jeff loether
It’s More Than Okay to Self-Operate Your Audiovisual Services
Jeff Loether | June 12, 2019
10 top advantages of providing your own AV equipment and staff By Jeff Loether Outsourcing audiovisual services to a third-party provider has its advantages but is not always the right choice for every facility. Hotels and conference centers that provide standard presentation and voice reinforcement services often choose to use their own equipment and staff since they have only occasional needs for advanced equipment, support or labor. To help determine if a venue should self-operate its day-to-day AV services, operators first need to evaluate their venues, the types of support required for the events they book, the capabilities of thei...
Does Your AV Services Provider Like Working for Your Hotel?
Jeff Loether | May 30, 2019
5 tips to creating a mutually beneficial working environment By Jeff Loether Outsourcing audiovisual services is a viable option for many hotels. In addition to lowering operational and labor costs, it ensures that your guests receive professional equipment and support. While the provider will handle most of the day-to-day responsibilities, the hotel should still plan and budget for the service and maintenance of any built-in AV systems and infrastructure. This will allow the AV services provider to deliver services as efficiently as possible, creating a win for them, you and your guests. If outsourcing is the business model that be...
Outsourcing Audiovisual Equipment Has Its Advantages
Jeff Loether | May 29, 2019
10 reasons to leverage the skillset of a technology-savvy AV services team By Jeff Loether Outsourcing audiovisual equipment is by far the dominant model in the hotel industry, especially in large hotels that cater to convention business. It is also the norm in standard business hotels that cater to group and local business meetings, as well as social business on the weekends. For self-operated hotels, however, outsourcing is not be as prevalent. These properties are typically smaller in size and cater to the small, executive level meetings market as they do not typically have expansive meeting spaces. These hotels have ownership suppo...
While ‘Celebrating the Past and Charting the Future’ Don’t Overlook Event Technologies as a CapEx Investment
Jeff Loether | October 10, 2018
By Jeff Loether This week in Miami, the International Society of Hospitality Consultants is celebrating its 30th Anniversary. Three decades ago, this association was founded by 19 members; today it's a society of 229 members in 29 countries. The theme of the 30th Anniversary event is is "Celebrating the Past, Charting the Future." As someone who has worked in the event technology field for nearly 40 years (from concept through design, to construction, commissioning, and operations), I have spent my career consulting with hoteliers and conference center operators to better manage their AV technologies. This year's Annual Conference theme...
Built-In or Portable: What’s Your AV Strategy?
Jeff Loether | August 8, 2018
Six factors to consider when balancing decisions between built-in and portable AV equipment By Jeff Loether To say that AV services are "out of balance" in some operations is an understatement. When properly managed, AV can produce the second highest profit margin in a hotel – behind rooms. However, as my good friend John Burns, president of Hospitality Technology Consulting, recently said, "No one understands [AV], and no one really wants to." If a hotel does not have enough AV rental revenue to share with an outside audiovisual company to manage these in-house services, trying to self-manage AV services can be a nightmare. With...
5 Top Problems With Un-Managed AV Services
Jeff Loether | May 8, 2018
A new hybrid SaaS solution is coming that will serve as the next generation of managed AV services By Jeff Loether Technology is driving all aspects of our lives. In the meetings environment, it is playing a role more important than ever before. Just look at AAA's new Diamond Rating Guidelines for Lodging; the better the event technology, the higher the Diamond Rating AAA will bestow. To be ranked as a four diamond "Refined" hotel, a property must have an "ample variety of meeting rooms" with the "latest technology." To receive a five diamond "Ultimate Luxury" designation, the criteria isn't much different for the event space – th...
AV for IT: Convergence Myth Perceptions
Jeff Loether | June 16, 2016
Understanding why is it so challenging to get AV designed properly in a hotel By Jeff Loether There is a lot of buzz about AV and IT "converging," and there is some confusion as to what this really means. It seems as though IT is taking over everything with the Internet of Things (IoT), including telephones (VOIP), television (IPTV), and now even the AudioVisual realm. Where the AV systems in a hotel were once the responsibility of the Engineering Department, they now more often fall under the IT department because technology is technology – right? Wrong. There are distinct differences between these two disciplines, and due to the...
AV + IT Should Be Top of Mind When Planning a Meeting Space Reno
Jeff Loether | January 21, 2016
A renovation is the perfect time to improve the technology infrastructure of event space By Jeff Loether Hotels and conference centers undergoing make-overs or full-scale renovations of their meeting space should seriously consider a simultaneous event-technology overhaul. Not only is it the best way to economically accommodate the technology needs of planners, but with walls and ceilings exposed, audiovisual and telecommunications conduit, cabling, connectivity, show power and lighting controls can conveniently be upgraded. It will never cost less or be easier to upgrade your event technologies than during the renovation phase. Technol...
