With the success of ISE and InfoComm 2022 rightly celebrated by the industry, as our roundtable on page 24 of our latest issue confirms, AVIXA, CEDIA and Integrated Systems Events can all hold their heads up high for jobs well done this year. Next up, PLASA and IBC 2022, the latter more important than ever for Installation as broadcast and AV continue their Covid-accelerated tech convergence.
Talking of Covid, the pandemic certainly hasn’t gone away, and we need to remain vigilant. Anecdotally, it seems InfoComm was something of a super-spreader, even if ISE wasn’t. After enjoying a fantastic return to another super-spreader, Glastonbury, last month – some amazing AV in action, as reported on installation-international.com – I managed to contract it for the second time in eight months, only just about shaking it off as I write this. Not as bad as the two weeks I spent in bed previously, but it still floored me. Here’s hoping the new strains will continue to be lighter in their impact, so we can continue to get on with our lives; work and play.
This month’s Installation cover story concerns AV’s growing impact on the hospitality sector; again accelerated by Covid. We also have features on immersive audio, and how it’s helping to boost live events after lockdown decimation, and look at Futuresource Consulting’s future-gazing, with commentaries from four of its experts.
There are also commentaries from Digital Projection’s Mark Wadsworth on the state of the pro projection market, Gabi Shriki, head of AV at Valens on key industry trends for meeting equity, Holly Bonnett, head of the department for trade at SaveMoneyCutCarbon, who looks at smart tech, and an ‘inside track’ with Harry Patz Jr, senior vice president and general manager, display division at Samsung Electronics America.
Finally, we’ve the usual round-up of installations and appointments. It’ll be interesting to see who’s appointed as the UK’s new Prime Minister after the recent circus. One thing’s certain: we can all be grateful that AV’s key organisations are better run than the current UK government, whatever your political persuasion. Hopefully stability and probity will be the watchwords as we move into the autumn and the next round of AV events.
