When I saw the theme for May, I could only think about one thing to write about, and that is InfoComm. May’s theme is called Fuel The Fire: The Path Forward. To me, InfoComm is the event that fuels my fire and helps move me forward. As Joe Way always says, InfoComm is like our Super Bowl. Here are three areas where InfoComm fuels my fire.
Key Discussions
There are three days where the show is packed with AV community members looking to see what companies are showing off. It is at this show that I get to have key discussions with many different companies within the same week. Yes, my sales reps do reach out and stop by. With that said, they are normally limited in the information they have. At InfoComm, I can dive into more details on a product, as it is not just the sales rep who I get to talk with. As I grow in my career, my reasons for visiting booths change. The first year I attended the show, it was about the technologies and having discussions with engineers. Now the discussions are with key members of the companies who can lead to changes. Also, at InfoComm, we can have these key discussions with more voices behind us.
One prime example of this is that I have been looking for a unicorn for a while now. One year I was in a booth, and I was telling my rep that I was looking for a product that would do x, y, and z. I knew it was a unicorn. My rep listened to what I was asking and was able to get some key members to talk about this unicorn. Once I explained it to these key members, I could hear one of them start to discredit the idea, until another school, who was in the booth with me, said, “we want that unicorn too.” The whole tune from this key person changed.
Education
In addition to the technology on the show floor, InfoComm offers a wide range of education sessions. No matter what vertical you are in, there is at least one session that will benefit you. If you follow me on social media, you know one of my sayings is “always be learning,” and InfoComm’s sessions are a great way to fuel that mindset. For those of us in higher education, we are also lucky to benefit from the partnership between HETMA and AVIXA. Through this partnership, the HETMA Education Summit is held for the two days before the show floor opens.
Besides attending these sessions, we also have the opportunity to present. We can present during many sessions during the week of InfoComm. This year, I will be doing four different sessions. Two of them I have done in the past, and then two new ones. InfoComm sessions are a great way for us to get our voices out to the community. The higher education community is no longer a passenger in the AV community, but we are now part of the drivers.
Community
The last element I would like to talk about is the community. Even though there are close to 50,000 people attending InfoComm, the community still feels small. Every time I walk into a session, the show floor, or an after party, I am running into someone I know. There are HETMA members, fans of Ask The Programmer, and AVTweeps everywhere at the show. Even though we might be connected online, there is something different about being in the same room with each other, being able to share war stories, things we saw at the show, and what we learned. The community is a strong part of why I feel the AV industry is as strong as it is. I have been part of other communities, and many of them were not as welcoming and open as the AV community.
At InfoComm, there are many ways to connect with the community. You can attend the Tweetup, you can attend the Women’s Breakfast, you can attend one of the tours, many booths, like HETMA, hold happy hours on the show floor, and then there are all the after parties that you can attend.
InfoComm is a show that is on my list as one everyone must attend at least once. I leave that week tired, but with a fire burning. I head back to work, ready to move forward.
