tips

tips

Preach It, Brothers and Sisters, Preach It!

Evangelize AV!

The AV industry has existed a very long time now.  Our trade association, Infocomm, itself celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2009.  Yet, despite this long history, and despite the fact that products from our industry are integral to daily life around the world (mics, speakers, TVs, computer monitors, etc), we are still widely unknown and overlooked by many.  It took until the release of MasterFormat2004 before we got a place of our own for AV specs in construction documents. There are still no AV Design Engineer or AV Installer degree programs in the United States, possibly the world, and only a few related degree programs out there that are similar – acoustical engineer, communications, broadcast degrees, etc. And, the public at large has no clue what we do, for the most part.  Heck, I’m AVDawn for pity’s sake, yet my own mother thinks I “sell TVs or something like that.”  (Bless her heart!)

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10 Years Later – OH C’MON! Did You Not Get the Memo??

As an AV pro and a social media enthusiast, I tend to keep an eye on the Twitterverse throughout my day. We’ve developed quite the community of AV professionals on that platform, and you never know when something profound, beneficial or earth-shattering will come across the Twitterfeed that can impact our businesses – a link to an article, research, video or even just a statement that resonates. A couple of weeks ago, one such statement came across my Twitterfeed and it utterly stunned me. With permission from the author, here goes:

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Twitter’s Top 5 Badass AV Women

The other day, I read a blog by Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting) called “Twitter’s Top 75 Badass Women.” This wonderful article – which can be read at http://tinyurl.com/Top75Women – detailed 75 great ladies on Twitter who have a passion for their jobs and share it well. As Ms. Adams wrote:

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Ruminations on the Calendar and Our Industry on a Monday Morning…

Where did July and August Go? And what’s with the worker shortage?

So, I’m sitting at my desk this morning about to pull the top page off of my handy-dandy desk calendar when I actually stopped a second and LOOKED at the thing. August 31. The LAST DAY in August. And it hit me… Where on Earth did July and August go?? I mean, five minutes ago, I was on the shuttle bus in Orlando on the way to the Convention Center for Infocomm and – WHABANG! – It’s August 31! Eesh.

Now, I know the newscasters and mass media and, well, the whole darn world are all up in arms about the massive unemployment rate and the devastation of the (capital-R) Recession, however our little company has been busier than scratching dog at a flea circus! We’ve had back-to-back large projects since before Infocomm and even the company founder has been out in the field pulling cable and crimping ends to try to make deadlines. It’s been insane.

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A Crazy, Catch-Up Blog… Edu-rama!

Too much content! GAH!

So, it’s been a million years since I posted last… or at least, it seems that way. In truth, things have been crazy-busy in the life of AVDawn since last we met. Despite the recession, things are hopping at Advanced Video Systems. Every day for the past two weeks, I’ve either been on a site visit, working on proposals or starting the purchasing process for new projects we’ve won. And since our installers have been on job sites non-stop, I’m feeling pretty confident about weathering this downturn… well, at least through July or so. Then again, part of my job is making sure that the streak continues, so – busy, busy bee for me! bzzzzzzzz. ^_^

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An Edifying Blast from the Past

An 8-Year-Old Article For Your Amusement and Amazement

October, 2001: A more innocent time. Our country had just been rocked by the 9/11 attacks, yet we still had a sense of naive optimism, hope and positivity. The dot-com bubble had not yet fully burst, new net technologies were just being introduced and markets were still flying high. The A/V industry was “on the grow” and many of today’s big names were just little sprogs. Gary Kayye, noted consultant, speaker and mind behind the rAVe family of industry newsletters was, at the time, writing a little email precursor to rAVe called KNews.

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Borrowing Brains, Part V of V

5 Tips to Select and Get the Most Out of
Your A/V Design Consultant


Tip #5. Know What You Want the System to Do and Communicate It!

If you learn nothing else from this article, learn this! I cannot stress enough how important communication is in ANY A/V project! You are the client. Without you, there is no need for consultants or integrators! Now, you don’t have to know every technical detail about every component or things like that. That’s why you HIRE a consultant (design or design/build) to begin with… so you don’t NEED to know! However, you should have a general idea of:

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Borrowing Brains, Part IV of V

5 Tips to Select and Get the Most Out of
Your A/V Design Consultant


Tip #4. Consider Design/Build.

If you are in a non-bid or sole-source situation (a.k.a., most non-government jobs), consider pursuing a Design/Build project rather than using a separate consultant and integrator. This will often lead to a smoother, more seamless integration – “Too many cooks…” and all that – as well as providing a cost and productivity savings. With a Design/Build, your chosen A/V Integrator will actually be your consultant in addition to providing and installing your equipment.

 

Borrowing Brains, Part III of V

5 Tips to Select and Get the Most Out of
Your A/V Design Consultant

Tip #3. Ask for References from Customers… and Integrators… and Follow Up!

This is a bit obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t actually ask for references…or ask for them and never call them to get the scoop! I can’t stress this enough. TALK to other people who have worked with your potential A/V consultant.

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