What is the AVIXA ITS Council Doing at InfoComm?

June 1, 2024 – If you’re an AVIXA member you probably know about some of the great work the AVIXA Councils do. You may have been involved with one of the Councils – some of the bigger ones are the Women’s Council, and the AV Integrators Council. All the Councils are doing interesting things. One that you may not be aware of is the AVIXA ITS Council – that’s the Independent Technical Services Council. If you’re going to the InfoComm show in June, you can check it out in action. The AVIXA ITS Council is presenting an informational panel session at InfoComm. The session is called “AV Integration – Is Your Business Strategy Fine-tuned for Today’s More Competitive Landscape?” It will take place at the AVIXA “Exchange booth”,  booth W2847, Friday, June 14, 11:15 AM – 11:45 AM. If you have not been to the AVIXA Xchange booth at the show, it’s great. You don’t have to wander off the show floor, it’s on the floor, and it’s fun and informal, and its sessions are free to attend.

Some very experienced AV industry execs will be on this panel, to share their thoughts on outsourcing trends. Due to the limited time slot at the busy XChange booth, organizers say, a lot of the discussion will focus on outsourcing highly skilled AV installation labor. Key to this panel will be a top AV integrator, Bill Fons, president of PTG – who will share  his experience on what he says are lessons he’s learned about more flexible and nimble ways to complete projects seamlessly.

You can register for the session here.

Simply put, the ITS Council is comprised of folks whose companies provide services to AV integrators, not to AV end users. Those services, from different specialist providers, include content creation, acoustical consulting, providing skilled AV installation labor, content marketing services, and more. According to the council’s mission statement, they “help integrators increase revenue and growth, by allowing them to scale staff to their sales, instead of sales to their internal staff size.”

A variety of AV industry trends have many AV integrators rethinking outsourcing in some areas, to improve both their efficiency and profitability. Industry data is pointing to shrinking margins on gear, rising costs for labor (and often a shortage of skilled labor), and a shift to more services including managed services, not just installing equipment. And challenges in an era of what seems like a saturation of marketing messages are leading to more thoughtful, data-based, targeted approaches to marketing, including content marketing.

What’s behind this thinking about outsourcing, and what are the options for an AV integration company? Here are the guys on the panel that will share their insight June 14^th at InfoComm:

 

Bill Fons, President – PTG

Mark Delguidice, Sr. Sales Director – Viper Cabling Inc.

David Lopez, Founder / CEO – MediaCentric

Anthony Castillo, Sr. Director Pro AV Division – Rightech, Inc