We live in the age of entertainment at our fingertips. Interactive games, exciting videos, and groundbreaking stories are only a click away. So how are theme parks staying competitive as an entertaining pastime and leisure activity, and how is AV playing into this immersive experience economy?

Giving their perspectives are Erik Baeumlisberger, corporate manager of guest experience technology at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, and Mike Wallace, creative director at Falcon's Creative Group. Both were part of a panel session, presented by Blooloop, at InfoComm 2019 titled "Trends in Theme Park Attraction Experiences."

A big takeaway from their presentation and from the podcast is that theme park designers are having to create rides and experience that are personalized and repeatable, and they're turning to tangential industries to draw inspiration. One of those, and the one that piqued our interest the most, was video games.

"The video game industry has outpaced the film industry for a few years now," Baeumlisberger said.

"It's realtime decision-making that affects your environment and your journey, and if we try to apply those lessons to a dark ride or to a physical environment in a them park, that's when we start to get into this frontier of untapped potential" Wallace said.

That realtime differentiation creates an intrinsic uniqueness to each person's ride and tells a new story. It has to, Wallace said. "There's no way you're going to have the same eight people make the same decision."

As the world advances technologically at break-neck speed, theme parks are keeping pace by creating immersive, personalized experiences influenced and inspired by tech. So what sets them apart from Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality that people can experience at home? In an ironic twist, theme parks are differentiating themselves from modern digital entertainment by throwing it back to the original form of entertainment, too: theatre.

Like video games, improvisational actors add an element of surprise and individuality that keep guests coming back for new experiences. In addition to live actors, theme park innovators are customizing the guest experience by collecting data to help curate an ongoing journey that continues to please the likes of each individual person.

Experience creators like Baeumlisberger and Wallace are pushing the limits of creativity by crafting narratives that draw the guest in and make them part of a story. These theme park experiences are unique and catered to each guest, and have a built in sense of repeatability because of that personalization.

Listen to these two thought leaders explain why, whether it’s a roller-coaster or a haunted house, the thrill for future theme parks lies in users holding the ability to define the ride more than the designer.

The Audio Visual industry is dominated by men, with women making up a mere 14% of the industry. But that does not mean that the women in AV are not making waves and pushing for change. In fact, from one year to the next, change can quite literally be seen.

Take the AVIXA Women's Council Breakfast at InfoComm 2019 this year. The large exhibition room where they hosted the event was overflowing with people; they had to bring in new tables as more people poured in. AVIXA leadership couldn't stop touting the growth of their local councils, more than doubling from 17 to 40 in one year.

Though things aren't quite leveled out for women in AV, strides are happening. What does this mean for women in the industry today, and women who might join the industry in the near future? In this podcast, we listen to thought leader, technology marketing strategist, and former head of marketing at Sennheiser Petro Shimonishi.

After enjoying the event, Shimonishi joined us to speak authoritatively on the benefits a company can reap by building diverse teams, both in gender and culture. She confidently cited a study demonstrating a 25% revenue increase as a result of diversity in the workplace.

“Business is all about teamwork,” Shimonishi said, and a strong team is one made up of a variety of genders and backgrounds. With women making the majority of tech purchases for the household, having females on an AV team gives new insight to marketing strategies for sound and visual purchases, and what end-user are looking for in this experience economy.

Beyond divulging financial insights for marketing tech, Shimonishi gave sage managerial advice for leaders. “Know your people," she said. This constant conversation between team members and management, regardless of gender, is what nurtures the sharing of ideas and uplifts the strengths inherent in a diverse team.

Listen to Shimonishi give her thoughts on recruitment efforts for women in STEAM fields, how leadership has evolved in AV, and ways AV women can lift each other up, exchange ideas and empower each other to push the industry to new heights.

Though not one of the largest markets for Pro AV spending, the Hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing, generating $7 billion in 2018 and rising at an average annual growth of 6.1 percent over the next five years.

This comes from AVIXA's newest Hospitality Industry Market Intelligence Report presented at InfoComm 2019, and on today's Pro AV Podcast episode, Sean Wargo, senior director of market intelligence at AVIXA, details the tremendous opportunities for AV companies to bring digital content displays to hotels and restaurants.

Digital displays with the local weather, nearby restaurants or way-finding signage found in guest rooms and lobbies are already a huge driver of growth and a memorable way to improve a guest’s experience.

“Good experiences come down to the perfect marriage of content, the space, and the technology,” Wargo said. “No one single element is more important than the other.”

Now hotel properties are using a variety of new and established technology such as voice control, lighting control systems, sound control, and other smart-room technologies as part of the experimental cutting edge. Add on to that, AV is creating immersive and unique opportunities for hotels to brand themselves.

“We’re using Pro AV as a way of enhancing or augmenting the space with light, sound, and video,” Wargo said.

Give this podcast a listen for a comprehensive look at Wargo's findings in AVIXA's newest report and how AV professionals should capitalize on this growth.

Like many industries, retail is facing the full effect of the experience economy. Couple this with the standardized convenience of e-commerce, and it becomes clear the future of brick and mortar stores is at a critical point. Nowhere is this need for an experience beyond the product in retail more evident than at our malls.

In this InfoComm 2019 episode of the Pro AV Podcast, host Daniel Litwin discussed this new blend of retail and entertainment and how it's affecting the Pro AV industry with Jackie Wolford, director of Design Studio for AOA and Louis Alfieri, principal and chief creative officer for Raven Sun Creative.

Litwin met up with Wolford and Alfieri after their seminar at InfoComm: "Retailtainment: Attractions are Bringing Customers to the Mall." The two thought leaders discussed how interactivity, personalization, and entertainment are key trends in retail, and all are being facilitated by the latest Pro AV technologies.

These sophisticated new experiences are creating a new kind of mall as the lines between retail and entertainment blur to create the unique out-of-home experience that is retailtainment. For example, content creators like Wolford are layering projection mapping with live entertainment.

Alfieri is seeing the manifestation of retail stores, such as Nike, use content and storytelling to create truly unique experiences that make customers feel part of an experience.

"Retailers are creating a neighborhood feel for consumers," he said.

Listen to Wolford and Alfieri recap their educational session at InfoComm, why storytelling is driving the best retail content, how retailtainment is putting more of a creative emphasis on AV professionals.

When KPIs are being met and a business is running smoothly, should companies keep doing what they are doing or should they evolve? Consistency doesn’t always lead to longevity; the need to change is sometimes inevitable. Every brand will eventually find itself needing to pivot, and today we explore what that means for one company in Pro AV: AtlasIED. Joining us to give her perspective on company evolution in AV and how InfoComm guides that adaptation is Gina Sansivero, vice president of marketing and corporate communications.

AtlasIED has been a leader in the space for years, but mainly in three areas: speakers, mic stands, and airport communications. According to Gina, “Those three segments are vastly different. They’ve certainly helped us get our foot in the door lots of places. Speakers may get a customer interested, but then we tell our story that includes what else we do like other hardware and software. This new ecosystem that can take care of audio communications for a variety of applications.”

So, what was the catalyst for AtlasIED’s evolution? Much of it was the vision of the company’s president, whom Sansivero praises as a visionary in the industry. The company’s new focus on providing complete solutions has been supported by their campaign, which uses the hashtag #youdidntseethiscoming. It began as a story about their new strategically hidden speaker but then took on a new life. “It became a double message; not just about the hidden speaker but about the new energy we’re bringing to the industry.”

With InfoComm just days away, AtlasIED is ready to take the stage, presenting itself in a new light as a complete audio solutions provider. “This year, we are focusing on showcasing complete solutions and how our products work together and integrate. And the great thing is that all the products we’re showing at InfoComm are in stock and ready to ship,” Sansivero said.

This is powerful and a surprisingly unexpected thing for a showcase at InfoComm, which is often led by innovative solutions that are just around the corner, not always a complete company catalog of what's innovative in the market today.

Theme parks have become a place where fans and guests can travel into new worlds and experience much more than just a thrilling ride. These immersive experiences are getting bigger, more detailed, and are requiring the support of innovative AV installs.

As consumers come to expect more from their theme park visits, where does AV fit into the puzzle to enhance the experience? On today's episode of the Pro AV Podcast, we get insight from thought leaders at Electrosonic: UK Senior Consultant Paul Kent, and US Vice President Chris Conte.

With consumers setting the tone for what's next in theme park rides, the pressure is on. "The goal is to give them something that's better than what they could experience at home," Kent said.

"It can be a challenge because you have all these fantastic movies and TV shows...then for them to come alive in a theme park, it's a real-time experience. There are big expectations," Conte said.

"And no time for post-production like in the movies. The production has to be flawless," Kent added.

So how does AV offer production teams the ability to pull off these immersive experiences, without getting in the way of the experience? It's a tight line to walk, because mismanaged AV installations can often pull end-users out of an experience if the installations aren't added in with direction and intentionality behind the design.

"We're asked all the time, how we can create a 'wow' moment and pull people into the experience. It's the fun part of designing these attractions, but it can be tricky. Interactivity is a buzz word for designers and creators. They have to create a linear storyline while also considering the throughput of getting an audience through the ride in a few minutes," Conte said. "Group interactive much more challenging than an individual experience like VR. AR will really be the technology that's more viable in theme parks."

That storytelling, at the end of the day, is what makes today's theme park attraction successful, and AV has to be a welcomed addition to the larger narrative of the ride, exhibit, or park as a whole. Conte, who had the opportunity to visit 'Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge' before opening to the public, had to point to Disneyland's newest attraction as a perfect example of a successful . "I was blown away by the detail, some of the best art direction I've ever seen. When you enter the ride, you are fully immersed into the world of Star Wars. It's not just the physical pieces. It's the sound, the lights, the technology. It's truly amazing," he said.

Beyond the technology of Pro AV, today’s digital screens are delivering powerful, and in many cases data-driven content, to audiences everywhere. At venues, on the street, or at the store, consumers are looking for more interactive and engaging content. Unfortunately, not every marketer fully grasps how to use their digital signage to its fullest capacity, not to mention integrate the variety of data points coming from consumers' cell phones.

Here to discuss the potential that digital signage has for understanding an audience and how to act on that data is Mark Eisenstadt, Professional Services Manager at LED display manufacturer Daktronics.

The South Dakota-based company designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Before joining Daktronics more than a decade ago, Eisenstadt worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Super Bowl 33.

His long career in digital display technology has taught him that engagement is the name of the game, and knowing what content your audience wants is the game-winning strategy, and much like a lesson in Marketing 101, effective marketers know exactly who they’re trying to reach.

“If the last two to four years have taught us [anything] it's that understanding data and understanding who’s viewing your message is just as important as any other type of marketing or branding,” Eisenstadt said.

The real challenge for Pro AV producers and marketers is managing two different screens: The one that’s in your venue and the one that’s in your audience’s hands. Eisenstadt offered this advice: Choose whether you want to steer people away from their phones with engaging video content or steer people to their phones to connect in-venue content with their own.

“Are you going to embrace the fact that everybody’s using their phones, or are you going to run from it. Neither is a right or wrong answer, but a real decision has to be made,” he said.

When you think about the amount of content produced regularly, especially from businesses, it’s unlikely that any of it can work seamlessly without a strong software infrastructure. This is especially true for video, and today, expert Liz Davis, Director of the Media Workflow Group for Diversified, joined us on the podcast to share her perspective on how software enables media workflow.

Davis has a long history of working with media and has been in the industry since before the digital revolution. “All brands have become media publishers. It’s more cost-effective than ever. Whereas over a decade ago, many brands still put more investment into traditional media, then they discovered by working with new types of agencies that focused on content creation and began to see lots of return on video. And now, of course, video is everywhere and used in many nontraditional ways,” she said.

Davis shared that many brands still struggle with media workflows, mostly because businesses didn't have the infrastructure initially to pull of the amount of content end-users are now expecting. “Media workflows are both technological and psychological in nature. You have lots of different players that have to work on just one video project—producers, editors, etc. But video has to also have technology behind it for it to meet the goals, whether those be awareness or conversions. Everything needs to be entered into a central repository and have data points attached to them. Software also enables teams to automate non-creative parts of the process,” she said.

She and her team work with many brands on the importance of media. It’s about KPIs and getting the whole team on board to understand the value of this content. But to truly achieve that, the back-end storage and workflow needs to be in place. “Based on the objectives of a brand and the priorities of each department, we create a plan, with budget in mind, to get companies where they want to go,” Davis said.

Listen to Davis explain the critical importance media workflows and the future of software in content production, including machine learning and AI.

The professional AV industry ranges far and wide, from film, television, and concert tours, to corporate events, weddings, and hotel AV. That's a lot of different roles in different situations with one common goal: a great audience experience. To stay ahead of the curve, AV professionals have to learn how to work with all facets of people so that they feel empowered to do their best work, said independent creative designer Robert Hickman. He is a designer and producer for lighting, video, graphic/web/print design, and audio production, as well as today's guest on the Pro AV Podcast.

During his 10 years in the industry, Hickman has worn a lot of different hats, including working as the stage manager for Christian music group The Newsboys as their touring designer, theater event manager, account manager, and even security guard for concerts.

"I've been that guy sitting all night, guarding a door from intruders and protecting the one or two people that are going to be walking through that door," Hickman said with a chuckle. He's worked his way up and has since branched out to form his own company.

Working for clients like Elite Multimedia, Hickman said clients and artists are part of the creative challenge that he loves in his work.

"Being able to work with an artist who really cares about the look and feel really pushes your boundaries to say 'OK, maybe we can do that,'" Hickman said. "My goals, after all, are to compliment their vision and provide visual strength to help deliver their message."

On the podcast, he breaks down how to find opportunities in the unexpected of the AV industry, what the common challenge for every project is, and why focusing on the people will deliver a more quality design and installation.

To capture the ever-growing experience-driven demands of consumers, great content coupled with quality sound is the new standard. On this episode of the Pro AV Podcast, host Daniel Litwin sat down with Dave Howden, Director of Technical Services for Community Loudspeakers, to discuss how the AV industry is feeling the effects of a content-driven consumer base and strategies that AV professionals can use to stay ahead of the curve, especially with outdoor displays and audio.

“In recent years we’ve seen that the quality and size of visual displays have increased and stepped up to provide an excellent experience in almost any environment,” Howden said. “The quality of the content is increasingly compelling. And we’ve seen the audio industry provide and create solutions to reinforce those visuals with high-quality sound.”

These three elements — visual display, content, and sound — are engaging consumers in increasingly impressive ways. That means consumers should have a completely seamless experience on all three accounts.

“In the audio world, sound is affected by factors like ambient background noise, wind, thermal gradients, and temperature,” Howden said. “There’s an expectation for good synchronization between audio and video, but that can be a variable environment.”

Howden said people will generally tolerate 50 milliseconds of discontinuity between what they see in mouths moving, and what they hear.

“In an ideal world, what people see, we want them to hear within 35 milliseconds.”

Listen to Howden break down the necessity of quality audio, and what changes in technology (like automation) are encouraging more immersive audio experiences.