Writing
November 12, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsThe Sunday StationA few years ago I coordinated 48 channels of wireless for a theater in Houston.November 11, 2026 · LeadershipQuiet LeadershipMy family and friends joke that I was born old. I've always been quick to step up, and I've spent a good part of my life in charge of one thing or another.November 10, 2026 · The Buyer's SidePaying a Little MoreI bought a car this fall, and I picked the dealership before I picked the car.November 5, 2026 · LeadershipIt's Not My Job"It's not my job" is the line I hear most often on a construction site.November 4, 2026 · Video and DisplayThe Wrong NumberNothing has changed the face of AV more in the last 10 years than direct view LED.November 3, 2026 · LeadershipTwelve Years InToday marks 12 years since I joined Ford AV. I had forgotten the date until it showed up on our internal page and the congratulations started arriving.October 29, 2026 · LeadershipTrain, Transfer, TerminateTrain, Transfer, TerminateOctober 28, 2026 · Systems and NetworksDetermined by Others"Power requirements and thermal load to be determined by others."October 27, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsYou Can't Tune a Room with ElectronsYou can't tune a room with electrons.October 22, 2026 · LeadershipNot Every Vacuum Is MineDesmond Tutu once described himself as a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.October 21, 2026 · Systems and NetworksEvery Tier CountedI have said before that USB is the best and worst thing to happen to AV.October 20, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsThe Biggest Number on the SheetA few weeks ago I mixed a band I did not know, at a venue I had never worked.October 15, 2026 · Systems and NetworksWritten for the Wrong ReaderI went with one of my engineers to meet a potential customer in Houston.October 14, 2026 · LeadershipAnswer as YourselfA friend from graduate school called a few weeks ago for help with an interview.October 13, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsCondensers on a Live StageI love microphones. Some of that is the gear, but most of it is a belief that the best sound gets captured as early in the chain as possible.October 8, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsA Good Mix Does Not Sound GoodA good in-ear mix usually does not sound good. Solo the mix of an experienced performer and it is thin, dry, and lopsided.October 7, 2026 · Systems and NetworksWe Made the DateAV integrators get asked to shorten commissioning on almost every project.October 6, 2026 · The Buyer's SideDepreciation Holds No CashCommercial Integrator published a piece I wrote about putting AV replacement on the accrual line.October 1, 2026 · Systems and NetworksDelay on PurposeOne of the strange things about AV is that we spend a great deal of effort reducing latency, then turn around and add delay on purpose.September 30, 2026 · LeadershipThe De-Esser on the ReverbThree years ago I was training a high school intern on a live console.September 29, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsThe 70.7V StandardWhy is a 70V speaker system actually 70.7 volts? It is an oddly specific number, and the reason has almost nothing to do with loudspeakers.September 24, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsThe Second MomentThere are 2 moments in a show that put an audio engineer on edge.September 23, 2026 · Systems and NetworksThe Simple RoomsA large enterprise campus decided its conference rooms did not need an integrator.September 17, 2026 · The Buyer's SideThe Marked PlateAt Waffle House, the cook works off the plate. As the order is called, he sets a mark on the plate for each item, then cooks and builds straight from those marks.September 16, 2026 · LeadershipLet Them WinThe head of a customer's in-house AV team wanted to personally direct our commissioning.September 10, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsTurn It Up to 11There is a scene in Spinal Tap where a guitarist explains that his amps go to 11, one louder than 10.September 9, 2026 · The Buyer's SideKnow When to Walk AwayA potential customer asked to meet with me and one of my account managers.September 8, 2026 · LeadershipThe Work You KeepMost leaders think they know when to step in, but sometimes we step in because we still like doing the work.September 3, 2026 · Systems and NetworksDesigning for the Operator Who Does Not Exist YetThe touch panel in a brand new executive room asked the first person through the door to set the room state, choose a content source, route video, select audio sources, pick which cameras to use, and where to aim them.September 2, 2026 · Systems and NetworksThe Clock Is InfrastructureWhen Dante was the only AV-over-IP (AVoIP) transport on most networks, clocking took care of itself.September 1, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsHow Loud Is Loud EnoughA spec for a mixed-use space in a large office building in Houston called for 70 dB.August 27, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsFresh EarsThe engineer controlling a mix can be the least reliable judge of how it sounds, and it has nothing to do with skill.August 26, 2026 · Video and DisplayBuy Once, Cry OnceA customer opens the AV proposal and sees a 75" display at $4,200 and remembers walking past the same size at a big box store for $398.August 25, 2026 · Video and DisplayThe Port IT Turned OffEarlier this year I made a comment here on LinkedIn that a few security people took issue with.August 20, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsRibbon Mics, Not Just for the StudioArturo Sandoval's rider specified a ribbon mic. That was 15 years ago and I was mixing front of house.August 19, 2026 · The Buyer's SideThe Mug I Did Not WantWaffle House is my favorite breakfast diner. I have ordered the same thing there for more than 20 years.August 18, 2026 · Systems and NetworksStart From What WorksA few weeks ago I got a call from my wife because her desktop computer wouldn't boot.August 13, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsDecibels Are Not a UnitIf someone tells me a sound system is running at 96 dB, I still need to know the reference.August 12, 2026 · The Buyer's SideTwo Ways to Build a BusinessThere are 2 ways to build a business in this industry and both of them work.August 11, 2026 · LeadershipA Year of SaturdaysSince the age of 10, one of my passions has been RC aircraft.August 6, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsThe Show That Arrives FinishedLive production people tend to treat house of worship work as the shallow end.August 5, 2026 · Video and DisplayThe Cable Nobody SpecifiedUSB-C is the best and worst thing to happen to AV in years.August 4, 2026 · LeadershipThe Send Makes the ChoiceAn email alert came in on a Sunday afternoon. I was on the couch with my son watching a Formula 1 race.July 30, 2026 · Systems and NetworksRedundancy in Mission-Critical SystemsAt an airport, the paging system is not allowed to fail. Not for a gate change, and not for an evacuation.July 29, 2026 · LeadershipCompany Culture and the Disney WaiterThis spring I took my family to Disney World and we had dinner at the Contemporary.July 28, 2026 · The Buyer's SideThe RFP Question Nobody AsksA customer in Houston paid for the same AV system three times.July 23, 2026 · The Buyer's SideAV Lifecycle as an Accrual LineThe refresh is never actually a surprise. What surprises people is that nobody set the money aside while the system was still new.July 22, 2026 · LeadershipTop Performers Get the Least AttentionAbout 5 years ago I lost the best engineer on my team, and he told me why on the phone after he had already submitted his resignation to HR.July 21, 2026 · Systems and NetworksSimplicity in DesignLast weekend I stopped in the restroom at my church and found a bottle boldly labeled SOAP sitting at every sink.July 16, 2026 · Systems and NetworksThe Case for a Dedicated AV NetworkThe most common network mandate I see on large AV projects is also the one I push back on hardest: put every AV device on the enterprise network.July 15, 2026 · LeadershipWhy Did You Say That?Early in my career I sent the email I now teach against.July 14, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsLoud Is Not the Same as IntelligibleOwners ask how loud the system will be. It is the wrong question, and answering it well is how you end up with a paging system nobody can understand.July 9, 2026 · Systems and NetworksThe Most Expensive Cable Is the One You ForgotThe most expensive cable on a project is not the one with the highest price per foot.July 8, 2026 · LeadershipSomeone Somewhere Is Practicing“When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win.”July 7, 2026 · The Buyer's SideEverything Breaks EventuallyWhen the D-Show was released, it was the console I dreamed of mixing on.July 2, 2026 · Systems and NetworksThe Face of the SystemA control interface is not a remote control for the rack. It is the face of the system, and most are designed for the wrong person.July 1, 2026 · LeadershipLeaving WellHow a person leaves a job tells you more about them than how they started.June 30, 2026 · Systems and NetworksLatency Is a BudgetLow latency is one of the most commonly quoted specs in networked AV, and one of the most commonly misunderstood.June 25, 2026 · Video and DisplaySmaller Is Not Always BetterClients often ask me for the smallest pixel pitch they can afford.June 24, 2026 · LeadershipThe Director Who Still Ran CameraThe best leader I ever watched was my father. He spent his career in television and retired from WOWK 13 News in Huntington, West Virginia, in 2001 as a senior director.June 23, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsCardioid at What Frequency?Tell me a subwoofer is cardioid, and my first question is always the same.June 18, 2026 · LeadershipKnowing Where to Apply the BrakesDuring my first year as a project manager at Ford, a corporate training put us through a competition to build a project schedule.June 16, 2026 · The Buyer's SideNewest Is Not the Same as RightNearly my entire team is walking the InfoComm floor this week.June 11, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsMeasures Well vs Sounds RightAn audio system can measure perfectly and still sound wrong.June 10, 2026 · Systems and NetworksWhy Updating AV Firmware Can Be a Bad IdeaTwo of my customers brought down their entire AV systems doing the one thing their IT department trained them to do.June 9, 2026 · The Buyer's SideTrust Is the ProductYears ago I ran a recording session for a celebrated classical pianist who wants nothing to do with technology.June 4, 2026 · Systems and NetworksAnalog Still Matters in a Digital WorldThe fastest signal path in your building is still analog. Digital won, and for most of what we build it deserved to.June 2, 2026 · LeadershipYou Can't Be an Expert at EverythingAV integration is too broad for any one person to master.June 1, 2026 · Video and DisplayVirtual ProductionYou have seen virtual production, even if you did not know what it was called.May 28, 2026 · LeadershipThe Best AV Is InvisibleYears ago, when I was working in live event production in Boston, I ran an internship program for students who wanted to break into the industry.May 27, 2026 · LeadershipRun Toward the ProblemOne of the most valuable lessons I have learned at Ford AV came from our CEO, Mr.May 26, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsAudio Does Not Behave Like LightThe AV industry has a language problem. We describe sound using the vocabulary of light.May 21, 2026 · Audio and AcousticsCoverage Is a Math Problem, Not a Marketing ProblemLine arrays look impressive. They photograph well. They signal “serious system.”May 20, 2026 · LeadershipThe Executive's Role on a Complex ProjectThe job of an executive on a complex project is not to run the project.May 18, 2026 · Systems and NetworksLive Events in the MomentLive events teach you something that paper specifications cannot.May 14, 2026 · LeadershipIt Takes a TeamIt takes a team and a team needs a leader.May 11, 2026 · The Buyer's SideThe Best Proof of CapabilityThe best proof of capability on a complex project is not the proposal, the design package, or the sales presentation.
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