InfoComm’s New Strategic Plan Targets Increased Industry Awareness, Brand Change

Executive director David Labuskes says 2017 plan builds on 2014 document, adding more metrics for those involved to track its success.

InfoComm International‘s new strategic plan doesn’t officially take effect until Jan. 1, but officials are already hard at work implementing the five strategies it contains and incorporating those with the six pillars of the 2014 it follows.

InfoComm executive director David Labuskes calls the 2017 plan “an evolution more than a revolution” when compared to the 2014 version, which highlighted the need for members to create what it called “exceptional experiences” and for the industry to expand globally to meet the worldwide demands for AV-related services.

InfoComm crafts strategic plans every three years as a way of better meeting the needs of its members and responding to changes in the industry that may affect its ability to do that effectively.

This three-year plan focuses on increased industry awareness; more targeted market research and membership benefits; a reinvention of InfoComm’s membership model and value; more effective communication about the value of AV; and a fresh look at InfoComm’s brand.

Labuskes talked about the strategic plan at the recent Stampede Vendor Summit and expects to get into more details about the plan during his InfoComm Update at the 2016 AV Executive Conference next month, but he sees “pretty clear lines” between the 2014 goals and those contained in the 2017 plan, calling the new initiatives “the next chapter.”

“We put out some great work and created some great conversation about exceptional experiences,” says Labuskes. “That’s not going to go away under the new strategic plan.”

Related: Here’s One Way InfoComm Is Expanding Industry Awareness

The major differences between the next strategic plan and the one that officially expires at the end of this year, says Labuskes, are the 2017 version includes “a very clearly defined definition of success, where, in the past, it was more of an assumption” and the involvement of more than 300 people in developing the new plan since discussions began in January 2015, as opposed to the old process which involved mostly InfoComm management and its board of directors.

Labuskes says InfoComm will be more active in “acting as a catalyst for market growth of the AV industry” than ever, adding, “We’re willing to be more ambitious in growing the size and scale of the market.” That ties the goals of increased market awareness inextricably with more effective communication about the value of AV.

“The more a person spends on AV, the greater the size of the market,” says Labuskes.

InfoComm’s board of directors passed its new strategic plan in July and Labuskes and InfoComm officials launched its operational planning and strategy sessions in August, with each initiative getting a “champion” among InfoComm staff members.

Labuskes will get quarterly updates on the progress of each goal and provide those to InfoComm’s board of directors, noting there’s a road map of milestones developed at least through the end of 2017, with more coming for the second and third years of the plan.

“This strategic plan can be very clearly measured,” says Labuskes. “I’m excited about the challenge the board has put before me. This plan leverages the strength of our industry. It’s given us the ability to really look ahead and provide transformative education and make us relevant to a whole new generation.”

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