I’ve been in the consulting business for over 10 years as a consultant now. I first got into audio when I was in high school, working on a Tascam 4 track recorder, from there I dove head first into the Sound Recording technology program at DePaul University, spent a good amount of time in recording studios and eventually ended up working with AVISPL before making my way to higher ed at Northwestern University on the support side and eventually a consultant. 

 

 

 

My primary expertise is in Audio, having worked extensively in that field but I have also built up experience in IT and Video over the years, attaining a Master’s degree in IT Management at IIT and more recently my ANP certification through AVIXA. To keep a finger on the pulse of technology trends, I read a lot of publications (RavePubs, SCN, Mix, TapeOp, etc.), I listen to podcasts and I have a rolling list of books that I dig into to on various subjects.  Some project highlights for me recently are Ace Hardware’s Midwest headquarters, Berkeley School of Engineering and a number of data center projects for companies I am not at liberty to discuss client information.

 

 

 

My role as a design consultant involves every phase of the design and construction process.

 

We experience challenges at every phase of this process.  For instance, during programming clients can either be well-informed or technologically-illiterate.  We are tasked with adjusting our approach for every client’s specific needs. During design, the challenges are generally in the buckets of coordination and communication among the other trades or product R&D to determine the right sized fit for the need.  In construction, the problems are usually related to field conditions, the change management process, and contractor management.

 

What’s interesting is that every project has its own unique challenges which keeps us on our toes.

 

 

 

Common issues are indecision or not wanting to commit to product selection. What we try to do is draw a line in the sand by tying the decisions to time-sensitive milestones. For example, if we don’t have a decision by a given date, we make assumptions and we communicate those assumptions to the team including the client. This way, if there are issues later in the project life-cycle we can at least speak to the rationale for why a decision was made.  Other issues we face are usually due to product defects or issues with features of a product in relation to a specific use case. Often there is a work around for these types of scenarios or there is a way to address these problems with minimal impact to the project budget.  Sometimes, we have to address product problems with a change order swapping the product.  We try to avoid that if we can.

 

 

 

My main approach to project management is to keep tabs on progress at every step of the project life cycle.   Understanding what other trades are doing, is vital to coordination. Communication can take on various forms in construction: meetings and meeting minutes, email, adhoc phone calls, project trackers and documentation.  It becomes critical to maintain a consistent posture of clear and concise messaging that is prompt and leaves little room for confusion.  I try to make messages that are actionable rather than open-ended.  Open-ended items lead to scope creep and an endless cycle of meetings.  Lastly, with every meeting I host, I provide an agenda.  When I am asked to join a meeting, I ask for the agenda ahead of time. This helps keep myself and others accountable and avoid time waste.

 

 

 

Typically, we try to specify systems with minimal complexity and we generally try to steer clients away from complicated systems but there are inevitably going to be spaces that demand more sophisticated control and technology like operations centers or multi-purpose rooms. We more technology and features comes more complexity. The idea is to try to hone in on 99% of the usage of a space and leverage that in the user interface.  For the 1% of more advanced features, those features can be siloed behind an administrative page flip of a control panel.  With less complicated rooms, off-the-shelf systems with familiar interfaces like Zoom and Microsoft teams can be utilized.

 

 

 

I believe the future of  workplace AV technology is going to involve systems that become centralized within the physical AV-enabled space such that AV racks will go away and most of the feature sets will be software and subscription based. Take a look at Microsofts recent announcement of their Link Device for a preview of what’s to come.  Cloud based full-fledged compute devices that have the brain power to serve up whatever features a user needs in a room.  I expect this will be the direction AV goes in, where we will still be providing peripheral sensors, cameras, microphones, speakers and control interfaces but the brain power will move away from the rack and into the cloud.   For entertainment, I believe we will continue to see experience-based technology take center stage.  Spaces like the Sphere are going to continue to evolve at different tiers of luxury. Immersive experiences will continue to become cheaper to build and the general publics familiarity with VR, the Meta verse, AI, etc. will begin to impact the investment in entertainment tech. 

 

 

 

In 2025, the main challenges I see are geopolitical (i.e. tariffs, conflict) and the impact on supply chain, workplace push for mandates to return to office in the face of a hybrid workforce and how this push will splinter out to new project opportunities for updating spaces, the impact of AI as both a helpful tool while at the same time placing increased pressure on teams to deliver at breakneck speed to keep up with the pace of innovation, and as always keeping up with all the latest developments on the vast landscape of AV technology across every manufacturer’s portfolio of products.

 

 

 

My favorite Sennheiser product is my in-ear EW IEM G4 wireless system.  This was a game changer for me personally as a musician.  Wish I had used in-ear monitors years ago!

 

 

 

Although I don’t eat meat anymore, I’d recommend the Big boy beef at Rosangela’s, South Side of Chicago for the meat lovers. For folks like me, I like Hagen’s Fish Market Crispy Fish sandwich.