You’re walking onto a site visit. It’s another large-scale AV integration, complete with a rack room to wire, a digital signage system to configure and a dozen vendors to coordinate. It’s business as usual.
And then, you see them.
A familiar face. It’s someone with whom you shared a cramped office trailer five years ago. Someone who helped you pass your CTS exam. Someone who now works at a competitor, bidding against your firm.
And yet, instead of tension, there’s a grin…maybe a handshake…in my case, a hug or a quiet joke.
Because, in AV, as in any rebellion, “I have friends everywhere,” isn’t just a line from my favorite show, “Andor.” It’s actually real.
The Small, Wired World of Pro AV
The professional AV industry isn’t as sprawling as it might seem. Yes, it’s global. However, it’s tightly guarded and networked. People move between integrators, manufacturers, consultants and reps like HDMI signals through a well-routed switch.
One year, you might be side by side, pulling cable at a convention center install. The next year, you’re across the table, submitting competing bids for a university’s hybrid learning project or a new ride at a theme park in Florida.
And yet, the connection stays.
AV friendships are often forged in the field — under tight deadlines, in loud venues, with tools in one hand and a punch list in the other, while sweating over hardware delays. These relationships don’t dissolve just because name tags change or because companies compete.
The Power of the Line ‘I Have Friends Everywhere’
In “Andor,” the line “I have friends everywhere” is whispered as both a promise and a quiet rebellion — a defiance of the cold machinery of control.
In AV, that same phrase takes on a different — yet equally powerful — meaning.
This is what it means:
- Someone will pick up the phone when you’re stuck on a DSP config at 10 p.m.
- A rep from a competing line will vouch for your ethics to a shared client.
- A former coworker, who has now turned competitive rival, will still refer a project if it’s not a fit for them.
This is my kind of rebellion: a friendship that lets you get carried away.
It doesn’t mean that you get special favors. It means that you’ve built relationships strong enough to transcend the day’s proposal or project scope.
It means your network isn’t a contact list — it’s a community.
Trust, Standards and the Ethics That Keep It All Standing
This community works because it’s grounded in trust, and in standards. Not just technical ones, such as ANSI/INFOCOMM10:2013, Audiovisual Systems Performance Verification, but also the unspoken code of the AV professional:
- You don’t poach inside info.
- You respect the NDA.
- You celebrate your friend’s win, even when it stings.
When someone about whom you care lands that auditorium install you bid on, you don’t resent them. You text them congratulations. And if you’re secure in your craft, you even ask what won them the job.
Because this isn’t a zero-sum game. There will always be more installs. But there aren’t always more friends who understand your world down to the decibel.
Motivation in the Mirror
Seeing your friend thrive at a competing firm conjures up a strange mix of pride and pressure.
Their product launch is featured in Commercial Integrator? You read every word.
They speak on an AVIXA panel at InfoComm? You take notes.
Their project video goes viral on LinkedIn? You study the signal flow behind the scenes.
It’s not jealousy — it’s fuel. Their success becomes your motivation to raise the bar on your own deliverables and designs…even your leadership.
You compete not to beat them but, rather, to belong in the same league.
Quiet Support Behind the Scenes
The best AV friendships aren’t performative; instead, they’re quiet constants. A well-timed text. A subtle head nod at InfoComm. A shared understanding during a commissioning call gone sideways.
And, at certain times, they save the day:
- A friend at a rival distributor helps you fast-track a replacement part.
- A systems designer from another firm walks you through a firmware workaround.
- A competitor passes on a local lead because they’re over capacity, and they know you’ll handle it right.
In a high-stakes environment in which the margin for error can be razor-thin, having friends everywhere isn’t just poetic — it’s practical.
Drawing the Line Without Burning Bridges
Friendship in AV doesn’t mean fuzzy ethics. There are hard lines, and smart friends know how to walk them.
During an RFP process, you back off the casual texts. You don’t ask about pricing. You don’t share roadmaps.
You might even say something like, “Let’s go quiet until the bid’s awarded; then, we’ll catch up.”
And when you lose to that friend, you show grace. When you win, you stay humble. That’s how these relationships last across decades, across job titles and across galaxies.
Why the Industry Needs More of This
AV is evolving faster than ever. Hybrid work, immersive experiences, smart campuses — everything is converging. Standards are emerging, being adopted and adapting. Tech is changing. And the pressure to deliver “flawless” outcomes is greater than ever.
But, amid that rush, the human side of the industry can’t be lost.
We need people who…
- get what it means to stay up past midnight writing DSP presets.
- understand the emotional chaos of a failed commissioning just before client handover.
- know that, sometimes, all you need is someone who “speaks AV” and knows your “wiring” logic.
Those people are often sitting in a different office, wearing shirts emblazoned with a different logo. Nevertheless, they’re still your people.
Because in this industry — an industry in which collaboration and competition exist in constant feedback loops — friendship is one of the most powerful signal boosters there is.
The Final Word: Connection Above All
So, yes, we chase specs. We follow AVIXA guidelines. We measure SLAs, calibrate color temps and refine control logic. But what lies at the heart of the AV world isn’t just clarity — it’s connection.
And when the gear is powered down, the emails stop and the last truss is flown, the only thing that sometimes remains is that friend you texted from a noisy jobsite…the one you clinked glasses with after a late-night install.
Because, in this business, having friends everywhere isn’t a sci-fi catchphrase; instead, it’s the hope that keeps the pro AV community as a whole moving forward.
Carrie Garcia is director of business development for YCD Multimedia.
