Where is the Outdoor Electronic Sign Technician ?

Who doesn't Love a Nice Large L.E.D Outdoor Electronic Sign ?
I mean it has crossed your mind at some point
at trade shows
on road promotions
when in Vegas
at that big concert

Large L.E.D signs work, ESPECIALLY outdoors, they stand out and enforce brands, they lure your gaze and make an impact.

So you have decided to get one for your business, you have already found a space and you believe it would work wonders.. you can afford it so just like you've done with your other electronic equipment you call up a vendor make an order, wait for its arrival and anticipate your WOW factor.
The crates arrive with your sign and you receive instructions on the voltage it uses and how to put it together...?

It then hits you, clearly something is missing from the package this doesn't look at all like what you saw at the concert/in Vegas etc..

You then have to pay more for them to send technicians to come and put your sign together and show you how to update it with content.

Your sign runs for a couple of months and due to some unforseen issue you notice a section of the sign isn't showing ... hmm you dont really recall what the technicians did when they visited so you have to call them again.

Thats right folks when your getting an Outdoor L.E.D sign my suggestion is to have a technical team there request a team be sent from the supplier to assist with the install and train your technicians you HAVE to ask because contrary to popular opinion, technicians are not shipped in the crates with the Sign.. you either have to request a team from your supplier to run regular maintenace, contact a specialist in your area, or have your suppliers train a technical member of your staff.
For those wondering for the physical maintenance of the sign I recommend someone with knowledge in electronics who will repair the power supplies when they eventually give out (changing capcitors and fuses etc..) and an electrician that can read electrical diagrams VERY important.

Why Site Visits Are Important

The site visit 

 It is surprising that this simple task is overlooked. It may be based on the assumption that Owners of buildings still remember the structure and have the floor plans on file.. , or common knowledge of the location of power sources and overhead fixtures etc.. would be easily ascertained. Lets not forget some companies have high staff turn overs and in this information age the regular staff doesn't really pay attention to detail their days consist of mundane routines of heading towards the workstation, to the lunch room, to the workstation and then out the door. I've been in buildings and asked where is the fire extinguisher.. no-one actually sitting on the floor knew and they passed it everyday , they had to ask the maintenance guy. I remember my rookie mistake of assuming the building manager could answer a simple question about the building they worked in, I had received info on the location of power for a L.E.D sign installation , details about access to their network connection but I kept asking one question.. what is the structure like for the building ? are you certain ? I was repeatedly told that she knew what she was doing.

I can honestly say as A/V guys we should always do our needs analysis and Site Survey, we may find things the floor manager never knew about and possible obstructions they overlooked because it wasn't a part of their day to day activities.

So I plea ... Don't forget the importance of a Site Visit.It saves ALOT OF TIME AND RESOURCES

Challenge Accepted

I've been in this industry for 6 years and I have slowly grown with the company in the Audio/Visual field, we initially started out as an Outdoor Advertising company that utilized large L.E.D screens, the CEO had purchased some plasma screens and we decided to rent them out. Initially we were only renting the screens similar to furniture simple drop off and pick up, the most we would do is offer a dvd player and thats where our job ended, little by little the BIG boys in the industry couldn't meet the demand so we had to catch up very quickly, now we know all the major connector types offer cabling up to a certain amount of feet free and have our Distributer and Amplifier along with a humbucker and other main tools everywhere that we go, but as I said it wasn't always that way.
The meme below is something I've actually experienced while working here , drawing from A/V knowledge deep within to meet a clients needs with out the proper tools.

Now I will share the actually story :
Our team of 2 had a 6 screen installation to do for the swearing in of a Prime Minister, so really big and fancy event, at the time though as mentioned above we were really just renting the screen, not an a/v service , they had another company doing video for the event and distributing to several areas on site for officials to view from last minute that video company told them they needed 6 more screens so after arriving expecting to simply drop off the screens where they pointed power up and leave we were faced with the task of running cables, finding the ends for these cables, and splitting the signal for the six screens. All I had on me at the time was electrical tape, and my swiss army knife but we found a way to get everything up and running on time.

The Future of Digital Signage

Since I saw the movie minority report especially the scene below I was excited about the potential of digital signage and communication overall for the future, The epic Minority Report mall scene where after a retina scan from about 8feet or more away information on past purchases and coupons/offers specific to you are greeting you as you enter the Mall. 10 years after the movie I've witnessed gesture controls through the xbox kinect so controlling a kiosk without touch is possible, amazon for quite sometime has been collecting information on buying habits and presents very accurate suggestions for items you may be interested in, since 2009 (atleast to my knowledge) we even have 3d mapping projectors that are capable of bringing buildings to life (seemingly so).
Forthcoming is the google glass project which is basically a transparent OLED pc built into your glasses lens which accepts voice commands, I must admit i'd prefer communication between my glasses and readers at the mall over retina scans any day, but thats my personal preference.For now we only require the price of these products to drop for us to realise the scene below, (I'll also add the 3d mapping projectors video for those that haven't seen it as yet and the google glass project)

 Minority Report Mall scene


Google Glass project


3d Mapping Projector

The Good Client

I work and live in Jamaica so clearly my opinion is based upon my experiences.
In an Ideal world you give your client a contract which details payment arrangements and you are paid according to that contract, sadly this is not always the case on too many occasions I feel like a credit officer running down big clients for money they owe, and they owe because to them they can afford to hold out on us its not like we're a utility company.
below is the scenario as it plays out in my head when I meet a customer that is late (for no reason WHAT SO EVER) with payments.

THE SPEECH

The meme below was based upon an article I read by Nicholas "Nick" Voss, you can read the original article here.

Nick wrote about how AUDIOVISUAL TECHNICIANS CAN TOPPLE EMPIRES BY SENDING FEEDS PRE-FADER and gave real life examples of how this has happened, it only strengthens the point A/V Technicians are worth their weight in GOLD.

A Good A/V guy

I recently played a video game called Brutal legend starring Jack Black and it was about a special Roadie. A Roadie for those that don't know can be defined as a nickname for "road crew." A roadie is a technician that travels on tour with a band, and the term can refer to a wide variety of job titles. Guitar techs, bass techs, drum techs, lighting techs, and stage managers, among others, are all part of the roadie category. The roadie serves an essential purpose, and does his job to ensure that the band will be able to play at the venue with proper sound and lighting.

Below is a quote from the video game:

"A good roadie knows his whole job is to make someone else look good. Keep someone else safe. Help someone else do what they were put here to do. A good roadie stays out of the spot light. If he’s doing his job right you don’t even know he’s there. Once in awhile he might step on stage just to fix a problem, to set something right. But then before you even realize he was there, or what he did, he’s gone."

All A/V professionals can speak that same motto with pride, a good A/V professional isn't noticed, we arrive first, leave last and if the event planner remembers us we sometimes get fed too. 

I have been in the industry for 6 years and I can honestly say its no walk in the park, the reward is completing a big job when the odds are stacked against this scenario is specific towards events. If you are really good at what you do you have worked with or for some famous brands or artists, you were part of an epic world changing event probably you were even the one responsible for sharing the knowledge but little will be known about you.

This meme below is for the Good A/V guy.