At the first NSCA BLC (Business and Leadership Conference), half of the 25-or-so attendees were NSCA board members. Twenty years later, BLC 2018 is an invaluable resource for AV business professionals seeking to improve their presence in the industry.
NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson chalks it up to how much effort AV business leaders have had to put in just to compete in recent years — especially as the AV industry’s largest firms keep growing larger.
“Running an AV firm then was almost like a ‘business 101’ course,” says Wilson. Now, the National Systems Contractors Association wants to “elevate the industry” by providing the most relevant pro AV education possible.
Watch CI editor-in-chief Tom LeBlanc chat with Wilson in the video above.
Keeping Keynote Speakers Relevant
Chuck says the planning NSCA BLC planning committee focuses the content part of the show entirely around the most important issues in the AV industry. This year, those included themes like digital evolution; scaling up; and rethinking how customers learn about products.
Another concern, says Wilson in the interview above, is this tenseness between the younger and more experienced AV pros — and he’s not referring to old folks criticizing millennials.
It’s not that older AV business leaders are skeptical of the young ones anymore — now, the tables have turned, and the elders have realized that there won’t be a future for the industry without them.
A snapshot of AV industry demographics from the annual Integration Business Outlook study.
BLC 2018 Focuses on the Next Generation
So how do we recruit young people who don’t know much (or anything) about the pro AV space?
“That’s been a problem in our industry forever: we just aren’t good at recruiting. And when we do hire them, we don’t give them what they’re looking for early in their career.”
The NSCA IGNITE program is one step in the right direction.
The program aims to chip away at the industry’s awareness issue by providing integration firms and consultants with marketing fodder and promotional materials to use at job fairs and any opportunity in which they can get in front of young students or professionals who might be talent candidates for the industry.
Look for More Business and Leadership Conference Coverage
BLC 2018 is just wrapping up, but we’ll continue to cover more of the invaluable presentations made there.
Here’s what our editors have covered so far:
- Stand Out in the Pro AV Space: Digital Leadership in 5 Steps
- Today’s Voice Control Technology Road Map Comes with Plenty of Caution Signs
- These Integrators are Making It: NSCA Celebrates Excellence in Business Award Winners at BLC 2018
- NSCA Says These Commercial Tech Products Deserve Excellence In Product Innovation Awards
