Audio Visual Professionals Inc.’s Mark DelGuidice, CTS, joins the Commercial Integrator #AVLivingLegends family this week, becoming our latest inductee. The Commercial Integrator #AVLivingLegends initiative is meant to celebrate and honor our industry’s foremost contributors. With this series, therefore, we hope to spotlight the difference-makers and world-changers who move among us.
Currently, DelGuidice serves as vice president of sales with Audio Visual Professionals Inc. However, during his storied career, DelGuidice has made major contributions to a slew of companies: Viper Cabling, Atlantis Partners, MediaCentric Integration and, of course, his own firm: Wire Wizards Integration. Indeed, Mark DelGuidice is deserving of the honor of an AV Living Legend!
In this interview, DelGuidice speaks about his greatest inspirations and reflects on his past achievements. That includes an unforgettable experience with Apple’s Steve Wozniak. Read on to learn more about DelGuidice’s journey!
And if you’d like to read even more coverage relating to our #AVLivingLegends, like Audio Visual Professionals Inc.’s Mark DelGuidice, check out our hub page. It includes direct links to every living legend!
Commercial Integrator: What motivated you to join the commercial AV industry?
Mark DelGuidice: I started in sound via being a musician. I was in the first year of Columbia College’s Recording Arts program. I got a job doing live sound at a rock club in metro Chicago, and I cut my teeth on the big mixing boards and mics. That led to working in some recording studios. I then discovered hotel AV with McCune Sound, where I found the new video systems interesting, too. Then, that all led to permanent installation work, which was fascinating. Seeing it all working is such a thrill!
I worked for most of the early Bay Area AV integrators, before eventually starting a company to provide them all with additional technologies for project help.
I attended my first InfoComm around 1998 and then the first NSCA Exec Conference, and I began meeting my now longtime colleagues. It was very exciting to be welcomed by so many impressive AV professionals — they all inspired me greatly.
Commercial Integrator: What has kept you motivated and engaged in the decades that followed?
Mark DelGuidice: The technology is always evolving, which has always been exciting. And the element of creating an experience for people was really the biggest factor, in my opinion. It was fun to see people’s reactions and appreciation and to be a part of it all. Yet, it was also the personal interactions: Meeting so many creative people, who all seemed to be driven by the same passions I had, along with a culture of learning and sharing that continues to motivate me. I’m still attending the shows and events every chance I get!
Commercial Integrator: Reflect on your role as both a mentee early in your career and as a mentor later in your career. Who helped shape the trajectory of your professional life? How have you tried to help shape others’ careers?
Mark DelGuidice: My biggest mentor was my first boss in AV installations: Gary Kimball of Audio Visual Specialists. He was a real AV pioneer. Audio Video Specialists was the first shop in San Francisco to sell AMX. He taught me “the AV install business,” how to hire and train employees, and also how to appreciate and listen to customers. He was very kind to me! I have also benefited from so many great AV veterans’ advice and support, some of whom are other AV Living Legends here.
I enjoy mentoring and supporting people new to the industry, and there are so many technicians I’ve trained and encouraged. Probably the most rewarding part of my work is to see folks take the knowledge, succeed and grow, and create great careers for themselves. It’s truly heartwarming for me. I’m mentoring a few young people even now. I guess I always will!
Commercial Integrator: What’s the most memorable story/anecdote of your career in commercial AV?
Mark DelGuidice: So many! In 30-odd years, I’ve seen so much amazing stuff emerge. I saw the internet emerge over network wires in San Francisco. When we wired up one of the very first large sever rooms, we didn’t understand what all those “boxes” were even doing! I also worked at a NASA facility where I was feet away from a lunar lander. I found myself doing satellite control rooms, TV stations, the first NFL network studio, a top-secret spy system for the Pentagon — so many amazing things!!
Another favorite story is when I was showing Steve Wozniak how to use the remote for Apple’s new 60-inch Sony Trinitron in their new executive boardroom. It was a custom order with an unheard-of size, and he was very excited that he could display the computer signal on the screen. We both enjoyed that moment! (I had a small inkling then of what Apple was. They were this little company with all these really cool people working there.)
Commercial Integrator: What has been your greatest professional accomplishment to date?
Mark DelGuidice: Well, I’ve won several awards and such, spoke on webinars and panels, and I’m flattered for the recognition. However, being a pioneer in outsourced project labor comes to mind. Also, founding the AVIXA ITS Council is something I am still amazed by as an accomplishment. The recognition we all created for the subcontractors and service providers in this industry, as well as the charity projects we have done with so many generous donor companies helping the cause, are some other examples.
Additionally, at the San Diego Ronald McDonald house, which was really big, we created a whole presentation system for them to help with their fundraising events So, the kids and families could enjoy movies and TV on a huge projection screen and sound system. I am deeply proud of that effort and how it’s continued on, even now. (ITS has done a series of projects at RMD houses across the country).
I am also very proud I was an early supporter and member of the AVIXA Women’s Council, (the first InfoComm Breakfast) and the Diversity Council (including the first official meeting with about 25 members). The efforts they have made and the platforms they have built are so important — critical, really — for our industry’s success. I’m so proud of all who stepped up there!
Commercial Integrator: What has been your biggest professional regret to date?
Mark DelGuidice: That I couldn’t find a real partner to help me build and sustain my first install company, Wire Wizards. That would have helped a lot, but it’s all led to a great career, as well.
Commercial Integrator: What’s the best advice or pearl of wisdom you either received during your career or came to realize on your own?
Mark DelGuidice: My first mentor Gary’s advice: “Just do your very best to create really great employee and client relationships. If you take care of them, they will take care of you.” I attribute my success to that advice and think of him every day so gratefully. I often tell others that and encourage them to put their heart into their efforts, and to be honest and passionate. It’s the people we work with who make it all worthwhile.
Would you like to nominate a peer or colleague — or perhaps yourself! — to be featured in this #AVLivingLegends series? If so, just email Dan Ferrisi, group editor, commercial and security, Emerald, at [email protected].
