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AES the Smart Way
The Audio Engineering Society convention, held in September or October, alternates each year between the West Coast in Los Angeles or San Francisco and the East Coast in New York City. It is the ultimate toy store where you shop for what you want and/or need for your audio recording facility. Every exhibitor wants to sell you their product, and they treat you like a king. Each product is “better than any other,” and you must have it now! New developments on display will affect your competitive business stance and also help determine what technological breakthroughs you should have, to reassure your clients that they are working at the right studio—yours!
How do studio owners prepare for this event in the most positive and efficient manner? During my many years as the money man at Record Plant, we developed a successful formula. I would always take a group of our staff to AES, which included the chief audio engineer, the chief technical engineer, and another staff member who had demonstrated the most loyalty and enthusiasm (as a reward for exemplary dedication to the studio). We were a team, and each of us had our roles to play and our tasks to accomplish.
ADVANCE PLANNING
Prior to leaving for the convention, we met to talk strategy and focus on what was really important. What were the latest market trends we had heard about? What products were on our wish list because of these trends, as opposed to the reality of what we really needed to keep up with the competition and/or could afford/find a way to purchase? We compiled written reminder notes of manufacturers we needed/wanted to speak with, so we would not forget our objectives once we arrived at the convention and were swallowed up by that enchanting reunion atmosphere. Here's what we thought about for any product under possible consideration:
1. Is this a product that will bring our studio at least as much additional revenue as we need for our monthly lease or bank payment for that product? If the answer is no, you'd better think again.
2. Is this a product from the “emerging technologies” that we need to stay competitive in our market niche with current clients, or to attract that new client whom we are trying to entice? Try to remain objective—temptation is in your path!
3. As said before, must we keep up with the competition in our geographical market that is bragging to our clients about having this gear, or is it all puffery? This mandatory thinking particularly applies to very expensive items such as recording consoles and multitrack tape machines. Now you're starting to understand the convention philosophy and beginning to think smart.
4. Is this a product that will allow us to enter new markets? Have we really done our homework for the potential expansion beyond our established niche? Do we have a marketing plan? Are the answers we get from our peers, advisors, and clients real or sugar-coated? Look before you leap.
5. Is this new piece of gear absolutely needed to start up in a new market segment and compete with those who are already providing this service? What are the comparative choices of equipment available? How many products are vaporware that are still really in development? What are the price comparisons of the various alternatives to the “flavor of the month” brand that is currently most popular? Can the manufacturer really deliver the completed product in feature-ready condition at the time they say they can? Beware.
6. What is the risk-reward ratio, and how big are our chances of losing? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much risk are we really taking by purchasing this product vs. the amount of reward (new clients, increased billing, and so on) that we will get if we have that product? Can we really afford to expand our operations and take the chance? Do we have a back-up plan ready to implement if we turn out to be wrong and lose everything we have invested?
With these questions in mind, we assigned specific missions to each member of our strategic team. After all, this is war! It's you against those very persuasive sales experts who can convince the uninitiated to purchase almost anything. While at the convention, the mandatory schedule was to meet for breakfast to plan each day (no matter how bleary-eyed the members of our team were from the previous evening's wonderful manufacturers’ parties). Go over the assignments and then head for the show.
After completing our morning assignments, we would then meet for lunch to discuss the results of our findings and determine which members of our team should be used to follow up on products that had caught our combined attention. We always split the team for maximum effectiveness, depending on whom we needed to seek out for additional information or a better price and how technical the requirements were to understand the true meaning of the facts. Another meeting with the same agenda at the hotel, right after the convention closed each day, helped us review what we had accomplished, set up the next day's schedule, and plan the strategy for the evening's activities.
The manufacturers’ evening parties each night at the convention are the chance for each team member to talk with other studio people and gather information about how they dealt with a particular problem or situation that our studio might have been experiencing. Also, we got outside opinions about the comparative value and features of the equipment we were thinking of purchasing. Our peers would share their thoughts with us in a social environment, because we were not competitors, and we were all having fun. It's amazing to me how much you can learn at industry social functions if you just seek out the right people. Be aggressive. Speak up—it's give and take.
I would always try to meet and speak with the highestranking executive from the host manufacturer who was in attendance, in order to gain the latest product information and to be certain they knew who I was and that I was really considering the purchase of their product, or that I already owned it and had questions about its performance. Many times this provided me with an invitation to their facility for future discussion or a special private demonstration of the product in question at their convention location the next day. Once there, the upgraded software that fixed the old problem could be demonstrated more effectively, and we could speak more privately to the manufacturer about the problems we were having, or the potentially embarrassing questions about the product could be asked. It was also an excellent opportunity to negotiate a lower price, better financial terms, and a more advantageous delivery schedule.
It would be wonderful to have an unlimited budget and be the first to purchase all the new equipment that you find innovative. But can you afford the risk of losing your investment if your guess is wrong? If you can, then it's like Las Vegas gambling fantasy time. Place your bets and hope for the best! If, on the other hand, your risk is especially high if you make the wrong decision, and the decision is about an expensive piece of equipment, make certain you utilize the powerful environment of the convention to do your due diligence. This will give you the maximum chance of arriving at the correct choice of what to purchase at that time, and what to defer to the future.