“Can I Scan Your Badge?” Joe Way on Being an Exhibitor at InfoComm 2023

HETMA co-founder and chair, Joe Way waxes poetic about the organization's growth and becoming an exhibitor at InfoComm. Then, the panic sets in on what it's like to be an exhibitor.

On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, history will be made. Seconds after the InfoComm 2023 ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the Orange County Convention Center main doors, for the first time in InfoComm history, an end-user organization will have a full 20’x20’ booth on the tradeshow floor. HETMA, the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance, will plant a flag in the ground for the fastest growing vertical in the AV industry, capstoning a fundamental change that has been happening over the past half-decade.

When BC Hatchett and I founded HETMA four years ago, we recognized that while there were meetups, events, and booth tours for the higher ed vertical, there was still something missing: Our voice. Fast forward 40 months, as both the official and fastest growing higher ed advocacy organization, the HETMA board of directors recognized a keen opportunity to be that influence to serve our vertical in a tangible way. Beginning with the Higher Ed AV Awards on Monday, an Educational Summit on Tuesday, Wednesday through Friday daily show floor tours, happy hours with a live DJ, and educational booth programming, and ending with the annual banquet on Friday, for the first time, higher ed AV professionals will be able to learn, network, and experience all the benefits of InfoComm, formerly only afforded to others…. And all from one central location, we can call "home."

[ HETMA will Exhibit at InfoComm 2023 ]

From the moment I received the email titled, "You have been assigned a Freeman account," my life was never the same. The panic set in; the enormity of what this means for higher education came crashing down in moments. The sheer number of things to take care of, like booth power, catering, shipping, swag orders, programming, volunteer schedules, badge scan apps, booth design… my Lord! But then something else happened… the entire HETMA community came together in a way I couldn't have ever imagined possible. The "community" became a "family." A closed group of nearly fifty volunteers and section leaders mobilized to split up the duties to take ownership of our voice. Right then, I knew there was no stopping us. We are the force we’d been claiming to be.

Being on the other side has been a huge learning experience to say the least. I have a whole ‘nuther level of respect for tradeshow organizers, not to mention my account reps stuck in one spot for hours on end for "booth duty." (No wonder my reps are always emailing asking to book private booth tours: they’d be bored to death otherwise!) The amount of work and coordination behind the scenes in mind-blowing. I have to give a huge standing ovation for everything AVIXA does year-round to make our handful of days together such a huge success. We’re not worthy.

But really, what is it like being on the flip side, looking at the InfoComm prep experience from an "exhibitor" badge as opposed to an "attendee?" Simply, it's this… It is the difference between serving others and being served.

As a man of faith, I’ve always believed that serving others is the greatest thing you can do. But let's be honest, as end users, we’re takers. Our reps wine and dine us; they send us demo gear; they sponsor all our little Podunk meetups; they pat our backs at every opportunity. They go over-the-top day-in and day-out, all for the glimmer of hope that they may possibly get a PO so that they can feed their families twelve months later, after we finally close out the project. Yet, we gladly except it all like entitled children, but always #HumbledAndHonored for it.

Organizing a booth and seeing a community rally for the greater good, however, is now tied for the greatest feeling I’ve had as a higher ed AV technologist (tied for announcing the HETMA Prism Scholarship at InfoComm ‘21!). It is true service: service to a people and an industry. It's saying: "You matter, and we’re here for you. You have a home. You have a family who understands you and your struggles."

While planning a full booth presence is a lot more work compared to just deciding which manufacturers to visit, which friends are teaching educational sessions, and which vendor dinners to go to, I have a new respect for our industry as a whole. The sheer number of colleagues and companies who have offered assistance, support, and care, shows that we are not competitors or customers-and-reps, but a unified community who all love the AV industry, but just serve it from different places along the installation chain.

I am thankful for this opportunity for HETMA to represent our vertical. I am thankful for an industry that cares about the vertical I (and HETMA) care so deeply about. I am thankful for my HETMA family (the Board and Chairs, our institutional members, and our corporate partners!) who have all stepped up to take true ownership of this historic moment… for the betterment of us all.

I encourage everyone to stop by booth #4489 to find out exactly what makes HETMA and the higher ed vertical so special. Register for free at HETMA to become an institutional or corporate member and check out the #InfoComm23 section for a full lineup of everything we’re doing and everywhere we’ll be!

Happy #InfoComm23 AV peeps!

Dr. Josiah Way is the Director of Learning Environments at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, CA, and the 2019 AVNation AV Professional of the Year. Joe hosts the Higher Ed AV podcast and is the co-founder of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA.org), aimed at connecting the higher ed tech manager community and advocating for their common audiovisual needs. He is the author of the bestselling book, Producing Worship: A Theology of Church Technical Arts, and serves on the AVIXA Tech Managers and Diversity Councils. Joe is an Orange County, CA, native with over 25 years’ experience in education, technical production and the arts, and organizational leadership and management. Over his career, Dr. Way has received diverse awards in the areas of education, the arts, and business, and is a regular keynote speaker and writer for AV-industry and higher ed conferences and media outlets.

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[ HETMA will Exhibit at InfoComm 2023 ] Happy #InfoComm23 AV peeps!