rAVe [PUBS] turned 20 this year. And, its parent company, THE rAVe Agency, technically turns 25, the latter was started in my master bedroom in Dallas, TX, in 1998. The point is we’ve been in the industry for a long time and, likely, have a readership much larger than any other in the industry as […]

Almo Pro A/V announced its E4 Experience is back on tour with the first of four 2022 stops in Anaheim on March 22. The single-day experience features Almo’s signature four-pronged approach: Explore, Engage, Educate and Expo. This allows consultants, resellers and integrators to expand their business acumen and find new growth and success. Those interested […]

By Stephanie Bleakley, Marketing Manager Integrate Expo, Diversified Communications Australia Get ready to think beyond and lose yourself in the technology of tomorrow at Integrate 2019. Integrate is Australia’s leading event dedicated to helping businesses harness the power of AV technology to transform customer experiences, and it is returning for three show stopping days to […]

The 2019 version of the InfoComm Show has come to a close, but our coverage here will live forever here — on this rAVe [NOW] InfoComm 2019 Microsite! We have so much coverage — and there’s so much information on this InfoComm MicroSite that it can be overwhelming. So, please take moment to read this […]

Every year, we produce a video-story that shows the spectacle that is the InfoComm event. Our InfoComm wrap-up video has become one of the most popular things we do each year and, in the lead-up to today’s release, we teased it via social media and the teaser-videos alone garnered over 6,200 views. Again, that’s just […]

By the time I returned to my office after being at InfoComm all last week, I had a dozen or more emails or messages from people asking how we pulled-off the LG Booth tour. I was perplexed. How do I respond? With a camera and a mic? Ah, but I had misunderstood the question! LG, […]

At this year’s Digital Signage Summit Europe, more than 30 experts will explore how the Digital Signage and Digital out of Home industry can create better customer experiences. THE rAVe Agency co-founders, Gary Kayye and Sara Abrons, are both speaking and will be reporting from the show and will post all the product videos and […]

It’s called “pay-for-play” and it’s simply unethical — and even illegal in some industries. But in the 70+ year-old AV industry, it’s business as usual. Most of our industry’s awards are not real awards. Sure, manufacturers promote winning them as if they are. And, the magazines that dole them out pretend like they are, too. […]

  We are excited to announce the winners of our 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards. Our awards are different than ANY other industry awards and the stats speak for themselves: We had over 88,000 votes for the final awards! The nominations for the awards came SOLELY from you — the AV community. We have a system […]

At InfoComm 2019 (Orlando, June 12-14, booth 1143) the SDVoE Alliance will feature industry experts presenting 20-minute, in-booth education sessions on a variety of topics essential for system integrators, designers, consultants and tech managers who want to take advantage of the flexibility, scalability, interoperability and cost benefits of the SDVoE platform for networked AV. “Our […]

The AVIXA Foundation will host its first-ever 5K Walk/Run at InfoComm 2019 on Friday, June 14 in Orlando, Fla. Proceeds from the 5K will go toward fulfilling the AVIXA Foundation‘s mission of attracting and developing students for careers in AV. You can register here. The AVIXA Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization focused on […]

This is what you’ve all been waiting for! The 2019 ISE Wrap-Up video. Each year, we produce a wrap-up video to give you a glimpse of the ISE Show in Amsterdam and get a feel for what the entire show floor is like. Are you in it? Is your company highlighted? Check it out:

Pastors don’t need high-pressure sales, slick marketing or churchy language. In fact, these three are red flag warnings to a vertical market used to being sold what they do not need. Instead, the three essential soft skills for selling AV to churches are a helpful challenger, intentional communication and value-as-a-service. All three of these lean […]

Question: How do you lead prospects from unique markets and industries down a buyer’s path to a purchase? Answer: You reverse-engineer the customer’s journey. It’s actually a straightforward process of delivering value along the customer’s path when you position your brand, products and services according to their vertical market. In a previous article, I shared […]

Helping prospects and clients inform themselves during their customer buying journey is not a one-size-fits-most process due to the exponential growth of online search. Instead of manufacturers and systems integrators publishing generic product features, benefits and specifications, today’s influencers and decision-makers are searching for how products work in their unique vertical markets and applications. To […]

Audiovisual (AV) vendors often see themselves as the expert and church buyers as wanting their expertise. This leads to the slippery slope of blurred differentiators, which reduces the vendor’s position as a solution provider down to a commodity sales provider amidst the mass of competing vendors. Instead, AV vendors who will be most successful in […]

Earlier this year, Extron was voted by our readers in the 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards as having the industry’s best website. Well, yesterday, Extron launched a redesign. The company’s newly redesigned website was a open-input project where Extron asked consultants, system integrators and other industry partners what they’d like to see stay the same and […]

Epson today announced it is now shipping its new LightScene — a new category of accent lighting laser projectors for digital art and signage. From practical applications such as basic signage, wayfinding, branding and promotional messaging to spatial design and creation of immersive and engaging experiences, LightScene delivers dynamic content for digital art, commercial signage […]

The 2018 version of InfoComm came to a close last week, but our coverage will live forever — on our dedicated InfoComm 2018 Microsite! We shot 1,550+ new product videos, took 2,000+ photos on the show floor, recorded more than 75 podcasts and wrote up 200 or so news stories covering the show. Check it […]

People are people, so how people make decisions is a mix of intellectual and emotional thought patterns. This is true for the audiovisual industry and every other industry. In a sense, therefore, it may seem that business-as-usual for promoting, educating and selling audio visual systems and equipment means that your business doesn’t need to change […]

More impressive than the shifts in the audiovisual (AV) landscape during 2017 is the sheer rate of change that continues to accelerate with no hint of anyone applying the brakes. A year of change in this industry has brought some key trends to the forefront of 2018 and promised more changes in the near future. […]

Are you as ready for InfoComm as we are? We are already posting stories to our InfoComm MicroSite here — this is where we will post the 1,700+ videos we will shoot on the show floor. But to get you psyched up, check out this short one-minute teaser of our coverage:

Do you think of the typical church buying audio, video and lighting (AVL) technology as the old church down the street with a few cars parked in front of it on any given Sunday? Or has your firm yet experienced the technology shift that’s happening in the House of Worship market in churches that are […]

This weekend I wrote a blog entitled Millennial Damage? and posted it on LinkedIn. Then I did something I’ve only done a handful of times concerning any one of my blogs – I deleted it. Not for fear of backlash or anything related, that I can always take although I don’t normally write to provoke, […]

Every year the largest AV trade show in the United States provides more “things to see” and this year’s show in Las Vegas is no exception as it promises to be a great one – make sure you follow those well-known rules of attending the show in terms of comfortable shoes, clothing, hydration, scheduling booth visits […]

Last year, we debuted — both in iOS (Apple) and Android formats — an all-new rAVe [NEWS] mobile phone and tablet app. Our last app was launched in 2012 so it was time to launch a new app and we focused on three things: 1) Simplicity: Our new app is designed to allow you to […]

I was saddened to learn of the passing of my first ever editor, Denise Harrison. If you’ve been a long-time reader of mine, then you likely have read her work. Denise was the first person who made me sound better. I have always been what is considered a prolific writer — but that doesn’t mean […]

Believe it or not, we’ve had a mobile app for three years. But, it was designed and developed for the iPhone 4 and iOS 6. So, it was time to re-design everything. We started from scratch and looked at the top five news apps on the market and come up with a simple-to-navigate but powerful […]

As a house of worship consultant to manufacturers and systems integrators, I’ve seen and heard from a wide array of companies in the Audio/Video/Lighting (AVL) space about their experience with the church market. I think your experience at a manufacturer or dealer will likely follow one of these patterns of thought and leadership. All the […]

If you’re reading this, then you already know Gary Kayye. He’s the founder of rAVe [Publications]. He’s been in the AV industry for years. He’s won numerous accolades for his work and his AV prowess, if you will. But did you know that Gary is also an expert in branding and digital marketing? In fact, […]

Did you know that what you think of rAVe is not all that rAVe is? OK, are you one of our readers that reads our eNewsletter? You are, great! But, did you know that we actually have seven, yes, seven, different newsletters? Yep, we have seven, count them – seven: rAVe ProAV – this is […]

As an entrepreneur, I’ve discovered, lived and taught that change is a constant. When I started consulting with churches, the focus was on audio, video, and lighting system design. This tech-centric focus increased with the addition of teaching and speaking opportunities where I was able to rattle off the latest model numbers and point people […]