Here at CLE, we have a few people who have been in Event Technology or the AV business for many, many years. Chris Janson joined the industry in the fall of 1983 and our Director of Operations, Kris Churchill has been involved in the AV business since 1991. I’ll do the math for you really quick – that is a combined total of 58 years, and that is just two of our team members! Over that time they have seen many changes and evolutions to event technology. Here are a few things that they mentioned when asked to comment on changes since they began working in the AV business back in 1983.
Differences
Computer projection. Imagine doing an event without computers. It’s impossible to even think of. Before the portable computer it would take a multi-thousand dollar device and a day of programming for computer projection. When Chris & Kris first started in the industry, computer projection was a rarely used new technology.
Digital capabilities with regards to audio. Technicians can tune/equalize/adjust the audio from anywhere in the room. This is an advantage because you can test the audio from where anyone will be sitting in the room rather than just from the tech table.
Interestingly, despite all of the advancements in technology, both of our tenured talented professionals say that events have become more complicated over the years. Added technology lends itself to lots of options. Which means more decisions from event planners, more specialization within niche markets and tools, and overall an ability to get overwhelmed more easily. They both say it’s more important now than ever before to constantly be reading up on and experiencing new technologies to stay ahead of the curve.
While things change, many things stay the same.
Same
The main goal of a meeting or event is still to get your message or content across to your attendees. That was true 58 years ago, and it’s still true today.
Last minutes changes to schedules and presentations are very common. Even though last-minute changes can come more frequently now because of increased communication (imagine managing multiple revisions to powerpoint slides without email!) the need for changes has been an industry-constant for decades.
People are still people and are looking for the same things – education, networking, motivation, etc.
And of course, people hosting meetings are still organizers of education, networking, social activities, etc and still need a trusted AV partner who can help them make the best choice about technology–whether it’s 4k projectors or an overhead slide carousel. And that’s why Chris and Kris are still going strong after all these years…
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