Greg Jeffreys sets up consulting practice
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Greg Jeffreys Consulting Ltd (GJC) will therefore now function as a stand-alone business. And while VDL will continue to specialise in high specification displays, Jeffreys will build on a career that has seen him fulfil a number of volunteer leadership roles within the world of AV, rising to become the first non-American president of AVIXA (known then as InfoComm). Having either led or co-written various AVIXA displays-related standards, he is coming to the end of three years’ leadership of the Association’s standards body.
GJC will separate these consulting specialisms away from his other interests and at the same time meet the increasing post-pandemic demand for consultancy in the design and configuration of hybrid meeting and teaching spaces. He will lead a team of associates - specialists in a comprehensive spread of technology-enhanced workspace disciplines - now known generically as the Teams Room market.
“I’m excited to be continuing my consultancy assignments in this new way,” states Jeffreys. Commenting on current trends, he says, “There has been an ‘all roads lead to Rome’ feeling about the direction of travel with the issues that users and clients currently want to discuss. COVID accelerated the move to hybrid working and teaching with eye-popping velocity, forcing rushed specification decisions and overspending on underperforming workspaces.
“The fact this market is known as Teams Rooms speaks to Microsoft’s dominance in this sector, and their unique leadership role in space design and configuration. I’m working with trusted, long-term colleagues in this rapidly developing area of focus. It’s a happy thing for me that it aligns so perfectly with all these years of standards, academic and technical experience.
“Poor room design and configuration can ruin the impact of the most expensive hardware, creating a void in the traditional eco-system of end user, AV consultants and integrators,” concludes Jeffreys. “Feedback from the AV User Group, the associated Consultant Group and LTSMG (the Higher Education tech managers’ group) all report a heritage of problems created by the pandemic-driven necessity … creating hybrid spaces with haste but without standards.”
