care and you can’t be weak…or can you? Should you? Does sympathy pay off in sales? If so, which should you be, sympathetic or empathetic? […]
What is really the return when you combine AV and IT? To answer this question you have to better define what AV and IT convergence is. AV and IT convergence is when AV and IT can be deployed where collaboration, control (ease of use), connectivity, conferencing and sending content can all be enhanced by integrating […]
I often refer to myself as a certification junkie. The truth of the matter is I am an education and learning junkie. I love to learn and all of the certifications are a side effect of that wonderful disease. That addiction to lifelong learning is probably why I teach. In teaching, I learn more than […]
HDBaseT technology is often referred to as a bridge between traditional AV and IP based AV. This bridging reference is often used when people are comparing HDBaseT to IP encoders and decoders that are often used for audio and video transport over campus and metropolitan area networks. When I hear this comparison being made the […]
Tony Stark — Iron Man Technology can make or break you. We learn that Tony Stark can invent anything and often invents things just because he can. Similarly, in the AV industry we implement technology for technology’s sake. From the comics and movies we learn that if we implement technology without fully researching it and […]
“Stop selling my products” — This would be my new tagline if I were to move back into sales. This may sound like a stupid statement for a sales person to say but bear with me for a little bit. I can think of a million resellers that can sell my products exactly the way […]
Another great week with a class of incredibly talented AV geeks getting their CTS credentials. This was another unique class because it was for a manufacturer, so the depth of knowledge in projection and image quality was unparalleled. I learned a lot from this team of professionals. Along the way I learned some things I […]
What did you do last week? Did you take on a big and challenging project or find a new million dollar customer? I still think I can top that. I spent my week with some of the industry’s top integration firms’ and manufacturers’ best and brightest operating executives and next generation leaders. Was there a […]
What perfect timing! The same day that I had the awesome pleasure of being in front of a best and brightest class of 22 CTS candidates from the Atlanta market of the AV industry, my five year old grandson started his first day of kindergarten. Today we both had a great day of back-to-school. Once […]
There is an encouraging shift happening in the AV Integration industry. This shift is happening at the integrator level and at the manufacturer representative level. If you are a not a part of it, you will absolutely need to be or you will be left behind — barefoot and in the cold. This shift illustrates […]
Ask yourself these questions so your customers never have to. Among many attributes, it takes humility, an inquisitive nature and great listening skills to be a good salesperson. Those attributes seem almost obvious, right? OK, I’ll give you that. I think what takes a little more thought and may not be as obvious is the […]
How many sales people do you have that transitioned from technical staff into sales? How many of those people had proper sales training? How many of your sales staff has had any formal sales training for that matter? Does it matter? Of course it matters. Back a while ago in my blog I recalled the […]
This past week I was one of the luckiest workers in the world. Why? I was doing what I love and I was doing it for a living. Life is good. It helps that I am married to a perfect woman and that I love my wife and kids. It helps that I am a […]
This week my daughter and I have been working on our presentations for InfoComm. That’s right. This year we get to present together for the first time ever. Some of you met my daughter when she was about 8 or 9 when I first came into AV and now she is teaching in AV and […]
I was recently told by a business owner and successful entrepreneur that he was not “a leader.” He admitted he knows technology and operations but lacked true leadership skills. His solution to this challenge was to hire outside to bring in “leaders” for their team. I can’t help but think about how sad that is […]
This blog is dedicated to the friends I made at Atlanta Soundworks. ASW has such a talented group of people and an ownership team with such generous hearts and caring attitudes. I will miss you all dearly. Although I was not able to do all I had hoped to do in the short time I […]
