As we prepare to all be together at Infocomm, I’ve been thinking about community. Specifically the difference between enforcing community and creating it. Specifically about DEI. I’ve never been a fan of acronyms because they de-personalize things, and they feel like rules. I’ve been in the AV community long enough to know that we are not really rules people. Standards, yes (well sometimes), opinions (for sure) best practices, expertise, science, discipline, etc. Yes. But from experience on site, if we focus too much on rules, we can miss the chance to solve problems.
But acronyms can also be helpful—they can shorthand and tools for things that are valuable. They can keep things front of mind and drive action. Right now, we’re watching a good thing with a bad acronym get tortured in the news and beaten up in real life. So I started thinking about how much the AV industry has always needed diversity, and how appropriate it is for our industry of doers.
In my decades as a woman in AV, diversity has progressed, but not enough. Not even close. It’s not just our industry. My daughter is in college, aiming to be a DSP engineer—just 7% of her engineering class is female at a university ranked in the top 15% for engineering. That’s not just because girls don’t want to be engineers. My daughter grew up surrounded by engineers, she knew they were a thing. That lit her imagination, because before you can do something you have to see it and believe it’s for you.
Likewise in other areas of diversity—race, ethnicity, youth, gender, physiodivergence, or neurodivergence, the AV industry is ripe for more. So what to do now to keep a much-needed cultural shift going?
My experience in AV has been relationship-driven, and about opportunities coming about organically. I’ve rarely felt dismissed (there were some programmers, but I think they dismiss everyone). I’ve felt included and valued in our industry, and I have always seen people extending that to others. Really I think people in the AV industry work very hard to be a community and to respect others
I think our challenge is not a matter of intent but of inertia and that’s where the effort comes in. I’m sure AVIXA will continue to support our community under the DEI banner with helpful content and guidance. But no matter the initials, I hope that what happens now is we fight harder for a diverse community. We, frankly, owe care and concern to our colleagues who rightly feel invalidated by zero-sum, sometimes contemptuous backlash. It is fact that there is an imbalance of opportunity and respect. It is fair that we share responsibility for that and find ways to improve that.
Here in AV, we can continue to affirm our professional and personal bonds, which are more powerful than any acronym can be, and use those bonds to expand our community to everyone’s benefit.
