When I first met the Hamilton-Avnet and Time Electronics folks back in the 80s, I learned they were leaders in educational seminars and open houses for buyers and engineers. We have since folded our groups into the Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) name and grown in over 80 countries, but the legacy is still there.
One of the most important ways we are of value to the electronics community is education. We still have seminars, magazines, videos, open houses, partner conferences, and solutions training programs, including X-Fest and now ARM-fest, which is the only global seminar program in tech history.
Being a thought leader, Avnet invested in AvnetOnDemand.com two years ago to provide another method of spreading the information that can benefit your knowledge, career, and company. No one else has such a robust tech showcase of videos, from computer products to electronic components. No one.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth? To Avnet, it's over $1 million of your time, based on the average of $50 per hour. You and your peers have voted with over 20,000 hours of watching supplier videos on our unique portal. Not to be outdone, EBV-TV was created by one of our outstanding divisions in Europe.
The best-watched videos are the ones we added value to, such as Xilinix’s boards, or the CIO Tech series created by Steve Phillips, which has been quite a hit. I think Steve is getting a bit full of himself; he is now demanding a dressing room and is always getting makeup, even when he has no show! Another top-viewed program was on Avnet's sustainability efforts by our chief financial officer. The real key to success is that our valued suppliers consistently add new videos for your education and pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Another thought comes up in looking at this site; as a learning tool it handles one of the biggest barriers to learning or study tech - lack of mass. When you have someone come into your organization who has vague ideas of what you're trying to discuss, you'll see some very specific indicators: boredom or exasperation for example. When you have the ability to bring the person in contact w/ the object, the problem resolves. In lieu of that, you need to have photographs or videos at hand because they now represent the promise or hope of the mass of the object. Written or spoken words are symbols that don't fill the void.
May sound trite, but don't ever understimate the impact this can have on productivity.
I enjoyed reading Al's post. Like Barbara I too spent many hours getting my brain wrapped around electronics terms and technology. In my "cub reporter" days, the bulk of my education was at a diner along the Rt. 110 corridor on Long Island where I'd get full conceptual understanding of EEPROM mechanics on a napkin sketch over breakfast.
Excellent article. I was unware of this website and all of the videos and information. I checked some of them out and they are done very well. It is great to know there is at least one company helping make sure their customers and other interested parties stay informed and help further their knowledge.
Avnet has been touring different ways to establish great support to their customers, one such is the website they launched.
Its very sensible to have such a site because things get in fast when we visualise than just by reading. Presentations Rule is reduce the content as much as you can and try to add pictures/graphs etc.
Al Marg, we can say such seminars and education series are value added service for the customers. I had attended the X-Fest last year and I feel that it’s comfortable way to interact with different vendors and service providers. The one best think I liked is demo part and opportunity to evaluate certain chips and on boards.
Thanks a lot for the link. Let me confess, I was not aware of this site before. But when I visited the website I found lot of informative stuff that too in video format. I am sure I will keep visiting this site regularly.
Can't say I was really aware of this! I do think your statement that no one has such a robust tech showcase of videos such as these is completely valid. I certainly can't think of anyone off the top of my head that is doing anything like this with the same level of quality and at the same level of scale that Avnet is...
I've used the videos for research. No matter how many times someone explained an embedded system to me, I couldn't grasp the concept. Finally, found a demo on AvnetOnDemand that helped me figure it out.
If somebody asks me, to make a selection of companies do I choose as an innovative .My answer will include Avnet for sure. I checked out the videos and are very interesting with a lot of information and Knowledge.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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