In my recent article “From Zero to Streaming in 10 Days,” I briefly mentioned that we use hardware encoders from Haivison. Haivision has a wide variety of products, from single hardware encoders to a massive “video furnace” that can provide video services for an entire campus. At Bates College we use only the hardware encoders. Specifically, we use the Barracuda (SD encoding) […]

According to Yahoo News, the winner of half of the $587 Million jackpot from last week’s Powerball lottery was Matthew Good of Arizona. So, why care? Well, he’s the same Matt Good who works for D&M Holdings, parent company for Denon andMarantz. Here’s the Yahoo Story:  http://news.yahoo.com/ariz-powerball-jackpot-winners-name-released-171448048.html

It’s funny how things change. There was a time when I loathed Christmas. Well, that’s not fair: maybe not loathed, but I certainly did my best to minimize it in my life. I know the reason why, too: years and years working in retail and all the things that go along with the Holiday Season, […]

It’s a consequence of belonging to industry trade associations that those associations sell your email address to companies that are looking for business partners. Sidebar to any trade association flacks who are reading this: don’t act like you don’t, we know you do. As a result, I get a lot of spam from overseas manufacturers […]

In my post, Stand Out, I stated that hosting consumer and industry partner events was one of the ways to differentiate your business from your competitors by adding value as a resource. In this post, I want to focus on targeting industry partners (architects, interior designers, builders and remodelers) through outreach events. You want to make sure […]

Next Thursday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. EST, 5 p.m. MT, 4 p.m. PT, we’re going to create a first in the AV industry by getting together — across the world — for an AV Holiday Party and Tweet-Up! Whether you can attend in-person, at a venue below, or on Twitter, wherever your travels and time zones allow […]

In states all over the country, electrical unions are trying to convince state and local governments that low-voltage installs need to be handled by them. That’s right — to keep people safe from the 5-, 7-, 11- and 12-volt signals (and, of course 70-volt audio systems too) running down speaker wire, Ethernet cables, RS232 cabling and through HDMI ports, […]

The majority of churches tie their new budget year with the new calendar year, meaning new funds are available come January. But what you may not know is that a lot of churches use December to look for upgrades to stuff into the new year budgets at the last minute. It used to be that […]

I think you’ll all enjoy this week’s episode of THE WEEK on rAVe Radio. I kick around a number of subjects I thought interesting to the AV market (such as Sony’s new simulation projector and Google’s Code-IN), and then talk with Bill Waldman, an advocate of the “Maker” movement in technological education and enablement in the U.S. We discuss Maker […]

Over the course of the past month I have received a few more emails and had more conversations with people about my initial article. I covered several of these discussions in my follow-up blog post, but wanted to follow up on a few more. Bo Warmbold from Vernon Hills High School wrote to tell me that at Vernon Hills, they use a software […]

Stand Out: Event Marketing for AV Dealers (Part 1) Our industry, along with the rest of the country, was hit hard during the recession.  Many AV dealers and integrators closed their doors permanently, while others scaled back and saw their revenues fall drastically. Although we’re not out of it yet, for businesses that were able to […]

There are two stories that caught my eye today, and both have implications in the HomeAV market. The first: Biscotti 2.0 Biscotti Inc., the company that created the Biscotti TV Camera, released new MyBiscotti Cloud Services, making the product much more than just a home-based videoconferencing system. Biscotti’s MyBiscotti Cloud Service is aimed at extending the smart TV cam experience, transforming […]

Since our official rAVe Radio podcast launch at the beginning of October, we’ve heard lots of great feedback and encouragement from many of our listeners and we’d like to extend a huge thanks to you all! Many of you already know that the best place to access our rAVe Radio podcasts is atrAVePubsRadio.com  — but we also understand that a web […]

I’ve always been so impressed with our industry and the people who are part of it. Being service-oriented by its very nature, our industry is comprised of people who just generally want to help others. But, what I’ve been witness to over the last few weeks has touched my heart profoundly and has been an […]

Today is Cyber Monday! Likely the biggest shopping day for e-commerce retailers. Probably the day following the biggest weekend of the year for retail stores. Retailers of all kinds are probably selling more this time of year…but at what cost? However, competing in a low-cost marketplace is dangerous and very few win. Just ask Wal-mart, […]

Oh My Gosh!! You have to read Joel Rollin’s blog about a Crystal Radio!! At least so SOMEONE has to help me understand what the heck that is 🙂 Seriously… Joel and I have had a lot of conversations about how we are not “Tweeters.” Meaning, neither of us feel we can say anything truly […]

Now that the holiday selling season has kicked into high gear with the lunacy of Black Friday, it reminds me of the madness, insanity and poor decision making I’ve witnessed in my own years in retail. If anything, the holiday shopping season is defined by the fact that people want what they’re buying now: not now, but RIGHT […]

Last week, I had a great conversation on The Week on rAVe Radio, with Jennifer Willard of Women in AV and Sara Abrons of rAVe Publications. We talked about women in the current AV workplace. One of the things I brought up with them was the low ratio of women in certain hands-on technical portions of the business, especially in the systems […]

When it comes to vacations, when are you happiest? -One month before you leave -Three days into the trip -As soon as you return According to research out of the Netherlands published in the Applied Research in Quality of Life, sadly, we are happiest when we are planning the vacation. In fact, when we return, […]

Our industry is always known for breaking new ground and creating innovative firsts. The very nature of what we do for a living is about creating solutions for customers and clients to allow them to perform business in ways that haven’t been able to before. The same is true of the Women in AV group. […]

Well here it is, more than two weeks after Sandy. Much of the area is still recovering, and much has not even started yet. So, on this week’s episode of “The Week,” I decided to talk with David Stout. David is an old friend, an AV businessperson, and a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. I wanted […]

I think you will all enjoy this week’s episode of The Week on rAVe Radio. I talk with Mario Maltese, long-time industry educator and Executive Director of the Association for Quality in AV Technology. In it, we discuss quality management systems, when and why to adopt them, and how to get education in the kind of quality […]

As a last-ditch effort, Best Buy has hired Sharon McCollam, a former Williams-Sonoma finance wizzard. She accepted, coming out of retirement to helm the Best Buy recovery plan financially. The stock already wet up today from the news, but can she even accomplish this? Best Buy made a living under-cutting the hundreds, no thousands, of mom-and-pop as well […]

After my first article for rAVe Ed came out, I had several people email or tweet me questions or comments.  I thought they were so good, and thought provoking, that I decided to respond to them here. Mike Tomei (@miketomei) and Conner Krey (@connerkrey) wrote to me asking more about the Bonjour protocol.  Mike wanted to know more about what it meant that […]

Chances are that you own a product made by Apple, as about 63 percent of those between the ages 18 and 49 own at least one Apple product, based on a survey completed by CNBC. Apple doesn’t have to worry about that growth slowing either, as those homes with at least one Apple product actually own […]

All of us can think back to pivotal moments in our lives: that one moment where, with one decision, our futures branched off in a new direction, for good or ill. I’d like to think that I’ve only ever made one terribly poor work-related choice, what you might call a “Career-Limiting Decision” in my life. […]

Well, I got through Sandy pretty well here. Connecticut, although hurt badly, had less flooding and is recovering quickly. My place got power back yesterday, just shy of a week. Our friends and neighbors in NY and NJ bore the brunt of the storm, and now it is up to those of us who fared […]

This morning I was catching up with posting our Women in AV demographic survey across our social media. While it is important to us and something we value, I couldn’t help but throw it all away as soon as I saw JD Systems’ post. We’ll make sure to advance women forward, but realizing the extent […]

Every year about this time, I look forward to having an extra hour on the weekend. For some reason, my head gets filled with ideas of what to do with that extra hour: sleep, read, get a nagging project done. It becomes a bit of an event. I decide when the free hour is added. […]

We are beyond thrilled to launch the very first Women in AV demographic survey —  we want to know about YOU WAVE!!  Who you are as a business professional, what are your interests in furthering your career and what types of opportunities you would like to see offered more by our WAVE group.  We’ve put […]

I can’t help but write a column about STAR WARS. I’m a huge fan — I saw the original at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre back in summer of 1977 after standing in line for at least five hours. I sat in the 11th row (yes, that’s how geeky I am) on the far right of the screen by myself — all […]

I think you will all enjoy the interview I just did with Randy Lemke, the CEO of Infocomm International, for this week’s edition of “The Week” on rAVe Radio. It has been posted and is available at our website ravepubs.com. In it, Randy talks about his time withInfoComm, his newly-chosen successor, and the future of the AV industry. Don’t miss it. […]