Josh Shanahan is taking over as the new NSCA president at a critical time for the organization and the AV integration industry as a whole.[related]
From the shift to networked AV to two-plus years of big companies getting even bigger to global expansion, there’s a lot for Shanahan to consider in his new role when his two-year term officially begins July 1.
“There’s a tremendous amount of competition and a tremendous amount of change,” says Shanahan.
But, much like any other task he’s taken on since becoming a third-generation owner-operator at SVT, Shanahan is embracing the challenges that he, NSCA and his industry are facing.
“We’re going to have to take a deep dive into what our future membership looks like,” says Shanahan, who will take over as NSCA president from Kelly McCarthy of Genesis Integration.
NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson noted at the 2018 NSCA Business & Leadership Conference that the average NSCA member’s firm size has grown from 27 to 45, a shift that Shanahan says brings with it the challenge of understanding the products and services they need “to remain relevant.”
“We have to ID the catalyst behind this M&A environment,” says Shanahan.
“Customers are looking for a single source and manufacturers are driving us to be bigger to allow us to participate in their rebate programs.”
Although NSCA doesn’t have a heavy global presence at this point, Shanahan says that “spells out an opportunity” for growth outside North America.
Shanahan understands the concern some in the AV industry have about the graying of its leadership, whereby many in the corner office are closing in on retirement but are struggling to figure out who will succeed them or what to do with the company once their gone.
That’s been one phenomenon that’s led to a lot of the M&A activity across the AV space along with interest from private equity and venture capital firms.
New NSCA President to Focus on Recruitment
To that end, Shanahan is excited to see NSCA making a concerted effort to bring in “next-generation talent.”
To that end, NSCA officially revealed details of the Ignite internship program at BLC 2018 and, with more than 90 companies as Ignite ambassadors, the search is on for young AV pros.
“I hope it’s going to generate a lot of interest,” says Shanahan. “All of this is about developing people and companies to work in a more sophisticated business environment.”
That includes the importance of IT in the AV integration puzzle and the increased importance of managed service and recurring revenue.
“It’s about us becoming proactive rather than being reactive,” says Shanahan.
