At <i>info</i>Comm, Focus on Education

	At infoComm, Focus on Education Eschew booths, seek sessions, seminars by Gary Kayye, CTS

	Forget about the exhibits. Don’t plan your infoComm experience backwards. Most people attending infoComm plan their show experience around the exhibits and their ability to peruse the show floor and see all the manufacturers they need to see. Then, depending on the appointments they make and the meetings they attend in the booth they determine the left over time slots for taking in a course or two through infoComm's extensive show educational offerings. That’s exactly opposite of what you should be doing. What I think you should do is immediately (after you finish reading this column, of course), go to the infoComm educational section of their web site and pick educational courses relevant to your interest and expertise, plan to attend them all and then with the time you have left, visit booths, attend parties and meetings. Certainly, I haven’t been attending infoComm as long as industry icons Fred Dixon (who’s come to over 45 shows in 50 years), Kevin Collins, Mackie Baron, Harold Thiel and Andrew Edwards, but I will bet that if you asked every one of them what part of the industry’s premiere ProAV show they have gotten the most of over the years, they will unanimously say the educational offerings. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Education in our market is crucial. The first time an LCD projector was ever shown to the ProAV market was in a class at COMTEX (the name of infoComm prior to becoming infoComm); the first time the concept for a DLP projector was explained to AV geeks was at a seminar at infoComm. And, the first time a networked system was demonstrated was in a seminar at infoComm. Sure, these technologies and trends eventually hit the floor, but the time and attention given attendees of a seminar by the instructor far exceeds the time given to a question on the typical show floor booth. And, by the way, while the industry’s marketing gurus from each exhibiting manufacturer hangs out with PR kits in their respective booth, the engineering departments "geeks" are teaching technology at a seminar down the hall. So, before you plan your foray to Orlando May 31-June 6, go to: http://infoComm03.expoexchange.com/_event1/expoexchange/itinerary/session_planner.asp and take a look at the over 150 seminars and workshops being offered and make sure you attend as many as possible. But, here are a few I see as “must attend” seminars for all infoComm attendees: MT48 - AV Takes Over IT by Dave Silberstein, CTS & Marcus Simmons W11 - Design a Conference Room Audio System by Gordon Moore, CTS W12 - Videoconferencing Installation Applications by Scott Sharer, CTS S19 - Digital Interfacing in Presentation Systems by Jody Thomas, CTS S23 - The Renovation Survival Kit by Joe Schuch, CTS-D S26 - Selling AV Systems in the Government, Church, and Education Markets by Mike Weems, CTS, MCP S33 - AV & IT: Collision or Convergence by Max Kopsho, CTS, MCSE S94 - Networking in Projection Systems by Jody Thomas, CTS Sure, this is only a sample of what’s being offered at the show, but the biggest trend and most profitable potential segment of our market in regards to system integration is networking. Networking will allow system monitoring and service to propel virtually any integration firm to another level of capabilities and at infoComm nothing on the show floor covers the impact of the network like the seminars do. Four of the seminars, above, address that trend. And, as audio is most ProAV salesperson’s weakness (including mine), the two course listed are musts as both Gordon and Scott are two of the best ever in our market. But, this only scratches the surface of what ICIA’s offering in education at this year’s event in June. So, mark your calendar and map out your time, but don’t overlook education as it’s the best investment you will make attending the show. Gary Kayye, CTS, is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com. Source: Kayye Consulting, Inc.