Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to AV in the Wild, the podcast that dives deep into the heart of the pro AV industry. Out in the field, on the move and in the moment, everybody here at
[00:00:09] Speaker B: vixitv for AV in the Wild. I've grabbed Matt and Lee to talk about something called Fast Forward Friday. Matt, what's it all about?
[00:00:16] Speaker C: So, yeah, this is the final day of ISE 2026 and fast forward Friday is essentially the career day here at ise. So it's where it gives us an opportunity to bring young people to, to the show to explore more career opportunities in the AV channel.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: So Lee, I mean, obviously you've got students coming over first time over at ise, maybe even first time traveling. What's the experience been? And again, how have they found it?
[00:00:38] Speaker D: They've been blown away. Like you've mentioned, a lot of our students actually haven't traveled abroad. So again, thank you for Matt for actually organizing that. They've come away and had an amazing experience, just opening their eyes to the tech and the different opportunities that are available to them that they wouldn't have had before.
It's been inspirational for them.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Now, Matt, obviously it's great to get new interest in the industry. There's a lot of us pale, stale males around you that have been here for a long time. The grey hairs are coming through. What specifically are you doing again with regards to getting new blood in? What are the specific areas that they're interested in? And are you doing anything around diversity? Because we need more women and more diversity in this industry. Again, there's a sea of guys out there. We really need more women in this industry. Again, what are you doing around that?
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Yeah, well, the project that Lee was alluding to, we actually work with health and social care students in schools as well, which obviously the demographics of those students typically are from a female background. And we're really encouraging that openness to explore those opportunities in this very male dominated industry. And I'm proud to say that for the very first time, cedia, as a global trade organization, actually now has a female chairperson that is overseeing our board of directors. So we feel that's a real step forward in just, just showing the female audience that there are opportunities in a very much male dominated industry.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Now, Lee, talk to me through again what, give us some feedback. What are the aha moments that they've had this week? Again, there's, it's a. You go out there and it's a mindful of like flashing lights, big noise and all the rest of it. Again, what's been the kind of top three things that you've kind of heard of. Feedback from the school, the kids.
[00:02:17] Speaker D: Yeah, there's quite a lot of highlights. It's quite hard to narrow it down, I'll be honest.
I think the main thing is those students interacting with employers, so actually taking the time to interact with them, talk about the career progressions that they might want to go through, talk about how they got there themselves.
Today, Friday, we've gone through actually some of the people that have got there and whether the seminars from them, they did a phenomenal job just talking about how they can get there and the skills that they need and making them believe that they can do it themselves. And because that's half the battle, it is a career opportunity for them.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Now for the manufacturers, you know, like, you know, Leutech, where I am, and again, all the manufacturers out there, what can they do to again be more open and to embrace? Fast Forward Friday and again, have you got anything that they can learn from this? And again, is this the first year we've done it?
[00:03:04] Speaker C: Well, this is kind of. This has been a journey that we've been on. This is kind of year three. So in the UK, CDs been working with an educational trust called the Baker Deering Trust. They represent essentially 44 secondary schools all over England and about 20,000 students. So in year one on fast forward Friday, we kind of brought the people from the trust. Over the second year, which was last year, we bought Lee over, who's a principal of one of the schools and one of his teachers in the engineering department. And then this year is the third year, we've actually now come to full circle where we've actually brought a group of young students over here who have listened to other young people and how they've experienced coming into the industry. But more importantly, we've taken them onto the show floor, we've shown them the technology, we've introduced them to the manufacturers and they've been really, really engaged. The manufacturers, they've been, you know, hungry to showcase what they do. And it's exciting, right? It's such a cool industry that we work in.
So we've taken them to one of our member booths, Cords, earlier today and they actually did like a termination challenge with some cabling. It was all timed. Oh, hands, really hands on. It was a timed activity as a leaderboard, bit of competition. Not sure how the teachers got on, but the students certainly enjoyed that interaction. But it's all about, especially for young people, I think, that perhaps don't have that much Experience of interacting with adults.
It's been a real eye opener for me to see how they've kind of connected with people in the workplace and how they've responded to them and they've been really enthusiastic. So we're going to do more of this in future years.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: Now, where do they. What happens when they get back? Obviously, we've had this great week. They've seen all this amazing stuff. What happens now? How do they kind of take it from again, seeing and getting excited and embracing all this stuff? What happens next for them when they say they go back home and they can start to go out into their career?
[00:04:51] Speaker D: I think it's spreading the message as well. So obviously confidence breeds confidence and I think there'll be power when they get back into this, into our school of talking to others about the experiences that they've had. I think some of them may have come away with jobs from today, potentially employers, they've been that impressed with them, so they've done a cracking job with that. For us, though, our takeaway is how we're going to embed it into curriculum and I think that's the key part. Like Matt said earlier, we've been on a journey with this. So we've created a project. The project itself was really carefully curated with automated space incensedia of bridging the gap between health and engineering. So our specialists are health and engineering. So they've looked at different med tech in assisted living, essentially in the technology that we can give people more independence. That's opened up a whole new world to our students about what potential jobs are out there that crosses over between health and engineering, med tech.
And this is a new field really, that is still growing and emerging. So what we try and do is meet the needs of the workforce, the schools, we lag behind that quite a lot. So meeting people and professionals like this who can upskill us as teachers to sort of train the next generation of students, it's vitally important.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Very cool. Now, obviously, ISE is coming to the close. We've. We've made it through the week and say fast forward, Friday is the final day of the show. Where do you go next again? CD or obviously the CD show in the States is until later on in the year you get. You're putting your feet up for the
[00:06:14] Speaker E: rest of the year.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: What do you. What's next with this for you?
[00:06:17] Speaker C: No, no, no. I mean, just talking about workforce and just general bringing new people into industry. Next week in the UK is National Apprenticeship Week, so we will be promoting a new training provider that is delivering the Smart Home Technician level three apprenticeship program. So it doesn't stop, even though I might have rest over the weekend. But then next week we'll be communicating to our industry about those opportunities where they can bring apprenticeships or apprentices into the industry. So it doesn't stop. And we're going to continue to work not only with Derby UTC but as part of the Fast Forward Friday program. This week we also brought two other university technical colleges over. One from London. Lde. Yeah, I think it's LDE and Harlow as well. So we're going to be exploring how we can work closer with those colleges as well and bring more students in 2027.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: I was going to ask, so if people obviously want to get involved in this from, say, the student bodies and the schools and universities, where can they go? How can they find out more? Again, I'm guessing there's a website. I'm guessing there's something you can go and look up Website.
[00:07:19] Speaker C: I think if you go to cedia.or is the main Cedia website and I think it might be Workforce. My name is Matt Nimmons. They can email me, contact me on LinkedIn and happy to help.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: And again, for your side, again, how can people get in contact with you with the stuff that you're doing?
[00:07:36] Speaker D: Yeah, so contact through CEDIA or go to our website. So utdarby.org.uk get in touch. Obviously, we've piloted this program. It's ready to go. We can support all the schools, colleges, universities that want to get involved and come down and see what we do. You'll realise we're going to roll this program out every year now. We're even thinking about expanding it across different year groups as well and having different elements to it because it's been that successful. So, yeah, a huge thank you to you. But yeah, get in touch if anybody wants to.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: Fantastic.
[00:08:01] Speaker E: If you watched our episode pre ISC with Mike Blackman, you would have heard him talk about somebody called Daniel.
We're on better terms now, so I call him Danny and I'm going to introduce you to him in a minute.
But first I'm going to introduce you to Joseph from Avixet. It's easy to get wrapped up in what's going on on the show floor, but so many people, especially this week, have been talking about what happens on the outside of the show and I have this feeling that this year is all is. There's a lot of giving back. So tell us a bit more about that.
[00:08:35] Speaker F: I think that's a great theme and in many ways Fast Forward Friday is investment in the future of our industry.
And so alongside cedia, our show partners, we host a very long extended program on Friday. All about activation and incubation innovation, but about future generations.
So we bring students from all over Europe, uk, different places where we have partners at technical colleges and through different programs to meet employers right here at the heart of ise. So it's really all about themselves, seeing our industry, seeing themselves in this business and then from there, hopefully getting and landing a great job while they're here.
[00:09:13] Speaker E: Which is amazing because, you know, when you look at the footfall and all of that, I think there must be so many people thinking, oh yeah, why don't we do this before? So fantastic. Hi Danny, welcome.
[00:09:25] Speaker G: Thank you. Thank you so much.
[00:09:27] Speaker E: Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey. How did you get involved in Fast Forward Friday?
[00:09:31] Speaker G: So I was actually studying at university when I got this email from the Colegio Official Ingenieros.
I was invited to come to the first time that this event was being happening and I met there some people or like some companies that were leading the AV industry and were shaping the the future. This is an event where companies are seeking for young talents, so to say. And I was finishing my degree, you
[00:10:05] Speaker E: were going to say I was the young talent.
[00:10:07] Speaker G: I was young, I don't know if talented or not.
So I got my chance to be there, I got a couple of interviews. I went farther with those interviews and three days, three years later, right today I'm working in Germany as an international sales manager for Langeg, traveling around Europe, traveling even. I went as a speaker to Infocom Mexico in America, Latina. The first time that they were doing the Infocom, 100% handled by.
So it was really a great opportunity that I had to visit this program. And today we also had the event. I was there not only part as part of a panel, but I was also talking to the students and telling them my perspective when I was there sitting and getting the interviews as well. So just making them feel like more relaxed and warming up before going into the professional, so to say, world.
[00:11:15] Speaker E: And for any students who are thinking about, you know, and listening to that and thinking, could that be me? What advice would you give them?
[00:11:22] Speaker G: Yeah, it could always be you connect with people, step out of your comfort zone. This is something I'm always saying. I love traveling and I love meeting new people and always talking to ask questions, don't say no to, don't close yourself any door.
Don't be afraid of saying, I don't know, because only by then you will get someone, probably an expert in many occasions, to teach you or to train you.
Invest into yourself, right? This was like the theme of the event this year and it actually makes sense to think about it.
Today I had this panel, right? And at the end, my last sentence was something like, you are the best tool that you have to achieve great things, and only by being you, you will actually succeed in your.
[00:12:17] Speaker E: That is so, so cool. That is. And so true. And nobody is a finished article. We're all learning. I still consider myself as a learner. You know, we can always learn something, so that's amazing. So in terms of the employers and how can people get more involved? Where, where would they find out if they're recruiting or maybe they're not even recruiting. Maybe they, you know, can they participate even if they haven't got real jobs? But can they offer their advice, wisdom, skills, whatever?
[00:12:47] Speaker F: Absolutely. It really starts with reaching out to your association. So Avixa, its foundation that I also represent, has a number of resources for employers to both share that they're interested. It could be that we have an apprenticeship scheme that we can offer as a framework to them to start in their own community.
But also if, oh, I'm hiring, or if I have my own apprenticeship. VIXA has a great career center that we offer as well as one example.
And then, for example, if they want to come next year, all they have to do is reach out to our regional rep or to a foundation, to me directly. And we have that opportunity to bring more people and get more employers involved.
[00:13:24] Speaker E: And how's it been this year? How many people have we had through the students? I've seen a lot on the show floor and they're moving around and they all are beaming. The eyes are bright, the smiles are wide. It's really for a Friday on a trade show where everybody else is kind of like, oh, it's great to have that energy, actually. So I like that they're here on a Friday.
How are the numbers looking for that program?
When do we get to capacity? What are your plans for it?
[00:13:54] Speaker F: Like any program, we'd like to continue to grow it, involve more companies here at ise, to be a part of it. I would argue that we were standing room this year in one of the biggest halls, ise. So I would tell you, although, as we were preparing for this, over 500 students applied for 100 slots, and that's pretty much only in Spain. So wherever we operate, we have even more sort of NTH degree of that expansion. So what we do from there is we actually take that to the communities, to the regions that are around the world and we can implement the same program and make it much easier actually for employers to get involved.
[00:14:31] Speaker E: Amazing, Amazing. Thank you. And where can people get in touch with you? So if there are students out there, let's hope there aren't employers who want to poach you because there probably are. But if there are students out there who want to get in touch with you, where could they contact you?
[00:14:45] Speaker G: So the easiest way of contacting me is LinkedIn which is also another tip. I can tell them be already active on LinkedIn because it's a social platform but it has some meaning and it has also a powerful platform to also showcase your path and connect with people.
I always like to think that LinkedIn is this network where you can reach out to the CEO of the biggest company.
Otherwise you wouldn't have the chance to even connect or know what they are doing. And this is one to one platform where you can reach the to really high profiles. So yeah, Daniel Sentelles is my, my LinkedIn. You can reach out every time. I'm always happy to connect and, and start talks.
[00:15:37] Speaker E: Amazing. Thank you so much. And you, if people there are employers or literally anybody, how do they, how do they reach you?
[00:15:45] Speaker F: Best way is to go to avixa.org foundation all of our information about our scholarships, our apprenticeship schemes are there. All the programs like this and where you can find us as well. We'd be happy to all to say that for people to reach out to us so we can direct them to an existing program like a school like Denny's that he came from.
[00:16:04] Speaker E: Right.
[00:16:05] Speaker F: Or another relationship in the UK that we have right in their backyard that they may not even know. And that's what we believe our role to be. Is that glue that brings the industry together with the future talent. Hence fast forward Friday.
[00:16:17] Speaker E: Is there anything else, any sneak previews or anything you can tell us about what might be coming next? Or is everything, is it a tight wrap for next year?
[00:16:26] Speaker F: Oh well the best part about it that I can share is that we've already had companies, you know, return for next year. Kind of like the exhibitor experience where they re sign up and a number have actually denied this year because they filled roles last year.
So we'll just keep filling their spots. And I'm also excited that the technologies of those companies is changing and expanding so as the needs of the jobs are changing, we're seeing more gaming companies come in visual volume companies experience immersive companies who want to hire people just like Danny who are very talented.
[00:17:01] Speaker E: Thank you so much. Thank you both of you. Enjoy the rest of your day here and keep doing it. We need more young people in the industry and you know, from a personal perspective, I'd love to see more females in the industry.
Let's, you know, let's mix it up and let's, let's push beyond.
[00:17:19] Speaker G: Absolutely. I totally agree.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: That's a wrap on this episode of AV in the Wild. Big thanks to our guests and to you, our listeners for joining us on this journey through the AV landscape. If you liked what you heard, don't forget to subscribe. Share Leave a Review it helps us keep the conversation going. Catch us next time as we hit the road again with more voices and more stories and more of what makes AV wild. Until then, stay curious, stay connected and stay wild.
