Finding the Hidden Gifts in 2020
As the calendar year comes to a close and we prepare for time with family and friends - socially distanced, via video screen or in some modified way we are still discovering - I want to share with you some thoughts on what I see as the unexpected “gifts” of 2020.
Some of you know that I grew up helping in my family’s jewelry store, my father and uncle the sons of Labuskes and Sons Jewelers; a retail storefront that my grandfather opened in the 1930s. A major part of the holiday season in our extended family was working at the store as they tended to do about 80 percent of their annual sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As an early teen, one of my assignments was the gift wrapping of purchases with all of my siblings and cousins at one time or another, sharing the same task as we made our way through the “career path” at the store. In our home, this led to the beauty of the box, the gift wrap, being almost as important as the gift itself. The Labuskes-wrapping cliché became the nested box within a box within a box; ever opening from the large outer containers until reaching the true present inside at the end.
I hope you can see where I’m heading with this metaphor as I reflect on the experiences of AV professional around the world during the year 2020. There are so many layers that at first are tragic and painful. The millions of people that have lost their lives around the world to COVID-19 who will never celebrate another season with us. Few of my conversations these days are with someone who’s been spared a personal story about one of those losses. And yet, through it all, I also hear of families reconnecting, of board games being rediscovered, new cooking skills honed, or new instruments being mastered. I hear of more family dinners and more simple joys being celebrated.
Another box nested inside of 2020 involves the societal disruption and fracturing that we’ve experienced, perhaps more deeply in the U.S. than elsewhere, but also globally. In the pain of violence came an acknowledgement of deep-seated systemic racism and the desire to make change. And we do, I believe, see a sustained effort to begin to right those wrongs. An effort that AVIXA has embraced with an eye toward a truly welcoming diverse industry in the years to come.
Yet another nested layer to reflect upon is the economic impact of the pandemic on our industry. We’ve seen job losses throughout much of our industry and indeed, devastating disruption to our live events practitioners. Few of us are finishing the year with the same people working beside us as did when we began the year. And yet, the innovation of our industry has kept the world together. Our technology and solutions have always been about bringing people together and amplifying the messages of our customers, and that purpose has never been more critical than it is today. Businesses are emerging stronger and more agile with new customers, new offerings and in many cases, entirely new models.
At the heart of all the boxed experiences of 2020 there is a true gift for each of us to see. Within all the pain, hardship and loss, there is a present from which we can move to a future that doesn’t take for granted the deep gift of human capacity. A capacity of innovation and an industry grit that has overcome all the disruptions that have come before, and spring-boarded us into an exciting and prosperous future.
I hope that each of you bring a gift of trust and compassion, of stability and hope, into all of your workplaces, your families, and your communities as we enter into a new year together.
David Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, has been the CEO of AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association , since January 2013. Since joining AVIXA, Labuskes has worked to promote industry professionalism, expand global programs and raise awareness of AVIXA offerings. He serves on the Board of Directors of Integrated Systems Events, LLC, a joint venture European trade show company, and InfoComm Asia PTE, Ltd., a joint venture company in Singapore operating InfoComm-branded trade shows in the region. Prior to joining AVIXA, Labuskes served as vice president of RTKL, now a division of ARCADIS, a leading architectural and engineering firm. He is the founder of the company's Technology Design Practice, overseeing the delivery of audiovisual, voice, data, wireless, environmental media, electronic security and acoustics services. He earned a BA in International Politics from Penn State University and earned an MBA from Loyola University of Maryland.
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