License to Drive Professionalism

When institutions, AV integration firms and manufacturers need to educate a large quantity of people without having to develop their own education curricula from the ground up, they license education from InfoComm International. For one reasonable fee, the licensee receives lesson plans, instructor notes and more from InfoComm, allowing for an unlimited number of students to be trained during the term of the contract.

One of the top institutions of learning in the world, Cornell University, knows a lot about the importance of education. And when Cornell decided to offer training to staff who manage AV in various departments and colleges, project leader Greg Bronson, CTS-D, chose to license InfoComm's Essentials of the AV Industry class.

For Bronson, there were several benefits. "Committing to developing your own AV education program is a huge endeavor," said Bronson. "It is much easier to license a proven curriculum, and the InfoComm name adds credibility to our AV training program."

The course has allowed employees with a wide-range of AV experience to develop a common terminology when discussing AV technology. "The class is building the professionalism of those who work with AV, from the network service team, to employees of different colleges and departments who might be their office's point of contact for AV services," said Bronson. "It is also giving our trainees confidence and pride in what they do."

There are several advantages to providing this training on-site. Having more than 30 people travel to the InfoComm University would be cost-prohibitive for most universities. "By licensing, nobody is left behind due to airfare or hotel costs," said Bronson. "Anybody who needs and wants training can get it."

Customization of the curriculum is another key benefit of licensing. "We 'Cornellize' the class, by citing examples of actual classrooms and auditoria in the lessons," revealed Bronson. "We even take field trips to certain sites on campus, to apply the lessons in the class to practical situations employees might encounter."

Exposing a large group of employees with differing technical experience to AV training has enhanced the effectiveness of the Cornell team, and some technicians were even inspired to pursue their Certified Technology Specialist® (CTS®) credential.

When the world's largest integrator of audio and video communications systems and services, AVI-SPL, needs to train its engineering and design staff, the company relies on InfoComm-licensed training. "InfoComm is the first place we turn," said Jennifer C. Schwartzberg, training development manager, AVI-SPL. "The curricula are up-to-date and well-crafted, so we know that our staff is learning what they need to know."

AVI-SPL schedules classes of 20 students in their training center on a continuing basis. "Licensing allows us to get a bigger bang for our training buck," explains Schwartzberg. "AVI-SPL's career track is closely tied into completion of InfoComm training and certification programs. We can train so many more people at a lower cost by training people in-house, without having to develop these curricula on our own."

AVI-SPL is a diamond-level AVSP company, which means that a large percentage of its personnel must hold InfoComm certifications and receive training. "Executive management is stronglycommitted to training and views licensing of InfoComm curricula as an important way for staff to maintain the CTS, CTS-D and CTS-I credentials that are often required in bids." AVI-SPL is licensed to offer InfoComm classes including Installation Technician, Lead Installation Technician and Elements of Design.

Kramer USA began licensing InfoComm classes in October 2006, when the company's VP of marketing became authorized to teach the Essentials of AV course, which at the time was the class used to prepare for the CTS examination. Subsequently, Kramer hired Max Kopsho as a full-time trainer and expanded its offering of licensed material to include Essentials of AV, CTS Exam Prep and AV/IT Integration for Technical Professionals.

Kramer has trained more than 1,000 AV professionals using InfoComm-licensed curricula. "We started out training our own people and new hires," said Dave Bright, Kramer. "Then, when Max Kopsho joined us, we expanded our reach and currently we reach about 30 people a month for licensed training, with the new CTS Exam Prep class being the material most often taught." Kopsho has trained so many AV professionals that he was named InfoComm International's 2010 Educator of the Year.

The biggest benefits to licensing InfoComm curricula from Kramer's perspective are that the material is excellent, there is tremendous demand for it, and it strengthens the AV industry to develop so many well-educated, trained professionals. Bright notes, "As a company, Kramer feels general industry knowledge should be shared as often as possible. The more educated our customers are, the easier our job is. Plus, it makes everyone better in the eyes of the end users. At Kramer, we are committed deeply to offering education opportunities as often as we can and in as many locations as we can."

Offering InfoComm training has helped Kramer build stronger relationships in the industry. "It is a fact that when you teach someone something, they look to you as an expert. And if they look to you as an expert, they form a natural bond with you and sense of loyalty toward you," adds Bright. "They think about you and your products when they are designing a system and putting the things you taught them into practice. Education, and in particular InfoComm's licensed material, provides the foundation people need to themselves be experts."

Of late, Kramer has focused on providing CTS Prep due to the huge demand for the credential in the marketplace. "That has its own unique benefits because you are not only teaching foundational material to help people become better at what they do, you are also helping them toward a tangible goal – a clear mark that tells the world that they are experts in their field," explains Bright. "This has cascading benefits. Our company benefits from the relationship-building that happens naturally during the education process and everyone benefits from having the people who take our training become the best AV professionals he or she can be. Everyone from the end user, to the dealership that person works at, to the manufacturers, benefits by having people become as learned in their craft as possible."

Kramer is strongly committed to the CTS program, and the ability to provide renewal units to staff at a low cost is an important benefit of licensing curricula. "We are a Diamond-level AVSP company, and we plan to keep that designation," said Bright. "We are firm believers in the CTS program and we practice what we preach with our own people every day."

"It is our strong belief that InfoComm's training provides unparalleled value to our company," said Bright. "Anyone involved in the industry should expose themselves to as much of the InfoComm training as they can as often as they can. "As we say at Kramer you should 'Learn to Earn' and 'AV Knowledge = Success'."

Companies interested in licensing InfoComm curricula should contact InfoComm's Patrick Giambalvo at 1.800.659.7469. Please visit http://www.infocomm.org/ for information on classes, certification and more.