Coming to Target Field on Tuesday, you joined dozens of AV professionals attending FORTÉ LIVE to learn about technology trends, shifts in adoption, and the latest gear.
Breakfast started at 8 a.m., with people grabbing coffee, bagels and fruit. They settled in and took their seats in front of a large stage where Brad Sousa, CTO of FORTÉ, was about to deliver his keynote speech called, 'Emerging Trends and Big Ideas.'
The morning light poured in, and people talked amongst themselves, filling the room with chatter. The atmosphere was light, with people greeting each other, shaking hands and joining a table.
Just before 9 a.m., Sousa kicked off his keynote, during which he highlighted three main trends and shifts facing the audio-visual industry. The first, he explained that people are looking for an experience with technology -- not all the ins and outs of each device. The second and third trends focused on user adoption and collaboration.
Trends and shifts: Forget the technology, how people connect, and the unexpected @Skype Disruption. -CTO Brad Sousa #AVILIVE pic.twitter.com/2DnGoHtAEx
' FORTÉ (@avisystems) May 23, 2017
Historically, he said meetings were more rigid, with various people meeting at a set time for a specified period of time. Now, it's becoming more flexible, with people jumping in and out of meetings as needed.
The last trend talked about the 'unexpected Skype Disruption." Skype, having grown quickly in a relatively short period of time, has impacted the way people and businesses take advantage of video conferencing.
Read more about Sousa's keynote address here.
Sousa ended his speech not long after 9 a.m., giving attendees enough time to make their way up stairs to the breakout sessions.
The first round of sessions started at 9:30 a.m. in suites on the third floor. Dozens of people filed out of the main room, where the keynote speeches took place, and up the stairs.
Four breakout sessions were scheduled, two running at a time. There were about 50 people to a room, listening to representatives from Polycom, Cisco, Prysm and TV One talk about new devices, practices and more.
Nikolas Janik, with HGA Architects and Engineers, attended Cisco's 'A Day in the Life of a Collaboration User.'
'I think it was good,' he said. 'I think it was informational.'
Throughout the session, Janik stayed engaged, asking the presenter questions to help shed light on solutions for challenges that some organizations face.
'I think the hard part for us as an organization is that you have so many different ways to communicate,' Janik said, explaining that there are often multiple collaboration tools used to connect people within the company. 'Primarily, what we learned from this session is that there are multiple verticals, and from those multiple verticals, there's still not a single solution that enables everybody to connect.'
Aside from the breakout sessions, Janik and Remington Barrett, also with HGA, said they came to see what FORTÉ LIVE was all about. 'When we look at AV integrators, we really want to see what direction they heading,' Janik said.
Barrett said, 'That's the biggest thing for me.' He said that he wants to see the next milestones for AV.
The breakout sessions were the first part of seeing those milestones. Attendees came in and out of sessions as they progressed. When one was over, some people stayed in their seats, waiting for the next one. Some went to the other suite.
'The crowd was really engaged ... they're all really interested and excited to learn.'
Elysha Gellerman, regional director for Polycom's grants program, and Kim Young, a grant writer with Grant Assist Consulting, presented to a full room, taking people through 'Distance Learning in Education and Corporate Environments.' They both agreed that their breakout session went well.
'I thought it went really well,' Gellerman said. 'It was great, a much better turnout than I had anticipated.'
'Yeah, full room,' Young added.
There was a good mix in the audience, she said. Professionals from a corporate background sat with those from a medical background, as well as people from the higher education field. And, after their presentation, Gellerman said many people stayed behind, looking for more information about grants currently being offered.
'The crowd was really engaged,' Gellerman said. 'And they're all really interested and excited to learn.'
Kim Manuel, with the RLE Group, an architecture design company, said that Polycom's presentation highlighted good solutions for collaboration, including the RealPresence Centro.
One of the main reasons she came to FORTÉ LIVE was to learn about new trends in the audio-visual industry. In particular, she was looking at conference room designs, video walls, and ways to improve efficiency for end users, especially millennials.
'As a business owner, one of the big challenges is accommodating all the millennials,' she said. 'The way that they work is different than traditional employment offices.'
For her, whether it's designing a space for a client or at headquarters, the shift in work environments plays an important role in future projects. And, technology is a part of the design, which adds another challenge. 'It's a little alarming how fast everything changes,' she said in response to Sousa's keynote address.
After the last session ended, attendees went to the main room for lunch, which was followed by Gary Kayye's keynote.
Kayye, CEO and founder of rAVe Publications, talked about the rise of 4K and its future impact on the consumer, as well as various industries.
Full house at the @gkayye keynote: pic.twitter.com/IAewkqP3gq
' FORTÉ (@avisystems) May 23, 2017
In his keynote, 'The Future of Meeting Rooms and Classrooms is the 4K Digital Canvas,' Kayye said that 4K is the future of rooms.
'The 4K Digital Canvas is not just the future of projection, it's the future of rooms,' he writes. 'The Digital Canvas will free the presenter from being limited to presenting only the content that can fit in the rectangular-screen hanging in front of the room and allow every room to be a completely immersive environment ' encouraging seamless collaboration, presentations and content from anywhere, anytime.'
Watch his entire keynote here.
After Kayye's keynote, the exhibit hall opened, running until 5 p.m. People filled the hall, moving from booth to booth to learn about the latest AV technology.
The exhibit hall opened after Gary Kaye's keynote, and it'll stay open until 5 p.m. So far, attendees are making the'
Posted by FORTÉ, Inc. on Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Tye Green, with the city of Bloomington, Minn., came back to FORTÉ LIVE this year to be 'wowed.'
'I'm hoping to meet some vendors that will wow me with some products that I think the city of Bloomington can utilize,' she said. Green came looking for collaboration software and digital signage specifically. And, she found them.
Representatives from different vendors demonstrated equipment's capabilities, writing on screen or showing cartoons on a projector. Some displays played 4K content that caught the attention of passers-by.
Target Field tours at #AVILIVE
Posted by FORTÉ, Inc. on Tuesday, May 23, 2017
As people made the rounds, the atmosphere became more casual. People joined tour groups to walk out onto Target Field and explore the stadium behind the scenes. Happy hour started at 3 p.m. too, with an open bar and appetizers in the exhibit hall.
People stayed until closing time, making sure everything was in order for FORTÉ LIVE day two.
