Let’s look at the video conferencing camera announcements
from Infocomm 2018.
Showing posts with label tradeshow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tradeshow. Show all posts
June 07, 2018
February 28, 2018
No Infocomm 2018
After a while of contemplation, I've decided to skip this years' Infocomm. It came down to several factors that I'll list below. I want to go, but at this point it doesn't make much sense. It would be more for fun than work. Fun doesn't make money.
Cost
Flight $300-400
Hotel $600+/-
Transportation fees $xx
Meals $xxx
Wine $xxx
Lectures: $xxx
The end result is $1,500+/- out of pocket while not producing any work output at the same time. A week at my rate that I would be missing out on is substantial when owning your own business. Sure, I get to "write it off", but it's still money going out.
Have I received that much in return as far as paid work goes just because of my attendance? That answer is an absolute no based on historical data. Since 80-90% of my work over the past 14 years has been though either existing clients or word of mouth, I can say with certainty that I've received no new clients at the show.
Work
I've been to the show now six times over the years. Three times was for the company I worked for at the time and the other three have been on my dime. It's these three times on my funding that I gave the most reflection over. Mainly, I had to weigh any benefits of attending vs the cost. What are the benefits? Looking at the new stuff! Does looking at stuff make money? In this age, I can get as much knowledge about a product on line as I can by looking at it in person. Networking? Has networking helped me at Infocomm? I've probably had better luck through LinkedIn over any given week than the show.
CE
I need no continuing education credits so that need isn't relevant.
Vacation
About a week after the show is over, I'm heading to Ecuador and then the Galapagos Islands. That's another 1.5 weeks that I'll be out. I typically get sick on the way home from Vegas and I don't want to be down and out for vacation.
Fly with the wind
My work lately has been mostly architecture and not so much of the video conferencing stuff. The show doesn't affect my current set of projects. That's the way things go when you offer architecture, mechanical and civil design design services on top of video conferencing product design and general UC analysis work.
It's sad that I'll be missing out on all the action and maybe things will change in the next month or so (if someone has a specific need for me to go), but as of now, Infocomm is a no-go.
Cost
Flight $300-400
Hotel $600+/-
Transportation fees $xx
Meals $xxx
Wine $xxx
Lectures: $xxx
The end result is $1,500+/- out of pocket while not producing any work output at the same time. A week at my rate that I would be missing out on is substantial when owning your own business. Sure, I get to "write it off", but it's still money going out.
Have I received that much in return as far as paid work goes just because of my attendance? That answer is an absolute no based on historical data. Since 80-90% of my work over the past 14 years has been though either existing clients or word of mouth, I can say with certainty that I've received no new clients at the show.
Work
I've been to the show now six times over the years. Three times was for the company I worked for at the time and the other three have been on my dime. It's these three times on my funding that I gave the most reflection over. Mainly, I had to weigh any benefits of attending vs the cost. What are the benefits? Looking at the new stuff! Does looking at stuff make money? In this age, I can get as much knowledge about a product on line as I can by looking at it in person. Networking? Has networking helped me at Infocomm? I've probably had better luck through LinkedIn over any given week than the show.
CE
I need no continuing education credits so that need isn't relevant.
Vacation
About a week after the show is over, I'm heading to Ecuador and then the Galapagos Islands. That's another 1.5 weeks that I'll be out. I typically get sick on the way home from Vegas and I don't want to be down and out for vacation.
Fly with the wind
My work lately has been mostly architecture and not so much of the video conferencing stuff. The show doesn't affect my current set of projects. That's the way things go when you offer architecture, mechanical and civil design design services on top of video conferencing product design and general UC analysis work.
It's sad that I'll be missing out on all the action and maybe things will change in the next month or so (if someone has a specific need for me to go), but as of now, Infocomm is a no-go.
June 27, 2017
I disagree
Read this article on Commercial Integrator and come back.
Point #1
What he saw was most likely booths from companies that had nothing new to offer with no preshow buzz. If there is nothing new to see, there is no need to see the booth. That being said - Cisco's booth is always crowded from open to close and Polycom is rarely as crowded. There are booths that get minimal traffic due to location on the floor as well.
Most small booths are pretty plain to begin with due to:
1. Booth space limitation
2. Cost
In the small booths are small companies with little extra funding to have an impressive booth space. That people disregard these because there aren't flashing lights to catch the moths is appalling to me.
Point #2
We're working on it. His one week slice of a trade show isn't a fair cross section of the companies either attending or showing products. At least in the Unified Communication space, it's very incestuous with many people who work for company X having been with Company A, B and possibly C in the past. Sales people who work the booths got hired for their Rolodex and sales history in the space. That means they are typically older men. I've found more women in engineering and marketing and more men in sales and procurement. Which group do you think would be more represented at this type of show? Infocomm isn't an engineering show.
He may not know what a Rolodex is. Sorry. Smart phone contact list.
Point #3
They are trying that too for some reason. I haven't figured out why the need for name changes. Just browse NoJitter for 10 minutes and you'll see new acronyms flying around trying to define Unified Communication.
"Calling a whole industry by a name that young people do not understand cannot be sustainable. "
ok..."Car" is derived from a word meaning "two wheeled cart". But he may call it that (I know I do) and isn't looking to call it something else. AV is audio visual. That sums up a lot of things within the scope of Infocomm.
"there needs to be a greater reach in order to avoid the problem stressed in my second point."
This I agree with. Yet our leaders (business and political are both insanely at fault) dismiss technical/trade school insisting that a college degree, any college degree, is the key to something. Prosperity? Happiness? I don't know. This won't turn into a political post so I'll end it there.
Point #1
What he saw was most likely booths from companies that had nothing new to offer with no preshow buzz. If there is nothing new to see, there is no need to see the booth. That being said - Cisco's booth is always crowded from open to close and Polycom is rarely as crowded. There are booths that get minimal traffic due to location on the floor as well.
Most small booths are pretty plain to begin with due to:
1. Booth space limitation
2. Cost
In the small booths are small companies with little extra funding to have an impressive booth space. That people disregard these because there aren't flashing lights to catch the moths is appalling to me.
Point #2
We're working on it. His one week slice of a trade show isn't a fair cross section of the companies either attending or showing products. At least in the Unified Communication space, it's very incestuous with many people who work for company X having been with Company A, B and possibly C in the past. Sales people who work the booths got hired for their Rolodex and sales history in the space. That means they are typically older men. I've found more women in engineering and marketing and more men in sales and procurement. Which group do you think would be more represented at this type of show? Infocomm isn't an engineering show.
He may not know what a Rolodex is. Sorry. Smart phone contact list.
Point #3
They are trying that too for some reason. I haven't figured out why the need for name changes. Just browse NoJitter for 10 minutes and you'll see new acronyms flying around trying to define Unified Communication.
"Calling a whole industry by a name that young people do not understand cannot be sustainable. "
ok..."Car" is derived from a word meaning "two wheeled cart". But he may call it that (I know I do) and isn't looking to call it something else. AV is audio visual. That sums up a lot of things within the scope of Infocomm.
"there needs to be a greater reach in order to avoid the problem stressed in my second point."
This I agree with. Yet our leaders (business and political are both insanely at fault) dismiss technical/trade school insisting that a college degree, any college degree, is the key to something. Prosperity? Happiness? I don't know. This won't turn into a political post so I'll end it there.
June 19, 2017
Should Infocomm add a Fourth Day?
Recent Twitter chatter is revolving around adding a 4th day to the yearly Infocomm show. For clarity sake I assume this means a 4th day of the trade show as Infocomm is already longer than four days taking into account classes and lectures.
So:
Should Infocomm add a 4th day of the trade show?
No.
As any veteran of the show (attendee, booth worker, etc) will tell you, the show is all but over by noon on Friday. This is typically my favorite day where I can spend more time with people talking about products. Adding a Tuesday show opening will only decrease the necessity of Friday and then people will start leaving Thursday afternoon. Then in five years the debate will center around getting rid of Fridays.
Any thoughts of adding a Saturday to the show should be immediately discarded.
Here is what could happen instead. Make a bigger importance out of Tuesday. Tuesday should be the "networking" day with sponsored gatherings. Tuesday could also be the day for what could be deemed the "most important" lectures. Multiple keynotes from multiple parties can happen.
Rough Tuesday schedule:
6am open the badge receiving line
8am Sponsored breakfast for networking and meet ups
9am High importance Lecture
10am minor keynote or major lecture
11am minor keynote or lecture
noon MAJOR sponsored lunch for networking and meet ups
1 or 2 major keynote
3pm final keynote/awards
4-6 reception for networking and meet ups
6-? networking events hosted by various companies at various locations
Keep the trade show out of Tuesday or God forbid Saturday.
EDIT: I forgot this important point - opening up Tuesdays for the trade show means even more exhausted booth workers. A Tuesday networking day allows them to be part of the event in a different capacity than just working the booth.
PS - the Badge receiving area should be open early and open late. Typically I arrive on Sunday or Monday afternoon. By the time I get to my hotel, check in and freshen up, I am almost always about 10 minutes late to get my badge. Or figure out a way to use my cell phone and a stupid QR code to print my own badge. It works everywhere else...
So:
Should Infocomm add a 4th day of the trade show?
No.
As any veteran of the show (attendee, booth worker, etc) will tell you, the show is all but over by noon on Friday. This is typically my favorite day where I can spend more time with people talking about products. Adding a Tuesday show opening will only decrease the necessity of Friday and then people will start leaving Thursday afternoon. Then in five years the debate will center around getting rid of Fridays.
Any thoughts of adding a Saturday to the show should be immediately discarded.
Here is what could happen instead. Make a bigger importance out of Tuesday. Tuesday should be the "networking" day with sponsored gatherings. Tuesday could also be the day for what could be deemed the "most important" lectures. Multiple keynotes from multiple parties can happen.
Rough Tuesday schedule:
6am open the badge receiving line
8am Sponsored breakfast for networking and meet ups
9am High importance Lecture
10am minor keynote or major lecture
11am minor keynote or lecture
noon MAJOR sponsored lunch for networking and meet ups
1 or 2 major keynote
3pm final keynote/awards
4-6 reception for networking and meet ups
6-? networking events hosted by various companies at various locations
Keep the trade show out of Tuesday or God forbid Saturday.
EDIT: I forgot this important point - opening up Tuesdays for the trade show means even more exhausted booth workers. A Tuesday networking day allows them to be part of the event in a different capacity than just working the booth.
PS - the Badge receiving area should be open early and open late. Typically I arrive on Sunday or Monday afternoon. By the time I get to my hotel, check in and freshen up, I am almost always about 10 minutes late to get my badge. Or figure out a way to use my cell phone and a stupid QR code to print my own badge. It works everywhere else...
April 18, 2017
You're a winner
This is a two-part blog all within this single blog about awards, both pay to play awards and best of show awards where things are announced before the actual show.
PAY TO PLAY
Pay to play awards serve no real point. Be it Red Dot or some other award where the participants must pay to be in consideration serve no purpose except a few days' worth of Twitter patting on the back. Congratulations, you won the best of show of people who pay to be in best of show consideration.
With extensive marketing teams and budgets, large companies can simply throw dollars and personnel at pay to play awards. He with the most dollars win, even if the products aren't that great. We should be more concerned about what the users think of our products.
From Red Dot "In case of an award, you have to purchase the “Winner Package”. Yeah.
BEST OF SHOW
Best of show finalists should not be announced a month or more before the show even starts. Does anyone understand how silly that is? I'm looking at you, Enterprise Connect.
This would be a better idea:
A Best New Product award voted on by attendees beginning on the first day of the exhibition and wrapping up on the last day. The award could be presented during the "lock note". There could also simply be a "best product" as voted on by the attendees. That is more meaningful to know what users think.
Voting would be easy since at the end of every conference track we received an email to rate that talk. A simple box to write in a product could be easily added. The more conferences you rate, the more votes you get (that will also help garner more track reviews).
PAY TO PLAY
Pay to play awards serve no real point. Be it Red Dot or some other award where the participants must pay to be in consideration serve no purpose except a few days' worth of Twitter patting on the back. Congratulations, you won the best of show of people who pay to be in best of show consideration.
With extensive marketing teams and budgets, large companies can simply throw dollars and personnel at pay to play awards. He with the most dollars win, even if the products aren't that great. We should be more concerned about what the users think of our products.
From Red Dot "In case of an award, you have to purchase the “Winner Package”. Yeah.
The winner should be the users
BEST OF SHOW
Best of show finalists should not be announced a month or more before the show even starts. Does anyone understand how silly that is? I'm looking at you, Enterprise Connect.
This would be a better idea:
A Best New Product award voted on by attendees beginning on the first day of the exhibition and wrapping up on the last day. The award could be presented during the "lock note". There could also simply be a "best product" as voted on by the attendees. That is more meaningful to know what users think.
Voting would be easy since at the end of every conference track we received an email to rate that talk. A simple box to write in a product could be easily added. The more conferences you rate, the more votes you get (that will also help garner more track reviews).
April 09, 2017
Trade Show Fails?
Read this blog about trade shows then read on with this.
I've done a dozen or so trade shows in the last two years (both local and remote - we do sell a video conference product) and for us it's always 'all hands on deck'. We're not Cisco, who can rotate cozy shifts between their 70,000 employees, so this blog obviously struck enough of a nerve to write about it.
Do not eat or drink in your booth
How in the hell do you think I'm going to have enough energy to get through 8 hours of handshaking and networking? I'm the engineer who is supposed to be locked up in his cubicle designing things. I need to eat, and yes I am sorry I need to drink. In trade shows it's hard to find time to take a piss, let alone eat or God forbid take a drink when you work for a company with only a handful of people. I'm not gorging on a pizza and I try to be as discreet as possible, but I need to eat something.
"Make your booth stand out, booth graphics, overhead signage, listing in the Show Directory are all good ways to help people find your booth."
Money, money, money. Getting carpet for your booth costs a ton. Overhead signage costs N+ton
"If you are from another Country, have people in the booth who natively speak the language(s) of the place you are in."
So for ISE, we should have hired someone who speaks Dutch. Got it. I'm sure hiring an interpreter is cost effective. My guess is the author is a native English speaker and pointing out non English speakers having booths.
"Break time is for email, drinks and lunch outside of the booth. NEVEReat or drink in the booth (yes I said it twice)."
Break time. That's cute. Should I leave my booth empty?
We have to do our best, no matter if the company has five or five thousand employees. Booth visitors luckily, at least in my experience, haven't been judgmental on our situation as a start up.
I've done a dozen or so trade shows in the last two years (both local and remote - we do sell a video conference product) and for us it's always 'all hands on deck'. We're not Cisco, who can rotate cozy shifts between their 70,000 employees, so this blog obviously struck enough of a nerve to write about it.
Do not eat or drink in your booth
How in the hell do you think I'm going to have enough energy to get through 8 hours of handshaking and networking? I'm the engineer who is supposed to be locked up in his cubicle designing things. I need to eat, and yes I am sorry I need to drink. In trade shows it's hard to find time to take a piss, let alone eat or God forbid take a drink when you work for a company with only a handful of people. I'm not gorging on a pizza and I try to be as discreet as possible, but I need to eat something.
"Make your booth stand out, booth graphics, overhead signage, listing in the Show Directory are all good ways to help people find your booth."
Money, money, money. Getting carpet for your booth costs a ton. Overhead signage costs N+ton
"If you are from another Country, have people in the booth who natively speak the language(s) of the place you are in."
So for ISE, we should have hired someone who speaks Dutch. Got it. I'm sure hiring an interpreter is cost effective. My guess is the author is a native English speaker and pointing out non English speakers having booths.
"Break time is for email, drinks and lunch outside of the booth. NEVEReat or drink in the booth (yes I said it twice)."
Break time. That's cute. Should I leave my booth empty?
We have to do our best, no matter if the company has five or five thousand employees. Booth visitors luckily, at least in my experience, haven't been judgmental on our situation as a start up.
March 27, 2017
Enterprise Connect 2017 Day One
Day one is a wrap at Enterprise Connect and here are the highlights.
My day started with the Innovation Showcase presented by Dave Michels. The best thing I got from that is learning about Kaptivo which is a fantastic new solution for everyday whiteboards. Kaptivo captures your existing whiteboard and allows a remote user to log in via a web browser to see what is being written. It de-warps the whiteboard and transmits only the content being written and not people, shadows, hands, etc. For $399, it's an absolute winner for those using traditional whiteboards. It's shipping now
Next was "Taking video to the next level" with panelists from Neureva, Cisco, Polycom, Oblong and Zoom. It was a standing room only crowd. Literally. The most interesting thing about it was when Andrew Davis asked if anyone hadn't heard of Zoom, there was quite a show of hands. That's surprising given the assumed level of the audience. It makes me wonder if anyone will know about Array when my presentation takes place on Wednesday.
That was it for the lectures I wanted to attend for the day, so I slept until the trade show opened. It only took two hours to do my broad brush overview and to hit the things on my list which mainly was cameras. I was surprised that NEC wasn't showing their new Infinity Board despite having a large booth presence. Zoom's booth had both a Huddly and Panacast cameras so I got to check their image quality out. Logitech had their Brio so I took in a demo of its features. It's an amazing camera.
Random notes:
Yealink did not have any codecs in their booth (that I saw).
Cisco's new codec/camera solution is quite impressive in features but not so much in looks. I do not care for cameras integrated into speakerbars. It absolutely limits the installed location. It does voice switch much faster than Speaker Track.
Polycom's EagleEye Director 2 was nice, but it still takes too long for switching.
There are a ton of UC apps, but in all honesty I can't tell them apart. I'll dive deeper into those tomorrow.
That's it for today!
My day started with the Innovation Showcase presented by Dave Michels. The best thing I got from that is learning about Kaptivo which is a fantastic new solution for everyday whiteboards. Kaptivo captures your existing whiteboard and allows a remote user to log in via a web browser to see what is being written. It de-warps the whiteboard and transmits only the content being written and not people, shadows, hands, etc. For $399, it's an absolute winner for those using traditional whiteboards. It's shipping now
Next was "Taking video to the next level" with panelists from Neureva, Cisco, Polycom, Oblong and Zoom. It was a standing room only crowd. Literally. The most interesting thing about it was when Andrew Davis asked if anyone hadn't heard of Zoom, there was quite a show of hands. That's surprising given the assumed level of the audience. It makes me wonder if anyone will know about Array when my presentation takes place on Wednesday.
That was it for the lectures I wanted to attend for the day, so I slept until the trade show opened. It only took two hours to do my broad brush overview and to hit the things on my list which mainly was cameras. I was surprised that NEC wasn't showing their new Infinity Board despite having a large booth presence. Zoom's booth had both a Huddly and Panacast cameras so I got to check their image quality out. Logitech had their Brio so I took in a demo of its features. It's an amazing camera.
Random notes:
Yealink did not have any codecs in their booth (that I saw).
Cisco's new codec/camera solution is quite impressive in features but not so much in looks. I do not care for cameras integrated into speakerbars. It absolutely limits the installed location. It does voice switch much faster than Speaker Track.
Polycom's EagleEye Director 2 was nice, but it still takes too long for switching.
There are a ton of UC apps, but in all honesty I can't tell them apart. I'll dive deeper into those tomorrow.
That's it for today!
March 19, 2017
Enterprise Connect 2017
This year will mark my second visit to Enterprise Connect, located at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. Two years ago, I was there as an exhibitor. This year I will be there as a speaker. Two years ago I didn't have time (nor the credentials it turned out) to go to any of the lectures. This year, I'm going to be in lectures most of the time, but making sure to visit the show floor as well and take in everything.
There are several new products that have popped up recently to look at, including several new cameras. New imaging technology is always cool to see and it looks like we're finally getting away from HUGE/ugly set top camera systems.
The cool:
The main reason for going this year was the invite to speak about telepresence technology. I was honored for the invitation and will be alongside representatives from Logitech, Huddly and Altia Systems to discuss attempted telepresence at a SMB price point. I'm not sure exactly how much speaking I will be doing as Andrew Davis from Wainhouse will be handling the presentations. As far as I can gather, my role is to answer any questions or provide clarification on the products from Array.
What would be cool is to have a debate between all four of us regarding the pros and cons of our products but I'm about 8003% sure that won't happen. It would also be fun to debate actual telepresence, which in my opinion Array is only company of the four that can deliver it with products currently on the market. That could get extremely long winded on my part and could be a day long affair. That being said I would like to debate someone from both Cisco and Polycom simply to ask them why they think 3 screen systems make any sense. Ok, ok.
The bad:
In a blog I wrote after the last Enterprise Connect, I was dismayed at the actions of some people regarding inappropriate behavior after having too much to drink. I hope that doesn't happen this year. I wouldn't want to cause a ruckus by doing something I may regret to some drunk jackass who thinks it's funny to treat women with disrespect. A lot of alcohol was thrown around on the show floor and I don't know that this has changed. It's just disappointing that some people don't know their own limitations (or don't care).
The good:
I'm excited to be staying at Gaylord too! Last time, there were several of us that rented an AirBnB house. Since it's just me and I'm not renting a car, it actually made financial sense to stay on-site.
So anyway, if you see me there say 'hi' and I may just ramble on about video conferencing until you're sick of it. Attend my lecture while you're at it. If you're not going feel free to reach out to me about all things telepresence anyway.
There are several new products that have popped up recently to look at, including several new cameras. New imaging technology is always cool to see and it looks like we're finally getting away from HUGE/ugly set top camera systems.
The cool:
The main reason for going this year was the invite to speak about telepresence technology. I was honored for the invitation and will be alongside representatives from Logitech, Huddly and Altia Systems to discuss attempted telepresence at a SMB price point. I'm not sure exactly how much speaking I will be doing as Andrew Davis from Wainhouse will be handling the presentations. As far as I can gather, my role is to answer any questions or provide clarification on the products from Array.
What would be cool is to have a debate between all four of us regarding the pros and cons of our products but I'm about 8003% sure that won't happen. It would also be fun to debate actual telepresence, which in my opinion Array is only company of the four that can deliver it with products currently on the market. That could get extremely long winded on my part and could be a day long affair. That being said I would like to debate someone from both Cisco and Polycom simply to ask them why they think 3 screen systems make any sense. Ok, ok.
The bad:
In a blog I wrote after the last Enterprise Connect, I was dismayed at the actions of some people regarding inappropriate behavior after having too much to drink. I hope that doesn't happen this year. I wouldn't want to cause a ruckus by doing something I may regret to some drunk jackass who thinks it's funny to treat women with disrespect. A lot of alcohol was thrown around on the show floor and I don't know that this has changed. It's just disappointing that some people don't know their own limitations (or don't care).
The good:
I'm excited to be staying at Gaylord too! Last time, there were several of us that rented an AirBnB house. Since it's just me and I'm not renting a car, it actually made financial sense to stay on-site.
So anyway, if you see me there say 'hi' and I may just ramble on about video conferencing until you're sick of it. Attend my lecture while you're at it. If you're not going feel free to reach out to me about all things telepresence anyway.
June 14, 2016
InfoComm 2016 Wrap Up
Well I ended up not doing a day two or day three recap, so I'll just finish my InfoComm articles with an overall wrap up of the events of the week. Read my day one recap here and for the rest of it, read on!
June 09, 2016
InfoComm Day One Wrap Up
Day two is here but before I hit the IMCCA Huddle breakfast, I thought I would throw out my impressions of day one.
Since we're exhibiting I was able to get on the show floor around 7:30 to get things set up. Things finally started working around 9:30 then I was off to check things out. The first thing I noticed was the Registration LINE! I've never seen that, but then again I've never had to get my badge the morning of the show. The line was incredibly long.
Pretty much my day revolved around the UC area. Of the products that stuck out to me, one was a small USB3 camera from Marshall Electronics. With a $500 price point and a fall release, this should go far. It's 1080p/30 as well and since it's USB3 it will work with any soft codec. The best thing, however, was the form factor. In an age of HUGE PTZ cameras, this comes across even smaller.
Other things I checked out - but may write about separately later - was the Panacast camera and Cisco's PresenterTrack. Both have their good points and I should probably get a Panacast in to check it out.
The innovation pavillion was cool with a couple of products to check out - chatlight and the products from silexpro.com. The former is a $30 USB light for laptop video chats and the latter looks like a miniature version of Polycom's Centro - only they also make a 3 screen version. When the Centro came out I wondered why they chose 4 screens over 3, so I was pleased that someone else thought of this.
Lunch time brought about the annual State of the Industry lunch and learn. While not wanting to leave anyone out which I understand, there were simply too many people on stage. If the number was cut in half to 5 or 6 it would have been better but I get it. Simply giving each person a minute to introduce themselves and a minute at the end so each can wrap up used 30 minutes of the time.
After lunch it was more show walking trying to check out every camera I could find. It dawned on me last night that the world needs a camera JUST for huddle spaces. The industry is all over themselves with talk of huddle rooms, yet present the old PTZ as an imaging solution. So last night I came up with a concept for one and I'll see where that can lead.
Got to run, day 2 is about to begin!
Note that my iPad and safari in conjunction with blogger has no spell check capability so please forgive the typos.
Since we're exhibiting I was able to get on the show floor around 7:30 to get things set up. Things finally started working around 9:30 then I was off to check things out. The first thing I noticed was the Registration LINE! I've never seen that, but then again I've never had to get my badge the morning of the show. The line was incredibly long.
Pretty much my day revolved around the UC area. Of the products that stuck out to me, one was a small USB3 camera from Marshall Electronics. With a $500 price point and a fall release, this should go far. It's 1080p/30 as well and since it's USB3 it will work with any soft codec. The best thing, however, was the form factor. In an age of HUGE PTZ cameras, this comes across even smaller.
Other things I checked out - but may write about separately later - was the Panacast camera and Cisco's PresenterTrack. Both have their good points and I should probably get a Panacast in to check it out.
The innovation pavillion was cool with a couple of products to check out - chatlight and the products from silexpro.com. The former is a $30 USB light for laptop video chats and the latter looks like a miniature version of Polycom's Centro - only they also make a 3 screen version. When the Centro came out I wondered why they chose 4 screens over 3, so I was pleased that someone else thought of this.
Lunch time brought about the annual State of the Industry lunch and learn. While not wanting to leave anyone out which I understand, there were simply too many people on stage. If the number was cut in half to 5 or 6 it would have been better but I get it. Simply giving each person a minute to introduce themselves and a minute at the end so each can wrap up used 30 minutes of the time.
After lunch it was more show walking trying to check out every camera I could find. It dawned on me last night that the world needs a camera JUST for huddle spaces. The industry is all over themselves with talk of huddle rooms, yet present the old PTZ as an imaging solution. So last night I came up with a concept for one and I'll see where that can lead.
Got to run, day 2 is about to begin!
Note that my iPad and safari in conjunction with blogger has no spell check capability so please forgive the typos.
June 06, 2016
What NOT to do at InfoComm
So we've read, watched and heard about what to do at InfoComm, but what we haven't heard yet is what not to do.
Get drunk
If memory serves I wrote about this after Enterprise Connect a couple of years ago, but watch the over indulging and be mindful of those who may have had too much. InfoComm isn't the booze-fest that I found EC to be, but there is plenty enough to go around. Over doing it at a vendor's after party looks bad on you and your company.
Over doing the social media
Not everyone needs to know every detail of your trip. Plus, don't get so consumed with social media that you miss the entire point of you being there. We've seen it too many times at restaurants, sporting events and social gatherings where people have their faces buried in their phones, completely oblivious to everything going on around them.
Try to see and do everything
We're not super men and women. It's going to be real hard to slow down and take some time looking at what you should be looking at versus seeing the stuff that probably doesn't matter. I'm accused of this completely, but this year I'm trying to keep myself focused mainly on the Unified Communication area.
Go on SWAG hunts
It's a peeve of mine, where people hit up booths unrelated to their field solely to take free stuff. Sure, it's put out there for people to take, but that doesn't mean you have to. It's marketing materials for that company. My thought is that if I wouldn't take a business card from someone, I shouldn't take a pen with their company branding on it. Remember, you have to take that stuff home with you.
That's about all I can think of now - See you there!
Get drunk
If memory serves I wrote about this after Enterprise Connect a couple of years ago, but watch the over indulging and be mindful of those who may have had too much. InfoComm isn't the booze-fest that I found EC to be, but there is plenty enough to go around. Over doing it at a vendor's after party looks bad on you and your company.
Over doing the social media
Not everyone needs to know every detail of your trip. Plus, don't get so consumed with social media that you miss the entire point of you being there. We've seen it too many times at restaurants, sporting events and social gatherings where people have their faces buried in their phones, completely oblivious to everything going on around them.
Try to see and do everything
We're not super men and women. It's going to be real hard to slow down and take some time looking at what you should be looking at versus seeing the stuff that probably doesn't matter. I'm accused of this completely, but this year I'm trying to keep myself focused mainly on the Unified Communication area.
Go on SWAG hunts
It's a peeve of mine, where people hit up booths unrelated to their field solely to take free stuff. Sure, it's put out there for people to take, but that doesn't mean you have to. It's marketing materials for that company. My thought is that if I wouldn't take a business card from someone, I shouldn't take a pen with their company branding on it. Remember, you have to take that stuff home with you.
That's about all I can think of now - See you there!
May 27, 2016
First time Infocomm Booth Builder?
To tack on to the first time attendee advice, here is some advice for the first time booth builder at Infocomm.
Heat - your most important consideration
Most of the dock doors will be open during the booth build times due to deliveries. This means it will be hot on the show floor. Really hot. The air conditioning, if turned on at all, is set really high. Prepare yourself. Bring a cooler filled with your favorite sports drink and/or water. Plan the booth build to take much longer than you anticipated because of the heat. Bring an extra shirt and/or a towel to wipe your head - I'm bald so the towel is a must.
Tools
Pack your main tools in your check in baggage, do not tuck them away in the back of crate #12. You'll want quick access to them. Do pack them in the crate for the ride home though. It's less you'll be dealing with when heading to the airport.
Setup
If you need help, the people from Freeman are there for you. They did an excellent job for us with extra labor for setup. They have a kiosk somewhere on the show floor in the time leading up to the show opening to assist you. If memory serves, they billed us by the hour.
Vacuum Cleaners
Bring one, or at the very least hire the show to sweep your booth. I forget the cost, but in 2014, it was an ala cart per day service. Your carpet will be really dirty after the booth build. Bring other cleaning materials as well.
Teardown
Plan enough time for teardown. Note that you won't be getting your crates any time soon unless you work for the companies with the largest booths. In 2014, we did a little teardown on Friday, but left the bulk of it for Saturday. By Saturday at 10am or so, we had our crates and were torn down pretty quick after that.
Heat - your most important consideration
Most of the dock doors will be open during the booth build times due to deliveries. This means it will be hot on the show floor. Really hot. The air conditioning, if turned on at all, is set really high. Prepare yourself. Bring a cooler filled with your favorite sports drink and/or water. Plan the booth build to take much longer than you anticipated because of the heat. Bring an extra shirt and/or a towel to wipe your head - I'm bald so the towel is a must.
Tools
Pack your main tools in your check in baggage, do not tuck them away in the back of crate #12. You'll want quick access to them. Do pack them in the crate for the ride home though. It's less you'll be dealing with when heading to the airport.
Setup
If you need help, the people from Freeman are there for you. They did an excellent job for us with extra labor for setup. They have a kiosk somewhere on the show floor in the time leading up to the show opening to assist you. If memory serves, they billed us by the hour.
Vacuum Cleaners
Bring one, or at the very least hire the show to sweep your booth. I forget the cost, but in 2014, it was an ala cart per day service. Your carpet will be really dirty after the booth build. Bring other cleaning materials as well.
Teardown
Plan enough time for teardown. Note that you won't be getting your crates any time soon unless you work for the companies with the largest booths. In 2014, we did a little teardown on Friday, but left the bulk of it for Saturday. By Saturday at 10am or so, we had our crates and were torn down pretty quick after that.
May 07, 2016
Why I enjoy Infocomm
My first Infocomm was about 15 years ago not long after I was promoted to Director of Product Development at Telesuite. That was back in the projector shootout days and since our product was based around them it was where I could see the best the industry offered all in one spot. The products I've worked on have changed over the years, but Infocomm is still the best place to see our industry's products.
Let's take a look at some of the reasons why I enjoy the show.
Let's take a look at some of the reasons why I enjoy the show.
May 03, 2016
Infocomm 2016 first timers
This year after a one year layoff, I'm heading back to Infocomm. In 2014 I worked a booth representing my company in the midst of a two week span of living in Vegas. This year I'll be on my own and free to check out everything the show has to offer. Let this blog serve as a first timers guide to attending Infocomm.
July 03, 2015
Evolution vs Revolution
Around the internet world, or in our little corner of it, there was some disappointment over the lack of game changing innovations at Infocomm. In this article, I'll throw my two cents into the mix about product evolution and revolution. Being directly involved with a company creating innovative products and a long time veteran of the video conferencing world I have pretty good insight into some of the issues facing new technologies and why we're not seeing them.
June 07, 2015
Infocomm First Timers
Next week starts the annual Infocomm show, in ButtSweat Florida. Although I won't be in attendance this year, let this serve as some help for those first timers out there. If you're an exhibitor or an attendee, the show can be overwhelming at times. Let's settle down and dig in.
March 22, 2015
Enterprise Connect 2015
Now that Enterprise Connect is over and I’m back home to
decompress, here are my usual random thoughts about the whole thing, in no
particular order of importance. This being my first EC, I had no idea what to
expect. Here is a sample...
January 06, 2015
2014 my year in review
A Year End Recap
It’s time to reflect on the happenings around the video
conferencing world from my view as part time pundit, part time consultant and
full time product developer for the year 2014. Most of it relates to my
experiences with Array with a smattering of other news from our genre. This is
a year in the life of a startup.
Note that this article/blog ended up much too long and
boring to submit to any website I write for, so that’s why it went on my blog.
June 24, 2014
Infocomm 2014 Wrap Up
Instead of being an attendee of the show as in previous
years, my duties changed to booth builder, exhibitor and then booth remover
(yes, it was an incredibly long week). Even though I was at one booth the majority
of the time, I was able to sneak away for a couple of hours to visit with other
companies and see what they were offering. So as usual, here is a random recap
of some good, some not so good and some silly stuff I came across.
June 13, 2013
Infocomm day 2 wrap up
Day two saw me start on the other side of the building near the digital signage area. If I were to ever have to work a booth here, I sincerely hope I wouldn't be next to the giant LED panel providers. All the flashing of lights would drive me nuts.
While cruising through the digital signage, and all the providers of such I came to the conclusion that this really isn't my thing. I love the idea of content creation on touch screens and would love to get more into, but at some point I just have to say STOP and realize that I can't be a part of every industry represented at Infocomm. There are too many products and services in the UC/VC realm to keep up with and that alone will keep me busy until I'm ready to retire.
What I do really enjoy about this show is seeing small companies, in small non professionally designed booths. This is where the real innovation comes from. I wish Infocomm would do more to embrace micro sized companies by giving them 10x10 booths for cheap and making an effort to bring their technology front and center. Yesterday, my small booth winner was SeeVogh, and today it was Fraunhofer, who had a 360 degree panoramic camera (or really a series of cameras) with excellent real time stitching via PC and it's GPU.
While I'm thinking about it, I would like for Infocomm to have a small business pavilion where companies are looking for investment, partners, development help or acquisition. It could be a series of 10x10 booth spaces with no frills. This way, inventors could show their product or service and be in an area where they wouldn't get overwhelmed by the monstrous "booths" that have more square footage than my house. I can dream.
StarLeaf was the next company that caught my eye today. Previously I had heard of them, but that's about it and in my head they became lost in a sea of hardware/not hardware/software video conferencing companies. Their product, it turns out, is quite sexy. It's obvious that considerable time had been taken developing the GUI for their products. Unfortunately, since there is hardware involved, the likelihood of getting my hands on it to test is slim to none.
ClearOne brought out a hardware codec. WHAT? Didn't they know that hardware was dead? I didn't get a chance to ask any questions due to their guys taking care of other onlookers, but I will find out tomorrow about interoperability, resolution, and everything else pertinent. I did see that a 720p meeting was using 2.2mbps both up and down so that's a negative, but I'll reserve any other judgment until tomorrow.
I will give software this nod, it is incredibly easy to test and evaluate. With hardware, you're relying on a sales rep to come to your office, codec in hand for a demo (because you don't want to demo any product away from the premises where it will be used). I won't be getting a StarLeaf or ClearOne box in my lab for testing any time soon, unless the stars align just right. But I will be testing several software products next week.
Friday is the wrap up day and I have just a couple more booths to hit before heading back home to West Chester in the afternoon.
Bryan
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