Music and listening

I came to the conclusion the other day that I don't listen to nearly enough music. Sure, I have the stereo on in the car to and from work, and I do use an iPod, but that's not listening, it's background noise that happens to catch my attention from time to time.

When I was younger I used to make time to listen, really LISTEN. Sitting down, beverage of some kind, maybe a snack, dim the lights and put some music on. Listening to music was an active hobby. What nuance did I just hear? Have I ever heard that before? What new album should I try tonight? More and more that got replaced with, "eh, lets put some stuff on" while I go about the other things I do. The sad thing is, I don't think most people ever got to the point where they just listened, especially now in the age of a la carte music, let alone losing that time.

Anyway, the point is I need to make it a point to do this so, for the next few weeks, part of my routine is going to become listening to music. To foster this, i'm going to write about what i'm listening to, good and bad, and share. I think it will help me get re-engrossed in something I love so much, and it will give my readership and idea of what I like and don't.

Here's the question... Do you "listen"?

Might look good from far...

I was fortunate enough to get away this past week on vacation. While away, I noticed something different about this trip, that i've never sensed before on vacation....

Fake customer service.

This is the type of service that everyone says the right thing, but body language, actions and their eyes really tell you how they are feeling. Something behind the scenes isn't right, and they can't act well enough to hide it, or they don't care enough to hide it. It's probably one of the most sad things to see. Some people might think it's just fake, others might think it's rude. Others might not even care enough to notice.

I think it's sad. I think there's an underlying cause and until that improves you're going to see zombies. Clockwatchers. Working for the weekend. Working till they find another job.

The point is, we all need to be cognizant of our impact on one another. Being a jerk, being rude, being short, or being demeaning at work has an impact on your employees and that gets to your clients, one way or another.

Just because they might fake it with you doesn't mean they want to do as good a job with your customers and it can and will drive people away. People can do a really good job acting like they care if they think their job is on the line. People also know most consumers don't care enough about the interaction with the people serving to notice.

Subconsciously, most customers might get a sense and that might be enough to keep them away. Make it a point not to be the reason these interactions happen. It won't always keep your employees happy, but it might keep more employees than you think from ruining your brand.

Keep an eye out for this. I'd love for you to let me know when you see these interactions and take a macro look at where it happened- see what you think triggered it.

Why consumer electronics DONT get it

This is EXACTLY what's wrong with the industry.

This is a new "ultra flat" TV. Its so flat, in fact, that they can't fit standard connectors! So, they've decided to put color coded mini connectors in the box.

After you spend all this time figuring out AV, they just change it. Change the color code, change the connectors, make it completely different than anything else on the market.

Do all those connector and add ons really fit the ultra flat lifestyle? I'll answer that. NO You wanna put all those connectors behind a new super flat bracket to go with your super flat TV?

Good luck.

Three types of bad small biz

Having worked in AV for most of my career, I’m pretty familiar with the idea of small business. One thing that has recently become more apparent is that a poorly run small business feels like a broken economic machine. A vehicle for only the ownership to make money and everyone else struggles or worse.

There are few different ways this plays out, at least from what I’ve seen. I won’t get into them all, just some of the ones I know most about.

The first is the business that underpays and overworks the staff, and the ownership makes a ton of money. This seems to be the most volatile; no one thinks they can get ahead, and turnover is high. This coupled with low morale that tends to sink in once people realize the outcome doesn’t change; you can only make so much but you can always work harder.

These tend to make me the saddest. A lot of the time, they have someone in the driver’s seat who has incredible talent but has a pretty short sighted approach. Everyone is replaceable they think, at the expense of morale and growth.

The next is the business that the owners make a little less and pay or overpay a few “key” employees. The people that are well paid, a good amount of time, are deserving of their salaries. The problems are when those “key” employees are people who just happened to be there in the beginning and don’t deserve what they get as the company expands. They tend to rest on their laurels, become complacent, and become a drag on company resources when the company needs them the most.

The biggest challenge for places like this is realizing that those “key” people are holding up their share of the weight or should move on/ be replaced. If ownership doesn’t realize that, an economic down turn can force better, younger, and more hungry staffers into the arms of competition.

The positive in companies like these tends to be that turnover isn’t as great because people see the carrot. They think they have a shot at making the bigger salary. Sometimes they do. It depends on the perceived value of the individual. This positive can easily turn to a negative if everyone isn’t careful.

One of the issues with most small businesses is that they lack metrics to determine who should get what (performance reviews, employee evaluations, etc…). Monies tend to be given out after an especially difficult time or project; seemingly without rhyme or reason and a similarly difficult time or season gets less money at another point in the career for reasons beyond the employee’s control. This leads to confusion at best, and resentment at worst.

The last type of company I’ll speak about is the business that overpays everyone. Money is plentiful due to a rich owner or a series of large jobs or the potential of large jobs. Subsequently, money is handed out everywhere to everyone. Salaries are high by industry standards, the facilities are immaculate and the bank statements are well guarded. These usually end in a pretty spectacular fashion. Leaving a number of people and their families looking for money that is typically reserved for the best and brightest.

The overpaying companies are the ones that usually have vendors calling all the time, surprisingly expensive cars in the driveway and are usually the companies that one, two or three years down the line cease to exist. Sure, some are that make it, but it’s only a matter of time. If you doubt it, see the dot com bust or the hedge fund implosions for reference.

The real question is, how do you prevent this from happening to your company?

Be on guard constantly. Evolve, evolve, evolve.

Develop non-biased employee metrics that are enforced and routinely used. Let your employees know how they are doing and how they can improve.

Talk to your competitors (I know that’s not easy for everyone).

Interview candidates, even when you aren’t interested in hiring. Just to see what’s out there and what they make (or ask for)

If you run your own company, you’re entitled to the benefits, but don’t be the lord of the fiefdom all the time. Make sure you appreciate the people who help to support you. Many people forget that they were in the same position once.

Sure, you can probably replace them all, but at what cost to you?

Why is Consumer Custom AV so Small Time?

One of the biggest issues with the Custom AV world is that it, for all intents and purposes, is an industry dominated by small business. No major company has really had success at becoming the toll brothers of the AV world.

Sure, geek squad and Magnolia are under the Best Buy umbrella, but how many people would let them do true high end? Would you buy a 32-zone Crestron system from them? What about Wilson MAXX 3's?

Exactly. I wouldn't either.

So why hasn't AV been scalable on the consumer side? What is the problem? Why does commercial 'custom' AV work and consumer 'custom' not translate?

Look at the CE-Pro100. Most of those people on the list would at best be considered small businesses. Sure, there are one or two that have done well, but you likely won't see any of them get much larger any time soon nor will you see any mergers or take overs.

Now, take a look at the SCN top 50. Of the top 10 7 did over $100 million and the biggest did $400+ million?! Why doesn't this sort of thing happen in consumer? What are the differences? How can residential be more like commercial? How do we scale up?

I do know that every residential AV company i've ever spoken with or worked for does everything in a different manner. In office programmers, outsourced programmers, this speaker is flavor of the month, now this speaker gives better margins, in house wire pullers, subbing your wiring to electricians. Every place is different; it's like an electronic equivalent of snow flakes.

What consumer 'custom' AV really needs is a lead dog. Someone like an Apple, or WalMart or VW group. Someone who can rise above and provide the industry direction and force the hand of some of the manufacturers. Someone who can force the industry to create and innovate or be run over. Sure, P.C. Richards, BestBuy and WalMart sell billions in AV but it's a totally different world. Someone has to be the common enemy for 'custom'. Someone who does it better and really shakes up the big ego's in small AV.

It sounds odd, but it will give us all something to work on and improve. Everyone needs a good scare once in a while.

Sometimes a massive competitor is the best thing for an industry.

iPhone 4.0 and what it means to AV (or should)

I've seen quite a few articles recently about how iPhone and iPad just aren't the perfect fit for touchpanel usage. It seems by playing catch up to other phone manufacturers Apple has solved most of these problems in the new 4.0 update. Here are just a few examples, and what it means for the industry:

Multitasking- Clearly a no brainer. This will allow apps like Savant, Crestron and Control 4's to run in the background waiting for you to adjust volume or generally just play around with some other things and come right back, and let's not forget RemoteScape for Kaleidescape. Hopefully this means no more loading all your album art everytime you boot. Set and forget.

Fast application switching- Perhaps they dont need to run all the time, just remember exactly where they were when you used them last. 4.0 will allow you the ability to "freeze" these apps and come back, remembering what was happening last. This will be great for apps with volume feedback, perhaps like the Sonos iPhone app, or Remotescape (again)

Local Notifications- This is the game changer for me. The idea that these background apps can be aware and "push" a notice to you?! Amazing! Now, if your security conscious, you can leave your control system software in the background, and get a notice that the garage door opened, or that the cool sensor you placed in the beer cooler to see the kids trying to sneak a bottle for their friend will alert you seemingly everywhere now makes this a MUST for integration software makers

Now, if someone hasn't already thought of these. Feel free to use this article, free of charge... the only caveat is MAKE IT HAPPEN!!! Blow our minds! Use these devices as they should be used, as the second coming of the AV touchpanel!!!!

If integrators don't see the potential profit in programming now, do us a favor and close up in an orderly fashion. Distribute your clients to your competitors equally and let the innovators do their jobs!

Let me know your thoughts

The courts leave the FCC with no power, and im sure this wont end well

Wired Magazine

As a lot of people have heard, A federal appeals court struck down the FCC's ability to regulate broadband internet access. Wired, as the article above links to, seems to think that maybe Congress will step in and force some power back to the FCC as they can't get the national broadband plan off the ground without the FCC having some measure of power.

Think about that for a moment. Congress is going to step in and fix something. This is the same Congress that some members are leaving at 2pm because they lost a vote, and we think they are actually going to get on board and fix this mess?

I don't care if you're Republican, Democrat, Independent or Communist, the fact is Congress is not going to TOUCH this and come together to get it working again, leaving Americans to fend for themselves until the situation becomes so abhorrent that it becomes a total mess.

I have no faith in the abilities of the Legislative branch of Congress to right this wrong anytime soon.

We should all be displeased at what happened today and deeply concerned for the idea of Net Neutrality moving forward

The power of Twitter

Today is the first day i'm realizing the power of Twitter to bring like minded individuals together. How 140 characters can be enough sometimes baffles me, but I think that has something to do with the power of the human spirit to adapt and thrive on adaptation.

Up until recently, I didn't think much of Twitter, to be honest, but as I use it more and more I see more and more benefits.

Twitter, for me is like the stream of the days consciousness. My blog is the construction of some of those thoughts after a few hours of mental spitballing.

I'm starting to get it, again.

Change of Pace- In Home Client Demo

This is a republish of an article of mine from an industry-only publicatio

I’m not that old, but back when I started in this industry, integrated AV and automation control was pretty close to black magic. People did it, but not many people understood how or why. Six-figure systems were bought and sold on two things; your relationship with the buyer and the demo “wow”. These days, the demo seems to be a lost art form. People buy from a bid package and don’t really know what they’ve bought until the demo at the house months or years later and most of us take that time to show the client how the system works, not to blow the doors off and impress. What a lot of us don’t realize is that this could be the best demo opportunity we have ever gotten, showroom or not.

Now, ill admit that I’m pretty rusty on demoing. We don’t have a showroom, I don’t do sales, and the demo’s I tend to do are more of how to use the system vs. wowing the client. What I have started to do is alter the traditional demo to better suit my role and our product. The demo has become- The client life demo.

Basically, instead of wowing the client in a showroom, you are giving the demo of how to use the system, in their homes. Most of the time (at least in the case of Innerspace) the system programming is wrapping up as the client is moving in, so you really have a chance to make them realize how this impacts their life on a day to day basis.

I like to schedule at the end of the day, when people aren’t (as) rushed. As Production Supervisor, I like to get to the house early, check in, check the system out to know what needs work, and what doesn’t, and set the stage for what’s to come. Know what music is on the server, know what movie and what scene I want to demo, and run through the house to see what vignettes I want to stage. That’s right, what better place to stage a vignette, than to set it up where they are about to spend a large portion of their lives. Many showrooms use vignettes to give potential clients a taste of what a system like this might be like in their homes, this is where you have the upper hand!

Now, of course you’re going to do the jaw-dropping demo. The IronMan in the theater, the Dark Knight in the Media room, but what else? How about (pre) recording an HD football game in the study or bar? Why not show Bloomberg or MSNBC on the TV in the bathroom, or AM/FM and local news in the kitchen? Yes, you absolutely want to impress and show them what the system is capable of, but you also want the client to realize that you understand that this was a lifestyle choice, and you get how they live their lives to some extent. Play summer music in the dead of winter out by the pool, show off the lighting preset that gets them to the bedroom without fumbling for switches they have yet to discover. Make the house feel like home as soon as you can. This is also a great time to upsell. Show them the iPhone apps, sit them down at their computer and show them E-Control. Have all of this at the ready so that when they pick their jaws off the floor, you can make a quick, tidy profit and just bring these awesome features online near-instantly. You don’t just want to show them how to use it; you want to show them how to use it in their new life in their new home. What better time could you have to wow someone, than right after the stress of building and or moving into a new home?

Now, like the old days, the key to the demo is to lead the demo. You certainly don’t want the system to completely blow their minds but leave them unable to use it. Make sure it’s interactive. Make sure they learn how to do what you just did. The system is likely easy to use, but it might be their first system of this caliber and may be a bit intimidating, especially to the rest of the family. This is not like the old days in that you want to be seen as the “all powerful stereo guy”. Leave that to someone else. You want them diving right in. Nothing is better than coming back for an add-on and seeing the system being used by the whole family, with the exception of them loving the system so much that all their friends call….

Hulu- The Next Target of Big Media?

From the NY Times

A dear friend of mine forwarded the article above to me, and I felt compelled to touch on it.

Hulu, as a fair number of my readers may or may not know, is a really wonderful alternative to cable, satellite and even iTunes for a lot of people looking to get a TV fix on the cheap. Limited commercial interruption, and an ever growing library of "watch instantly" content has made Hulu a must watch for people who have internet and forgot to reload their iPod before a trip.

Because of their success, the media companies have shifted a little of their attention from Apple and iTunes just long enough to, what appears to me, scare Hulu into rethinking their operation. Since their inception, Hulu has made it hard to get from your computer with a TV show to a TV of any kind. Sure, there are workarounds, but they aren't easy, and don't always last. I don't blame them. Would you want to be a target of the cable companies or the content producers, especially as an upstart? I wouldn't either.

Now, it appears Hulu might have 'jumped the shark'. Reports say they may charge for content starting with their new iPad application. My question is, does this kill Hulu?

As Big Media gets rolling, once you start to see these sorts of concessions, there are more sure to follow. Look at Netflix. Netflix got movies into the hands of people less likely to watch than the normal demographic, and what did the movie companies do? They've started forcing them to hold movies for 28 days, to sell more DVD's.

Even Apple, reports have always been out there that Apple thinks prices are too high for individual TV shows. Would you rather buy a box set for $50 from iTunes or $19 at Best Buy? Apple knows this too, but they fought really hard against the music companies and movies might be too hard right now.

So back to the question, does this kill Hulu? My thought is, it wounds Hulu. The next round of concessions, whatever they may be, will be the mortal blow. As most of us know, Hollywood hasn't figured out DVD is on the way out, and because there isn't a formal replacement they've bet the farm on, so they need to do what they do best, lawyer up. In the process, stifling innovation and consumer choice.

Where does that leave us? Well, this round is just the motion picture studios picking the golden goose up by the neck. They haven't killed this one yet, but they will. Becoming a child of Comcast will take care of that.