Awards aren’t everything, certainly, but leaders from the 2019 NSCA Excellence in Business Award winners and CI’s 2018 Integrator of the Year shared some of the AV business lessons they’ve learned—in some cases, the hard way—during a panel discussion to kick off the 2019 NSCA Business & Leadership Conference (BLC 2019).
Why Spinitar employees probably have more fun than you
Spinitar earned the EIB award for employee engagement, thanks in part to a regular practice of recognizing employee achievements and birthdays and, oh yeah, the annual trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as part of the Chairman’s Club program. This year, more than 130 people will make the trip.
“One-third of your employees’ lives are spent at work, one-third is sleeping and the other third is having fun,” Spinitar principal Jay Rogina says.
“Our mission, vision and value is about fun. We consider that one-third of their lives at our company very important. It’s important to wake up every morning and want to come to work, not dread it.”
Innovative Collaboration stresses who their employees actually are
Al Sheppard, co-owner at Innovative Collaboration, is proud of the company’s award for talent development and says it’s rooting in asking some basic questions of everyone who works there.
“Our focus is on ‘who do you want to be in your career? What do you want to do?’ We want to help you get there,” he says.
Horizon AVL’s strategy is focused on a new, promising market
Horizon AVL is this year’s NSCA Excellence in Business Award winner for differentiating strategy thanks to its prowess in the growing esports space. CEO Joshua Kell says the company is working with about 60 colleges and universities and 1,500 high schools on developing their broadcast and streaming capabilities.
The keys to success in any new endeavor, he says, “are patience and giving yourself enough altitude,” alluding to his recent hobby of flying planes.
“AV business is no different [than [earning to fly a plane], especially when you’re looking at something new, like esports,” says Kell.
Vistacom: you need to ‘get the hell out of the way’ & let employees follow-through
Vistacom was honored for its strategic transformation, and president and owner Jim Ferlino says the success is a company-wide initiative.
“At the management level, it’s absolutely critical that you take the time to put together a clear strategic initiative that is very unambiguous,” he says.
“You have to have a very clear message for your team, but then you’ve got to get the hell out of the way and let the team do it. If you can put the right message together, give them the right resources and hire the right people, you can get a lot done.
Ford-AV keeps every promise
Chris Ford, bid division manager for 2018 CI Integrator of the Year Ford Audio Video, points to the company’s values of keeping your promises to customers and remembering to make sure your customers understand the importance you play in their desire to meet their AV needs.
“Value yourself highly, value the product you’re selling highly and keep your promises to your customers,” says Ford, the son of founders Jim and Claire Ford, who started Ford AV in 1973 and still own and operate the AV business using principle-based management.
