Radio

Almo is incentivizing its Encore Week of the E4v (E4 Evolution) show by giving away a 4K TV, a sounder (with sub) system and a new VDO360 OSHA-approved headset EACH DAY of the event (Nov. 30-Dec. 4) to three lucky #AVtweeps! So, if you missed any of the E4v sessions last month during the original […]

Gary was joined by both Sharp NEC Display Solutions’ President and CEO, Todd Bouman, and Sharp Imaging and Information Systems’ Mike Marusic, on his videocast today to better understand the impact of the joint venture that formed the new Sharp NEC DIsplay Solutions company. Nope, it’s not a merger — and yes, you can expect the synergy creating […]

BARIX CEO Reto Brader joined Gary on his videocast today to explain the simplest way to convert any distributed audio speaker into an IP speaker — using the company’s new IP Former. The IP Former simply has an Ethernet port on one side and 2-8-ohm speaker output on the other side; it allows you to put any speaker on an […]

As you may have read, security and home technology-focused Resideo (owner of ADI and Honeywell Home) acquired family-owned AV distributor Herman ProAV back in February. Now that the ink has dried and they are one company, Gary caught up with ADI’s global vice president of business development, Cynthia Menna, and Herman ProAV’s own Jeffrey Wolf, to talk about how they […]

Gary caught up with the leaders of one session of next week’s Almo Pro A/V E4v. If you’ve ever wanted to know anything about “The Future of Events: Hybrid, In-Person, VR & More” — check out this interview with Tom Kehr and Don Guzauckas. Then, tune into their E4v session Thursday, Oct. 29. You absolutely need to be there […]

Less than a handful of people in AV have ever won an Emmy Award. One of them is Dan Dugan — and he’ll receive his Emmy live during the 72nd Engineering Emmy Awards on Thursday, Oct. 29. Dan Dugan started in “AV” back in 1965. And his 55+ year career has included a handful of inventions used […]

If you’re cold calling, odds are you won’t be getting through on the first call often, which means you’ll be leaving voicemail. Ditch the gimmicks and follow these simple tips.

You may recall that, in mid-August, Gary spoke to AVIXA’s Sean Wargo about the organization’s late-summer market intelligence report. Well — two months later, Gary grabbed Sean again to get his perspective on how things are going as we’re in Q4 2020 — and what new things we might see in AVIXA’s next report. Gary and Sean also discussed […]

Mersive’s founder, Chris Jaynes, and rAVe’s founder, Gary Kayye, will be together in a show exclusive to the LAVNCH & Learn platform to talk about … well … watch this. Then, register here: https://theraveagency.com/lavnch/register/mersive. Make sure to join Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. — IT. IS. LIVE. 

Gary’s doing an encore presentation of his famed “4K No Myths, No Exaggerations — Just the Facts” presentation, exclusively for Almo ProAV clients. Plus, he’s added all-about-4K in UCC, too! Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect when you register here for the webinar Thursday, Oct. 22, at 2 p.m. EDT. P.S. Big thanks […]

Vice President of Business Development Jessica McDowell discusses how integrators can lean on SYNNEX to deliver secure AV to support customers in today’s new hybrid environments. SYNNEX offers an industry-leading product line card, certified design engineers, security assessments and extensive training opportunities. With increased levels of collaboration and almost everything being connected to the network today, now […]

Gary was joined on this episode by NETGEAR’s Laurent Masia, who gave him a live video demo of how simple it is to configure the new NETGEAR M4250 Series of 1Gbps AV-over-IP switches. As you are probably aware, 1G is about 84% of the AV-over-IP market right now, so NETGEAR introduced the new M4250 Series to address […]

I rarely record podcasts or videocasts to promote webinars. The principle seems too “meta” to me — and if you don’t know what that means, don’t fret: I work around Gen Zers and millennials all day, so ask your kids. Back to this webinar thing — I think that this webinar I am doing on Oct. […]

Many times when talking to someone on a cold call, they will share a reason for not engaging with you at that time. Tune in to find out how to assure the reason is the right one, and to learn about the 4 types of objections that are offered.

A new company made its debut this week: Nialli. Nialli is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nureva (check out the story Gary wrote about it Tuesday). Also, here’s a fun fact: The CEO is Nancy Knowlton of Nureva fame! Gary recorded this videocast with Nancy Wednesday to get the scoop — so watch and learn all about this new venture!

Assumptions crush cold calls. If you’ve ever been taught to assume the relationship and assume the sale, you need to stop right now and listen to this episode for 3 tips on first contact.

I was honored to have both the managing director of ISE, Mike Blackman, and the CEO of AVIXA, Dave Labuskes, on my videocast Thursday. The subject? The earlier-this-week show shuffle that ended with ISE’s European-centered AV mega show and the famed InfoComm show both scheduled for June 2021. After watching this, you’ll be convinced this […]

If you want to be successful in navigating a new organization, you need an ally. In this episode, I tell you what phrase you need to eliminate from your vocabulary and who that first ally may be.

After getting a connection request, via LinkedIn, from Calaigh Copland of Diversified in Canada, I noticed her title started with Footballer and ended with AV Professional, not the other way around. So, here’s your chance to hear from Calaigh: the AV industry’s only national soccer player (Guyana)! Her path to AV is probably much like yours was, and she’s […]

Gary was joined by NSCA Executive Director Chuck Wilson to talk about the upcoming P2P (Pivot to Profit) — or, this year, called P2Pv, as the event is virtual — September 22-23. This is THE leading business transformation event aimed at AV and IT, and the 2020 focus is helping low-voltage integrators recover from and reboot beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Using […]

In today’s world, we have access to all sorts of information about our prospective clients. As professionals, we need to be diligent about doing our homework before we make that first call. This episode talks about what that homework should include.

The look, feel, and workflow a space needs to provide are not always easily found on the floor plan. This week, I answer a question from Graham Kirkpatrick on how to better align our systems with furniture, fixtures, and equipment  to create efficient and cohesive designs.

People are the lifeblood of AV, and any time we have a chance to meet someone new, we do. Here’s an introduction to Jacob Sanders, Almo Pro A/V‘s newest business development manager focusing on LED and projection, among other specialties, for the distributor. Jake spent the last two years selling and specifying LED for CreateLED and Lighthouse Technologies. However, his […]

Alexi’s La Broi‘s second guest on Alexis AV Talk, her all-new series using the rAVe RADIO network, is all about the work that Columbus Jones (DMC-D 4K, DM-NVX-N) of Lincoln Tech is doing. His work? To help get more underserved youth on a path to becoming AV professionals. Lincoln Tech’s alumni include more than 32,000 graduates with all […]

As the entire industry likely enters a transition to XaaS (Everything-as-a-Service), the easiest place to start is with digital signage installs — they are already 100% networked. To start, Mvix Digital Signage probably has the easiest higher-ed DSaaS (Digital-Signage-as-a-Service) line out there right now. Gary Kayye spoke to Mvix senior solutions consultant Daniel Mersberger Wednesday about how […]

On this episode of Rants and rAVes, Gary was joined by NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson to talk about the P2Pv (“v” for virtual) event on September 22-23, open ONLY to AV integrators and designers. Unlike most virtual events (so far) in 2020, NSCA’s Pivot to Profit (P2Pv) event was specifically designed by integrators FOR integrators. The […]

AVIXA‘s senior director of market intelligence, Sean Wargo, is extrapolating a tremendous amount of data that, at first glance, may seem obvious. But rAVe’s Gary Kayye thinks it’s critical to understanding the future of the AV integration business. Want to learn where the market is heading, how to pivot into the right segments, and when to […]

When you hit a milestone like 1,000 — yes, Gary’s recorded 1,000 podcasts — you have to pick a special guest to celebrate it with you. So Gary picked his 16-year friend, colleague and partner, Sara Abrons. This is your chance to get to know Sara.

ProAV industry icon Ron DeVoe, founder of Texas-based TOTAL Marketing, joined Gary on his videocast Thursday. TOTAL Marketing is universally respected as one of the industry’s top three manufacturer’s rep firms. Ron entered the AV market in the mid-1970s and has weathered all sorts of AV storms. His insights, attitude and historical perspective are invaluable in a […]

Everyone is using video right now to communicate and webinars and Zoom calls abound. However, is there a better way to build video into your long term meeting strategy, even for in person meetings? Thanks to Chris Neto for this week’s question.

Gary was joined on his podcast Tuesday by Almo Pro A/V’s vice president of business development & strategy, Rob Ziv, who took the opportunity to introduce a new partner to the ProAV market — Cattura Video. Cattura has three different H.264 streaming appliances for personal, corporate, education and even live events streaming applications. Watch this […]

Almo Pro A/V’s Stephen McKay joined Gary on his videocast to do a LIVE demo of the VDO360 2SEE USB Camera — designed to be a work-from-anywhere personal conferencing device. Using a native 1080p (30fps) camera and four integrated mics, the 2SEE includes echo cancellation and automatic gain control; you’ll see (and hear) it demonstrated […]