September saw some high-impact developments across the Pro AV market as summer gave way to fall, with the industry marking an event milestone at CEDIA’s final run in Denver before its 2027 move to Las Vegas. Beyond the trade show floor, the month’s major headlines included more market consolidation news, the deployment of an AI-wayfinding avatar at Boston Logan Airport, and a widely-read commentary on the need for integrators to prioritize solution-based selling. Here’s a look back at the key news items that defined the month.

Although FORTÉ’s acquisition of Vega Global officially closed in late August, buzz about the deal dominated industry headlines well into September. By absorbing the Asia-Pacific region’s largest systems integrator, FORTÉ dramatically expanded its footprint to achieve an unmatched geographical reach across 22 countries and more than 70 major global markets, integrating over 750 professional staff members into its workforce.

Under the terms of the acquisition, former Vega CEO Steven Medeiros will head the newly formed FORTÉ Asia division, enabling multinational clients to benefit from a unified, single-source provider for workplace technology and managed services worldwide. Read more here.

Other World Computing (OWC) acquired high-performance enterprise media storage powerhouse OpenDrives. The acquisition brings OpenDrives’ flagship platforms, Atlas, Astraeus, and Edge, into the OWC ecosystem, positioning OWC’s capabilities across enterprise storage, hybrid cloud, and edge computing for media.

The deal equips OWC to power the world's most complex data workflows and meet the needs of broadcasters, major production studios, and enterprise media teams. By expanding OWC’s global team to over 250 employees, it underscores the reality of today’s modern media landscape: world-class content is only as good as the infrastructure supporting it. Read more here.

An article written by longtime AV professional Mark Coxon published by rAVe [PUBS] had the industry buzzing about his premise that selling and installing hardware doesn't work anymore. Coxon raised this warning years ago, saying that as AV gear got cheaper and easier to buy, integrators who only sold hardware and gear would eventually get squeezed out of the market.

The pressure, according to Coxon, has intensified since then. His claim today is that customers are no longer willing to pay for equipment that doesn’t yield results. Buyers want faster meetings, happier employees, and smoother day-to-day operations. Coxon's advice is for integrators to stop acting like a construction crew that installs the gear and promptly leaves the site. Instead, they need to position themselves as a long-term partner who helps with training, support, and whatever the customer needs next. Read more here.

LG Electronics and Marriott International have teamed up to build a cloud-based entertainment platform for hotel rooms, which they're testing at 40 hotels across the U.S. and Canada. The system runs on LG's smart hotel TVs and includes more than 40 streaming apps and 250 channels.

The bigger news is what’s happening behind the scenes: Marriott can now check on every TV's health and implement software updates across the entire network from a centralized dashboard, no longer having to dispatch tech to each site. If the pilot goes well, it could roll out across Marriott’s full portfolio of more than 10,000 properties worldwide. Read more here.

AVIXA's next big regional event, InfoComm América Latina, returns to the CIEC World Trade Center October 21 through 23. The event is AVIXA's biggest commercial AV show in Latin America, with an exhibition floor topping 43,000 square feet, nearly 100 exhibitors, and more than 120 brands on hand, along with dedicated audio demo rooms, CTS training sessions, and a brand-new AI Summit focused on how artificial intelligence is reshaping system design. Read more here and sign up.

Sony Electronics is taking its AV Tech Expo on the road again for a sixth year, and this year's tour covers 15 cities across the U.S. and Canada. New stops are being added in Phoenix, Arizona; Boston, Massachusetts; Colorado; and in Toronto and Vancouver, joining previously announced dates in Rosemont, Illinois; New York; Atlanta; Kansas City; and San Jose.

The event gives AV professionals a chance to see Sony's latest gear up close, including its Pro BRAVIA displays, Crystal LED video walls, and AI-powered PTZ cameras, while networking directly with Sony's engineering teams and partners. Attendance is free, but spots are limited, so registration is required. Read more here.

Boston Logan International Airport installed nine hologram units that use an AI avatar named Amelia to help travelers find their way around. Amelia points people toward gates, restaurants, shops, lounges, and baggage claim, speaks up to 40 languages, and displays live maps and real-time TSA updates while speaking.

The airport is the largest rollout of this hologram technology so far, designed with accessibility in mind, including high-contrast screens, closed captioning, and wheelchair-friendly positioning. The project is a partnership between Proto Hologram, Holomedia AI, and the Massachusetts Port Authority, following a similar launch at LaGuardia earlier this year. Read more here.

A rAVe [PUBS] reader survey reveals two key trends driving AV Pro projects during the first five months of the year, with most respondents pointing to AV-over-IP and budgetary constraints as having the largest impact on project initiation.

On the tech side, a majority of respondents stated that AV-over-IP had the biggest impact on the industry through May, with high-profile deployments like Resorts World Las Vegas demonstrating that the tech can scale reliably, and licensing of protocols like Dante and NDI allowing integrators to mix manufacturers more freely for greater flexibility.

On the business side, budget constraints were noted as a major consideration for how projects are being implemented, with phased rollouts, reused end-of-life gear, and more value engineering infused into the project mix. Budgetary pressure is putting integrators in a tough spot: they're responsible for system performance even when budget constraints drive clients toward less-vetted equipment. Read more here.

Commercial Integrator announced its 2026 Integration Award winners during CEDIA Expo, recognizing firms across 19 categories including corporate campuses, higher education, hospitality, houses of worship, casinos, and museums. Three new categories were added this year: Best AI-Infused Project, Best Broadcast AV Project, and Best Electronic Security Project.

Logic Integration led the pack with three wins, while CTI and AVI-SPL each took home two. Read more here.

September’s news cycle was defined by consolidation and a few hard questions about where the industry is headed. FORTÉ's acquisition of Vega Global re-swizzled the global integrator landscape, while OWC's acquisition of OpenDrives underscored that storage and data management capabilities are just as important to installers as the physical gear they install. Mark Coxon's piece struck a nerve by asking integrators to rethink what they're actually selling, and smart pilot programs being tested at Boston Logan Airport and across Marriott's hotel portfolio gave a glimpse of where AI and connected technology are heading.