InfoComm 2018 , North America’s leading audiovisual (AV) convention and exhibition, was held earlier this summer in Las Vegas, Nevada, and TeamPeople was there to take it all in.

The Place To Be For Pro-AV

Despite daytime temperatures reaching a high of 101 degrees, AVIXA , the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (formerly InfoComm International), reports a staggering 43,000 registrants. When factoring in 964 exhibitors spanning 550,000 square feet of exhibits, demo rooms, and special events space, AVIXA is proclaiming this the biggest InfoComm ever.

The event kicked off with a record-setting TIDE conference, drawing its largest crowd to date. Jason McGraw, Senior Vice President of Expositions for AVIXA, explained that the TIDE conference challenges AV professionals to “…. consider ways of applying human-centered design to AV solutions.” New programs such as Design Thinking for AV and Integrated Life Day were well received by the attendees and had participants collaborating in ways they’d never imagined.

Never Stop Learning

In a sea of new technology and innovation, the true value of InfoComm is not just in its products, but in its passion for learning and education.  Inspired by AVIXA’s new motto, “Together, we can change the way people experience the world”, InfoComm attendees were digging in to learn what they love and empower the industry.

Among our TeamPeople representatives were technology managers, audiovisual technicians, integration technicians, design engineers and others, representing many of our clients as well as our corporate headquarters. Three TeamPeople employees became CTS -certified on their first attempt at the very challenging exam. Others attended classes and seminars ranging from audio, video and unified communications to emerging trends, live events and technology management. As expected, classes dealing with the AV/IT merger were at the top of everyone’s list.

The Future of AV Starts With A Packed Booth

The exhibition itself is a collection of sights and sounds that would give the Vegas strip a run for its money. Arena-sized video walls could be seen everywhere you looked. Only a few short years ago there were a notable few, super-impressive, video wall manufacturers and almost everyone else struggling to compete for attention. Fast forward to the present and the challenge was to find a large format video display that didn’t impress its audience. Sony Corporation seemed to have won the attention battle this year with a stunning large format videowall that featured breathtaking content, detail, and color reproduction that had attendees shoulder-to-shoulder within the booth. Live audio continues to demand interest at the show with most manufacturers innovating in the direction of more compact, cost efficient designs. “Dante Spoken Here” signs were omnipresent throughout the exhibit hall as every manufacturer wanted it to be known that they, too, could deliver uncompressed, multi-channel, low-latency digital audio over a standard ethernet network.

Manufacturers are continuing to innovate in the direction of simpler and faster integration products that installers will love. Parts that are accessible and easy to swap, accessories that are interchangeable and snap in place, as well as product interoperability were all welcome advances for our industry. It’s difficult to pick a standout technology among so many innovators, but a few companies were displaying “holographic” images – seemingly floating in air – that demanded everyone’s attention. These large, 3D, multicolored, moving images seemed straight out of sci-fi and had dozens of attendees jockeying for the best position to video the strange, new, technology. Most attendees expect to see this technology make appearances in select settings in the coming year.

At TeamPeople, we believe in investing in our employees. Through training, certification, accreditation and exposure to emerging technologies and industry events, we ensure that our technicians, engineers, installers, and designers are consistently developing and evolving as technology professionals.

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“Everyone should go to CES, at least once” is often heard throughout the 2.7 million sq. feet of the Consumer Electronic Show, held annually in Las Vegas, NV. The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is the largest conference for consumer electronics products in the United States. Drawing over 180,000 creative and technical leaders from companies around the world, many people believe that not going to CES is the equivalent to starting the year off as slow as Las Vegas’s McCarran airport’s security line on a Sunday morning.

If you are able to push past the awe of being at the center of technology and innovation, the real question is, is it worth it?  Having been to CES for the past few years, I’m here to share my insights to help you make the right decision for you and your company.

Set your goals

If your New Year’s resolution is to increase your industry knowledge, dive into the session schedule and exhibitor list. Highlight the biggest trends, sessions and booths that would be beneficial to explore and align with your business goals. With an open mind, you might find the right combination of sessions and products that could collectively drive change to move your business forward.

If your goal is building relationships with new and prospective clients, reach out and see if they will be attending. If asking directly isn’t an option, check out their social media accounts. If the list is long enough, CES could provide a unique opportunity to start, or continue the conversation, and move them forward through the pipeline. By planning early and booking meetings in advance, you can help build out your CES schedule and increase the ROI before the event even starts. Plus, you will be better prepared for a successful meeting.

Learning

CES is a massive show with 15 conference tracks on a variety of topics all jam-packed with the latest insights. From immersive technologies and robotics, to autonomous vehicles and smart home gadgetry, the range of topics is extensive.  Additionally, CES has hundreds of speakers representing companies on a global scale, both large and small, from across virtually all industries. Check out the speaker list and see who might align with your target accounts. If you end up attending, sit in the front of their session and see if you can strike up a conversation before or after the session. It can be tough to stop busy executives, but the forum for sharing information and ideas is what CES is all about so many are very receptive.

Trending

The CES show floor will have over 4,000 exhibitors showing off the most cutting-edge technology and innovation. If you’re there to take it all in, you will come away with a personal, visceral reference for what the future might hold.  Taking in each exhibit’s size, location and attendee engagement can give you a first-hand glimpse at the emerging trends and might even give you a leg up on your competition.

Networking

Like all conferences, CES provides unique networking opportunities both built into the event schedule and just in the sheer volume of attendees. The number of brands that are present at CES increase dramatically year after year and the representative ranges from C-suite executives to the talented teams of designers and technicians. Whether you’re standing in line for a keynote or exploring the show floor, you never know who you will run in to.  It might just be your next big client.

Cost

Once you’ve carefully and strategically considered all the reasons why you should go, you need to weigh in the cost of attending.  On top of your conference pass, there will be travel expenses, hotel rooms, and meals which add up pretty quickly, especially in Las Vegas. Hotel rooms and flights tend to double and triple their normal booking rates, so book early! And don’t forget to include extra spend for “wining and dining” your prospective clients.

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Today’s freelancers are here to stay. Increasingly, today’s most talented editors and graphic artists are only available through freelance hiring.

The Scope of the Freelance Market

A recent 2020 report by Edelman Intelligence – found that 59 million Americans are doing freelance work. That is almost 36% of the American workforce! There is a new type of worker now and it is lead by freelancers. Allan Savory, the famous ecologist and co-founder of the Savory Institute said, “If you dig deep and keep peeling the onion, artists and freelancers are the leaders in society – the people who start new ideas. Even with the slow recovery in the nation’s unemployment rate, freelancers have managed to prosper. In fact, they are changing the very nature of the economy.” Where once employers drove the hiring process, today, freelancers are independently selling their talents in the marketplace. To meet these changes in the workforce, companies have had to rapidly shift the way they hire top talent. Companies are not hiring freelancers as much as freelancers, particularly the most talented ones, are hiring the company.

Entrepreneur and Management Consultant, Michael Parrish DuDell said it best on why freelancers are so critical to companies today, “If I can get great freelancers and have access to them from anywhere, why wouldn’t I work with freelancers?” This shift towards freelancers is forcing the market to diversify itself and mandating companies to adapt quickly or they will fall behind in terms of their talent acquisition. We now see more and more prospective employees thinking less about long-term employment stability and more about jobs on a project basis and about jobs in terms of satisfaction and personal career development.

Having a wide range of companies to choose from, freelancers are now able to select contract opportunities according to what best represents their skills, interests, and goals.

what to know when engaging with freelancers:

1. Freelancers are inherently independent

Companies will need to know how to inspire and motivate this workforce without lurking over their shoulder.

2. Freelancers are good negotiators

Companies will need to know how to negotiate with highly talented individuals who know their market value.

3. Freelancers are technologically savvy

Today’s freelancers are highly connected to the world and companies will need a reliable communications infrastructure in order to contact their freelance employees, whether it be by e-mail, phone, Skype, or even Periscope.

Getting Ahead of the Game

Not transitioning into the new workforce model can become a major setback for a company. Increasingly, today’s most talented editors and graphic artists are only available through freelance hiring .  Yet, many companies still resist hiring freelancers, often out of fear that they will have less control over their workforce.

Recent years have set a precedent for how companies should react to the new freelancing trend. Companies with their sights set on past workforce hiring procedures will miss out on significant talent acquisition opportunities.  An article from The Guardian said companies tend to fail because “today’s leaders have never had to transform their business model – tomorrow’s leaders will.” By 2020, nearly 40 percent of our workforce will be freelance workers. It’s a long road, but companies need to prepare for this transition or they will risk losing their most talented workers.

What do you think? Interested in giving top-notch media and AV freelancers  a try? We can guide you through this process! Get in touch with us today for more information.

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