For pro AV integrators, massive trade shows like InfoComm and ISE are largely the only events where they get to experience a wealth of diverse and cutting-edge AV technologies from the best manufacturers in the business. These events also offer dozens of educational opportunities and changers to earn credits toward CTS certification.
However, InfoComm alternates location between Las Vegas and Orlando every other year, and ISE is in Barcelona, Spain. That means some integrators are forced to pay for flights and hotels either across the U.S. or over the Atlantic Ocean.
That’s where Exertis Almo’s E4 Experience event comes in, offering a miniature version of InfoComm or ISE in a free, one-day traveling education, training and AV tech expo. We got an up close look at the event in Dallas, Texas, which was one of the largest the company has ever held.
The event, held in the heart of downtown Dallas, was a vibrant gathering of AV professionals, integrators, and industry leaders, offering a deep dive into the latest trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the commercial AV landscape.
The E4 event itself was a testament to Exertis Almo’s commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration within the AV industry. The event featured a mix of keynote presentations, product demonstrations, and educational sessions, all designed to help attendees stay ahead of the curve in a challenging market.
Exertis Almo has experienced remarkable growth over the past few years, even as the broader AV industry has faced challenges.
In a private interview, Dan Smith, the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, told us that the company has achieved growth despite a softening AV market over the last few years. Even in the display category, average selling prices have been down about 15%, but Exertis Almo has seen single-digit growth in displays.
“We’ve been fortunate enough that we’ve been able to grow our business in double digits every year the past two years,” Smith said.
Smith attributes that continue growth to a diversifying customer base, including more residential integrators, unified communications providers that are pivoting away from telephony and into meeting room technology, IT organizations, electrical contractors, and others.
“AV is now crossing over all these categories,” Smith said. “The breadth of customers that we see doing AV now is definitely growing.”
Photo by Zachary Comeau
The E4 Experience: A Hub of Innovation and Collaboration
One of the highlights of the event was the focus on meeting room technology, which has become increasingly important in the era of hybrid work. The trade show floor was littered with manufacturers that serve that space, and the keynote featured a Microsoft Teams and the AI features that enhance the Teams Room experience
Citing research data, Smith said the U.S. office market has been sitting around 50% vacant in the last two years post-pandemic. Companies are increasingly urging employees to return to the office, and collaboration technologies are playing a big role and have been one of the most important categories being sold by the company.
“If you look at technologies like our all-in-one conferencing bars and Microsoft Teams, that technology is exploding in terms of number of applications, functionality and sophistication,” Smith said. “Cameras are getting better, software is getting better, microphones are getting better, and the speakers are getting better in material ways that actually make the meeting room more impactful.”
The event also showcased Exertis Almo’s ability to bring together multiple vendors to create integrated solutions. Vishal Chhatralia, who leads marketing and innovation at Exertis Almo, highlighted the company’s efforts to demonstrate the power of collaboration.
That included a meeting room setup that consisted of multiple different vendors and illustrated the company’s ability to provide complete, integrated solutions consisting of the best vendors in the market.
Chhatralia relayed an experience from earlier on in his pro AV career in which he saw a demo of “Transformers” on a dvLED screen with Harman speakers. In his words, it was a hair-raising experience, a term that has come to define the industry.
“The whole point of Almo is we can put lots of stuff together services to enable an experience,” he said.
LinkLab: The Evolution of Exertis Almo’s Services Division
Speaking of complete solutions, one of the most significant developments at Exertis Almo in recent years has been the growth and rebranding of its services division, LinkLab. We sat down with Cory Allen, the company’s vice president of services, who officially took the wraps off of the service rebrand.
Link Lab is essentially a team of 35 AV professionals – not including a national network of other AV pros – that can supplement an integrator’s team to complete a project. The idea is to offer specific product expertise and much-needed manpower for staff-depleted integration firms around the U.S.
What began as a labor-only service has become so much more, including engineering support for customers, programming support, drafting engagements, digital signage and content creation, warehousing and logistics, and provisioning services, Allen said.
This not only helps integrators add much-needed manpower, but helps them solve their biggest pain points.
“We want to fit in where the customer needs us,” Allen said. “This team could easily be an integrator, but that’s not what we want to be. We don’t want to own the end user relationship—we just want to be supplemental. Let us alleviate your pain and be the Tyelenol.”
Much of those pains are due to staffing shortages and a general lack of new AV talent coming into this industry that sometimes be hard for the unaccustomed to grasp their hands around.
To address this issue, LinkLab has developed a robust network of vetted installation partners and internal training mechanisms to quickly scale up for projects.
“We’ve created systems to shortcut the time and training needed to onboard new technicians,” Allen explained. “If we need to scale for our customers, it’s not taking us six months—it’s taking us a month or a month and a half.”
Photo by Zachary Comeau
A Promising Future for Pro AV with Exertis Almo
It’s innovative solutions like LinkLab that help solve integrators’ biggest issues and the ability to attend a local E4 and save money on travel costs that makes Exertis Almo a true one-stop shop for pro AV tech.
Allen used the phrase, “One hand to shake, one throat to choke,” and if that phrase were just slightly less aggressive, it would be a great marketing slogan for Exertis Almo.
The outlook for pro AV and the economy is flirting with a downturn due to increasing geopolitical tensions, tariffs and trade wars, and Exertis Almo is primed and ready to be there for integrators at every step of the way.
