Welcome to EDGE Bandwidth, a show hosted by Patrick Whipkey, vice president of EDGE and Candice Aragon, vice president of marketing and education at the PSA Network, to share their expertise and have insightful conversations with professionals to explore and challenge what low voltage systems integrators are facing.

The AV sector produces a lot of e-waste, but it does not produce a lot of sustainable solutions, with the exception of recycling, which is occasionally useless because it actually transfers the problem to others; this is a critical situation that we can’t ignore anymore. In this episode, Debbie Williamson from Tempest Technologies LLC and Christina DeBono, president of ClearTech, talk about sustainability in AV and the organization SAVe, which strives to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a number of initiatives, one of the most significant of which is the SAVe certification, which aids in the development of an action plan and opportunities for the business to give back to the community so we may create a more sustainable future. 

Jump straight into:

(03:01) - The AV industry and sustainability - “In fact, our industry, to be honest with you, has fallen way behind and hasn't really done much in the area of developing sustainable initiatives and programs for our industry.” 

(07:33) - Scratching the surface of e-waste and e-recycling - “We discovered that what we thought was good and what we were being holding ourselves and our clients accountable to turned out to be not very good, because we were one of the companies that was shipping things off to these other nations to make it their problem.” 

(09:30) - SDG’s and SAVe certified program for a more sustainable future - “Educating ourselves isn't just enough, taking action isn’t enough for us; we wanted to spread it to our clients and everyone else. I think it’s an important opportunity for us to bring awareness at a level that I didn’t think about before.” 

(16:52) - More initiatives and actions to build a better future -  “This is gonna take everyone to work together to build a future that's more sustainable for all of us, whether it's our businesses, our industry, or our communities. "

Check SAVe’s website. 

Thanks for tuning in! EDGE Bandwidth is a show produced by StudioPod Media, for more information about their podcast production services, feel free to check out their website. Special thanks to our sponsors over at Shure.

Welcome to EDGE Bandwidth, a show hosted by Patrick Whipkey, vice president of EDGE and Candice Aragon, vice president of marketing and education at the PSA Network, to share their expertise and have insightful conversations with professionals to explore and challenge what low voltage systems integrators are facing.

Everyone is vulnerable to cyber attacks; it is not a matter of "if" but "when," with the past years having them rise to the top threat for companies of all sizes. In this episode, we discuss the importance of cyber insurance, what to look for in a policy, how to set a budget, and best practices, with Wayne Dean, Partner at Snellings Walters Insurance Company. It might be a little difficult to know where to begin, but we walk you through the process so you can minimize loss when it occurs. Join this conversation and learn about the future of cybersecurity insurance, 

Jump straight into:

(00:52) - The importance of cyber security policies - “When cyber was formed by Steve Haas, it was designed to protect us on an individual basis. To help protect us from credit card theft, identity theft, and that's changed and evolved over the last years. And so from a company perspective, I would say the number one threat to a business is a cyber attack.”

(04:12) - What should be looked for and best practices to get a cybersecurity policy - “You have to understand, first off, what coverages you're applying for. And second, asking yourself, are you able to get that amount of insurance for all of the carriers?”

(12:20) - Based on the type of company, how to calculate risk and create a budget for a cyber security policy - “​The more security measures and best practices you have in place, the better story we're gonna be able to give to the carrier and the better result we're gonna get from a premium perspective.”

(14:11) - Tips, tricks and first steps for integrators to fully secure their company. - “Form a team inside your operation, include your IT guy and management, and then you explore options.

If you don't have a cyber policy in place, you absolutely need to move in that direction.”

Thanks for tuning in! EDGE Bandwidth is a show produced by StudioPod Media, for more information about their podcast production services, feel free to check out their website. Special thanks to our sponsors over at Shure. 

Welcome to USAV Bandwidth,  a show hosted by Chris Salazar-Mangrum, Vice President of USAV and Patrick Whipkey, Director of USAV, to share their expertise and have insightful conversations with professionals from the AV industry.

When it comes to talent acquisition in this business, we gotta take a look at how the rising market cap is not only causing more integrators’ demand, but is also shaping a more competitive landscape. In this episode we are joined by Chris Nakiso, Founder & CEO of Chris Edward Consulting, which is helping companies identify and secure talent. Chris shares some meaningful insights on the importance of clear internal processes to attract better talent, as well as the most common challenges of adopting a hybrid environment. We also discuss skip talks and stay interviews. Join us in this amazing conversation focused on the candidate experience!

Jump straight into:

(01:13) - Talent acquisition: Why has it become such a competitive landscape and what are they asking for - “What's your onboarding process like? That is the biggest discussion right now with companies with regards to retention.”

(09:09) - The culture shift: Best practices for remote onboarding processes - “Those skip talks are designed to get folks to really be in a comfortable situation, to explain what could be improved. Let them tell you” 

(18:17) - New areas for complex roles: Culture alignment and the interesting industries where new talent is coming from - “ I think there has to be some type of almost like a D league or for basketball. There's got to be a development thing on the technical side to get more technical people.”

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

chris@chrisedwardconsulting.com

Thanks for tuning in! USAV Bandwidth is a show produced by StudioPod Media, for more information about their podcast production services, feel free to check out their website. Special thanks to our sponsors over at Shure.