It’s that time of year when all the AV aficionados and practitioners travel to their version of Mecca, aka the Infocomm 2019 show. This year, all eyes turn to the South East and the sun and humidity capital, Orlando Florida.
With all the promised glitz and glamour of the show tending to blind many of us, let’s put on some shades and look at things in a more practical manner sans-hype of the latest and greatest.
Resist The Shiny!
…Before I jump off the deep end, let me say that the hype is well deserved, and I am in no way suggesting that you should not take advantage of all the eye candy opportunities.
I call this “ooh, shiny.”
The problem I see is that the glare can over-shadow the real benefits of attending the show. My son and business partner likes to say that “we are in the day and age of business outcomes and how we get there is the AV business of today”.
What to Look for At the InfoComm 2019 Show
Of course, this begs the question of how to approach the show. It is much different than a decade ago when we could count on some big technology introductions and the concept of good, better, best was still clear in the minds of attendees.
Too often, it boils down to price. Our primary job at the show is to seek out differentiation. [related]
For the most part, what we will see are incremental technology improvements. While less awe inspiring than unveiling a new display technology, the incremental improvements and the selection by the integrator of one company over another can make or break that AV experience.
More subtle and difficult to explore? No doubt, but the right amount of effort and lessons learned can lead to differentiation between an AV integrator controlling the narrative versus having an end user take the seemingly easy out and buy on-line.
While I am still on my soap box, I preach the gospel of planning your visit upfront before you even leave for the trip.
Go to the exhibitor’s part of the InfoComm 2019 website and create a plan. Time at the show is precious, so spend it well. At times you will need to put some blinders on along with those “shades” I spoke about earlier. It requires focus and setting your objectives for the show.
The objectives should be at the top of your plan. Look ahead to returning home as you plan to ask yourself after the fact, “what was valuable to me and my business at the show?”
Scan the classes, attend with an eye and ear of how the information can help you differentiate yourself and the company.
Take notes and review them on your return. This is your first order of business and time well spent. Knowledge is strength, and where you may have a deficit of understanding to overcome in an area, that should be your educational focus.
Ok, Now What About the Tech Exhibits?
Now to the show floor and all those fabulous exhibits. Once again, turn introspective. Ask yourself what you need to take home with you that you can actually use.
Of course, you are going to go to all the largest booths with displays, remote control systems, and signal management to name a few. My advice is three-fold:
1. Don’t spend all of your time with “ooh shiny” and the biggest booths.
Do a canvassing tour of the show in the beginning and mark down the smaller booths that may just have something that fills in the blanks for your particular applications. Think business outcomes.
2. No matter what InfoComm 2019 booth you visit, focus on benefits (aka solutions to problems) and not just features.
If your end users don’t need a particular feature, then they are of no benefit to them so save your breath and focus on those. The problem we all face is that we have to know features and benefits and then figure out how to translate those appropriately to our end users.
This is yet another part of differentiation and value added that the end user is not going to get on-line. By the sheer magnitude of your knowledge and adding to that the ability to separate features and benefits to the client, you become a trusted adviser.
3. Look at each vendor and distributor and explore their escalation plan.
Here we are referring to what a vendor has available to help you beyond the simplicity of a spec sheet and a short description. Think application engineering.
In addition, what is the escalation plan if there is a problem? You need names and numbers upfront — don’t leave this to when your world turns upside down. If they can’t provide this, look elsewhere. Remember, its not if, but when a problem occurs. How it is handled will determine failure or success.
Listen: Choosing the Right AV over IP Solution: Episode 57 of AV+
Enjoy the InfoComm 2019 show, and make sure that at the end of the day, your objectives and expectations have been met. The beneficiaries will be your clients, your company, and you personally.
