InfoComm International® has now officially become AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association. The change is part of its ambitious plan to grow the association and propel the industry to the future. So, what does that mean for industry professionals in the APAC region?
Read this Q&A to hear from Jonathan Seller, Senior Director of Development, Asia Pacific, at AVIXA.
Q: The change to AVIXA is more than renaming the organization. What else is different?
Seller: The organization’s transformation actually began some time ago, even though the name change is new.
In almost all of our programs, our dialogue has evolved to “delivering exceptional experience” — that magic when you create the perfect unity with content, space, technology in one integrated experience.
Another major part of this shift is to highlight that as an industry association, AVIXA operates as both a trade association representing companies and a professional society representing individuals creating integrated AV experiences.
Q: Why does the transformation from a trade association to an industry association matter?
Seller: We were always designed to be a trade association to service companies in the AV trade. This was the case from our days as the former NAVA (National Audio-Visual Association) to ICIA (International Communications Industries Association) to most recently InfoComm International.
As an industry association, we offer a home to a much more diverse mix of professionals, including many enterprise customers who are supporting AV technology on a daily basis but don’t yet identify themselves as members of the AV trade. And by raising the awareness of AV experiences, we also seek to welcome newcomers to the industry and help further their career. Ultimately, a much broader mix of professionals will now benefit from the education and support opportunities we have to offer.
Our plan is to become the trusted hub for the larger AV community and help expand the global marketplace.
Q: How do you define integrated experience? And can you discuss AVIXA’s role in advancing this?
Seller: From the customers’ perspective, integrated experience is about the emotional transformation it unleashes. Rather than just focusing on the deployment of technology, integrated experience is a holistic approach to achieving the best project outcomes.
From the industry perspective, it’s about opportunity. As we look beyond equipment to the point where content, space and technology intersect, we are positioning ourselves to grow the market and advance the human experience.
Q: Looking ahead, how will AVIXA support the larger integrated experience community in APAC?
Seller: The transition to AVIXA is a new beginning. We are excited to work with APAC members of today and tomorrow as we write a new chapter for the integrated experience marketplace centering on growth and innovation.
In fact, throughout APAC, we have already seen very active participation from a strong and growing membership amongst end users in higher education, corporate, finance, and hospitality sectors. Users across this expanding cross section will benefit greatly from our bolstered programs and offerings.
Understanding the various vertical market trends and end users’ buying habits is critical to driving the market forward. And to that end, the community benefits from our conferences and white papers, as well as the recently published AV Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) report.
Another good example is our credential programs. In addition to the widely recognized CTS®, CTS-D, CTS-I, which demonstrate the widest breadth of professional industry knowledge and skill, we have just added microcredentials to focus on discrete aspects of commercial AV for entry-level AV technicians.
2017 marks the 20th year since the establishment of the first international office (then known as ICIA). I’ve been with the association since 2000, and I’ve never been as excited about what I do and the future of our industry as I am today with AVIXA.