The International Communications Industries Association, Inc.® (ICIA®) announced that its InfoComm Academy will hold its highly regarded Institute for Professional Development (IPD) in two locations in April and May - the first from April 1-3 in Reading, England, and the latter taking place April 29 to May 1 in Sydney, Australia.
The IPDs offer intensive training for AV professionals. Taught by industry leaders, the institutes focus on the latest technology and applications through interactive courses designed to encourage questions and explore new concepts. Course sizes are limited to ensure a positive learning experience and individual hands-on training from the instructors.
The IPD UK will focus on an intermediate level course, “Professional Sales Skills for AV Systems & Equipment,” designed to amplify skills and productivity. This course is for sales professionals, manufacturers’ representatives, sales representatives/managers and personnel who support their company's sales effort.
Attendees of the IPD UK will learn how to increase sales while helping customers purchase AV equipment, how to manage high-level relationships and multiple buying influences, how to reduce price resistance and competitive issues, how to effectively manage a sales pipeline, how to write “bulletproof” proposals and more.
Bill Sharer, CTS, of Exxel Management and Marketing Corporation, will teach the IPD UK course. Sharer is a seasoned marketing and sales professional with two decades of industry experience as a consultant, marketing executive and trainer. A winner of ICIA’s 2002 Educator of the Year Award, Sharer is returning to England by popular request, after a very successful IPD Sales Seminar at NEC London last November. Sponsored by Maverick Presentation Products Ltd., the IPD UK will be held at the Hanover International Hotel and Club in Reading.
The 8th annual IPD Sydney offers AV professionals coursework in display systems and audio fundamentals. This IPD is designed for systems and rental sales personnel, designers, systems designers and engineers, installation and rental technicians/managers, systems service professionals and design consultants. Participants have the opportunity to choose from one of two courses for the new three-day training format. Both courses have a technical focus and will run concurrently.
ICIA’s senior instructor Scott Wills, CTS-D, CTS-I, will share his expertise in a course called “Perfect Image 2,” an exploration of LCD, DLP and plasma display systems and applications, including an introduction of future technologies that will shape presentations in 2003 and beyond. “Perfect Image 2” delves into signal types, systems design, control systems, screen considerations and the projection environment. Prior to joining ICIA, Wills gained 20 years of technical experience integrating AV communications with Audio Visual Systems (MCSi), where he served as director of design and engineering.
Fellow instructor Gordon Moore, CTS, will host the session “All About Audio,” which examines the theory behind sizing systems, acoustics and equipment selection. Students will learn the ins and outs of system troubleshooting, dB SPL, signal levels, gain structure, speaker systems and the selection of microphones, mixers, processors, amplifiers and speakers. “All About Audio” culminates with hands-on practice in room equalization, setting up delays, setting levels and troubleshooting. Moore is the vice president of sales at Lectrosonics and served as a field technical representative in the United States, Korea and Austria. He has been actively teaching audio courses for ICIA for five years and in 2000 was named ICIA’s Educator of the Year.
The venue for this year’s IPD Sydney will be the Carlton Crest Hotel in Sydney. For more information on IPD Sydney, contact Jonathan Seller, ICIA Regional Manager, Australia and New Zealand at +61.2.9785.4577 or jseller@infocomm.org. IPD UK is nearly sold out. For full details, contact Geoff Turner, ICIA Regional Manager for Europe, gturner@infocomm.org or +44.0.1732.771658. In addition, visit ICIA’s website at www.infocomm.org for more information.
The International Communications Industries Association, Inc.® (ICIA®) is the premier trade association for the professional audiovisual communications industry. ICIA is the founder of InfoComm, the conference and trade exposition for audiovisual communications professionals who come to learn about the latest technologies and available services as well as new and alternative applications. ICIA serves its worldwide membership as the pre-eminent provider of education, training and certification.