Nancy Emerson is approaching the second year of her term as NSCA president with a focus on diversity. The way she sees it, we not only need to bolster our workforce with fresh talent, we also need “to recognize that our members do more than one thing. We all have audio roots, and we don’t want to give up our audio roots, but we have to acknowledge that as an industry we’re doing more.”

Already, Emerson has seen a lot of these ideals come to fruition, and her plan is to continue the association’s trajectory toward addressing convergence trends in personnel and technology. “We live in the IP world, so it is really great to start seeing some of that reflected in our education programs and at Expo,” Emerson says. “NSCA University is addressing many of the changes we’re seeing. We’ve all been a little bit afraid of convergence, but once we step back and consider it, we realize that it is just another tool in our toolbox.”

Emerson likens this transition to driving a car. “You just need to know the basics,” she says. “A car needs gas and oil.” Similarly, the IT world doesn’t have to be so intimidating. “You used to have to know so much to make a computer work, but today, you really don’t. We’re all getting a little more acclimated to it.”

NSCA represents that evolutionary change through its educational curriculum, certification programs, and on the show floor, where AV is merging with IT. “The world is changing, and the method of delivery is changing,” Emerson concludes, and we need to adapt accordingly. “When you go to a meeting and they talk about IP addressing, routers, switchers, and networks, you need to be able to speak the language.”