Been thinking about this Barco/High End deal ever since they announced it two weeks ago, but between Infocomm, a short visit to Ohio, and throwing my back out (it’s hell getting old) I’m only just now putting some thoughts together.

High End’s impending sale has been probably one of the worst kept secrets in the industry for a while now. The only mystery was which potential buyer was going to win the day. There were many suitors lining up for this marriage, and in the end, it was the one with the biggest dowry. I heard that Barco offered much more than the other players in this, which shouldn’t be surprising, given its size and scope.

It’s been a fascinating development in many ways, but now that it’s a done deal, I have a feeling the next year or so will be equally fascinating, especially when it comes to the integration of the two corporate cultures.

As we all know, High End is in many ways the personification of the independent American company: a couple of guys puttering about in a garage, creating an innovative and marketable product, and always, always, doing things their own way. And even though they had been purchased by a holding company several years ago, they still in many ways retained that rock and roll spirit. Barco, on the other hand, is a large, publicly traded European entity, very methodical in the way it conducts business. The company’s sheer volume enables it to do things smaller companies simply can’t.

All of which has led some in the industry to believe that there will be some epic internal personality clashes ahead as this relationship progresses.

Or will it?

Sometimes the most effective relationships are those between opposites, who both know each other strengths and cede ground to the other accordingly. Sometimes you need both the left and the right side of the brain working at the same time in order to be truly effective. Sometimes two very different entities come together to create something truly unique.

Or to put it more succinctly: You put peanut butter in my chocolate! You put chocolate in my peanut butter!

I’m getting hungry at the thought.

So, apparently, I’m supposed to blog more. It’s something I’ve neglected to do over the last few months, partly because I hesitate to think anyone cares what I have to say, and also because, well, we keep pretty busy putting out a print magazine each month. I’m trying to commit, so keep an eye on the Live Blog for more content. For now, I’ll just babble for a bit…

Tomorrow, I’m headed to Philly to attend an event Barco is doing in conjunction with Comast to unveil a swanky new huge LED display in the lobby of the Comcast Center they are billing as “the world’s highest resolution LED display.” More on that later in the week. They were showing some previews at Infocomm of what we can expect, and the content alone looked fantastic.

Lighting designer Marc Janowitz has been touring for a while with My Morning Jacket (and I’ll admit, I was not familiar with the band when he started), so it’s nice to see they’re getting some great play in entertainment news:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/25/music.my.morning.jacket.ap/index.html

And rest in peace, Adam Steyh, a member of the Las Vegas lighting community who passed away Saturday. Details here:

http://livedesignonline.com/news/memorial_svc_for_adam_steyh_june_26/

So on my doctor’s recommendation I limited my InfoComm exposure for my first time to one day (Translation: Live Design wouldn’t spring for the whole week), meaning it’s time for my sum up.

For those of you who have never been to InfoComm before, here’s the only way I can come up with to describe it: It’s like watching that episode of The Office where Michael and Dwight go to the more

I feel like I need a guide. Or possibly a sherpa.

I’m sitting in an immense and empty sea of cheap blue carpet listening to the Mustang Girls talk about their life stories and demonstrate the dance they did for the X-Games, while a crowd of polo-shirt sporting trade show males look on. I haven’t figured out the connection between the Mustang Girls and any technology company in attendance. I’ve heard more

So I’m counting myself privileged to be the first to shower accolades on Dataton AB. The Watchout guys don’t mess around with this versioning thing. I’m just glad they are slow at this press release thing so I can write about it first.

Still in beta, Watchout 4 is an incredible leap forward in terms of the utility of the application for live performance and staging. I just don’t know where more