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Meyer Sound Redoubles Educational Efforts
Since its incorporation in 1979, Meyer Sound has embraced education of its customers as one of the company's core values. President and CEO John Meyer believes that educated consumers are better equipped to get the best results out of their sound systems. Meyer Sound's first significant educational effort was SIM School, a seminar that trained attendees on the then-new source independent measurement method introduced with the first SIM analyzer in 1986. The effort was expanded with the inception of sound system seminars around the world, first in Mexico, then in Europe. In the United States, however, training was only available at Meyer Sound's Berkeley headquarters. In 2004, Meyer Sound is an established company with a complete line of products and a raft of innovative technologies. In accordance with the company's growth, Meyer Sound has announced an expanded educational program. Heading this new effort is Gavin Canaan, who has been brought onboard as Educational Programs Manager. After working six years at Meyer Sound as a service representative, Canaan joined sound company Pro Media/UltraSound for a five-year stint as operations manager. With experience both in the factory and in the field, Canaan is well equipped to understand and learn the needs of users. The new educational initiative is multifaceted. A new series of seminars on line array theory and applications has been instituted and taken on the road, with stops in major cities and at sound companies and other customer locations throughout the U.S., as well as the rest of the world. Since February 2004, more than 11 seminars have been held in locations around the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, and Houston. The company has also become increasingly active in participation in and presentation of educational events at trade shows. Canaan sees his job as being guided by his audience. "What we want to do is provide theoretical and practical information that's actually needed and useful on a day-to-day basis," he explains. "That means that I spend a lot of time talking to people to find out what they need to learn, then integrating that into our programs." One thing Canaan has observed is a need for two tiers of seminars. "The clientele most often associated with Meyer Sound has been touring and installation professionals, who need detailed information on subjects like line array theory, Meyer Sound MAPP Online software, SIM, rigging and other highly technical subjects," explains Canaan, "but there is another whole level of user, like those in many houses of worship, who need to operate sound systems but are not audio professionals. They need to get grounded in the basics, enough to get good sound out of their investment. In light of that, it would be foolish for us to take a 'one size fits all' approach. We plan to respond to the input we've gotten, as well as the need we ourselves see, by developing a variety of seminars over time that are appropriately targeted to audiences in terms both of subject matter and technical level. These events will be all the more valuable because we intend to take them to the audience wherever they are." But the Meyer Sound educational program will not just be a road show. A state-of-the-art 50+-seat theatre with raked seating, rigging support, extensive data and electrical wiring, and, of course rigorous acoustical treatment has recently been completed at the Berkeley offices. In addition to holding seminars and events in the space, it will also provide a lab environment for developing new programs. "Meyer Sound has always been committed to education," says Executive Vice President Helen Meyer, "and that is needed now more than ever. It takes the efforts of dealers and contractors, as well as manufacturers and users, to get good information into circulation, and we will work with them to provide the knowledge they need to do their work, as well as help their customers." October, 2004 |
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