Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Pro AV today. Today is one of the conversations that I look forward to most every year. And if you know me, you know how big of fan I am of the e four experience put on by Exertis Almo, every year. I think four times every year. This year starting off in DC and going through to a lot of great places. But I wanted to have that conversation again, especially to put it top of mind with some people who may not be familiar with the with e four maybe some folks who just are are kinda getting into the industry for the first time. Even folks who have been in the industry for a while, there's a lot of value in the show. So wanted to mix it up a little bit today. We're bringing on, a different guest, and that's Rob Voorhees from Exertis Almo. Rob, thanks so much for coming on today. Oh, Ben, it's always a pleasure. I love love getting a chance to speak with you. As always, man, it's always a good conversation whether it's in person or digitally, but I I gotta ask. Right? And and, you know, at this point, I think a lot of people in our community are are would say the, quote unquote, traditional ProIV community is is pretty familiar with you know, the e four experience. Right? And obviously, Exertis Alamo being a a massive name in the industry helps with that. But, you know, you and I had a chance to talk a little bit off off air in in just a little bit about how, sometimes our industry, likes to hang out in the same circles, right, whether that's infocom ISE and and and all that is great. You know, but the companies and the the brands who really are reaching out to those regions, to those end users, to those people kind of boots on the ground are having a lot of success. And that's one of the things that I love about, you know, the e four experience is that it gives you a chance, as an end user, as an integrator, as somebody more local to get some hands on experience with a lot of these technologies. So I wanna ask and really set the table, you know, kind of what's the vision behind E four? Right? It's it's been a show quite a while, and especially post merger, you've seen a a lot of different places. But, really, what's the vision behind it, Rob? And what are some of the reasons that you guys continue to to do it year over year? Well, I think you it's a perfect segue from what you were just starting with Ben is, you know, as great as those larger, trade shows are in this industry, I feel like as an attendee for those events as well, you you really know what to expect going into every single one of them and you know you know, kind of what the buzzwords are and the new technology that's gonna be shown and the partners that are gonna be there. One of the things that I personally love about the e four experiences is what you said. It lets us get to, you know, more of a street level from a region's perspective and every conversation seems to be different. Every, event seems to be different. We always have new partners, new products new ways to engage with people at these events. And we really saw that take off this year, with some new ideas where we were actually, soliciting ideas from other members of the pro AV industry, because we wanted to hear from others outside of Exertis Alamo on what type of sessions would you wanna hear about? What type of education would you want to speak on? So for the first time ever this year, we have a number of brand new segments, a lot of brand new presenters this year, And that's what you get, I think, from the smaller regional perspective is it feels more personalized. It feels more custom for that dedicated area. And we do that all over the country no matter what demographic we're going to. So I I really think it's a great opportunity to get a little more hands on with our partners and and with our vendors, then maybe you find at at some of those larger events. Well, look, and I I remember even as as an end user kinda cutting my teeth in the industry. It was difficult for me to find local events outside of maybe just some specific sponsored events where I could touch technology. Right? And and at the time, I mean, I was even working for a church and, you know, it was it was difficult. We had the budget to spend, but it felt like nobody wanted to talk to us. Right? Nobody was willing to have that conversation. And and, obviously, our industries evolve quite a bit. Right? And and it's not a, it's not a demerit against our industry eighteen years ago when I was working at a church. Right? But I think it's it's good to see kinda how far we've come. Right? And, you know, obviously, we talk about technology, getting to see things, like, displays in person, getting to look at LED walls, and getting to look at color contrast ratios, PTs, so many different things, but but one of the things that always jumps out to me about the show, And I'll even spotlight last year is that you guys are willing to have conversations that are uncomfortable in the industry, whether that's deI, whether that's the role of women in leadership in the industry, whether that's industry specific trends. Right? What are some of the things that people can expect to see on this year's circuit, especially when it comes to those conversations I don't wanna say the headier side of our industry, but really the side that kinda pushes and challenges us a little bit. Yeah. We're we're always looking for those type of topics. And and me personally, I think one of the things that I like best about, you know, some of what you just said with you know, using DeE and I as the example is, you know, a lot of the times it's easy for people to just look at ProAV and think the technical side, but they're so much more that goes into it. And, you know, whether it is women in the workforce or or diversity, you know, we wanna keep the industry growing and we wanna keep you know, the, you know, like the new blood coming into it. And by having those types of conversations, it's really helped spearheading that. This year, we added a number of new, new segments and new, sessions, and and these are C, you know, Avixa CTS RU certified courses. That's one of the biggest, components of e four is the education and making sure that we are partner with Avixa to offer those RUs. And and one that I'm particularly excited about is about how to harness AI in collaboration spaces, and we have a a really great guest speaker Amanda Stewart from Microsoft coming in to do that. But not only is she presenting on that, but we're also having an entire, Microsoft Teams room experience center that's you know, first time ever we're doing that, tomorrow at the DC show. Whole host of other, you know, typical, what I would call typical AV courses about meeting room design, digital signage. We have just a really good group of guest speakers, but one of the things that I loved most when I saw the lineup for this year is, you know, we have a really good blend of not just your traditional AV speakers that you might have seen before, but also these newer segments that we we got through though, that solicitation process I mentioned where we had outsiders from from Exertist Alamo, you know, able to submit their own sessions. And that that's what I was most interested in is keeping that content fresh and making sure that we're doing our part to, you know, help people want to come to these events. And if you're if you're constantly hearing and seeing the same thing over and over again, you're you know, obviously, that's gonna reflect in the attendance. So, you know, I think we did an absolutely phenomenal job doing that and getting these new sessions and you know, there that's just kind of the off show floor sessions, and then we also have a really great I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not, but a really great, live demo that we're gonna be doing in our drone solution booth. And I think that's gonna be drawing a lot of attention as well. So again, it's all about coming up with those new ideas seeing and listening to what the industry is telling us and then making sure we're offering that content folks. You know what? I I love that you brought up drones. This wasn't this wasn't a pre prepared question at all, but I had the chance to to meet with a lot of the the drones team at a show, energy specific show. And I love the way that especially shows like e four, and obviously the exertice album. I love the work you guys are doing. You're willing to engage with companies and have conversations outside of traditional Pro EV per views. Right? Yes. If you If you were to tell me, I think DJI DJI was last was there last year, as well, if I'm not mistaken, I think they were there. But it's funny that that you know, you might hear that and, you know, the, the traditional AV stickler, might say what in the world is are they doing there? You know, the only thing that they could do is capture cameras and, you know, but what's interesting is we're now having conversations about site surveys with drones, about proactive maintenance with drones about, you know, construction and engineering because folks like you guys are are willing to kind of bridge that gap a little bit and teach. And I think what that does and I wanna talk about newcomers for a second. I think what that does is that really builds a bridge to the AV industry for a lot of folks. Right? Because you look at the world of AV and, you know, some of the career paths are still there. Right? You know, the the audio engineer that's very, familiar career path or, you know, folks in IT or who volunteer, but you've also now got the content creators. You've got the you know, the drone fires. You've got so many different people that are finding their way into the industry. And I just gotta commend you for having those conversations, but let's ask. I wanna talk about the newcomers, what are some of the things that they can expect to see to show like e four versus maybe traditionally, like, in infocom and things like that? So I think, you know, the the entire show is, is really put together to make sure it's not just touching the the, you know, traditional AV side of the business. But not also not on the on the opposite side of the spectrum. We don't wanna tailor it just to the newcomers. So it is really a good balancing act that Our entire events and business development and sales organization goes through when they're methodically putting every one of these locations and every one of these shows together. Is we wanna make sure that the vendors, the the product, the the keynote addresses, and especially the educational sessions There's something for everyone. So, yes, you will have something like a live demo at the drone's booth that would be perfect for somebody like myself who who much like you said, Ben, it's it's outside of the the normal AV scope. But I will tell you in the in the short amount of time that we've been in the drones business, all of a sudden, I'm now paying attention to news articles about how law enforcement agencies are using drones to actually save lives. And that's the type of product you're gonna be able to see here on the show floor. That might give one of our partners the idea. Well, I'm already offering this type of hardware to government. Now I can offer this as solution as well. And and as I mentioned earlier with some of our educational seminars, Tom Care, who is our, Exertis Almo in house designer and trainer, he does two phenomenal classes that are all geared about AV design acoustics and meeting rooms. And I think that's great for, you know, beginners all the way up to the most experience because what I will urge any attendee at an e four experience is come with an open mind be prepared to learn at least one thing new. Take one thing away from every e four experience you go to and be able to apply that because I can tell you as an employee at Exertis Alamo, I do the same thing at every show. And this is my it's either my twenty eighth or twenty ninth event that I've done so far. And I still take something new away from every one of them. So that would be my biggest, my biggest emphasis is whether you're brand new to the industry just getting your foot in the door or you are a a an old school traditional seasoned veteran you will find something at an e four experience that's brand new. Look, I I, I can attest that that is entirely true. Right? Whether it's you know, have a discussions about the evolution of the sales channel and pro AV or, end user use cases or the the the role of the new decision maker in IT There's so many things to to get to pull away because it gives you an opportunity not only to see the hardware and learn a lot of things, but network with people in your community. That's one of the benefits really of having these regional shows is that it draws people that are are local. Right? Whether it's, you know, sometimes it might be competitive integrators, which is fine. But it's also end users. It's houses of worship. It's, you know, corporate IT managers. It draws so many different folks and it allows wealth of conversation we had, Rob. I know that we we've got, I think, four, coming up this year. How can people find out more? How can they register? I know it's a free show. How can people, register and learn a little bit more? Yes. Well, first off, thank you for mentioning that. I do wanna put an emphasis on that. That's another benefit of doing these smaller regions shows is they are completely free to our integrators, so you don't hopefully have to plan, you know, flights and hotels and rental cars just to get out there. You can always go on to e four experience dot com and view the entire lineup of where we're gonna be in that given year. And then make sure to go ahead and register and reserve your spot right there from the page and also learn a little bit more about who the presenters are gonna be and sessions are gonna be at that event. Well, look, Rob, like I said, it's one of my favorite sets of events every single year. I I every year I try and find my way to at least one on one of the experiences because it's good to just meet and, learn. Right? And and folks like us who have been in the industry for a while, there's there's always something to learn. Right? If if you're done learning, you're done growing, which for anybody in this industry, knows that that's the kiss of death. Right? There's There's always something new, always something happening, and obviously we wanna build on those base principles and, you know, shows, like e four helped build a lot of that, but it also has conversations outside of maybe the traditional world of AV. Rob, I'm I'm gonna give you kind of the crystal ball though. You know, you you you talked about the evolution of kinda AI and some of these new technologies that have found their way into the AV side of things. What excites you most about maybe even the next couple of years or maybe next five, ten years, about some of the things you guys are hoping to see in the industry? I think in general, and and, you know, pivoting back to what we've we've talked with things like drones and AI. I, you know, I I can't pinpoint exactly what I think it's going to be, but what I will tell you is I do see a lot of that same, methodical planning to finding newer technologies. And and I use my self as as an example, you know, back in, seven years ago when I first got started at Almo, I got started because Almo was getting into the telecommunication space and bandwidth and they saw things like AV over IP was starting to generate some steam and with that becomes a big need for bandwidth. And now you're looking at drones and AI and collaboration and and harnessing all of that. Like, we're gonna do in the Microsoft room. So I see a lot more of that coming where it is going to kind of be building that dynamic around all of those newer technologies, we're gonna still see a lot of, all in one type products that I I think are really a big draw not just to vendors and and the manufacturers, but also to partners because it's easier installations, more streamlined processes and certainly help cut costs wherever possible. So I see a lot of that coming for the future still and and just constantly perfecting it. Well, Rob, look, I know, you and I all get a chance to see each other either one of the shows or or one of the, the normal AV cut a circuit shows as well this year. It was great to chat with you. If you all haven't had a chance to sign up or attend an e four yet, highly highly encourage you to, you'll you'll come away with at least one new thing to learn. Right? And that's That's always a bonus. But, Rob, thanks so much for coming on the show today. We appreciate you and have a great, rest of the season. You too. Thanks so much, Ben. And thank you all for tuning in. Be sure to like and subscribe. Check us out next time on Pro EV today.
