What Labuskes seems most proud during his tenure so far at InfoComm is the organization’s documented three-year strategic plan. The plan which was approved by InfoComm’s board of directors in 2013, focuses on six pillars of developing and growing the association: thought leadership, exceptional experiences, workforce development, globalization, community expansion and engagement, and leveraging its brand.
“Each of the areas has plans and tactics that are in place today. We’re moving ahead on a lot of fronts,” he said.
When Labuskes took the stage at the Boston Roundtable he began by talking about Infocomm’s focus on global expansion. About 75 percent of InfoComm’s 5,000 members are located in the U.S. and Canada, but 75 percent of the AV market is located elsewhere, he pointed out.
“Almost everybody that we hired since I started is focused in on the international market and expanding our impact and influence around the world, helping to expand the training, expand he certification, expand the membership,” he told me.
Related: InfoComm Offers Update on Strategic Plan
What impresses me most, so far, is Labuskes’ willingness to take direction for members. During that Boston swing the InfoComm executive visited with Boston-based integrator Red Thread and “he got an earful from me for a couple of hours,” joked VP of audio visual John Mitton. The focus of the conversation was about “What value does InfoComm offer me as an integrator?” Mitton told me the next day. “He listened. I’ll give him credit.”
That question of what value InfoComm offers integrators comes up a lot, and Labuskes embraces the dialog. “It’s been fantastic over the past year to spend time with our members and understand and be reminded on a regular basis on what their needs are and whether or not InfoComm is meeting those needs and continues to be relevant or [is becoming] more relevant.”
Listening, of course, is one thing, and altering the direction of a 5,000-member trade organization is another. It will be interesting to see at InfoComm 2014—or “lap two,” as Labuskes puts it, which “is definitely easier than lap one”—his stamp on the organization and its hallmark event.
One thing is for sure about how InfoComm has grown, Labuskes adds: “There is a lot going on. It’s been a great year and I feel like we’ve left the time of thinking about what should we do next and we’ve started doing it.”
