Radio

Even if there were no in-person CEDIA Expo (Sept. 1-3, 2021), the education and certification department at CEDIA (the association) would still be delivering education. Show or no show, thanks to CEDIA’s Samantha Ventura, CI education and training is alive and well in the residential AV market with CEDIA hosting classes for live attendees, live virtual attendees and prerecorded on-demand sessions. […]

There’s probably no one fielding more complaints, confusing calls or questions in the market today than Emerald’s CEDIA Expo VP Jason McGraw. Is CEDIA happening? Can we get a refund if we pull out? Are masks required? Do I need to bring proof of vaccination if I attend? Will anyone show up? Why isn’t Emerald canceling CEDIA? […]

Check out this real-time video demo of a technology called audio fencing with AVer’s director of product marketing, Carl Harvell. This tech is the future of UCC and going back to work in an open-office environment. After you see the new AVer VB130 video bar, I just know you will want to be a dealer for […]

Get ready for my next webinar, “The State of the AV-over-IP Market,” presented by Almo Professional A/V on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, at 2 p.m. EDT. NETGEAR’s Cody Kleven sat down with me earlier to chat about the growing AV-over-IP market, the future of the technology in the ProAV space and the numerous opportunities AV integrators can […]

*Lizzo voice*: Y’all been waiting for this one! Every time I’ve asked someone for study tips for the CTS test, the first thing I’ve heard is “learn Ohm’s law.” So, being the physics-averted person I am, I avoided it like the plague for as long as possible. But I’m back. I’m ready to learn. Jim Maltese from Level […]

Diversified’s CEO, Fred D’Alessandro, picked our own Gary Kayye to break the industry’s biggest acquisition story of 2021 so far — on video, too; it’s the buyout of New England-based HB Communications. He was also joined by HB’s own CEO, Dana Baron, on this episode of Rants & rAVes. The two discuss the reasons behind the two companies […]

Newline’s own Marie Totten joined Gary to discuss how and why the new Newline Flex works for K-12 education as a tool for both in-person and hybrid learning applications. The Flex is a personal collaboration touch screen that’s an all-in-one solution for everything UCC. But, in K-12, it may be the secret sauce for helping […]

We spend way too much time upfront combating the consumerization of AV. This week I address how to capitalize on momentum of consumer tech experiences to lead into your professional AV sale.

Gary spoke with CEDIA Expo’s Jason McGraw to get all the details on the upcoming show — Sept. 1-3 2021 — in Indianapolis. This will be the largest tech show since February 2020 and includes an all-new category of products: Resimercial AV tech for the home. This is a huge growth opportunity for both residential […]

In Gary’s 2021 Kayye’s Krystal Ball of annual predictions about new tech, he predicted that we’d see monitors with built-in cameras (think Zoom Video meetings but not appearing as though you’re looking above or below your monitor). Well, you’ll get to see it, for the first time ever, on today’s Rants & rAVes videocast! Jupiter has done it and […]

Gary was joined by Almo Pro A/V and ARHT Media today to talk about the new all-in-one HoloPod — a $55,000 3D HoloPresence Display solution for business. This is truly game-changing, and every AV integrator should sell this to corporate AV, any judicial branch of the government or any coworking space provider. Watch, and you’ll see why — then […]

In this episode, I speak with Josh Kaufman of Tufts University. Josh gives some great insight into how Tufts used outside integrators as install teams, while the university did design and purchasing in-house. Josh also spends some time talking about accessibility and where integrators and manufacturers can continue to add value in this area.

OK, so I’m clearly on a storytelling kick. Tim Duncan asked about storytelling on Twitter, so I thought I’d share an effective and interactive story I’ve found myself telling more than once. Enjoy!

If you’ve been telling people about your product or service and find that they’re just not responding, perhaps you need to tell better stories. In this Selling AV, I talk about how to do just that.

Gary Kayye caught up with ISE‘s managing director, Mike Blackman, today to review the first big AV event in Europe since the pandemic, ISE 2021 in Barcelona, and talk about the upcoming ISE London in fewer than 10 days. Our comprehensive ISE Barcelona coverage is all wrapped up here but watch for even more content — including videos […]

If you haven’t heard of easescreen, you might want to take a look. Easescreen has a totally cloud-based creative content platform for digital signage that is compatible with any media player AND is OS-agnostic. joins Gary Kayye on today’s videocast to not only talk about the easescreen platform but also about what it was like to finally […]

Control systems — they’re such a mystery to me. What are they about? What can they do? What do they want? Steve Greenblatt of Control Concepts, Inc. sits down with me to discuss just that. So — if you need help studying: commands versus functions, how a CPU communicates, types of control systems, etc. this is […]

In this episode, I speak with Don Merritt of the University of Central Florida. Don talks about what he is expecting in the year ahead — he is thinking not only about the changes we will see based on what faculty have learned over the past year but also how we need to prepare to have faculty and students in […]

Mark sits down to talk with Carlos Carrasquillo about his journey into design and architecture, how space can inspire behavior and how we use it to build community.

It’s time to talk about the way we connect. No, not with one another. I’m talking cables and the things at each end you use to plug them into stuff. If you’ve ever wondered what a Phoenix connector is, why wires and cables are NOT interchangeable terms and why building an AV rack the proper […]

In today’s episode of Rants & rAVes, Gary Kayye sits down with TJ Trojan, senior vice president of product management for SYNNEX, to talk about SYNNEX’s collaboration business and how it’s helping partners in today’s evolving market. This past year highlighted the crucial role connectivity plays for customers in all verticals, a trend that is […]

On Thursday, rAVe will use the LAVNCH platform to debut a totally new company and a totally new product to the AV industry: Valarea. You haven’t heard of it yet, but YOU WILL. Its AR technology will soon be coming to a collaboration board near you! The company also has a simple way to standardize UI […]

If you’re in sales, you’ve heard plenty of advice on how to close, get the sale, get the PO, win. Today, I ask you to consider switching your perspective to adding value instead. Listen to find out how changing your thinking can change your outcome.

In this episode, I speak with Erin Maher-Moran of Johns Hopkins University. Erin gives some great insight into how Johns Hopkins has a hybrid approach to design and installation; she also offers advice about how strong relationships with integrators can be extremely valuable.

When going in for a big presentation, salespeople often spend quite some time creating what they believe is the perfect deck of slides to best promote their company and its products and services. However, overdependence on the “sales presentation” may just be blocking your chances of success.

AVer used the Rants & rAVes videocast today to release details of its newest 4K USB cameras — the CAM130 and the VB130. But these are not just simple webcams designed for working from home. The CAM130 includes dynamic professional lighting (aka built-in lighting) that allows you to add and adjust, or auto-adjust, the amount of […]

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 […]

SYNNEX Vice President of Product Management Sandi Stambaugh catches up with Gary Kayye to share the latest highlights and updates for the SYNNEX VISUALSolv business unit, as well as AV trends they’re seeing in 2021 and beyond. Hear how SYNNEX is expanding its team and ramping up training and enablement to best support partners in the […]

In this episode, I talk with Jimmie Singleton from the University of Southern California. USC has a student enrollment of over 40,000 students, and Jimmie’s department supports about 280-300 spaces.

In today’s episode of Study With Steph, I catch up with my pal, Justin Kennington, to help me with networks. We answer the following questions: What is a network? Why does topology matter? What the heck is up with Ethernet (I previously thought it was just a cable. It is not just a cable.) For clarification […]

Introducing the newest podcast on the rAVe [RADIO] network: #DearVendor. For over a year I have been following the #DearVendor hashtag on Twitter. People often use the hashtag to make jokes or express frustration at vendors. Typically, the jokes are about cold calls or relentless emails. As I watched the communication on this over several […]

I took a few weeks to rearrange my episode structure, and now I am back here with all of you — and I am ready to learn! If you’re still following the CTS Exam Guide, I’m so sorry that the chapters no longer match the episode numbers. I will let you know we are still on […]