Summer '22 - Time to recharge for Autumn

It’s been a busy few months with the return of ISE and Infocomm, both of which reported better than expected turn-out and both of which, in our view, proved to be useful and interesting events.

Along with last Novembers Stadium Business and Design show in Manchester UK, the ISE event in Barcelona and InfoComm Las Vegas demonstrated that stadiums, retails centres and entertainment venues continue to be planned, designed, financed and built.

Despite concerns about global supply chain shortages and shipping costs multiplying ten-fold, the LED and AV industries continue to be finding demand is close to pre-pandemic levels.

The challenge for many businesses seems to be focused on increased costs for energy and fuel along with limited availability of people with industry experience.

Kronman Associates is pleased to be offering business consultancy, alongside our usual LED consultancy, to several new and growning businesses in the UK, EMEA and USA. Each of the companies we’re working with is finding new opportunities to reach out to customers who want reliable, honest and dedicated partners who can deliver more than just hardware or integration. These companies and their clients are looking for partners to work with for the long term.

Give us a call or send an email from our contact page on this site. We’d love to hear what you’re up too.

Consulting is a Resource for Clients

Throughout the Covid pandemic, we’ve continued to provide consulting services to clients in Europe, the Middle East and North America and as always, focusing on LED displays.

The services that Kronman Associates have been providing most often are those that inform and advise clients on LED and Audio-Visual design and implementation.

Some clients only need a day or a few hours to “sense check” that they’re aksing the right questions and choosing the right solutions for their projects. Other clients have been using us to provide broader, long term business advice where they are developing display projects in-house or for their clients.

Consulting, in our opinion, should be the resource that a customer doesn’t have in-house and which can be aligned with company culture and goals.

Our focus on our customers success and delivering the best value relies on our commitment to being transparent at every stage of our work with our customers.

Collaboration and Cooperation with Partners

The last few years have seen Kronman Associates collaborate with one of the best known companies in the global AV industry, Diversified Media Group.

Beginning in Q3 of 2018, we worked on the upgrade of an “end of life” LED display at Wells Fargo’s Knight Center in North Carolina. Kronman Associates were tasked with working directly with the client and the DMG team to develop the RFP and technical requirements for replacing the old screen with improved technology within the existing structural space.

Kronman Associates was given the job of creating the tender, identifying the shortlist of vendors. scoring the responses alongside the client team and participating remotely in monitoring the program through to to completion. The successful completion in August 2019 included a new Daktronics LED display and connection to the existing content management and control systems.

Also beginning in Q2 of 2019 and continuing the successful and seamless DMG partnership, Kronman Associates were asked to act as the on-site representative to Gulf Related in Abu Dhabi for the Galleria- Al Maryah Island Mall project.

Kronman Associates were the liaison between DMG, Gulf Related, the main contractor and the AV integrator providing advice, oversight and coordination for the installation of hundreds of digital screens, kiosks, wayfinding points and LED displays across the property. The mall opened September 4, 2019.

LED Projects and Covid-19. What's happening now.

Kronman Associates have had a number of conversations recently with manufacturer’s, integrators and end users asking what we see happening in the LED market.

The global pandemic has certainly stopped some projects for good but we’re getting reports that LED and AV installations are starting to happen again.

Installations that were under way in March 2020 are moving towards completion or have handed over to the clients. Tenders that were at the decision stage are moving towards contract and with a little luck (and some finance packages at preferrential rates), orders will soon be placed. Factories that have been idle are starting to take orders and manufacture screens that we understand will be completed in Q4 of 2020 or early in 2021.

The signs are good for integrators as the AV-IT partnerships with the building industry have discovered the opportunity to upgrade older buildings, AV hardware and networks while they have fewer people in offices.

Unfortunately the rental, event and entertainment industries are struggling and we’ve seen too many good companies stop trading. Hopefully the companies that can survive the pandemic and the AV industry as a whole will be able to recruit some of those who’ve lost their jobs.

There isn’t a quick solution to the virus or the business challenges we face but we’re pleased to see the teamwork, support and positive responses of some many colleagues.

Happy Halloween. Hope you all get a treat.

Covid-19 and the LED and AV industry

When we first heard about a new virus in December 2019, it was primarily news about the people and businesses in China. By the time the Lunar New Year arrived many of our friends and colleagues were locked down in their homes and cities and manufacturing of LED screens in China ground to a halt.

Within weeks many individuals and businesses in the LED, AV and entertainment arena found themselves with no work and nowhere to go. Unfortunately many orders and projects around the world were put on hold and we’re only now seeing factories get back to work, projects get traction and budgets being spent.

There’s still a long way to go and while the event and entertainment industry are suffering badly, the OOH and installation businesses are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

There’s been a great effort by many AV publishers, companies and individuals to support our business family throughout this situation. Freelancers, small businesses and even some larger businesses need our support.

We’d be happy to discuss how our business can work with yours and hopefully we can all find opportunities to work more closely as we get back to work.

Spray-on Touchscreens are coming.

Inavate Magazine posted an article on June 30 about Shape-conforming touchscreen technology being developed and tested.

https://www.inavateonthenet.net/news/article/shape-conforming-touchscreen-design-created-by-researchers

Very interesting step towards delivering custom displays onto almost any surface (but it will still need power and data cables to feed the display).

IBC at Amsterdam RAI

The IBC show is coming to Amsterdam, September 13-18, 2018. It's a great opportunity to see the newest in broadcast, media and entertainment technology.

Kronman Associates will be attending with our colleagues from Exertis and Service+Support. We look forward to meeting you there.

Digital Signage Expo 2018 begins March 27th

We're going to the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas next week. #DSE2018. Great opportunity to meet our colleagues and see what's new in display technology and content management.  

Register at https://registration.experientevent.com/ShowDSE181/Flow/ATT#/registrant//Dashboard/

Bluman Associates and Kronman Associates deliver new LED for BT Tower

Bluman Associates has partnered with DOOH LED expert Bob Kronman of Kronman Associates to provide expert consultancy for a digital screen upgrade at London’s iconic BT Tower.

Bluman was commissioned to undertake an initial feasibility study after BT expressed an interest in replacing the existing LED screens in 2015.

Read the whole article

Investigating the Second Hand LED Screen Market

Kronman Associates is investigating the opportunities that exist for re-selling, installing and using LED screen products that have previously been used in the fixed installation advertising and rental markets.

New LED screens are appearing around the UK and Europe every day with many small rental companies and end users buying directly from factories and distributors. The availability of these products mean some companies are updating screens faster than before and the original screen products are being sold or stored after only a few years.

Many of those products have a longer life expectancy than they're being used for and when they've been well maintained, these screens could provide new user's, such as small retailers and lower tier sports clubs, to get useful large format LED at a reasonable price.

We'd be interested to learn about seller's and buyer's who might want to share their stories about buying and selling their LED screens.