A Community By Any Other Hashtag

Article reprinted with permission from AV Shout

What makes a community?

“What’s in a name that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet”
Romeo and Juliet – The Bard

If you recall your Shakespeare the quote above is spoken by Juliet upon finding that her true love is from the Montague’s, the one family she as a Capulet  is sworn to destroy. The full scene is a meditation on the uselessness of judging by labels – love is where you find it.

Is our community by any other name the same but different?  In the past few days there has been a call to move a good deal of industry-centric Twitter posts from the grouping #avtweeps to #proav by a few industry publications.  I found this intriguing, the call for an additional industry hashtag is a good sign of growing involvement on the social platform.  What piqued my interest more was the request to use the new #ProAV in  place of and excluding the existing #avtweeps.  I was further moved into beard stroking ponderance when several folks Direct Messaged me on Twitter curious if I knew who the catalysts were and why they seemed to be so disparaging of the group.

What is in a name?
The group AVTweeps, a derivation of the slang Peeps for friends and a playful nod to the twitter lingo of Tweet for a message, was established by AV integrators looking for a way to group their conversations in and about the industry in one common place about four years ago. It has grown to be the single largest collective of AV related folks on Twitter.  The group did debate other hastag names such as #hometheater, #avpros  #AVcontrol and the like but it was decided that the names were too limiting and did not express the wide scope of work we do.  We also investigated using #AV and #AVPro but these were already in use by the Adult Video folks- otherwise known as the *Porn* industry.   While we know full well that many of the systems we install are used for viewing such or are installed in the producers of such material -the association seemed a bit too much by half.

I like the #ProAV hastag but like stated above I have avoided it as it seemed a bit too exclusive. In way of demonstrating what I mean by this let me describe how I define Pro AV.  I have been lucky enough to have had careers in Recording Engineering, (back when it was a studio not a high end ‘project studio’), Broadcast and Live Event Staging.  Nearly all of these folks, from the camera operators, lighting techs/ designers, FOH audio and associated crew would not view what integrators install as Pro gear or a Pro Audio industry.  No question integrators are considered professionals in a related Audio Visual industry but the definition of pro is of a different order.  I have -to be clear- met few, if any really, Pro AV folks who disparage the integrator market beyond the use of the moniker.

Exclusivity
Being Exclusive does has its benefits in some cases -I agree. When one wants to reach a narrow audience on specific topics like #tonys or #altmusic avoiding a broader audience provides a very focused conversation.  Speaking of the Alt designator, some you older set reading this will recall that early Usnet Newsgroups used the alt prefix to narrow down topic specificity. Usnets were a pre World Wide Web internet discussion system and were the precursor to chat boards and forums. The Alt(dot) hierarchy though less organized was helpful as the main groups could become unwieldy when searching for say, a specific play. Rather than go to the humanities.plays one could subscribe to the Alt.Plays.shakespeare. Very handy indeed. Today this methodology is still very useful for Brands looking to reach potential clients; rather than cast a wide net they use carefully selected keywords to show up in searches and twitter communities.

This is what I thought was going on with the desire to separate from the larger group of AV professionals into one that focused on the Live Event and Broadcast industry.   Yet, this does not seem to be the case.  In fact many of the leading posts are from publications which are not technically in the Pro AV market (at least by the definition I gave previously).

So I ask here
I posed this question to the folks who voiced the desire to separate into their own state why such a move would be warranted.  Was it that the uninitiated had a hard time finding the group? A single day following a manufacturer would  have exposed them to the tag.

Was saving three letters really that urgent a need?

I am sure there is a good answer and being a devotee of all things AV and Social I was curious why the sociological rift.   As you are reading this here I am sure you know the response I received – Crickets.

So I ask here:  Why the desire to create a chasm?  Is there an untoward association #avtweeps has or is it a desire to distinguish a presence in a different space.

All the above are legitimate reasons and I curry no favor other than I have ‘lived’ in the tweeps column on my tweetdeck since its inception.  Heck I think the #proav hastag has some great potential, but I do not go rushing toward new shiny baubles just because they are reflecting the sunlight particularly nicely at a specific hour.  If I did I would be living in a Park Avenue apartment because of the way the light looks on Manhattanhenge, (still a valid reason to do so, as long as one is aware of what the other 362 days look like).

Why this post is here
This is why I have posted this on Chris Neto’s AV Shout platform, to speak from a neutral territory.  Here no one need be concerned about driving traffic to a ‘competitors’ site by commenting.

So tell me I am screwy for laboring over this, Tell my to *expletive deleted* off and mind my own business but tell me how a name does not smell as sweet.

- Tucker

When asked to recap his career and life Tucker responded “Me? I am just a figment of your collective imagination and let me tell you that living this life has taught me one thing- you people are twisted Mofos”

 

John Frum Syndrome

This article was originally posted on rAVE July 9th, 2012

I am a simple man, really; I like my coffee sans sugar and my whiskey straight up. As a general rule I avoid writing on -very- recent current events or product reviews simply because this is generally well covered by the real journos who get paid to perform autopsies. I also get my opportunity to comment on this sort of thing often enough on the AV Week Podcasts.

Even so there are a few subjects for which I am passionate enough about to come out of my shell and shout out about from the rooftops. One of these subjects is the litigious enforcement of an outdated business model or technology. From integrators who still decry the the loss of a single profit source model (flat panel installations anyone? Really?) to box electronics stores and the deplorable act of physical media companies desperately forcing the use of outdated and unwanted formats.

Let us face the facts folks, the days of physical media are over - and unlike the Mark Twain remark - the rumors of its death are not exaggerated, not even slightly. I am of the age demographic that is, according to the research organizations, supposed to be vehemently resistant to digital music formats. While I do still have a rather large collection of vinyl and CDs, (over 1,800 according to my spreadsheet log), I cannot honestly say I have played any in over five years, let alone purchased one. Have you?

I began to think about this around ‘National Record Store Day’ in April. I must admit that I do have a soft spot in my heart for the feel of a record in my hands and the warm hiss of needle in groove. The coverage of the day in magazines like the Big TakeOver, Pitchfork and Alternative Press did indeed make me wistful for the days when I had the time to spend several hours a week in a such stores. The experience, of being on the floor of a record shop with the smell of unfinished wood bins and slightly musty cardboard while enveloped in the sound of the store clerk’s selection, is akin to the romance of used book stores or the stacks at New York Library. - it is impossible to replicate in the digital music arena (not even in Second Life). Despite the many attempts to socialize the process online, the physical act of purchasing music in a communal space and the emotional attachment it conveys cannot be matched.

The success and joy that National Record Store Day generates does so despite the mad dog foaming at the mouth antics of the RIAA and labels. Perhaps this is because we often take musicians as our personal thematic avatars whose songs take on more personal meaning - the soundtrack of our lives. Yet, most of us desire, nay DEMAND, that the content be available in the digital dominion, free of physical restrictions. We all know the major labels have continued to spin themselves into a tizzy about the lack of distribution control and fought hard alongside the RIAA and ASCAP to prevent the inevitable from happening. What I discovered during the recording of AV NationTV’s ‘The DIY show Episode 8 is that the indie, self publishing and alternative music community is divided on the issue as well. The main argument against is that the sound of MP3 sucks and will always suck, but more importantly that digital brings the profit margin to one-tenth of what it used to be - even for the regional labels.

I see the validity of the argument, but even more clearly see that at this point, the fight is merely a philosophical one where windmills are fought and honor is established. Victory will not come for those who would decry or disavow the on demand revolution - but acceptance will not come easy.

It is the John Frum Syndrome which is, as I define it, a near ritualistic desire to bring back the near effortless rolls of profit by simply willing it.

The religion of John Frum is defined as a ‘Cargo Cult’ in anthropological circles - it has many similarities to the modern mystic making of the Rastafarians (who believe that the late Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia was God incarnate). The main preoccupation of the cargo cult devotees is in preparing for the arrival of material goods as gifts from the gods via cargo planes. The religious sect builds elaborate mock airports by clearing swaths of jungle for runways complete with mock air traffic towers and deplaning terminals out of wood and thatch. It is thought that the cult originated late in World War II when Allied forces, specifically American, swarmed into pacific island chains while pushing toward Japan. These forces stepped onto islands where the native inhabitants had never seen another type of person let alone the great cornucopia of material goods the Cargo planes brought in. To these isolated folks the goods appeared to just come out of the aether. John Frum is thought to be a derivation of ‘John From America...’ such as a pilot introducing himself to a local chieftain while his plane is unloaded.

The religion still exists with the congregations acting out ritualistic military parades and maintaining the landing sites in hopes of having the gods grace upon them the riches their devotion and keeping of the tenets has earned.

In both cases, the cults of John Frum and the physical medium could have been excused in the past when the ability to know better was more difficult. This cannot be said today.

John Frum Syndrome

This article was originally posted on rAVE July 9th, 2012 

 

I am a simple man, really; I like my coffee sans sugar and my whiskey straight up.  As a general rule I avoid writing on -very- recent current events or product reviews simply because this is generally well covered by the real journos who get paid to perform autopsies.  I also get my opportunity to comment on this sort of thing often enough on the AV Week Podcasts.  

Even so there are a few subjects for which I am passionate enough about to come out of my shell and shout out about from the rooftops.  One of these subjects is the litigious enforcement of an outdated business model or technology.  From integrators who still decry the the loss of a single profit source model (flat panel installations anyone? Really?) to box electronics stores and the deplorable act of physical media companies desperately forcing the use of  outdated and unwanted formats. 

Let us face the facts folks, the days of physical media are over - and unlike the Mark Twain remark - the rumors of its death are not exaggerated, not even slightly.  I am of the age demographic that is, according to the research organizations, supposed to be vehemently resistant to digital music formats. While I do still have a rather large collection of vinyl and CDs, (over 1,800 according to my spreadsheet log), I cannot honestly say I have played any in over five years, let alone purchased one.  Have you? 

I began to think about this around ‘National Record Store Day’ in April. I must admit that  I do have a soft spot in my heart for the feel of a record in my hands and the warm hiss of needle in groove. The coverage of the day  in magazines like the Big TakeOver, Pitchfork and Alternative Press did indeed make me wistful for the days when I had the time to spend several hours a week in a such stores. The experience, of being on the floor of a record shop with the smell of unfinished wood bins and slightly musty cardboard while enveloped in the sound of  the store clerk’s selection, is akin to the romance of used book stores or the stacks at New York Library. - it is impossible to replicate in the digital music arena (not even in Second Life). Despite the many attempts to socialize the process online, the physical act of purchasing music in a communal space and the emotional attachment it conveys cannot be matched. 

The success and joy that National Record Store Day generates does so despite the mad dog foaming at the mouth antics of the RIAA and labels. Perhaps this is because we often take musicians as our personal thematic avatars whose songs take on more personal meaning - the soundtrack of our lives. Yet, most of us desire, nay DEMAND, that the content be available in the digital dominion, free of physical restrictions.  We all know the major labels have continued to spin themselves into a tizzy about the lack of distribution control and fought hard alongside the RIAA and ASCAP to prevent the inevitable from happening.  What I discovered during the recording of AV NationTV’s  ‘The DIY show Episode 8 is that the indie, self publishing and alternative music community is divided on the issue as well.  The main argument against is that the sound of MP3 sucks and will always suck, but more importantly that digital brings the profit margin to one-tenth of what it used to be - even for the regional labels.  

I see the validity of the argument, but even more clearly see that at this point, the fight is merely a philosophical one where windmills are fought and honor is established. Victory will not come for those who would decry or disavow the on demand revolution - but acceptance will not come easy. 

It is the John Frum Syndrome which is, as I define it, a near ritualistic desire to bring back the near effortless rolls of profit by simply willing it. 

The religion of John Frum is defined as a ‘Cargo Cult’ in anthropological circles - it has many similarities to the modern mystic making of the Rastafarians (who believe that the late Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia was God incarnate). The main preoccupation of the cargo cult devotees is in preparing for the arrival of material goods as gifts from the gods via cargo planes. The religious sect builds elaborate mock airports by clearing swaths of  jungle for runways complete with mock air traffic towers and deplaning terminals out of wood and thatch.  It is thought that the cult originated late in World War II when Allied forces, specifically American, swarmed into pacific island chains while pushing toward Japan. These forces stepped onto islands where the native inhabitants had never seen another type of person let alone the great cornucopia of material goods the Cargo planes brought in. To these isolated folks the goods appeared to just come out of the aether.  John Frum is thought to be a derivation of ‘John From America...’ such as a pilot introducing himself to a local chieftain while his plane is unloaded.   

The religion still exists with the congregations acting out ritualistic military parades and maintaining the landing sites in hopes of having the gods grace upon them the riches their devotion and keeping of the tenets has earned. 

In both cases, the cults of John Frum and the physical medium could have been excused in the past when the ability to know better was more difficult. This cannot be said today. 

 

Fear, Loathing and Peanuts

Today my youngest goes in for allergy testing - While all of the Blood tests show this should go fine it is nerve racking.

As you may know my oldest has a severe allergy to peanuts (and most likely to all nuts). The youngest had failed the scratch test a year ago and given the severity of his brothers reaction we were advised to treat him as if he was anaphylactic as well. A couple of months ago he passed the scratch and blood tests -(as negative for the protein antibodies).

We Carry four of these at all times

Today we go to the hospital with the Allergist for what is called a food Challenge. Most folks first reaction when I mention this is "he is a competitive eater?" I many ways yes.

The Challenge is to have my son eat peanut butter products and see what happens. Everyone is nervous - so much so that we have a team to be at the ready to treat him with epinephrine IV and more Epi pens and who knows what else.

To be honest I am confident in the tests but the slight chance that this test could do harm, however temporary, has my stomach in knots. My son is outwardly excited - he always like trying new food- and hopefully he will not get the willies at being asked to eat something he as been warned, trained not to go near while surrounded by medical people.

Wish us luck!

*Update*

Gonzo, my name for my youngest, passed with flying colors.  He even had his very first Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich..... !  

 That PB&J Sandwich did not stand a chance

We started with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup but he said that they tasted sour, he toatally dug the Mr GoodBar and the doctor gave him enough of the candy to have him ingest 10 peanuts in three and four nut servings over three sittings.  Each time we watched him for five minutes then sat in the waiting room for 15.   Finally he was given a full PB&J -  Good Grief !  after one bite he consumed the entire sandwich in about a min, licking his lips and vibrating with joy.  

On the way home he connected the dots, twice.  Once to declare that he could now eat Magnoalia Bakery cupcakes - where mom works. The Second was the equivilant of survivors guilt - he stated that he wished he was allergic so he could eat normal food like his brother. 

It is going to be an interesting few weeks. 

 

 

Social Circle Pictograph

Some Messing around with ways to promote Social community building. 

 

Version One Below: