What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
The Sennheiser Digital 6000 wireless microphone system, in particular the new SK 6212 miniature belt pack transmitter. The Digital 6000 allows more wireless microphones to operate in a smaller quantity of UHF spectrum without any compromise in audio quality. The SK 6212 does all of this in a very small and robust form factor with very long operating times in excess of 12 hours.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
We are putting considerable effort into training for AV Integrators in two areas.
We are aware that as AV falls more and more to people with an IT background rather than a pro-audio background, there is a growing need for greater awareness of some fundamental audio principles. It is no good having the greatest visuals if nobody can understand what people are saying because of poor audio either in the room or remotely.
With the increasing demand for everything to be wireless, we also see a need for AV professionals to upskill in the areas of spectrum management and the essentials of wireless technology.
When have you found yourself taking the next ‘level up’ in your career?
There have been many occasions. When I joined Sennheiser was one. I had never previously worked for a manufacturer, so there was a lot to take in. More recently I have found the greatest need has been to regularly “level up” my computer networking skills and knowledge. It is no longer enough to know about Audio and RF, though these are still essential, but as everything starts to converge around Ethernet connectivity it’s no good just looking blank when RJ 45s start appearing instead of XLRs.
What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
From my perspective, I think that the most exciting development in my field now covers several potential solutions. The
increasing use of “commodity” hardware to perform tasks that hitherto required “bespoke” hardware – most evidently in the fields of signal processing and distribution is now a reality, rather than a desire. There
are an increasing number of solutions from different manufacturers leveraging this consolidation, and amongst them is our recently announced ability to run the Dante Virtual Soundcard on an IT industry standard hypervisor host, allowing Dante
Virtual Soundcard to be “fully virtualized” within a normal virtual machine.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
With any profession that is reliant upon technology, an open mind and a keen interest in continued learning are essential.
AV is far more than a single discipline, rather it is a “catch all” for many key sets of skills. One absolute key skill is to have an ability to explain highly abstract concepts, and relate them back to their concrete manifestations,
often in many different ways. AV is a service-oriented industry, and the need to explain to clients in terms that they understand is very well developed, when compared with other parallel disciplines.
When have you found yourself taking the next ‘level up’ in your career?
Taking a keen interest in the evolution of technology gives many exciting opportunities to learn new things and advance one’s career.
Identifying a niche field of specific interest and developing knowledge under pressure is a great way to move out of one’s comfort zone and to accept new challenges with open arms. Having a good grasp of the fundamentals and experimenting
with new solutions to challenges is a great way of continually “levelling up.” This could be as straightforward as adopting a new technical solution to save space, which leads to wider optimizations of workflows. “Levelling
up” doesn’t necessarily set one on a dramatic new direction, however it can certainly lead to a wider horizon of opportunities.
What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
Digital (audio) networks, e.g., Milan, are finally getting to a level of simplicity that no longer requires you to be
an IT expert, and a level of reliability that eliminates the need to run an analog backup scheme. The latter I’ve always regarded as an extremely persistent user’s vote of no confidence, which is saying something about digital
network perception until recently.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
I can’t help but feel that a lot of beginning professionals, understandably, are always looking for the Holy Grail
or that one magic bullet that will make their careers take off like a rocket, and land them their next job and every subsequent job after that. If there’s such a trick up the sleeve, I have yet to discover it. Like most of us, as much
as I hate to admit it, I’ve learned the hard way, that it’s all about the fundamentals and paying your dues in that regard.
“Excellence is achieved by the mastery of the fundamentals.”
Vince Lombardi
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one critical event or one “big break” while simultaneously forgetting about the hidden power that small choices can have. Without the fundamentals, the details are useless. With the fundamentals, tiny gains can add up to something very significant.
When have you found yourself taking the next ‘level up’ in your career?
I have a vivid memory of receiving my first copy of the first edition of Bob McCarthy’s book “Sound Systems: Design and Optimization.”
From the start, it was absolutely clear to me that mastering the book’s content would advance my career, because no one goes out of their way to share that much information in writing, unless he or she feels it’s absolutely worth
it.
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”
Sir Isaac Newton
What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
I really like the potential of AV Over IP, and the coming usage for AV over IP Decoders in the OPS slot on the monitors.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
In the industry today, you need to be able to adapt, you always need to learn your tech, and computer/network knowledge is a must.
Paul Hudson
Training Manager - Exterity
Paul Hudson
Training Manager - Exterity
What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
Integration with BMS (Building Management Solution) in a hospitality environment whereby hotel guests are given a tablet
when they check in. This tablet controls IoT devices, such as lighting, blinds, and windows, as well as in-room IPTV without the need for a separate remote control.
Additionally, Exterity has recently been involved with implementing solutions for cruise ships. The scale of these installations is huge with the number of cabins in the thousands. Every cabin has an IPTV endpoint, allowing passengers to watch live TV and Video on Demand, book upcoming excursions, and view bills while the ship is at sea.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
A large part of what I do is technical support for our IPTV solutions, which requires a good amount of problem-solving ability.
This comes down to how a problem is approached and how to conceptualise a solution that works for everyone.
As well as this, the ability to communicate effectively is absolutely critical. The support team members frequently interact with customers through telephone, emails, and face-to-face. In my role as a trainer, I must deliver information about our products and what they can do in a clear and concise manner. The training we offer is designed to bring our customers up to a level where they can manage and troubleshoot their own systems. Ultimately if training is delivered effectively, it results in less support team involvement.
When have you found yourself taking the next ‘level up’ in your career?
I first started my career at Exterity in a purely technical role as a member of the support team. While I relish being engaged in technical
problems, I have also had the opportunity to ‘level up’ to a more managerial role with less emphasis on the technical aspects of the job. This has included managing all external training, creating training material, and delivering
it to Exterity’s resellers.
I have also recently been involved with mentoring new starts, introducing them to the way we work, and training them up to standard where they can perform their role effectively and deliver the standard of support that our customers have come to expect.
What’s the most exciting solution (or potential solution) you’ve seen lately in your field?
The new TfL ‘tube’ control room at Hammersmith. Traditionally such rooms have a monster wall at the end of the room. But in this instance, the operators all had a quad 4k-screen personal wall – positioned above their individual workstation – with content streamed to their wall from a central location. Inspired use of AV/IP! An additional level of excitement is because this sort of environment is usually so protective of mission critical reliability that they are typically very wary of adopting new approaches – like streaming.
What skills or characteristics do you think are most important for your job or for the AV industry?
I think open-mindedness is becoming increasingly important – the willingness to recognize that technology is changing around us and to embrace that change. At the same time not to lose our technical ‘nous’ and make sure that ‘the new’ is indeed up to the job – don’t plunge in just because it is new – make sure!
When have you found yourself taking the next ‘level up’ in your career?
I have ridden many technical waves – and these tend to imply making a step change in the knowledge your career is founded on. Particularly memorable were:
- The introduction of MPEG2 to professional video, AES to professional audio and everything that followed in their wake;
- The introduction of the PCI Express bus to computer platforms;
- And more recently streaming protocols everywhere – for recording and distribution – from lecture capture to operating theatres to training rooms to…