What We've Got Here is Failure to Communicate

AV has a branding problem. Not with clients or marketing. Selling to the enterprise market is going gangbusters. The issue is with developing the next generation of talent or even getting moderately experienced talent. Well, yeah. That’s because it’s not seen as cool like touring or events. There was a post not too long ago by an exec at big integration outfit. He was joking/reminiscing how pro AV has traditionally taken talent from event pro audio. Guys that wanted or had to get off the road. At that time nearly all men. Even now there are few places from which to recruit integration techs. The only degreed program I know of for pro AV he mentioned in the post. Prior to that I didn’t know one existed. Anywhere. His point though was two fold. Why are so many of us self educated about the craft and where is the new talent going to come from. Besides events.

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There’s been a shortage of experienced AV installers for a while now. Or integrators in the parlance of our times. When Carl’s sons came to town not too long ago I asked if they’d gotten into more integration work since I’d left the old country. Not so much more than when I was there. I was told they don’t do so called “integration”. If someone calls and asks for a bid on an integration they were politely told they didn’t do integration. They’ll put some PA in the room and leave it. In the olden days we called that an “install”. The term integration is relatively new. We’d do soft cable, no pulling and landing, no AC power. All performing spaces or worship, hang it , tune it, leave it. If you needed more than that a low voltage company or full service integrator would be required. If one mentioned programming Crestron they were hung up on and blocked from calling again. Know where your area of expertise is and stick to it.

I tell that story because I think it’s funny as hell (the Crestron part anyway) and to illustrate why AV integration isn’t considered “cool” by many in the pro audio business. It’s not got the snap and sizzle of event audio particularly concerts and festivals. The reality is live events aren’t glamorous either but the facade is there. Once you’ve been in the concert business awhile you realize it. Install is a different animal. For many in the production side integration has a reputation held over from the days of when NSCA was the leading contracting/installer show. It was button up, frumpy and generally not appealing to the younger set. Even if I wasn’t captivated by the allure of show biz it wouldn’t have appealed to someone ready to embark on an engineering career. That’s what needs to change to at least adapt to a modern era.

Through a few iterations Infocomm came along replacing NSCA as the big show. Infocomm rebranded to Avixa as we know it. A more contemporary spin for sure but still not able to reel the kids in. It’s not the technology or even the venues or locations of the work. It’s the thinking that the culture of the industry is stuffy and uptight. Perception is reality. In my travels I’ve found many, perhaps most in the install side of the biz to be anything but dull and unappealing. It’s full of cool people. In fact there are a few party animals in addition to many with, shall we say, eccentric personalities. Far from the Ben Stein drone of corporatism. It’s not the people. It’s the reputation of the culture. Herding kids into formal programs is good but what is more important to address is the reason why they may not want to do it in the first place.

A number of integration techs, designers and managers at the office of a multinational integrator in town come from the shows around town. There’s even a nickname for it on the block. Cirque du Solotech. On the block the circus is the very definition of design-build in the integration business. We can design the creative, technical and engineering aspects of the shows. We can procure the hardware. We can integrate it into the venue, commission the systems then add the creative element. All in house for he most part including bending the conduit and pulling the wire. Or fiber as is the case these days.

During the 10 to 30 year life of any particular show there are ample opportunities to be involved in integration or AV maintenance. Through technology upgrades, show changes and enhancements that require additional technology there can be changes afoot. During these times the room can resemble a construction site rather than a performance space. Complete with Petzels, hi-vis and Knack boxes in addition to the harnesses and steel toes we normally wear during the gig. Theme parks and cruise ships can be similar. Even touring companies design and build systems though packaged as portable. Still though, Dante is Dante, R1 is the same installed or touring and networking is networking. Lacing racks is lacing racks. That’s the reason so many integration techs come from production. We’re skilled in that kind of work.

As with any specialty an integrator requires several skills. They need the ability to work long and hard in challenging conditions. Perhaps not the 16-17 hour days 5 or 6 in a row like touring but still it’s not like sitting in an office or even behind a console. You need many of the skills a touring tech does and some that are found in construction trades. Integration is an allied construction trade. Construction and production have similar cultures in terms of the physical labor and shall we say, roughness of job. You aren’t exactly coddled in either field.

I point out these qualities because lately I’ve seen some movement toward consolidating IT and AV. AV is not IT. IT is not AV. True there is a skilled labor shortage in the integration world. Because of growth many integrators ability to recruit were outpaced by their sales. There weren’t that many integration techs to begin with and now with business leaning more heavily into AV tech as an operations tool someone needs to put these rigs in. The solutions are complex and need application specific knowledge and experience. In cases of the finished product many times it falls under the realm of IT after the handoff. Naturally some, particularly those with corporate world backgrounds see using IT staff full time as a way to bridge the AV tech shortage.

That’s where me and some of my integration colleagues part company. I don’t see wide scale deployment of IT based techs as a realistic solution to the AV tech shortage. In some smaller scale deployments having IT take the reins may work just as having some sound types manage the networking and computer infrastructure at a mid size production company could work. Once you hit scale, in either business, you need dedicated pros with application specific knowledge, expertise and experience. With the increasing complexity of the technology even systems with meager feature sets require some dedication to learn let alone master. That works both ways AV to IT or IT to AV.

There are some relatively new openings that span both trades, AV and IT. One was a recent post from Golden Gaming with a call for an IT AV tech. You’d ride herd the AV and networking of the chain of local slot bars. Audio, digital signage, the content network and other like technologies. Config, testing, service calls. Regular AV work. We’re going to see more of that particularly in the hospitality realm. That sort of position has picked up steam over the last year or so. It will become the norm in the next year or two. If not sooner. Another was at Disney for an AV networking engineer. This one was for heavy industrial and penetration security chops. You aren’t dealing with the endpoints so much as keeping everything up. Not so much concerned with what’s in the pipe only that it gets where it needs to be in the scope of the quality required and keeping bad guys out. It’s an interesting look into attractions control and monitoring with some visuals and sound carried in the same pipe. The Disney gig is more akin to a networking engineer than an AV pro. At some point those skill sets will converge but it’s going to take specific application experience not just throwing IT techs at AV or AV techs at IT.

While some in the IT business can/will migrate to AV or vice-versa we need a more focused solution to develop AV specific techs with a deep understanding of networking. We need to get ‘em young. High school is a good place to start. The reason people get into live events is because they’re exposed to it at some point perhaps as early as going to concerts in the teen years and playing in whatever band/DJ setup they have these days. Introducing them to AV is not from looking at the departures screen in the airport telling you your flight is delayed and thing “man, what a sexy gig, I wish I could hang that TV and program the network”. It doesn’t compare to going to your first concert and seeing the LED wall and thinking “now that’s what I want to do”. I can’t think of any other industry save construction where potential recruits are exposed to integration or commercial AV. At least back when I was in school we were schlepping a Da-Lite and 16mm Bell and Howell to class for the treat of the week, a film the class could sleep through while Mr. Roby snuck out to his car and came back smelling like 70s dirt weed.

Before IT or coding get their hooks in them figure out who may be interested in the tech of AV. We need to sell the core tech to new hires rather than the applications and solutions. Those we sell to the suits that green light the installs. The recruits should be wooed by high level technology. Something that challenges them, gives them an opportunity in a career to advance long term and enough compensation to make a decent living.

In many schools the arts and technology programs have disappeared. That’s going to make it more difficult to find those that might be receptive to the message. There is the STEM thing but that’s mostly geared toward cranking out entry level coders into an already saturated market. Once one gets into community college the opportunities to recruit can be more widespread but time starts to run out. If they’re looking at a four year post secondary education it may already be too late. Once they finish four year likely we’ve lost them. They’ve either got a buttload of debt and may need more than entry level pay can offer or perhaps have their sights set to something different than integration.

There are hobbies and activities that provide the foundational skills we need. Gamers have knowledge of video, computers and streaming. Drone and RC aficionados have mechanical, battery and RF foundational knowledge. Competitive robotics participants have many of the same skills as makers. Those skills include integrated controllers like Pi or Arduino, basic electronics, actuators, use of tools and even some 3D modeling experience. My granddaughter was able to work during college as a Solidworks contractor with what she learned in high school in competitive robotics. (humble brag…)

Many of these kids will go to get ME or EE degrees but some won’t. College is expensive and a four year sheepskin isn’t needed for many trades. A two year, technology focused program with a structured apprentice program is a better fit for many. Not a couple month long “internship” where you pilot a broom and coffee machine but a post education, on the job training supplemented by continuing education. Where they do real work. For entry level pay. And learn at night on their own time. Just like a construction trade apprenticeship. Some larger integrators offer similar programs in the way of “bootcamps” or other programs to introduce people to AV. That’s good but we need to go wider and not be vendor centric. This is a realm for educators not marketers or engineers.

Some blame “the industry” for not training the next generation of talent. That “the industry” guy seems to take the fall for much of what ails our profession. We can’t expect an org like Avixa to put a massive effort into finding entry level talent. That’s not what they’re about. They sell booth space and certifications. That’s not a slight, it’s what they do and they’re good at it. They can help a great deal but we should not look to a trade org to do the heavy lifting. Trade groups aren’t the right org for it. Between trade groups and business we can get a further, more targeted reach. That will require some resources from both business and trade advocacy.

Pro audio has been trying to formalize a structured educational path for more than 40 years. Back then I was able to attend a good one at the local community college, or JC (junior college) as it was called. For live events it’s better now though peppered with diploma mills that my or may not help develop skills. I know nothing of formal AV education except for a program I heard about in the post that inspired this one. That’s it, one. One’s better than none though. Particularly when the people running it are from the AV industry. That’s the model.

Many vendors in the production space have started discipline specific training programs. That’s out of necessity. Since the pandemic many in production have left the business and over the break new talent wasn’t able to develop. Massive exit and no new meat makes for a bad situation. Some of these production companies have integration arms. They are able to leverage the experience in the production companies to fill integration roles.

Most people touring aren’t going to mix or operate a console. In noise land they’ll have the mundane task of tipping some trucks and hanging a PA or plug up a console and the stage. Some become lifers. Most don’t. Those that move on do so for a variety of reasons. Inconsistent work schedules, no insurance, new family. Many reasons. By the time this happens they’re older, hopefully more settled.

This is exactly why you should develop talent from former production people among other avenues. Developing educational programs is a years long effort. We need it but it’s not going to pay off right away. If you need an experienced tech now, you need one now. Developing avenues to recruit and retain experienced former production techs is low hanging fruit. Many will be too rough around the edges and you’ll have to pass. There are enough out there now that if you reach out to where they are, AES, NAMM, USITT, LDI, production trade mags, places where event pros congregate. Turn over enough rocks. You’ll find them.

It’s not going to be easy to get to a point where there is a pipeline of AV specific educated entry level techs coming into the industry. We are starting from ground zero. In the meantime we can leverage those already familiar with how the equipment functions and operates. Right now we need it all. Former tour dogs, aspiring youngsters coming up and perhaps getting some IT or construction types to change fields. If you aren’t using every avenue possible to find and recruit techs you’re doing your operation a disservice.

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