This week, Draper’s Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D, joins the ranks of #AVLivingLegends in recognition of his remarkable contributions. Barlow has enjoyed 30 years of experience in the professional audiovisual industry. He is a results-focused leader who enables partner success through effective teaming and developing creative solutions. Without a doubt, he deserves the honor of being called an AV Living Legend!
A Conversation with Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D
Barlow boasts a solid record in enterprise, commercial and mission-critical technology sales and marketing management, with broad expertise in displays, collaboration and unified communications. As director of sales for Draper’s pro AV team, Barlow helps support the North America market through authorized dealers and distributors while working with some of the industry’s finest commercial AV rep firms.
In this conversation, Barlow reflects on key milestones in his career, such as attending 38 InfoComm shows and being mentored by his father and brother. Plus, he talks about getting caught in the 1993 Storm of the Century!
And if you’d like to read even more coverage relating to our #AVLivingLegends, check out our hub page. It includes direct links to every living legend!
Commercial Integrator: What motivated you to join the commercial AV industry?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: I had an early interest in AV during my junior high school years. It probably had to do with my love of television and film. Visual storytelling has always been a favorite art form. I loved theater as well, and since I didn’t have the confidence to act, I chose to get involved with the drama team crew — working on set lighting and video recording many of our school events. As a full-fledged teen geek, I even started an AV club and was the self-appointed foreman. I was also one of those kids who grew up with a strong connection to AV through my father.
In 1974, Carroll Barlow was responsible for bringing Barco into the U.S. by negotiating distribution rights for their broadcast products. That was years before they launched into video projection. At the time, Barco was well known for making the industry’s finest broadcast monitors. I remember a few times when Dad would bring my brothers and me to his office over a weekend to help calibrate a large batch of CRT monitors before they shipped off to network stations around the country. I never imagined that early experience tweaking electronic circuits would become routine years later when I began working in the commercial AV world.
Commercial Integrator: What has kept you motivated and engaged in the decades that followed?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: Some people dread change. Although it can be very uncomfortable and stressful, I have learned that growth only happens with change. It’s usually best to dive into the deep end and embrace whatever changes you’re facing. Once I learned that, it helped alter my perspective and replaced fear with excitement. Also, I love seeing and learning about new things. We are all a part of a wonderful industry with amazing technology that is constantly evolving and maturing. Many of the people we get to work with are equally interesting and amazing. These are some of the reasons why InfoComm is so much fun. It’s an incredible opportunity once a year to learn about the latest tech, meet new people and reconnect with old industry friends. Even after 38 consecutive InfoComm shows, it never gets old.
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?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: I have been blessed with many outstanding managers during my career, and I have learned from each of them. However, the two who rise to the top of my list are my father, and my older brother, Steven Barlow. At the end of 1986, when Barco started their direct operation in the U.S., my brother was one of the first four hired to launch the new business. We had already been working together before then, and at his suggestion, I was invited to join the sales team in early ’87. Following in our father’s footsteps, Steven encouraged me and taught me countless life lessons demonstrated through his example at work. I can safely say that I would not have had the AV career I’ve enjoyed without the support and training these two men provided.
Since I was taught by example, I have tried to lead and hopefully, inspire others similarly. Teaching and encouraging others can be very satisfying, especially when you see something truly unique in someone before they’ve fully realized it for themselves. At that point, all you’re doing is helping them clean off the mirror so they can see their potential more clearly and realize success more fully. I have had the pleasure of watching this enfold with many coworkers and industry friends. I am as much of a cheerleader as a coach.
Commercial Integrator: What’s the most memorable story/anecdote of your career in commercial AV?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: I grew up in the metro New York suburbs and began my AV career after college there. Those early and formative years were spent learning the ropes as a regional sales manager covering from Virginia through Maine. It was a tremendous opportunity and I loved my job. However, after eight years, my life at home and at work needed some dramatic change. I was ready for new challenges and different scenery.
Thankfully, a new position had opened at the company’s headquarters in Georgia and I was invited to apply. I flew down to meet with our president, my manager and several other senior staff members to discuss the newly formed national accounts position. The trip had gone well and I had decided to stay over the weekend to visit friends in Atlanta. One of my sisters was at Florida State at that time, and she decided to drive up to visit for the weekend too. No one could have imagined what would happen next.
Several of us went out to dinner that Friday evening in mid-March and we were all surprised to see snow flurries when we left the restaurant. My sister and I drove back to our hotel and thought little of it. The next morning, we awoke to an incredible winter wonderland. It was a complete whiteout as we stared out the hotel window. “Georgia” and “blizzard” are two words you don’t normally see in the same sentence, and snow is something Atlanta was completely unprepared to deal with!
Not realizing how bad it was and not wanting to stay stuck in a Holiday Inn all day, I suggested we drive over to the office, switch cars and then head to a coworker’s for the day. It seemed like a simple plan until we got stuck in a snowdrift trying to get into the office lot. Battling snow, ice and blistering wind, we made our way over to my sister’s parked car only to find the battery had died.
At that point, with both of us ill-prepared and freezing, I did the only thing that made sense at the time. Since I was not working at our headquarters yet, I didn’t have keys. The were no other vehicles on the road, the building had power and it was warm inside. Realizing we were too far to walk back in the storm, I smashed a glass door and we went inside. We couldn’t get a taxi or tow truck. I even called the police and all they said was stay put. Thousands of people were stranded and stuck outside. At least we were indoors and safe.
It was a surreal adventure lasting 12 hours that Saturday. We eventually got out at midnight and only after I swapped the battery from the stuck company van into my sister’s car. We made it back to our hotel and found dozens of people sleeping in the lobby and on the floors in the hallways.
That traumatic event became known as the “1993 Storm of the Century.” My sister eventually returned to Tallahassee and I flew back to New Jersey. And, thankfully, I did get that new job and was able to relocate to Atlanta later that fall!
Commercial Integrator: What has been your greatest professional accomplishment to date?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: Befriending partners and clients and getting to know them outside of work is always very special and personally rewarding. One of my favorite projects where this happened involved working on the Nasdaq MarketSite Studio in Times Square. We were on the team contracted to upgrade the video walls which form the studio’s on-air backdrop. There was a substantial amount of time devoted to planning the installation. One of the many project complexities was that Nasdaq senior management required all work to be done over weekends to avoid disrupting studio operations.
As a result of our meticulous planning and constant communication, the retrofit execution was a tremendous success. The client was so pleased, they invited our company to return and gave us the honor of opening their stock market live that summer. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience, and one driven by the collective passion and pride of all those involved.
Commercial Integrator: What has been your biggest professional regret to date?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: I have made plenty of bad choices and tons of mistakes throughout my life. Yet I have tried to own those, be humble, apologize when needed and learn from it all. That said, there is only one thing I would label as my notable regret. However, it is something I have moved on from and don’t dwell over.
From my early childhood years, I always wanted to become an architect. It probably started in elementary school when I would construct various structures and buildings with LEGO bricks. I studied design and drafting — long before CAD — in junior high school and took three years of architecture courses offered by our high school. Due to circumstances at the time, I ended up pursuing engineering instead.
There were many times I thought about going back to my first love, architecture, yet I never shifted my career gears. Instead, I have found ways to connect my design-centric mind by helping others with the creative use of audiovisual technology.
Commercial Integrator: What’s the best advice or pearl of wisdom you either received during your career or came to realize on your own?
Kevin C. Barlow, CTS-D: I am a man of faith and share without any doubt that God has guided my career and my life. Some people say you make your own luck. I say let go and let God. However, giving in to God’s plans and will is often difficult. By nature, I struggle with being self-centered. Yes, I’m just as human as the next guy. I have learned and gladly share here that there is a God who knows me, accepts me and loves me perfectly. He has protected me and my family and provided all that’s been needed. He has a plan for my good and for yours, too. That is the greatest pearl of wisdom I have found. It has been proven true throughout my career, at home with my family, and in every area of my life. This explains why one of my favorite words is “gratitude.”
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].
