SVG Sit Down: Legrand AV Division's Gordon Wason on Company's Goals in Sports-Broadcast, Venue Industry

SVG Sit Down: Legrand AV Division's Gordon Wason on Company's Goals in Sports-Broadcast, Venue Industry Formed from a variety of acquisitions, the division offers a complete infrastructure solution By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Senior Editor

Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - 1:22 pm

Print This Story

Story Highlights

Since acquiring Milestone AV Technologies and its market brands in late 2017, Legrand continues its commitment to serving the A/V industry through its AV Division. The division - which combines Milestone's Chief, Da-Lite, Projecta, Sanus, Echogear, and Vaddio brands with Legrand's Middle Atlantic, C2G and Wiremold, Luxul, On Q, Nuvo, Platinum Plus, Q Motion, and Vantage - is dedicated to solving its customers' A/V installation challenges, both commercial and residential, by leveraging the various brands' products, personnel, and best practices.

SVG sat down with Gordon Wason, business development manager, broadcast, for Legrand AV Division and Middle Atlantic Products (which recently joined SVG as a corporate sponsor) to discuss the AV Division's goals in the sports-broadcast and -venue industry, its plans for InfoComm 2018, and why the time was right to join SVG.

Even before Middle Atlantic combined with Milestone to become Legrand AV Division, it had been providing A/V systems for a variety of applications since 1979. How has the company engaged in the sports-broadcast and -production industry?

Working with our consultants and integrator/dealer customers, we have helped spec audio- and video-infrastructure products for their sports and venue projects. In recent years, most of the sports-broadcast and venue projects from integrators such as Diversified, BeckTV, Alpha Video, CTG, and Bexel have included some level of Middle Atlantic design spec.

What are the company's goals in that space? How can sports-broadcast and -production clients benefit from Legrand AV Division?

We are constantly developing new products for the broadcast and sports-venue space. With the recent addition of the Milestone companies as well as Raritan and Sever-technology to the Legrand family, we now offer a complete infrastructure solution.

As a provider of A/V systems, are you engaged with the sports-venue industry? If so, what are the biggest trends that you're seeing in sports venues, and how do you address those challenges?

We have been engaged in this space for many years, and our infrastructure products reside in collegiate and professional stadiums and arenas nationwide. As for trends, we have seen installations become more data-centric to support broadcast IP workflows. We already have IP power and rack products ready to ship to support IP-related hardware as the industry moves in that direction.

Why is it important to join SVG? What would you like the SVG community to know about Legrand AV Division?

SVG events bring together the right decision-makers from end-user networks, venues, schools, integrators, and equipment vendors. All of those SVG members are in some way current and future customers of Legrand Audio Video Division. Whether they are in spec positions as an end user or they are an integrator that is a direct buyer, we need to be in the room with these executives, and SVG makes that possible.

InfoComm is right around the corner. Why is this an important show for your company, and what can visitors to your booth expect to see?

My marketing team has created something innovative at InfoComm 2018. This will be the first time that the four commercial brands of Legrand - Vaddio, Chief, Middle Atlantic, and Da-Lite - are presenting their category-leading solutions in one place. We'll also have incredible connectivity solutions at the show from C2G, Wiremold, and Luxul. At the main Legrand booth (C3683), these companies will demonstrate how integrators and designers can build systems that transform spaces, with interactive vignettes. These vignettes will bring together products from all the Legrand brands to demonstrate real-world applications for active learning in classrooms and collaboration in conference room and huddle space scenarios.

Lastly, what do you want people to know about Legrand AV Division that they might not know?

We are not just racks! We are power (both distribution and in rack UPS); we are integrated furniture; we are video-monitor mounts (of every type and style); we are PTZ camera solutions; we are cables and wire-run solutions. We are a complete infrastructure-solutions provider.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/05/29/svg-sit-down-legrand-av-divisio...
	See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines