Conferencing and Collaboration were one of significant highlights of InfoComm 2023. This premier annual event for the AV industry took place in Orlando, Florida, from June 10-16, 2023. The event featured high-tech video conferencing exhibitors such as Poly, highlighting their new Poly Studio, X52 all-in-one conferencing bar, TechVision, featuring their RK3399 Video Conferencing Terminal, and Airtame, which unveiled the future of hybrid conferencing with new features. InfoComm 2023 played host to a significant Conferencing and Collaboration session titled "Advancing the Hybrid Workplace.” This session explored the importance of the hybrid workplace as a critical tool in achieving organizational goals. Representatives from tech giants Cisco and Microsoft led a conversation on how their respective companies are enhancing the hybrid workplace experience. They covered topics like integrating of AI-powered collaboration tools, streamlining in-person experiences with interoperable hardware and software, and ensuring equitable meeting experiences for all participants. "Designing for Collaboration Across Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex Rooms” was another essential video conferencing session at InfoComm 2023. This session dove into the importance of collaboration rooms for remote teams. The panel discussion explored the intersection of aesthetic design and technology, focusing on how these elements can enhance user experience in collaboration rooms optimized for platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex. The panelists also shared best practices for designing collaboration rooms that cater to the unique needs of remote teams, aiming to provide an optimal virtual collaboration experience. Jay McArdle, Poly’s Head of Product, attended these InfoComm 2023 sessions and says staying on top of the latest video conferencing solutions and trends is critical to his job. Jay’s thoughts: “Going through and having to break the waves for the industry, we were the first ones to get Zoom certified. We were the first ones to do Microsoft certification. It's a huge ordeal to go through and understand how to work with very large businesses like Zoom like Microsoft. It’s not something that is easily done. You learn a lot of nuances about how to deal with an Android operating system, how to deal with camera control, and how to deal with a microphone. Things that you think are simple are not. When you try to make sure that you maintain that customer experience with an application that changes quarterly, then having the experience to know what you're going to be doing, how to test it, and what the scenarios are to make sure that you have an enterprise quality and reliable product is critical. One of the neat things about coming into the HP family is our general manager covers Poly, covers HyperX, covers HPAC. The DNA of understanding what that looks like from gaming to home to office and the reliability that's required, but also the personal nature of it, is critical. When we start looking at it from my job of managing the video experience, it’s from the desk to the office. It's wherever that desk may be, whether it's at a coffee shop, whether it's at your apartment, whether it's in your office, you need to make sure that you have the high-quality products to make sure that you can deliver on that gaming experience, that you can deliver that video experience, that you're always showing up professionally, always showing up comfortably.” Article by James Kent