AV Week Episode 10 - "Oh Canada"

we mock our northern neighbors, take one for team ,  have serious moment -(ha' who we kiddin?) #avtweeps

 

Episode 10 of AV Week brings new blood with Adrian Boyd, Matt Scott returns as our international correspondent, and George Tucker joins us.

We talk about AV Week, the InfoComm industry celebration of all things AV. Cheryl Regan from ICIA gives us some tips and ideas on how to promote the industry where you live.

Crestron has killed a long beloved product; we mourn the passing of the Adagio line. How would you like a control system you can control with your brain? We’ll explain. Also, George explains how to build your very own satellite. Plus, we have the next big market for you integrators… senior citizens.

http://www.avnation.tv/avweek-episode-10-oh-canada/

The Greatest Game on Earth

From my Tumblr Blog: http://tuckerstertiary.tumblr.com/

The Greatest Game on Earth

Hockey season is upon but unless you are of an extreme northern clime or in one of the rare ‘hockey towns’ you most likely had not noticed.

The game gets short shrift from many, if it gets any attention at all, despite the drama and unrelenting action three twenty minute periods provide.

I do not come from a hockey family. If we watched sports at all it was the ubiquitous NFL or college basketball, neither of which really drew me to the television or had me checking the sports pages for the latest standings.

I remember the exact moment that the game became more than just something we played when on a frozen pond -(remember when ponds used to freeze over every winter?). I was given the gift of a 13” black and white television as reward for - finally- doing well in school. (Ninth grade was a turning point for me both academic and personal). The TV while in my room had some very strict rules attached to it. It was not be be turned on until my homework was done and would be taken away if my grades fell below a B average. It was just after finishing some geometry problems that I walked over (remember remotes were not a standard item back then) and flipped on the TV only to find it was on channel 9 (WOR-TV) with the New York Islanders battling the Buffalo Sabers early in the second period.

The broadcast was a revelation, even squinting into the tiny colorless screen it was like meeting the love of your life from across a crowded room on a chance glance into her eyes. I must have stood there through the rest of the game because only when it ended did I notice that the clock read 10 pm. I will admit that I did not entirely understand all the rules just then and often lost track of just what was going on but it fascinated me like no other sport. Why am I so enamoured? The action is continuous - it flowed where other sports seem to drag, it is fast and yes aggressive.

Hockey does have some road blocks to gaining a more populist following -

It starts the official season in the midst of Baseball playoffs, the start of Basketball and a critical time of the early football season. The airwaves are congested with sports news and hockey’s third or fourth tier status slides it further to the periphery.

The season is just too damn long. Even for die hard hockey fans the 80 game per team season stretching into late May and mid June boarders on ridiculous. Honestly I would love an October to March season, but the team owners will never agree to a loss of home games.

It is violent. Sure other sports have contact as a main component of the game but hockey is only behind Rugby and Boxing in the degree to which violence is essential to the game. The echos of late 70’s hockey as exemplified by the movie Slapshot! still defines the sport, not entirely unjustly so, for many. The reputation for fighting was so pervasive in the early 80’s that many found truth in the joke ‘ it was an exciting night, I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out”. The league has made a good deal of effort to reduce excessive fighting by officially shunning enforcers ( players whose only role is to be able to skate passably and target other players).

Hockey’s sub tier status can also be a part of its allure, this small semi secret club where fans recognize each other and will commiserate with that nod or a four hour discussion on the merits of one goalies style of play over another. We even have a secret handshake, no really.

Like all other sports it is the drama and personal story lines that drive the emotional connection to each game - I have a favored team, the New York Rangers -(my Islanders fandom is viewed by my friends as a folly of youthful indulgence. Something to rib me about but not hold over my head. Heck, I have friend who has season tickets to both the Rangers and Islanders)- it is the game itself that I am truly fascinated with

I wept openly when Ray Bourque finally won the Cup.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Ray Bourque- a quick summary. Bourque was a franchise player, a rarity these days, who was associated with the Boston Bruins nearly as much as the City of Boston itself. Passion and dedication showed every time he stepped out onto the ice. This was not just a personal quest, it was a promise to the city, to the fans. Despite Bourque’s, and the teams, best efforts over his 20 year career a championship did not come to the city.

It was with a heavy heart and high hopes that the team and fans released Bourque to play for the Colorado Avalanche a team with extraordinary chances to win. The Avalanche wooed him to play just one more year. It actually took two.

 

 

Watch the video. It shows the presentation of the cup and is as strong stuff as there is in sports. Again if you are unfamiliar with hockey, some things to note. The Cup is given to the captain of the winning team who skates with it first, a tradition nearly unbroken in the modern game. Not here, not this time. Joe Sakic, the captain, nearly yanks the cup out of the commissioner’s hands before the official photo-so eager was he to get it to Bourque. Listen to the crowd roar as #77 gets the cup- this is not just for the city, the man but for the game. again, I wept openly at this as I did with the 94 win with the Rangers, but that my friends is something I cannot begin to describe - the emotions are too great.

This is why I watch.

And if that does not do it for you, we also have Don Cherry one of the most colorful, and may I say snazziest dressers in all of sports.

 

Witness Baby! Witness!

AV Evangalism  - Witness Baby! Witness!

 

My fellow RavePubs blogger and all around dynamo Dawn Meade (aka AV Dawn) just published a great call to arms in evangelism for the AV industry.

Read it here

Evangelism contains within it a need for the delft skill of engaging those who want to learn, resisting the desire to teach those who do not care and, most difficult of all, leading the misinformed to see the folly of their own premises.

AV is a grand wide pleasure dome from the DIY to the toys of a Sultan. You can preach to me the lifelong benefits of a Plasma but if this is not my budget no amount of preaching will help. Now, tell me how to make the best of what I can and I will see that the work to do so, in the end is equal to a step or two up. I may need to go though the process but in the end it is gentle evangelicalism that will ring in my ears.

Can I get a Witness!?

*Originally posted on my Tumblr Blog 

The Unspeakable Seems to Have A Voice

A few days ago I posted a provocative  post, entitled "I say a Dirty Word", on Gary Kayye's  RavePubs blog to the custom install professionals to embrace the DIY community as  best bet toward future growth. 

Well it seems that even the pro stalwart PRO Sound News has some similar thoughts by posting a series of videos from the NYC Makers Faire

 

You can see a bunch more videos from the show here

 

White Spaces - RF beyond the Aesthetics

 

White Spaces,  Sounds like something your Art History professor would use to describe ‘the   power’ of an unpainted space on a Jackson Pollock.  

In fact White Spaces is the name for a contentiously battled over area of RF (Radio Frequency Spectrum) and yes it effects you and your AV business.

Until just a few years ago television stations broadcast their signals via three separate signals, one each for Picture, Color information and Sound. These three signals would be recombined inside the circuitry of your TV  to produce the complete picture.  These three RF spikes, creating mountains and valleys could be clearly seen on an off air oscilloscope.  The valleys and spaces between the channel signals is where many wireless devices would ‘sit’.  In large metropolitan areas where every possible channel was used, such spaces were invaluable.  When it came to wireless microphones, this was doubly so.  

Then came digital television.  This beast, not to be confused with HDTV -(the former can carry the latter but it may not always be the case), generates one signal with all the information.  Great! you might think - with two less signals to worry about there will be more room for other lower powered RF devices, right?

Um, No.  

While there is now only one signal it takes up a wide swath of space in a continuous signal. Bummer no? Yet there is a bright hope here.  The FCC mandated that all analog broadcasts (the three spikes) were to have ceased broadcast by June 26th, 2009. The plan is to sell off all the remaining ‘empty’ space to facilitate new communications technologies and less the RF congestion that now plagues wireless.  

Great, Right?!, Maybe.

Manufactures and audio industry folks have been raising a ruckus to insure that a defined space is available for the use of itinerant wireless devices such as microphones and intercom systems - such as those used at live events.  Sadly it took a small skirmish but it appears things have been finally worked out.

I learned about the true value of the analog television signals on  February 26, 1993, the day the World Trade Center was bombed.  One of my responsibilities as a rental tech was to test and calibrate wireless mic systems going out on jobs.  One of the tools we used ( and actually still have) was an off air oscilloscope or IFR, to insure that the IFR was itself calibrated we would tune it to a TV channel’s Picture RF spike.  Once we knew that the RF spike from. say channel four was reading accurate - we could then be confident that our mic signal was accurate and tune it accordingly.  On that February day I was still only just becoming comfortable with the operation of the IFR.  

As usual I brought up the Television channel to see that the unit was operating  as expected when it happened, the spikes - all three dipped then disappeared.  I checked a few more channels and they too were gone.  “Oh no”, I thought, “i have broken a $10k piece of test gear”.  With a mild sense of panic and depression I told the service manager of my actions.  He was a bit irked with me to say the least and stormed to my test bench.  He found the same thing I did until he brought up NY channel two, he then brought up the audio - which is where we heard the news that the WTC had experienced an explosion that had shut down the transmitter atop tower one. (Channel 2 still used the antenna atop the Empire State Building).  That is when we looked  out the office window which had a direct view of the WTC, to see smoke billowing up. I recall this event every time I look at a oscilloscope and it is the mental image I have of when I think of what the analog transmission shut down must have looked like.

Now that I am back in the event staging / live events world I have an renewed interest in just how the new landscape of RF should be handled and lucky for me the good people at AV Nation have a great podcast special on just this topic. The special broadcast includes Sennheiser's Eric Reese  and Kent Margraves with host Michael Drainer discussing  the FCC laws and tips to get your wireless to work flawlessly.  I highly recommend it to anyone who works with audio for live events, this is great stuff.

 

 

A Truly Useful Engine

Originally posted to Rave Pubs on  August 18, 2011 

Now you're back in line

Going not quite quite as far

But in half the time

 

- Jumping Someone Else's Train, The Cure

 

Perspective can change everything; running straight line the countryside is truly bucolic, but when the train jerks ‘round a turn you find that the rolling hills hide a shanty town.  Which side of thetracks your business is living on can be a fluid line. One month you are in the middle of richly appointed houses with green lawns and blooming gardens, the next morning it is in a freight yard of dinged cars and grimy out buildings.   

 

How could this happen?  Perhaps you rode the line too far without checking; all lines end somewhere and these places look nothing like they do on Sodor.  Anyone who has ‘ridden the rails’ will tell you that the first rules -(after keep away from the bulls)- are to keep an eye on where the train is heading and to be wary of junctions.  

 

Are you still riding the same tracks only because you are unsure of what  throwing the switch yourself will mean? The economy is volatile as all get out and experts predict years more of slow climbs up and lurching dips and stops; it is pretty scary and it is tempting to simply put one’s head down and keep on the current line. 

 

Fear is the initial response of first time riders of the NYC subway system, a peculiar reputation which has persisted.  Contrary to popular belief, the subways are not a caravan of absolute acerbic strangers and look nothing like (well, not since the early 90s) the way they are depicted in the Kurt Russel vehicle ‘Escape From New York’.  If you ride the subway with anything resembling a regular schedule you start to notice familiar faces, a recurring cast.  In many ways these folks come to feel a bit like family, only ten times removed.  Riding on a daily basis begins to become like a micro reality show, one witnesses the rise and fall and rise of peoples lives and situation.  The cycles play out as a change in style, the new loves pressed tight taking the morning train together for the first time or the late night tear smeared mascara. It is a daily one-act play drawn out over the station stops. 

 

Shakespeare à la the third rail.

 

I have recently had the opportunity to ride the subway again after over ten years of commuting with a car over a bridge and through the woods. 

 

I lived and worked in NYC for just under 20 years mostly traveling  the east-side lines of the 4, 5, 6 and for a short stint, the F outta of Park Slope. Even so, as with all things in the city, a week's ride can involve some time on nearly any line.  

 

Muscle memory is a funny thing, while it had been too many years since I last rode, without really thinking about it I made my way to the 42nd street shuttle and across town to catch the Q to Long Island City. What awoke me from the autopilot path I was on was the fact that when I rode the trains (all those years ago), the Q did not exist.  I was lost momentarily and had to check the station map, twice, before I was confident that this was where I got on again.  My body took me there but my brain was still on the old tracks.

 

I found myself looking for a familiar face, a strong desire to bump into an old acquaintance who had been too long living on the Island of Lost Friends. I wanted stability and a known frame of reference. It just felt weird and I had that panic of the unknown and my shoes felt glued to the floor. (I actually let a Q train come and go before finally screwing up my courage). Traveling the first few stops was, admittedly, a bit disquieting - but once we hit 57th and Lex, I found the train’s  rhythm and made its frequency a harmonic of my own. 

 

Sometimes you just gotta throw the switch, move to the new tracks. You never know, you might just find that this is the train you were looking for all along. 

Tinker, Tech’er, Solder, Sine via RAVE Pubs

This post orginally appeared on Gary Kayye's RavePub Site on August 2nd, 2011 

 

Are you useless?  I am and proudly so and I think you could do with being so too.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment before we proceed -- you should strive to be useless and leading by example, encourage your staff to be the same.

 Useless adjective       \'yüs-l?s\

              1.    Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome

In reality useless is usually based on a simple frame of reference, or in the colloquial -- one man’s   
garbage is another man’s treasure. For an install company, tinkering is a useless endeavor, a wasteful process of learning as you go and where results are not always what one expected. Having a staff of useless tinkerers is not just terrible for your business, much worse; it is the best thing that can happen to it.

Do you remember back to when you were six or seven years old and the concept of chemistry or at least the idea that a mad scientist could hold such power with a simple set of beakers and surgical tubing held so much sway? Back then, you mixed shampoo with wood chips, hair gel, milk and orange juice half waiting for the, mostly inert, mixture to start moving of its own volition. These experiments were mostly harmless but if you were like me the ‘failures’ never dulled the excitement of the possibilities -- ‘if I could just find the right ratios!’ <cue cute-evil laugh>. Then again you could have had a mom like mine who occasionally would provide me with bottles marked ‘ingredient X’ - <Vinegar> and ‘Mystery Powder Y’ - <Baking Soda>.  That particular experiment had me wide eyed and standing atop a three-legged stool as the resulting reaction covered the floor of my room. Did I mention that I also became really good with a mop?

I want to see your staff doing more of the above. No, not the mop - the wild-eyed fascination of deconstructivism. Wasteful, you might say. Absolutely devastating to project deadlines and company profits one might argue. Horse Hockey! I say. (With apologies to Sherman T. Potter)

The process of tinkering provides lessons in how stuff works, it is demonstrative and practical, and there is great value in opening a box and figuring out just how they did that. An even greater benefit can come from forceful misapplication-creating wondrous new functions or in letting the genie out.

I am a big fan of something called Circuit Bending which is the process of opening up consumer electronics - mostly kids’ toys - and modifying the circuit boards to create new sounds. The cult community of circuit bending is part heath kit hacker, part pyromaniac musician and part serious electronics debugger. Modifying a toy is not nearly as simple as it might appear -- these units’ electronics are often undocumented; the process of figuring out just where to connect jumpers requires patience and research. It also requires a willingness to fail.

Failure is constructive.

Are you allowing your staff to fail?  

If you still think that I am full of it just take a look at what 3M™ does. 3M has a long standing policy (since the 1920’s!) of allowing employees - regardless of project schedules - to dedicate up to 15 percent of their paid work hours on personal projects. What possible benefits could a policy which wreaks havoc on deadlines and product to market schedules have?  Not much really -- just the development of whole new markets in adhesives, recording mediums and of course the ubiquitous Post-it-Notes ®.

What untapped solution are you missing out of by holding your staff back?  Where would we be without the invention the iPad typewriter?  For me it would be a sad, sad world.

 

 

Sammy's Fish Box, One Families Adventure

 

If you live in the NYC metropolitan area and have cable you have most likely had the ads for the City Island restaurant Sammy’s fishbox  pop up.  The ads have a wedding testimonial quality which feature a customer, wireless mic in hand, describe how great the food and atmosphere is.

 

(the TV ad in question)

For some reason my Six year old - I call him Rooster- is fascinated with the ads, (and the numerous other ads of City Island restaurants shot in a similar manner.  He is always asking if we can go.

A few weekends ago, after a morning at the pool club, my wife innocently asks Rooster and Gonzo -(my Four year old)- if they would like to go out for lunch.  Ro immediately answers, ‘Yes to Sammy’s FishBox, the foods great”.  My wife looked at me, I looked at her and said - ‘why not’?

City Island is actually very close to our house, surprising as neither us had ever been there.

It was clear that whoever, or whatever, owned Sammy’s also owned about Six other restaurants in the area. 

The inside is just as the Ad depicts but huge!

I will note that the Yelp and Foursquare comments describing the wait staff as ‘well versed in ignoring you for long stretches’ is apparently true.  While we waited for someone, anyone, to take our order we shot the following.  

 

(apologies for the orientation flip- I am left handed and still grab the phone as I see it best, evidently my fair Droid phone does not accomdate me)

Truly I do not have much to say about the food except  that, Yes it is all that you would expect given the ads

Yes, we had a hoot.

 

 

Truly Useful Engine

 

Now you're back in line

Going not quite quite as far

But in half the time

 

- Jumping Someone Else's Train, The Cure

 

Perspective can change everything; running straight line the countryside is truly bucolic, but when the train jerks ‘round a turn you find that the rolling hills hide a shanty town.  Which side of the tracks your business is living on can be a fluid line. One month you are in the middle of richly appointed houses with green lawns and blooming gardens, the next morning it is in a freight yard of dinged cars and grimy out buildings.   

 

How could this happen?  Perhaps you rode the line too far without checking; all lines end somewhere and these places look nothing like they do on Sodor.  Anyone who has ‘ridden the rails’ will tell you that the first rules -(after keep away from the bulls)- are to keep an eye on where the train is heading and to be wary of junctions.  

 

Are you still riding the same tracks only because you are unsure of what  throwing the switch yourself will mean? The economy is volatile as all get out and experts predict years more of slow climbs up and lurching dips and stops; it is pretty scary and it is tempting to simply put one’s head down and keep on the current line. 

 

Fear is the initial response of first time riders of the NYC subway system, a peculiar reputation which has persisted.  Contrary to popular belief, the subways are not a caravan of absolute acerbic strangers and look nothing like (well, not since the early 90s) the way they are depicted in the Kurt Russel vehicle ‘Escape From New York’.  If you ride the subway with anything resembling a regular schedule you start to notice familiar faces, a recurring cast.  In many ways these folks come to feel a bit like family, only ten times removed.  Riding on a daily basis begins to become like a micro reality show, one witnesses the rise and fall and rise of peoples lives and situation.  The cycles play out as a change in style, the new loves pressed tight taking the morning train together for the first time or the late night tear smeared mascara. It is a daily one-act play drawn out over the station stops. 

 

Shakespeare à la the third rail.

 

I have recently had the opportunity to ride the subway again after over ten years of commuting with a car over a bridge and through the woods. 

 

I lived and worked in NYC for just under 20 years mostly traveling  the east-side lines of the 4, 5, 6 and for a short stint, the F outta of Park Slope. Even so, as with all things in the city, a week's ride can involve some time on nearly any line.  

 

Muscle memory is a funny thing, while it had been too many years since I last rode, without really thinking about it I made my way to the 42nd street shuttle and across town to catch the Q to Long Island City. What awoke me from the autopilot path I was on was the fact that when I rode the trains (all those years ago), the Q did not exist.  I was lost momentarily and had to check the station map, twice, before I was confident that this was where I got on again.  My body took me there but my brain was still on the old tracks.

 

I found myself looking for a familiar face, a strong desire to bump into an old acquaintance who had been too long living on the Island of Lost Friends. I wanted stability and a known frame of reference. It just felt weird and I had that panic of the unknown and my shoes felt glued to the floor. (I actually let a Q train come and go before finally screwing up my courage). Traveling the first few stops was, admittedly, a bit disquieting - but once we hit 57th and Lex, I found the train’s  rhythm and made its frequency a harmonic of my own. 

 

Sometimes you just gotta throw the switch, move to the new tracks. You never know, you might just find that this is the train you were looking for all along. 

 

Indiana State Fair Collapse -An insiders look at the Tragedy

If you have been following the dramatic reports on the Indiana state fair tragedy you must be asking yourself the same questions I have;  how could this happen and what can we do to make sure it does not happen again?

 

While the official cause has not been released yet, my friend and sometime associate, John Huntington has been analysing the tragedy on his blog - Controlgeek.net.  John is no ordinary blogger, having spent over 20 years as a stage hand, lighting tech, teacher and author his in-industry perspective holds more weight than the taking head newscasters.   

John, in addition to being an electronics geek is also a weather nerd who has studied meteorology and joined severe weather scientists and ‘tornado chasers’ documenting  extreme weather outbreaks all across the Midwest.

John’s post

Indiana State Fair Collapse--State Fair Management Has Blood On Its Hands

is a through examination of the available evidence including numerous audience videos, industry professionals and lots of meteorological radar shots and reports of just how other events in the region responded to the warnings.

In light of the sixth victim dying today I urge you to read the post to get an insiders look at just what may have happened.   

To quote from his opening paragraph:

the fact that the show was not stopped when the fair site came under a severe thunderstorm warning is inexcusable, regardless of what else happened. Keep in mind that a warning means severe weather has been observed or is imminent, and a severe thunderstorm is defined as, ". . .a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least quarter size, 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts to 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado"  Even if the stage remained standing, would you want to be in an outdoor concert in those conditions?  Why didn't they just hold the show for 1/2 an hour and send people to shelter?  Why the hell were the four follow spot operators (one of whom died) up in the roof trussing when a storm like that was approaching?

He also goes on to say that if the investigation finds any negligence or where corners were cut then “heads should roll”.

A fund started for the follow spot operator -Nathan Byrd- ( a single father of two) who was killed when his truss section collapsed.  You can donate here. http://splnetwork.com/iatse-local-sets-fund-nathan-byrds-orphaned-children

 

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AV Week the AV Nation Podcast

Tim Albright has tapped a vein with the creation of his Podcast "AV Week" part of the AV Nation community.

First episode of AVWeek:

A chat interview between AV insiders and commentators about all things Audio Visual. With Linda Frembes, yours truly and Michael Drainer Episode #0000 Infocomm - Favorite Infocomm products , HDMI HDCP lssues, The Best AV Apps, Audio Manufacturers OCA alliance,The return of the video wall and Kramer only company offering InfoComm classes.

The show can be found here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/avweek

http://www.albrightav.com/podcasts/

I am proud to be invited to blog as part of Gary Kayye's RavePubs 'Blog Squad'.   I will be posting bi-weekly (on Tuesdays, of course).    

The Posts will be Archived here as well three days after they are posted to Rave.  Just look to the Upper right sidebar for the "My RavePubs Posts" link. 

Support this great nexus of information and commentary on all things Audio Visual by visting, reading and commenting on the posts.  

 

                

Tinker, Tech’er, Solder, Sine via RAVE Pubs

This post orginally appeared on Gary Kayye's RavePub Site on August 2nd, 2011 

 

Are you useless?  I am and proudly so and I think you could do with being so too.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment before we proceed -- you should strive to be useless and leading by example, encourage your staff to be the same.

 Useless adjective       \'yüs-l?s\

              1.    Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome

In reality useless is usually based on a simple frame of reference, or in the colloquial -- one man’s  
garbage is another man’s treasure. For an install company, tinkering is a useless endeavor, a wasteful process of learning as you go and where results are not always what one expected. Having a staff of useless tinkerers is not just terrible for your business, much worse; it is the best thing that can happen to it.

Do you remember back to when you were six or seven years old and the concept of chemistry or at least the idea that a mad scientist could hold such power with a simple set of beakers and surgical tubing held so much sway? Back then, you mixed shampoo with wood chips, hair gel, milk and orange juice half waiting for the, mostly inert, mixture to start moving of its own volition. These experiments were mostly harmless but if you were like me the ‘failures’ never dulled the excitement of the possibilities -- ‘if I could just find the right ratios!’ <cue cute-evil laugh>. Then again you could have had a mom like mine who occasionally would provide me with bottles marked ‘ingredient X’ - <Vinegar> and ‘Mystery Powder Y’ - <Baking Soda>.  That particular experiment had me wide eyed and standing atop a three-legged stool as the resulting reaction covered the floor of my room. Did I mention that I also became really good with a mop?

I want to see your staff doing more of the above. No, not the mop - the wild-eyed fascination of deconstructivism. Wasteful, you might say. Absolutely devastating to project deadlines and company profits one might argue. Horse Hockey! I say. (With apologies to Sherman T. Potter)

The process of tinkering provides lessons in how stuff works, it is demonstrative and practical, and there is great value in opening a box and figuring out just how they did that. An even greater benefit can come from forceful misapplication-creating wondrous new functions or in letting the genie out.

I am a big fan of something called Circuit Bending which is the process of opening up consumer electronics - mostly kids’ toys - and modifying the circuit boards to create new sounds. The cult community of circuit bending is part heath kit hacker, part pyromaniac musician and part serious electronics debugger. Modifying a toy is not nearly as simple as it might appear -- these units’ electronics are often undocumented; the process of figuring out just where to connect jumpers requires patience and research. It also requires a willingness to fail.

Failure is constructive.

Are you allowing your staff to fail?  

If you still think that I am full of it just take a look at what 3M™ does. 3M has a long standing policy (since the 1920’s!) of allowing employees - regardless of project schedules - to dedicate up to 15 percent of their paid work hours on personal projects. What possible benefits could a policy which wreaks havoc on deadlines and product to market schedules have?  Not much really -- just the development of whole new markets in adhesives, recording mediums and of course the ubiquitous Post-it-Notes ®.

What untapped solution are you missing out of by holding your staff back?  Where would we be without the invention the iPad typewriter?  For me it would be a sad, sad world.

 

 

Social Media - Old Skool style

 

 Page One of my interactive community board idea for my employer - Circa 1993-94

 

 

 

What we need is a Telethon, Yes, an AMERICATHON!

Tales from the future undoing of america - Laugh Track optional 

 

Narrator: Everyone all across the country was watching the telethon. From what was left of New York, to the first all-gay state, North Dakota. All eyes were glued to their sets... 

[shot of men at stand-up urinals watching television]
Narrator: ...which in some cases, ruined a lot of good shoes.


America is still in a rut, a kicking an ole’ can down rain water run off channels in a deserted train yard blues. Yeah, we in a heap trouble people.  

While reading about what would happen if the US defaulted on its loans by failing to raise the debt ceiling it suddenly hit me.  After I got myself off the floor and cleaned up the spilt beer it hit me again, but this time I was ready for the idea and stood my ground.  The idea is that I have already seen this movie- years ago during the early days of HBO late, late at night. I will admit to being just a bit afraid of the fact that we are living through the basic script of ‘Americathon!”  

If you are not familiar with the 1979 movie starring Jon Ritter, Harvey Korman and a special appearance by Meatloaf - yes that Mr. Loaf-   the movie is a comedy about the governments attempts to prevent its creditors from foreclosing on it.  The country is in dire straights with the new Indian (Native Americans, this was 1979 after all), nation rising to an economic powerhouse ala  Walmart as owners of N.I.K.E (now , National Indian Knitting Enterprise) to whom the country owes a billion dollars to.  The Answer?  a Telethon, no an Americathon! to raise the funds needed to avoid foreclosure.  Sound familiar? Perhaps not as the film appears to be, sadly, out of print.

  

The movie also predicted several other salient items as part of the story line, namely (via Wikipedia entry)

• The People's Republic of China embracing capitalism and becoming a global economic superpower.


• Cliques of Native Americans becoming wealthy (although in reality much of their wealth would come from the gaming industry, mostly from tribal casinos).


• Nike becoming a huge multinational conglomerate (In 1979, their "Tailwind" running shoe was just starting to gain popularity).


• Vietnam becoming a major tourist attraction among Asia's wealthy and powerful


• The continued existence and popularity of The Beach Boys in 1998.


• The collapse of the USSR.


• The depletion of US crude oil production, which, according to Hubbert's Peak theory, was already underway for several years at the time the film was made (Hubbert estimated in 1956 that the year of peak oil extraction in the United States would be 1970.).


• Jogging suits becoming fashionable as "casual wear".


• Reality television reaching absurd limits. (The telethon includes a boxing match between a mother and son. The son is played by Jay Leno.).


• An America with a devalued dollar and heavily in debt to foreign lenders.


• The United Kingdom relying heavily on tourism for income (In the film, England is the 57th state with London turned into a theme park named "Limeyland" and 10 Downing Street turned into a discothèque).


• Network television dealing with previously taboo subjects accepted as normal. (Monty Rushmore stars in the sit-com, "Both Father and Mother", and plays a cross-dressing single father in the titular role. The film's narrative also mentions "The Schlong Show", a game show where contestants are judged by their reproductive organs.)


• Smoking being banned.


• A great increase in homelessness (Homelessness began to greatly increase in major U.S. cities during the recession of 1982 and the simultaneous cutting of the Section 8 program by the Reagan Administration).

Not bad for a bunch of yuksters, no?

The bigger question is just why can we not get ourselves out of this mess.  The answer, not surprisingly, is politics. “United we stand, divided we fall” so goes the song lyric and baby are we a divided nation. I am not revealing any new truth here but it does seem to me that the gap of polarization has almost become insurmountable. All too often disagreements on social or economic topics degenerate into ad hominem attacks and accusations of being the agent of some disruptive outside force (commie, socialist, the devil, fascist, feudalist).  Whatever happened to the days of our fore-fathers who could argue vehemently and passionately for an ideal, curse the man across the aisle only to buy him a beer and carouse till 2am after the sessions had ended. Perhaps I am having wistful memories of things that never happened, believing the fairy tales of third grade civics class. Maybe we have really always been a divided country, our perceptions exacerbated by social media and our recent ability to filter the news down to a granular level of personal taste.  

Today we can basically ignore any other opinion than our own by actively choosing to read only the news outlets, blogs or friends with whom we agree, dissenting voices are ignored or worse- censored/ blocked.  A few keystrokes inside your news aggregator or social platform and your cone of silence is complete.

At the birth of the ‘new partisan politic’ when the new conservative movement and the old school social liberals began having skirmishes over ‘Reaganomics’ leaders like Tip O’neal and Ronald Regan considered themselves ‘friends after 6PM and would meet each other for drinks to swap stories and work out compromises. Today politicians fear being seen being even mildly civil to one another for fear that their party associates or constituents would see them as being not conservative/Liberal enough and thereby be shunned and voted out. The number of incidences where a the party construct actually goes after its own members - even seeking to deny them re-election - for the slightest infraction to the party line are dramatically rising. we have truly entered  the era of cutting off the nose to spite the face- consequences be dammed.

I may be labeled a radical moderate for dreaming of a return to a time when partisan regimentation faded as one exited the halls of government yet, as John Lennon sang - I am not the only one.  Conservative commentator and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum has issues with the divide as well.  In a recent Marketplace article he bemoans the fact that legislators no longer live or take residence in the DC area with their family.  This simple act insured that political opponents encountered each other in more social settings, their kids would go to school together and spouses mingled in shared social circles.  Today, Frum argues, legislators rush home and meet with constituents - a good thing one would think. Mr. Frum questions just which constituents make it to these “Town Halls”:

Members hear from retirees, from the hyper-partisan, and from the affluent. But they don't hear from everybody. Mothers of young children tend not to go to town halls. Anxious 20-somethings are seldom seen. - Building Trust in Congress, Marketplace 6.8.11

 

Alright, you may say, this IS an issue but the true dysfunction and hyperbole is limited to the large national governing apparatus dealing with the giant issues of the day - local politics, one may argue, is different these folks are actual neighbors.  If you are still living under this utopian pipe-dream I suggest that you sit down for this next part, your heart may not be able to take the shock..  WBEZ’s ‘This American Life’ recently   broadcast a show of three acts under the title ‘House Divided”. Act one- titled “WAR OF NORTHERN AGGRESSION” details  one Wisconsin district in the midst of a recall election.  Neighbor turns against neighbor, friend against friend and family against family. The story is a shocking and sad example of the toll our current extreme politics has taken. Listen to the radio show for I cannot do justice to it here.

 

Earlier I called myself out as a ‘Radical Moderate’ yet I have been guilty of the same reactionary vitriol. Why?  I once described my outbursts as only logical response of the bleeding heart who would no longer turn the other cheek. I thought that i was declaring war, a righteous war fueled by the political social messages of hardcore punk and the blood being spilled in the streets.  I now realize that this was misguided.  Not message nor the sentiment but the belief that violence whether physical or intellectual can and should be brought to the political debate. Having been the victim of egregious bullying during my youth I knew full well that striking out in a full and unrepentant manner can be effective - at least for a time.  The error is in believing that it is a long term answer.  Yes, it may be necessary at times but when the thrill of the fight become tantamount to the greater good it becomes a death match with no survivors.  

I am trying to  change my ways, not roll over or ever give the other cheek again but to strive for a middle ground where relationships work toward a functioning society.  Can we do this before the next civil war truly tears us apart?  

 

Tweet

Metallica ala Bill Bailey - Penultimate cover?

 

A Preponderance of Presentations - Infocomm 11 as seen from the Mobius Curve

Walking the floor at ICIA's Infocomm 11 trade show

 “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Infocomm is huge this year. From the entire show floor to the second level of classes and demos and breakout rooms throughout  it just seems to never end.

It has been twelve years since I last had the chance to see the show as an attendee and not a booth  builder slash floor barker and perhaps this has altered my perception of space at the show.   When you work the booth for a major manufacture there is little chance to wander from your post and explore -  one eats sleeps and yes poops the product(s) with little chance of getting beyond the immediate parcel of show floor .  The universe is indeed a very defined area during these days.

As attendee, well, it is like being transformed from Sisyphus into David Bowman , complete with wide eyed expression and a multitude of lights reflecting in them.

 
Being here at the show is a must, having a physical relationship with the products and people cannot be recreated by reading press releases or wandering the halls of  a ‘Virtual Tradeshow’.  Only when you can touch a device, turn it over in your hands and look into the -proverbial- eyes  and look directly into the - real- eyes of the company employee does one get  a connection with the possibilities.

This is not to argue against virtual connections. In addition to seeing the gadgets, gear and goodies in action I am excited to finally meet, face to face and beer mug to wine glass, the fine folks of #Avtweeps.  We are a group of  Audio Visual folks who have gathered a tribe on social media, more specifically Twitter.  The daily and sometimes hourly conversations are extremely constructive  and I could hardly imagine a day without ‘hearing’ from the group at least once a day.   

Truth is that I have sought out the company booths of the folks who regularly chat, chide and console each other via the avtweeps association because I trust them. And in turn I am more likely to trust the products - or at least give them the benefit of doubt.

As I head out to dive into day two of the show, my feet still ache and my knees feel as if someone put them on backwards I am determined to see as many demos and presentations as possible.  

Coming from the cloistered world of working for one major manufacture has me learning anew and re-submerging myself into an industry I had taken a short sabbatical from.

See you on the show floor, say hi and join me for a coffee and nosh at the Infocomm Lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

Hey #Infocomm11 #avtweeps What time is it? This>> http://youtu.be/Bp01uY4LW6c

Well Dang! It is Hot!

Have you ever noticed how extreme heat make clean space appear so much cleaner and normal space seem  grimy and forboding?  

Deep dark cold never seems to have this relationship.  

I have this urge to get cracking on projects, now that things are so clear - except that the heat took my energy away. 

Bob's Discount Furniture - I feel used and abused

My Misadventures with Bob Kaufman's Bob's Discount Furniture Store.  

 

The following is an open letter to Bob of Bob's Discount Furniture stores.  While I hope against hope to have my issue resolved quickly, my recent experience has left a vile taste in my mouth and a feeling to never shop there again.  I recommend to anyone reading this to avoid Bob's and find another store to shop at, even at twice the price

~ Since I wrote this letter, the issue has been resolved- still,  it took more work than I feel it should have to correct what was a relatively simple issue.  While I respect that the Bob's HQ team worked to help me- (only after this blog post caught fire)  -the process was a bit tortured, unnecessarily so.  I wish them luck in turning things ar0und. ~

*See Bottom - Updates Already!* 

 

The letter: 

I am very disappointed with the experience I have just had with the non- delivery of a Colorado bed set and I feel l that as a result it may very well be last purchase I make with your store.  I am told that ‘Bob’ reads each letter and comment- in hopes that this reaches him- my story.   

On May 1. 2011  we purchased the bed and two mattresses for a grand total of $1,200. While this is not an extraordinary amount of money it was/is for my family as I had only just previously lost my job due to cut backs.  The plan is to move my four and six year old sons into the one room they tended to share and sleep in anyway, a prospect they were very excited to have happen, so that we could build an office and establish area for my freelance consulting work.  

The Bed was scheduled to be delivered on Saturday June 4th and we received the requisite automated phone confirmations.  Because of this we disassembled the bedrooms, started to build the office and ready the, now, joint bedroom for the delivery of the bed.  The boys were hopping with excitement and were already making plans to personalize their beds and what pirate ship they would pretend it to be.

Our appointed window was to be between 10:49 and 1:49, to insure someone would be home I moved my weekend meetings to Monday night, which took some wrangling.  This is where the real fun begins and, I think, shows some serious faults in your customer care.

At 9:30 am, Saturday,  we received a call informing us that the installers found both the head and foot boards to be damaged - therefore the delivery could not take place.  My wife was a bit distraught at this as the boys had talked about nothing else for two solid days.  It was a rough discussion as the representative on the other end of the line could offer no other advise or a new date other to tell us that we were out of luck.

I called your customer support line only after finding that you have not a single presence in social - something that make me uncomfortable as a company with no social avenue is presumed to have no desire for real contact with its clients.   

I spoke with Tina who assured me that she was just as disappointed that we had been given such short notice and that the representative was not helpful.  Tina also offered, after listening to my rant, to reschedule the delivery during the coming week.   As the next available day was Tuesday, we agreed to schedule this with the understanding that it may need to change based on confirming my work schedule.  Unfortunately I nor my wife could make this work, so I called in again to schedule a time on Saturday.  I reached Angela who again was very accommodating but informed me that rails for my bed were now on back order and would not be available for delivery until June 28th!  This would mean that I will be taking delivery of a stock item a full two (x2) months after purchase!

Wait, what?! first I was told that the head/foot boards were damaged and could not be used but that we could reschedule a time to deliver and install later the same week.  NOW I am told the rails are not available and would have to wait a full month to take delivery.  The Question is whether the intent was to deliver the item without the rails- only telling me upon arrival - or was I just hoodwinked?   Was there actual damage to the unit?  why was it only discovered the day of delivery? Was this just a ruse to cover up a shortfall in parts?  As you will see from the customer support records I made numerous attempts to find a solution and shorten the delivery time. Each time I was told how sorry folks were but that, in effect, I had hit a six foot deep brick wall.

If this was a case of having to wait a week my frustration would diminish and most likely I would not speak ill of you or your company.  Now I am not only angry and frustrated but if find it difficult to describe the company and experience in anything other than vitriolic tones.

In Short Bob, What the heck ?!  Your supply chain and quality assurance is evidently in shambles as you expand the chain, insuring that stocking your new showrooms take precedent over you customers.  This apparent disregard makes me feel that I am nothing more than a walking wallet to you. I half expect to be told, after my money is safely in your greedy hands, to “have a nice day, please use the door to the right as you are now depreciating the showroom floor value by not having any potential cash to give us”.   You may have noticed that i have  used the word ‘Customer’ rather than client, something I loathe to do. I would like to think that most businesses see us as someone who is part of the process and a potential long term relationship not just a consumer - blindly devouring random products.   

As an end note:  I am also told that Bob is aware of the online / social commentary on his company.  In searching out reviews of Bob’s Discount Furniture online I notice an uptick cluster of complaints on this and related issues. In addition there is a twitter account @Bobopedic which suggests that it is the official account for your company.  If this is your official outreach it is not clear this is so.  It is hardly active and the bio is a long url link to what looks like a YouTube video. I did not click on this for two reasons:  1. No supporting bio info (and with the  long link you have exceeded the 140 character limit.. please use a  bit.ly link.  shortened link not only saves you space, it is verified by twitter and provides you with ready metrics on who clicked through, re-tweeted and commented on. 2.  No mention of social connection on your main web page.

It is my hope that we can find a way to resolve this issue quickly.  As for now, this letter will be posted as an open communication between us on my blogs and to my associates on social.   

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Have you had a similar experience with Bob's- I would love to know! I am considering contacting the local news consumer advocate folks..

 

 

Update:  June Sixth

 

Things may be taking a turn for the better! I just received this message:

 

Good Afternoon… My name is Nicole and I am a Manager for Bob’s Discount Furniture and would be more than happy to assist you with any concerns you have had with your experience and with our company..

 Please contact me at Nicolexxxx@MyBobs.com or call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx with your contact information so I can research your account and resolve your complaint. Your feedback is appreciated as it helps us directly address customer concerns and make necessary adjustments within our company to improve the customer experience which is very important to us..

 Looking forward to the opportunity to assist you…..

Sincerely, Nicole xxxxxxxxx Customer Care Liaison Manager Bob’s Discount Furniture, LLC.

 

Huzzah! More Progress! 

 

This time from Jennifer in Corporate Consumer Relations

 Just wanted to update you that I am working with my merchandising department to see what can be done to fill this order. Once I do get information back from them I will be able to better assist you. Will it be ok, if I get back in touch with you within the next 24 hrs? I will be stepping out of the office soon, and I want to make sure I have updated you. If I get information back before I leave today, I will definitely be in touch. 

 

Time will tell if this actually happens - details to follow 

 

 UpDate June 8th

My customer Care folks  - Nicole and Jennifer - have been trying to resolve my issue with great care and attention.  I only wish I was given the option of speaking with them when I called into customer support. 

While still will not have my bed until July 2nd they have offered us a discount on the bed and to have the delivery fee waived.   Truth be told I would much rather have the bed installed and my kids sleeping off the floor than have the money back.  Still the admission of a wrong by offering this is much appreciated.  

I am holding judgment until the unit is delivered and installed correctly.  I will be posting pictures 'live' as the delivery happens and updating this post weekly until then.

Nicole and Jennifer appear to be ramping up a social outreach plan for Bob's Discount Furniture to help directly alleviate the recent issues.   My advise is to admit an issue has occurred then move forward to resolving and preventing further lapses in inventory quality and availability. 

I hope they can do it. Such a task is fraught with long hours and lots of listening, not to mention pressuring corporate (and head hancho Bob Kaufman) to make real changes.  The social outreach is only a first step. 

Thanks to everyone who contacted me regarding this on my FB, Twitter, email and private boards- your  stories (both good an good bad about Bob's were helpful).

Stay Tuned

 

 

  *UPDATED Resolution! *  (see just above for the full timeline) 

We Actually had the units delivered Early!  The folks at Bob's came through and had the Bunk Bed here and built before 10 am!  Hurray ! 

Some Issues:  The bed has the smell of processed and treated wood which took almost a week of leaving the windows open to dissipate. 

Other than that, the kids Love it!   the Storage units are a great with two boys clothes and toys being squeezed into one room. 

Thank you bobs discount for coming through in the end. If the team keeps up this good work I have no doubt that the flood of issues and client complaints will be reduced dramatically. 

It may be sometime before I shop at Bobs again, but I will tell those who ask just how well it all came out.