Certify consultants?
Jan 6, 2005 4:06 PM
In December, HOW Focus reported on the growing profile of independent AV consultants in designing church media systems. That report has prompted at least one worship specialist to point out the pitfalls that may come with this trend, and to raise the call for national industry action to upgrade performance and to protect clients.
Neil Philpott, Product Development and Marketing Manager at dB Audio & Video in Gainesville, Ga., says his company, which specializes in worship facilities, has seen plenty of troubled projects arise from the efforts of unqualified consultants. “We are constantly given opportunity to bid on projects that were ‘designed’ by consulting firms. The common factor among them is a lack of understanding in even the basics of physics, design aptitude, and continuity,” Philpott says.
“Many of the consultant projects we've examined go beyond psychosis,” he adds. “After analyzing a variety of consultant-driven designs we've found a few systems that wouldn't even turn on, much less function properly if you could turn them on. Many churches are beginning to see the dysfunctional aptitude of many of these firms and are now interviewing design/build firms as an alternative.”
The answer, Philpott believes, is a formal and recognized certification program for AV industry designers. While there are a number of such programs focusing on technical skills (including the CTS credential offered by the International Communications Industries Association), at present nobody is offering, or even strongly pursuing, a national recognition program for consultants and designers.
“There has not been any collective effort to come up with an official certification program,” says Philpott. “All you need is a shingle, and all of a sudden you’re some kind of expert.”
According to Philpott, there’s a clear role for national associations in promoting certification, or for a prominent education provider like SynAudCon of Louisville, Ky. But at SynAudCon, co-owner Brenda Brown says part of the problem is that the industry already has several association-sponsored certification programs, which cover different people, train in different skills, and serve different purposes.
“The industry is confused,” Brown says. “We don’t need yet another certification program, we need to get together on one program. I would love to see some kind of cooperative effort.”
ICIA continues to promote its CTS program nationally and encourage prospective AV clients to look for CTS holders among the staff being offered by companies bidding on their jobs. At the company level, the association’s efforts recently have focused on its AVolution program, which it launched in 2003.
Companies displaying the AVolution logo declare that they adhere to 10 “Standards of Excellence.” In addition, companies can become “Certified AV Solutions Providers” by maintaining certain percentages of their staff with ICIA certifications.
The National Systems Contractors Association also offers programs leading to certification as an “electronic systems technician” or “electronic systems integrator.”
Of course, if launching and maintaining a certification program were easy, more associations would do it. The American Society of Association Executives surveys “Policies and Procedures in Association Management” every five years, and according to its 2001 report about 20 percent of all associations offer a certification program.
That percentage, moreover, has been fairly consistent over the last 20 years or so. So setting up shop as a national credentialing organizing is easier said than done. One challenge, Philpott notes, is simply to achieve consensus on the precise knowledge and skills individuals must have to merit certification.
Still, Brown says the industry perceives the need. “People need somehow to feel comfortable with the consultant they’re picking, and the only way to do that is with some kind of certification program.”
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