If you’re involved with installation, integration, production and their allied industries, then you know that InfoComm 2016 has rolled into Las Vegas this month for its annual summer shindig. And for some 40,000 attendees from more than 110 countries, Sin City becomes ground zero for the pro-AV industry.
First, The Rant
We here at FRONT of HOUSE are somewhat biased of course (this is, of course our home turf), but have long held the opinion that the show really belongs here, especially given its size and the fact that Las Vegas is truly better-equipped to handle a show of this size. This opinion goes beyond the logistical and floorspace capabilities of the convention centers (actually both are fairly equal in that regard), but also includes Las Vegas’ ability to truly handle the influx of a large convention with ample off-show amenities such as business-class hotels and restaurants.
And if you need another argument for the Vegas-always side, this city is not overrun by hordes of tourists and families that flock to Disney World and its environs as soon as school lets out. Of course, this would be less of an issue if InfoComm was held earlier in the year. And anyone who has experienced the crazed rush and traffic snarls that seem to coincide as the Orlando InfoComm expos let out at the end of each day, the Vegas experience doesn’t seem too bad. Okay, enough of the soapbox politics…
The Big Picture
But the bright side of InfoComm is the show experience itself. Here you can find a colossal exhibit floor packed with nearly 1,000 companies showing the latest in Pro-AV hardware and software technologies. InfoComm also presents more than 90 InfoComm University™ seminars, workshops classes and events designed to increase your knowledge base and stay current with the latest methods, techniques and standards.
Especially today, education is more important than ever. The days that most sound companies and integrators had the time (and expertise) to simply train employees on the job on complex topics are long over. And besides the more formal Certification training offered at InfoComm, the event will also feature numerous hands-on activities for live events pros. These include the IATSE Rigging Safety Demos, which are an invaluable learning resource for anyone involved in professional lighting and sound reinforcement.
Yet outside of the more formal classroom/seminar environment, InfoComm offers ample opportunities to expand your education on a more informal level, such as visiting the audio demo rooms and hearing systems first-hand while often being able to interface directly with the product designers and managers to answer questions that go beyond the brochure or website. Albeit without the “crank it up and blast the walls” segment, a few days simply walking the exhibit hall can be an educational experience in itself. This also affords a chance to check out some new and breaking technologies being shown for the first time. We offer a preview of some of these in our special expanded “New Products for InfoComm” section on page 26 in this issue.
Far less formal, certainly, is the powerful networking that tradeshows can offer. We’re not referring to Cat-5, Cat-6a or data packets in this regard, simply the tradeshow networking opportunities often crop up unexpectedly when you run into an acquaintance or colleague in a taxi line, product launch party, lunch table or walking the show floor. Historically, the latter is a particularly good example of networking at work, given the number of schematics or product concepts that have sprung up after being hastily sketched out on a rum-strained cocktail napkin in the hotel bar.
In fact, perhaps to foster that experience from Wednesday through Friday, InfoComm 2016 has added a climate-controlled tent in the convention center’s front parking lot with a variety of food truck and beer garden lunch options. Given the right circumstance and locale, innovation can spring forth at any opportunity.
If you are headed for Las Vegas for InfoComm, we’d love to see you. If you get a chance, stop by and see us at Booth N154. If you’re stuck holding down the fort and can’t make the show, don’t worry, we will provide complete show coverage, both online, with web-based news, videos of the highlights and a full-on, expanded show report in the July 2016 issue of FRONT of HOUSE. And until then, as we say in Las Vegas, “Have a lucky day!”
To view George Petersen’s introduction to the June 2016 issue of FRONT of HOUSE Magazine, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-dPePwuAU
