I’ve been seeing the year end posts popping up as early as a two weeks ago; discussions of the best of the year 2013 and ways to make 2014 even better. This time of year tends to bring out those two sentiments where we look back on the year that was to evaluate what was great (or not-so-great) as well as instill hope for what’s in store in the New Year.
This is not going to be a story of things to look forward to in the New Year, nor will it be a discussion of the year that was. Instead, I like to look at this time of year as an internal reflection of what has come and what will be. Perhaps that’s just the nature of my inner control freak, or perhaps I refuse to give up my idealism. Either way the fact remains that now is the time of year to reflect on what has been learned and what there is still out there to accomplish moving forward.
I’d say the biggest thing that I learned this year was just how powerful the right ideas can be and how sharing them with the world can only bring you closer to so many people. Ideas have amazing capabilities, but in the modern information age we are so flooded with them we sometimes tend to lose sight of the fact that they are the starting point, not the end point. Ideas have to evolve to create change and add value to the world – and that takes a community to turn it into a reality. For example, let’s look at the REDBANDAV blogging group. Chris Neto had the idea to put together a group of people active in the AV social media community that weren’t afraid to speak up, call a spade a spade, and say the things that many may have thought but decided not to broadcast because they either didn’t have the means or didn’t want to cause any controversy. These people come from all walks of life in the AV industry. They work as consultants, manufacturer employees, and integrators throughout the commercial, pro, and residential worlds. While an emerging media group for the industry, these people are spreading ideas that you might not see elsewhere. Going forward, this is a team of people that is interested in pushing the limits and broadcasting ideas that don’t always make it to the forefront. As people who work in the industry we all have an opinion, we have experience, and we have ideas. What was the idea that you wanted to share with the world that you believed deep down would make things better? If it’s still nipping away at you, did you share it? If not, why?
I’m still very new and green at running my own website but the more I see what people are doing out there and taking the experience of how people interact with media the more opportunity I see for where I can take things. I put this site together with the purpose of it being a place for ideas to be addressed and discussed and I see it expanding both forwards and backwards. The original blog I ran (very briefly) in the past was designed to work with musicians and producers to analyze their music and mixes in order to see where they could make adjustments to improve the quality of the product that represented them. I have every intention of bringing that back as a part of this site in time. I also have a few ideas to expand the discussions further next year that I’m very excited about.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my ideas. I’m pretty sure I don’t want everyone to agree with my ideas. This is a place to begin a discussion on how we can all find ways to improve and get better. There are times I want to see the A/V industry adopt the music industry mentality where just about anything is possible. To see that just because things have been done a certain way for years does not mean that’s the only way to do them. Change is inevitable. It starts with ideas, and I am grateful to all of you who have decided to share in mine and begin the discussion of where we can all go from here.
I hope that you all are entering 2014 with hope and open minds for what’s to come.
