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Find a Way to Balance Your Old Approach with Newer Products and Technologies
It’s all too easy to get set in your ways. I do it all the time.
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Managing the Mega Project and Why Big Installs Aren’t for Everyone
Each custom integration company in the industry has its own definition of what it means to work on a “mega project.”
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How to Determine Whether to Rent or Buy Your Place of Business
Here are tips to keep in mind when considering whether to rent or own your place of business. The bottom line? Take a look...
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CI Manufacturers Enhance Education Offerings with Product Trainings, New Facilities
Product and management training is the lifeblood of a custom integration business that is, by its technology-driven nature, constantly evolving.
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Stop Obsessing Over Keywords, SEO and Focus on Your Website’s Content
Google has become so good at providing relevant search results to users that the days of site owners obsessing over individual keywords are over....
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Getting Ahead of the Smart Home Hub
Apple’s new HomeKit developer’s environment encourages device makers to connect to iOS for controlling smart home gadgets. It took a New York Times review...
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The Implications of Apple’s Latest Move into the Home
At Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference held in San Francisco in early June, Apple made a long-anticipated announcement about its plans for the network-connected...
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Torus Power’s Howard Gladstone Addresses Common Misperceptions of Power Management Products
Torus Power Products, which are designed and manufactured by Plitron Manufacturing in Toronto, Canada, provide power management solutions for audio and AV systems, from...
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How One Integrator’s Persistence Led to a New Surround Sound Option for Home Theaters
Two years ago at an international cinema convention, Greg Margolis witnessed what he believed to be the future of home theater audio.
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Born in a Small Town
It was a long way to go to watch a movie, but my trip from the suburbs of Indianapolis to the rural southern Indiana...
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Indiana Integrator Helps Bring 1920s Tivoli Theatre Back to Life
It’s rare when a custom integration company has the chance to work on a project with historical significance and one that literally brings a...
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Managing the Team of Experts That Supplies a Well-Designed and Executed Project
Most CI companies offer services in five major disciplines: audio, video, control, lighting, and security.
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Dividing Private Theater Budgets into Five Sellable Categories
In a recent workshop on selling high-performance solutions, the question was asked, “What is the first piece of information that you provide to your...
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Navigating InfoComm for the Tech and Learning Needed for Light Commercial Projects
Most residential integrators get their AV tradeshow fix in the fall at CEDIA; however, as more and more consumer AV dealers look to make...
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That Audio Tingle
When audio business veterans wax nostalgic about the glory years of hi-fi, I really can’t relate.
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How Adjusting Your Company’s Image Could Rev Up Sales
Your branding says everything about you. It gets attention, builds interest and creates desire among the customers you hope to serve. I challenge you...
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The Future of Surround Sound
Say what you will about our industry, but it is not afraid of new technology.
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Deciding Whether to Love or Hate Google Glass
I’m still not sure whether to love or hate Google Glass.
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Integrators Move Beyond AV to Conquer the Connected Home
The signs are everywhere. Even on the back of the dollar bill: Novus ordo Seclorum.
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Multi-App Home Control vs Integrated Total Home Control
With more than two billion iOS and Android devices and a million-plus apps deployed worldwide, it would be logical to ask how a multi-application...
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Lessons Learned by the Rising Stars of Custom Integration
No disrespect to veteran integrators that win CEDIA awards and avail themselves to the trade media, but some of the best custom integration companies...
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Up-and-Coming Manufacturers Navigate Unique Challenges of The Custom Integration Channel
Everyone’s curious about the new kid on the block.
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Customer Advisory Councils Offer Insight into Providing Stellar Service
During 1980s, the great Wayne Gretzky was dominating the sport of hockey and in an interview explained the secret to his remarkable success.
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MediaTech Develops a Signature System in Chicago
“I want you to do this project. I don’t trust anyone else to do it right.”
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Get Out There with Your Audio Analyzers and Measure What your Systems are Doing
You’re probably familiar with the Denver Broncos’ story this year: future Hall of Fame QB, record-setting offense, expected to win the Super Bowl by...
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Eight Keys to Brightening LED Sales Opportunities
Consumer demand for high quality, application-specific lighting is growing.
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Internet of Things Spotlights Custom Integration
I first started hearing about “The Internet of Things” more than a year ago.
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Wisconsin College Offers AV Systems Integration Program
In Madison, WI, one of America’s quintessential university towns, a small college sits in the proverbial shadows of the much larger and more well...
Behind the Business
New Owners of Richard Gray’s Power Company Blend New and Existing Technologies
AV systems have changed dramatically over the last several years, and because of their robust functionality and advanced technologies, they are far more sensitive...
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Five Ways to Promote Your Company on the Internet Effectively
You’re spending hundreds or maybe thousands every month on a litany of marketing activities to promote your custom integration business.
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Consumers Despise Middlemen
I needed a new computer for my home recording studio (I run ProTools), so I worked with a consultant at Guitar Center who was...
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Three Blu-ray Audio Discs for Surround Sound Music Demos
I generally have a pretty good track record when it comes to predicting whether or not new technologies and formats will catch on with...
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Bad Habits to Avoid While Selling Private Theaters
People have been selling home theaters for more than 20 years–certainly long enough to have gotten it right.
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First Stellar Service Awards Were a Success
Establishing a first-time awards program is a daunting task and a tough way to start a new year.
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Why Annual Performance Reviews Are Valuable
With the holidays just around the corner and my family spread from Florida to California I decided to send everyone personalized gift boxes.
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Technology Questions for the Year Ahead
With the end of one year and the start of another, pundits tend to see how their predictions from the previous year turned out...
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Capitalizing on the ‘Magnetic Middle’ To Find Where Clients Will Spend Money
“When I grow up, I want to be incredibly average!”
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Smartphone Controlled Home Entry is Increasingly Important
Every one of our clients has a smartphone today.
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Core Brands Looks to 2014
The names that make up Core Brands have long been well recognized as leaders in the custom installation business.
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Leon’s Lofty Values
Noah Kaplan’s favorite line from the Dark Knight Trilogy is, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you stranger.”
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Custom Installers Should Borrow from a Dentist’s Valuation Model
There’s a lot of talk about mergers and payout formulas in the CI business, with owners and buyers alike trying to nail down realistic...