Passion and love for the A/V world

By Santiago Jaramillo H.

Technology has always been present in the life of Reinaldo Pargas. At one point in his childhood, which he remembers with great joy, he relates that he played with some bottle caps attached to a wooden board to simulate the control panel of a spaceship, many years later, during a mixing session in a recording studio, he looked at the console and saw a great resemblance to the wooden board he shared with his friends years ago. At that moment he knew that he had chosen the right path.

As an inspiration for audio and video technicians, Pargas always advises to follow the path of knowledge is to study in depth what is done in the profession. "Jumping from the sound 'child' to the sound engineer depends mainly on the attitude and initiative to pursue professional training," he stresses.

Reinaldo Pargas is one of the best-known names in the audio and video market in Brazil. After more than 20 years working in equipment rental companies, he founded in 1999 the company AVM, with the aim of satisfying the market demand in consulting projects in everything that has to do with audio and video technology.

He began his career at the age of 17 working as an assistant to one of the pioneers of sound systems in Brazil. Some years later he realized that his desire for knowledge could not be met in Brazil and set out to carry out extensive training abroad in the areas of audio and video technology.

Among the international certifications, including the CTS Infocomm, since 1996, it also has Peavey / Media Matrix, BSS / Soundweb, Biamp / audio system design, and audio engineering and computer networks.

Recounting the highlights of Reinaldo Pargas' professional career, we can highlight the European Union Consultation for its analysis of ISO 4043 and ISO 2603, which deals with simultaneous translation booths.

He also worked on the design of networks, digital audio channels, with more than 100 bi directional for the Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM). As well as in the design and stage direction for the Nokia New Year's Eve show on the beach of Ipanema with the presence of more than one million people

In the same way he was in charge of the design and technical direction of the Live Earth event in June 2007, the first event to transmit television signals in high definition (Copacabana Beach, Brazil).

In addition to the above, he was in charge of 34 projects to reform the Metro stations of Sao Paulo, Brazil, including sound systems and more than 900 digital signage monitors.

Pargas has also participated with great pleasure in various learning initiatives in the market. He was an instructor at the Audiovisual Academy in Sao Paulo, Brazil, attending to the topics of analog and digital audio, video interfaces and control systems.

This charismatic representative of the industry remembers with emotion the graduation of the first class, when the students and their wives, all in gala costumes, shared the closing dinner in tears in their eyes as they received their certificate.

Our Professional of the Month is a great promoter of professionalism in audio and video activities. In Brazil it is customary to call the people who are dedicated to these tasks as "the type of sound" or "the type of video" and Pargas insists that these "boys and men" are professionals and deserve recognition like any other professional.

When asked about his hobbies, Reinaldo, who has in his family and cycling his other two great passions, also says that he is happy to work on what he likes.

"In my joint work with the Brazilian Olympic Committee I can actively participate in various sporting events, such as being a technology consultant at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, 2002 South American Games and the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo in 2003 and Rio de Janeiro in 2007, where I developed audio and video designs for all stadiums, arenas and temporary facilities of sports competitions and non-sporting events".

On the other hand, the year 2011 is also perceived as a very busy year and of great projects for Pargas. As far as travel is concerned, he has already scheduled a course in January in the United States, another in London in March, and one more in Greece in the month of May as technical director of a corporate event, in addition to the traditional InfoComm in June.

About Infocomm, Reinaldo still maintains the excitement he felt when he first attended the fair in 1991. "The event occurred in February and was held in Orlando, Florida. " Finding all the equipment in one place was wonderful, better than a trip to Disney World, "emphasizes our guest, who participated in various courses and seminars with instructors recognized today at Infocomm such as André Lejeune, Sharer Scott, Bill Sharer, Rollins Joel and Kayye Gary.

Pargas is already preparing to celebrate its 20 years of Infocomm at the 2011 fair in the same place, as in 1991, in Orlando.

But the work only starts there, as Reinaldo and AVM are already involved in projects for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016, but remember that before these events, he still has a lot of work to do for the Military World Games, which takes place in July 2011 and the activities at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

As for the prospects of the business in your country of origin, our Professional of the Month assures that they are very good, because after reaching economic stability and attracting foreign investors in recent years the whole outlook for the future in Brazil becomes very encouraging. "Activities related to tourism and oil exploration have a special potential for growth, as well as the sporting events that are going to happen in the country. Latin America in general is going through an important moment, plus it played a good role during the economic crisis." According to Reinaldo, it is the opportunity for local companies to grow and develop their businesses to a level never seen before.