A Whole Lotta Love
It’s February and with that, it’s the month of Valentine’s Day. For those married, I’m sure you’ll think of something nice to do with your partner during the current restrictions and lockdown. That’s if you haven’t developed cabin fever of each other by now!
A random fact: Did you know the tomb of Saint Valentine is based In Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin? That’s not to say he was Irish, but it helps with tourism!
This month’s topic is “The Love of AV”. We all at times have long workdays in Audio Visual but they can be also very enjoyable and rewarding. I’ve broken the Love of AV into the following categories.
The “Bromance” Love of AV
A story of a stronger Bromance than Obama and Biden.
This is Simon Lang with me in the photo. Simon and I attended University together, where we found we had the same interests in Scouting, which led to setting up an Internet Radio station in my final year on Scouting with him assisting me. A short time after my Master’s Degree we ended up working together in PwC with Simon as my Senior in AV support and live events. A 2 person team for over 2,000 employees. We were described as Batman and Robin and regularly would finish each other’s sentences or know when either of us needed help simply by how long we were away from our office desk. A magical partnership.
Although we have both gone to work in separate companies Simon was my best man at my wedding and I’m Godfather to his daughter. Simon is also a regular contributor to the All Things TechIE Podcast. Has there ever been a stronger AV Bromance?
The Love of AV Tradeshows
My first AV Tradeshow was in 2016 at ISE. Although researching accommodation I did end up getting conned to a €50 “Taxi” from the airport to my hotel a few kilometres away and a bit lost on my first night returning from the RAI to my hotel with my mobile battery on 1%. That was a bad experience! Though totally outweighed by the event itself. If you ever attend ISE be sure to pack comfortable shoes. The RAI is simply massive.
I’ve attended ISE twice and on my second visit still didn’t see everything I wanted despite having a schedule.
In close second place is the annual LTSMG conferences. Fully sponsored, the conference is a 3-day affair with networking, trade talks, and plenty of food and drink for all candidates in Higher Education with plenty of learning opportunities.
This past year I’ve attended many, many virtual AV and Tech events. LTMSG@Home has been my favourite as they really pulled out the stops to send all participants a box full of treats, with competitions, beer tasting, and virtual networking.
Trade shows and conferences are essential for Audio Visual professionals to keep up to date with the latest technology. They are the heartbeat of our industry.
Virtual events, although free to attend lack the excitement of being able to see a new product up close and ask questions to the sales rep. Not to mention the swag, the parties, and the physical networking. God how we all miss it. Let’s hope we are back together soon!
The Love of AV Training
For anyone new to the industry or well established in AV. Training keeps us fresh. Whether this is CTS, CTS-I, CTS-D, or manufacturing training. At the beginning of the lockdown, I was provided with a list of free training resources from all areas of AV. Whether you are looking for renewal units for your CTS or upskilling in a certain area of AV please reach out to me and I can send you the document of AV Training resources.
The Love of AV Awards
London calling! Shortly after gaining my CTS, I was shortlisted in the AV Magazine, AV Awards in London. Here is a photo of my wife and me with my son Ciarán who was only a month old when he was taken on his first trip outside of Ireland to stand on the red carpet with his Daddy who was a finalist for European CTS holder of the year. He’s probably the youngest attendee to the awards and also enjoy the comfort of a 5-star hotel for the night!
Since 2017 I have been shortlisted for AV Professional of the Year in London, Finalist in the AV Technology Europe Magazine’s AV Awards in Amsterdam, and Winner of AV Professional of the Year with AVNation.TV
I constantly feel like the small fish versus the big sharks. It’s been a blessing and a privilege to be nominated against the best in the industry across the world.
The Love of AV Support & Solutions
We all have had the long, tiring days of working in AV although for me there is nothing more rewarding than either setting up a live event from scratch and seeing it through to completion, packing away the last wire in a box, and knowing that the event went smoothly without any hiccups and all participants enjoyed. Or for installers and integrators, it may be seeing a project from pencilled drawings to completion with the end-user able to use the system with ease.
I love this joke image “There is always a solution”. I have it stuck up in my office on campus. As an AV professional, I love the challenge of finding solutions, solving end-user issues, and the gratitude you receive even if you thought their problem was the easiest troubleshooting question that you have had all month.
The Love of AV Solidarity
Whether it be reading AV columns like this, listening to podcasts, or joining weekly discussions with AV hashtags on Twitter like #AVinTheAM or #AVTweeps we have an amazing network in AV with several people I have never met in person though I consider them close friends and colleagues in the industry. I still need to get to InfoComm someday!
There is no better example of solidarity in the AV industry than what occurred just before Christmas with our Editor Joe Way and the fire that destroyed his family home. Within days a fundraiser page was set up to support Joe and his family by Mike Peterson. AV professionals in the industry dug deep to support Joe and his family in any way possible. The bar was set at $10,000 and has been well and truly smashed by nearly treble the amount of money raised by over 260 donors.
With this and AV Professionals being made redundant during the COVID-19 crisis I have seen so many members of the industry reaching out to each other offering support and assisting in getting people back to work and supporting their own families. It’s a true testament to how strong our AV network is to one another.
Until next month, stay safe everyone. Keep the spirits high and keep reaching out to one another for support.
Meet the Author
Justin Dawson CTS® is an Award Winning AV Professional employed in Higher Education in Ireland. He produces the All Things TechIE podcast available at www.AllThingsTech.IE . You can contact Justin on LinkedIn, Twitter and his official website.