On Being a Writer in the Audio Visual (AV/IT) Industry

First I will say that I have been a blog writer as well as podcaster and media representative at trade shows for AV industry publication rAVe [Publications] for almost three years now. Here is my blog site on rAVe.  You'll see me wearing the signature headset that I use for podcasts, recorded interviews as well as general use for videoconferences.

When asked about my writing background I always liked to joke that prior to this, the only thing I ever wrote (being an AV integration sales person in the past) was a mean statement of work. In fact I always liked to say that the real writer in the family is my daughter the college English major - she's now in Law School. So in short, I wasn't a writer before it just happened to come with the territory I entered. 

Interesting story about how I began with the publication - I was in the gym one day, on my smart phone and while on Twitter (my favorite social media platform) I noticed something that was tweeted out by the owner of the publication. It was about things you liked or didn't like about something in particular concerning the industry so I said why not, go ahead and reply. Not long thereafter I was asked to add a little more to my statement this time over e-mail (140 characters only says so much). I guess he liked it so much he asked if I wanted to become a member of the Blog Squad. I thought to myself blog squad? Sounds cool but I'd never written a blog in my life. And yes, in April 2013 I joined the publication as a blogger - the beginning of a new career in writing (I already gave up the SOW's which I was a pro at writing, as I had left AV integration). 

I went to the industry trade show InfoComm in June 2013 and decided to do a bit of writing about the show, not much as I was still a blogging novice but I gave it a shot nonetheless (I have continued to cover the show as well as others - like Enterprise Connect - as press/media, even creating my own Top 10 Disruptive Solutions at InfoComm). I kept writing on subjects that became a larger part of my knowledge base along with AV, like cloud, mobility/BYOD and even mobile and cybersecurity. I had attended the Cyber Security Summit in NY in September 2013 and had picked up some very valuable knowledge there, some that I wanted to share with the industry as I thought it could be of value. I did hesitate a bit to write it since most of the writing was about AV, products, solutions and stories and it wasn't until I asked my editor in November if she thought it might be a good idea and she said yes. Here it is appearing in January 2014. 

Eventually I went on to do interview series, the first entitled Disruptive Forces in AV/IT highlighting the newer cloud and VM players in the videoconferencing space, as well as those already existing who had recently built cloud platform solutions. I interviewed all from Marketing Managers to C-level executives (that one called Disruptive Forces - The Leaders Speak) in the two series' and recorded video and audio interviews with notable industry people, as well as some outside of it, followed this. I felt a great capability to create what I saw as potentially beneficial to the industry in terms of AV/IT-related topics, as well as specialty blogs that targeted the Internet of Things, drones, artificial intelligence, big data (which actually led to a podcast) and more.

One day I went to the Smithsonian in Washington DC and passed through the marine life hall, stopping at an exhibit on bioluminescence in the sea. The moment I saw it I said that I would write a blog associated with audio visual (I liked to challenge myself at times) and it became Nature Re-imagined – Projection Mapping and the Bioluminescent Forest. I also liked to put theme to writing, and this one allowed me to do it with one of my favorite music groups in a blog about industry "powerwall" display technology The Power of The Wall, highlighting the solution as well as a high level industry display manufacturer. 

More recently, I have been writing with a more directed focus to the AV/IT industry (although I will continue to publish the non-AV/IT as well). There exist numerous publications in the AV/IT space that dedicate focus to different realms, markets, stories, etc. All have a very visible place in the industry and I like to think that I have added to it with what I do in terms of certain things like the interview series I had created, as well as blogs that are a little off the AV/IT path. My latest is called The “Founders” – AV/IT’s Next Generation as it discusses the Millennial generation and the oncoming Generation Z, also known as MTV's "Founders" as explained in the blog, where I look at numerous factors including perspectives, technology, social media, education and more. At the end I note that this blog leads into a podcast being recorded this week which will have a themed focus to this subject. 

Being a writer and podcaster in this technology and media expanding AV/IT industry? A win for sure, as well as the ability to cover numerous technology topics and themes. One of the great joys in writing has been in helping others to put out their first blogs, like I did in April 2013. I have created (and am in the process of creating) other technology-oriented podcasts as well as the long-running one I currently do - here is one on drones/UAV's: ShAIRed Space 2: We Talk CES 2016 and VC for Drones/Robotics Companies which I host with two knowledge-base experts in the field.