Q&A: Mass AV’s John Lally
Interviewed by Sven Anderson

PSW: How did Mass AV originally come into being? Did any of the individuals who started the company have a history working with audio?

[John Lally] Larry Basteri created Mass AV in 1975 as a local AV resource for rental of equipment. He came from an AV equipment sales background. At that time Education was the major market for many firms in that business. Our best audio relationship was with Lectrosonic systems. They provided our portable lecterns and eventually our first wireless mic system.

PSW: Was the company’s acceleration towards success a gradual process, or were there certain key events or jobs that contributed dramatically towards its growth?

[John Lally] There are several key events and technology which helped create new sales opportunities for Mass AV.

Technology - VHS, better engineered monitors, video projection systems, more recently - computer presentation systems, LCDs, wireless mic systems, better engineered audio for rental-staging

Business events- integration of communication as an intricate component of every company. The information age!

PSW: What does the current Mass AV ‘empire’ consist of, in terms of personnel, warehouses, offices, etc.?

[John Lally] Currently, we have four warehouse office locations which provide support to our regional focus - eastern New England. Our Corporate Headquarters is in Burlington MA. We have approximately 80 full time employees.

We operate under contract with 14 hotel, conference , and corporate facililties. In this business component we provide on-site equipment and personnel to handle the daily requirements for business presentations and special events.

Mass AV provides extensive staging support for corporate events and larger convention business through our Technical Services department. This area consists of twelve technicians focused on the more technical application of equipment and expertise to "put on a show". The inventory which support this area consists of concert quality audio systems, brighter and high resolution video and graphic projection systems, video and computer distribution systems, and truss lighting components.

PSW: What kind of services does Mass AV focus on these days? Do you still deal with smaller clients, or are your resources totally spent on your larger projects?

[John Lally] Although we continue to support our client base of AV rental, our focus is on several areas:

- Mid to large corporate rental and staging events which might include a production component (including hotels)

- Managed Services which consist of providing on-site support with equipment and personnel for corporate clients at their facilities

- Convention clients, which include regional and national Associations and Corporate events