AES News

— Conference and exhibition will bring together a community of influential research scientists, engineers, VR, AR and MR developers, and content providers in an interactive, immersive environment —

The Audio Engineering Society has released preliminary details on the upcoming International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality (AVAR), set to take place in its own online virtual venue, August 17 – 19. The event will serve as a hub of innovation for the latest research in the fields of spatial audio and technology for virtual, augmented and mixed reality, with a focus on technical solutions and recommended practices in the field. Registration for this event, sponsored by Facebook Reality Labs and Valve, and hosted by DigiPen Institute of Technology, starts at just $25 for AES members ($150 for non-members) and will be using AltSpaceVR as the platform to share keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and more. The use of AltSpaceVR offers the option of attending in standard 2D mode or as an immersive experience, utilizing AR/VR devices such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, Samsung GearVR, or Windows Mixed Reality. 

“The necessity to take AVAR 2020 fully online is ideally suited to the Conference content,” says Matt Klassen, Chair. “Our attendees can plug in entirely, create an avatar and participate and interact inside a virtual environment. One of the primary advantages of holding the conference in VR is the very compelling nature of the 3D audio for small group conversations – a big step up from flat screen teleconferencing!”

Co-chair and Treasurer Lawrence Schwedler adds, “Not only will AVAR 2020 explore practical and effective production workflow for audio production for immersive experiences, it will itself be such an experience and demonstrate an application of the technology that couldn’t be more timely.”  

The 2020 AES Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality builds upon the AES’s two previous AVAR conferences and will offer a fresh look at audio production for these rapidly growing market segments. This year’s topics will include spatial audio capture, rendering, synthesis over headphones and loudspeakers, binaural applications, Ambisonics, 3D audio mixing and content production, sound design for VR/AR and more, plus a featured Panel Discussion with Emily Ridgway of the Valve audio team on August 18 titled “When Worlds Collide: Audio Development of the Valve Index and Half:Life Alyx.” Additionally, two keynote addresses will take place during the conference: “New Audio Realities at Scale” with Varun Nair of Facebook on August 17 and “Empathetic Technology and Embodied User Experience” with Poppy Crum of Dolby on August 19.

The AES AVAR 2020 Conference is organized by committee members from a variety of disciplines and experiences in the industry, including Matt Klassen, Chair; Lawrence Schwedler, Co-chair, Treasurer; Pablo F. Hoffmann, Papers Chair; Sally Kellaway, Workshops Chair; Greg Dixon, Audio/Visual Coordinator; Randi Ganulin, Graphic Designer/Photographer; Phillip Klassen, Social Media Coordinator; Anna Lantz, Webmaster; and Dustin Williams, Volunteer Coordinator.

For further information, registration links and more, visit aes.org/conferences/2020/avar/.  

AES members will have the exclusive opportunity to join Claudia Nader Jaime on Wednesday, July 22 for a live, Encore online Q&A to cover topics from the popular AES Virtual Vienna Convention session, “Binaural Sound in ASMR-inducing Media and Wellbeing”. Beginning Friday, July 19, video playback of the session will be available to members for on-demand streaming through the AES Member Portal. The presentation will be livestreamed at 11AM EDT on July 22 with the live Q&A immediately following. The Zoom link to the live Encore replay and Q&A will be available on the AES Member Portal on Wednesday, the 22nd.

“An experience known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is attributed to a series of physiological and psychological responses to sensorial stimuli such as whispering, tapping, and scratching,” begins Nader Jaime, a PhD Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of York, in the presentation’s abstract. “This term has gained popularity through social media platforms, where content producers share videos that include these types of sound triggers. Scientists have started exploring potential causes and benefits of this experience in people’s wellbeing, because users report finding ASMR-inducing media helpful to cope with stress and decrease mild mental disorders including anxiety, depression and insomnia. It has been observed that ASMRtists, as these media producers are commonly referred to, frequently use binaural microphones in their content production. However, there is scarce evidence that suggests that the use of binaural sound might be related to potentially stronger ASMR experiences, thus more health benefits. This tutorial presents an analysis of common triggers and diverse sound formats found in ASMR-inducing videos, as well as links to wellbeing indicators through user experience.”

The Encore series of members-only events brings noted presenters of popular, enlightening and even historic AES events together with AES members for online dialog. On August 24, the next in the series will feature one of AES’s most consistently lauded convention contributors, Alex Case. An AES Past President, author and educator, Case’s presentation “The Lead Vocal – Record and Mix Strategies” is a “structured discussion of the key elements of art, craft, and technology that will empower you to develop your own creative strategies for recording and mixing the lead vocal.” Session playback will begin at 8PM EDT with the live Q&A following at 9PM.

— Early Bird registration options and pricing are now available online for the 149^th International AES Convention, featuring an expanded timeline and event offerings for maximum opportunities to Listen, Learn, and Connect —

The Audio Engineering Society has declared October “Audio Engineering Month” as it expands its traditional Fall Convention Technical Program and exhibition Showcase into the virtual realm, offering ultimate accessibility to the global audio engineering community. Consisting of four weeks packed with audio presentations and activities - from Tuesday, October 6 to Friday, October 30 – the AES Show Fall 2020 Professional Audio Convention offers full Technical Program access featuring live and on-demand content, student and career activities, engagement with peers and audio luminaries, the audio hardware and software product showcase and special events throughout the month. Early Bird rates are just $99 for AES Members and $224 for non-members – the latter including one year of AES membership. Registration is open now at AESShow.com.

“Expanding the Convention offerings across a full month answers one of the biggest questions raised by Convention attendees in the past when faced with hundreds of compelling sessions packed into just four days: ‘How do I choose?’,” says AES Show Fall 2020 co-chair Jonathan Wyner. “Applying lessons learned from AES’s first online Convention experience with the highly successful AES Virtual Vienna, we are extending the timeline to provide our ‘attendees’ the opportunity to dive deeper into the program and explore new topics. Plus, we have some exciting and innovative new programming. A virtual event allows us to take attendees places they have never been. It also means that you will be able to see and hear presenters up close and personal as never before. All attendees will have the best seat in the house!”

“With all the online content, the Convention can now be experienced by anyone in the world that has an internet connection,” adds Convention co-chair Valerie Tyler. “Combined with lowered registration fees, and without the necessity of travel costs and logistics, the 2020 AES Show will be the most accessible ever.” 

The third Convention co-chair, Paul “Willie Green” Womack, takes that point further: “It’s our goal, and my personal passion, to encourage diversity in our attendees. New voices and topics during the last several AES Conventions have broadened our attendee base. Now, we’re taking the Convention directly to everyone everywhere. That can only build on our progress – there’s infinite room under the umbrella.”

The first two weeks of Audio Engineering Month will feature interviews, webinars on timely topics and an online AoIP Summit. Week three will be Student Week along with the exhibition Showcase. Week Four will bring the balance of the traditional AES Convention Tech Program – Workshops, Papers, Engineering Briefs, Keynotes and other Special Events. Several new features of this year’s AES Convention have been designed and reworked for maximum impact for our virtual multimedia presentation formats, combining live and on-demand sessions and real-time Q&A sessions with presenters. New to the Audio Engineering Month lineup is the AES Show ProductLaunch where attendees can see the latest gear from leading companies through video-based product launches and live engagement with product specialists and company personnel. Taking advantage of the virtual platform, the AES Show TechTours will feature “The Seven Wonders of the Audio World” – a series of in-depth tours of legendary studios across the globe, beginning in the first week of Audio Engineering Month.

Student & Career offerings have been expanded into the AES Show Student Week – which will feature seven days of activities including Workshops, Recording Critique Sessions, Recording and Design Competitions, a Career & Education Fair, Mentoring Sessions and more. AES Student Member Early Bird Registration is just $49 for full access to the entire four-day convention.

Learn more and take advantage of Early Bird Registration options at AESShow.com.

More Information

— The Audio Engineering Society’s first Audio Product Education Institute event will address real-world experiences in Voice Integrated Product Development with the theme “Successful Smart Speakers and Voice-Enabled Products” —

"Today, some of the most sophisticated voice processing is already in our pockets. Smartphone production numbers are hard to beat in the consumer electronics industry,” says Mike Klasco, CEO, Menlo Scientific, and committee member of the Audio Product Education Institute (APEI), a new Audio Engineering Society initiative. “This fiercely competitive market is driving continuous product design improvements, but many companies are also repeating many painful mistakes and are forced to re-learn audio fundamentals long recognized by the audio industry. I’m faced with highly instructive examples of that in my consultancy business,” continues Klasco. In the APEI’s free introductory webinar, the first in its Interactive Voice Con event series and conceived to share real-world experiences in voice integrated product development, Klasco and fellow industry veteran and APEI founding member Paul Beckmann, CTO, DSP Concepts, will share challenges they have faced in developing sophisticated interactive smart speaker products.

Themed “Successful Smart Speakers and Voice-Enabled Products,” the Interactive Voice Con webinar will be held July 9, 4:00PM – 6:00PM Eastern Daylight Time. Topics addressed will cover disciplines in voice-integrated products, from acoustics to microphones, electronics, DSP and output transducers. Free registration for the event is now open at https://tinyurl.com/AES-APEI.

“As voice interfaces expand to new product categories and the smart home,” adds Klasco, “there's a lot to be considered in the audio chain. In my presentation I’ll be addressing some examples of companies that supply key components for successful voice products, illustrated with some examples of vendors that might not be in everyone's radar.” 

Beckmann will be presenting on the theory and practice of building voice-enabled products. “I’ll describe system architecture, design recommendations, expected performance,” he says, “how to select a processor, and pitfalls to avoid in development and production. Attendees will be equipped to add voice to a wide variety of products including smart speakers, appliances, soundbars, TVs, and set-top boxes."

The AES’s newly formed APEI initiative is focused on promoting methodologies, practices and technologies involved in developing and bringing audio products to market. The Interactive Voice Con event is the first in APEI’s roadmap that will address six foundational “pillars” – Voice Integrated Product Development, Supply Chain and Sourcing, Modeling and Measurement, Product Management, The Legal World, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

“Even a brand-new initiative like APEI has to change when the world changes. Our original vision of putting on three-day intense training sessions containing labs and lectures as well as sponsor’s exhibit events has been postponed because of COVID-19. We are planning online webinars and online classes for each of our six pillars,” explains Scott Leslie, Chair of APEI, founder and chair of the AES Conventions’ Product Development Track since 2016, and Chief Architect at PD Squared, a product development consulting organization. The AES APEI webinar series will directly appeal to all professionals involved in audio product development, as well as all those integral in product lead, design, production, and supply chain processes. 

To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/AES-APEI.

Learn more about the AES APEI here: audioproducteducationinstitute.org/

Interactive Voice Con Free Webinar

When: July 9, 4:00PM — 6:00PM Eastern Daylight Time

Format: Online streaming from Santa Clara, CA. 

Two 45-minute sessions, plus Q&A after each session.

Registration: Visit https://tinyurl.com/AES-APEI

APEI Presenters:

Paul Beckmann, CTO, DSP Concepts, Santa Clara, California

Link to Bio: https://dspconcepts.com/about/leadership-team

Mike Klasco, APEI Sourcing and Supply Chain Pillar Director and CEO of Menlo Scientific, Richmond, California

Link to Bio: https://www.menloscientific.com/team 

More Information

While the AES Education Conference originally scheduled for 2020 has now moved to 2021, a free, members-only AES Audio Education Virtual Mini Conference will take place on what would have been the opening day of the full Conference, July 23, 2020, from 11am to 2:30pm EDT. The online program will explore the pedagogy and delivery of audio and music technology training through a fast-paced series of 10- to 30-minute presentations, culminating in the keynote address Preparing students for lifelong success in the audio industry by AES President and New York University Professor Dr. Agnieszka Roginska.

Registration for the event is limited to 300 participants and filling fast. You must be an AES member in good standing to register, though non-members may pay the membership fee during registration at http://www.aes.org/events/conferences/2020/virtual-education/ and receive all the benefits of membership for the full year as well as admission to the Conference. Members needing to pay their 2020 dues to be eligible to register may do so through the member portal at http://secure.aes.org/dues/

AES Audio Education Virtual Mini Conference Scheduled Program:
• Preview of the 2021 AES Conference on Audio Education at Middle Tennessee State University and Belmont University in Nashville. (Bill Crabtree & Michael Fleming, Conference Chairs) (15 minutes)
• Workshop on How to Write and Submit a Peer Reviewed Academic Paper (Brecht De Man, Vice Chair of the AES Education Committee) (10 minutes)
• Presentation of an example accepted paper by Braxton Boren, American University.  Teaching Acoustics to Audio Student: A Middle Path. (15 minutes)
• Presentation of an example paper by Daniel Fox, Tufts University. Achieving Educational and Program Outcomes through Instrument & Equipment Maintenance. (15 minutes)
• Presentation of an exciting learning activity for audio students at any level: Professor Alex Case’s Chamber Reverb Challenge (20 minutes)
• AES Educational Activities in Latin America with Cesar Lamschtein, AES Vice President for Latin America (20 minutes)
• Professor Allan Tucker reveals The MusicAlebrije™ Collaborative Education Model at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico.(12 minutes)
• Co-Curricular Resources for teaching Acoustic Science, Dr. Magdalena Piotrowska (AES Education Committee, Co-Chair) (15 minutes) • Exploring Immersive and Surround Formats in Audio Education with Professor Scott Metcalfe, Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University)
• An examination of machine learning and new technology with We Are The Robots: Accepting and Embracing Virtual Assistance in Audio Production (Brecht De Man, Vice Chair of the AES Education Committee) (15 minutes)
• High School Audio with Professor Gabe Herman (Vice Chair, AES Education Committee) (25 minutes)
• Mike Lawson (Executive Director of Technology Institute for Music Education)  Ti:ME’s 25 years of Integrating Technology into Music Education. (30 minutes)
• Keynote Presentation: Preparing students for lifelong success in the audio industry with Dr. Agnieszka Roginska (AES President, New York University) (30 minutes)

Contact [email protected] for more information

— 148^th Convention Awards Ceremony is online throughout the month of June for anyone with AES Virtual Vienna access —

This year’s AES Spring Convention – AES’s first ever all-online international convention, AES Virtual Vienna – carried on many of the traditions of AES Conventions, including the presentation of AES Awards for distinguished achievement in the field of audio and service to the Society. The awards were presented during the Opening Ceremony by David Scheirman, an AES Past President and current Awards Committee Chair, along with remarks from AES Virtual Vienna Co-chairs Piotr Majdak and Nadja Wallaszkovits and AES President Agnieszka Roginska. The AES Virtual Vienna Opening Ceremony, along with the complete Convention Technical Program, is currently available online at AESEurope.com. You can view the Opening Ceremony here.

The awards presented include the following: 

The Board of Governors Award, given for outstanding contributions to the Audio Engineering Society, has been presented to:

Enda Bates, in recognition of co-chairing the 146th AES Convention in Dublin 

Peter Chapman, in recognition of co-chairing the 2017 International AES Conference on Sound Reinforcement

Ben Kok, in recognition of co-chairing the 146th AES Convention in Dublin

Damian Murphy, in recognition of co-chairing the 2019 AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio

Maryam Safi, in recognition of exceptional leadership of the AES Student Delegate Assembly from 2017-2019

Bob Schulein (posthumously), in recognition of co-chairing the 2018 International AES Conference on Hearing Disorders

The Fellowship Award, given to a member who has rendered conspicuous service, or is recognized to have made a valuable contribution to the advancement in or dissemination of knowledge of audio engineering or in the promotion of its application in practice, has been presented to:

Filippo Maria Fazi, for significant contributions to acoustics and sound field reproduction

Heather Lane, in recognition of over 40 years of service to the AES, including 33 years as Administrator of the British Section

Ingemar Ohlsson, for a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the development of the Swedish audio industry

Al Schmitt, in recognition of his extraordinary career of musical creation, influencing generations of recording engineers and making a lasting musical imprint on the world

The complete AES Virtual Vienna Technical Program of presentations, including Workshops, Research Papers, Posters, Engineering Briefs, Technical Tours and more, are available online through June 30 at AESEurope.com, with registration still open for those who wish to experience AES Virtual Vienna on their own schedule through the on-demand archive.

On Monday, June 22, 2020, AES Members have the exclusive opportunity to join Thomas Lund and Hyunkook Lee for a live, Encore online Q&A to cover topics from “Goodbye Stereo” – the most “favorited” session from the AES Virtual Vienna Convention. AES Virtual Vienna registrants have access to the on-demand archive of the workshop through the Convention website, along with the complete Technical Program content from the Convention, through June 30. All other AES members will be able to access video playback of the “Goodbye Stereo” workshop through the AES Member Portal beginning Friday, June 19.

The Zoom link to the live Encore Q&A with Lund and Lee will be available on the AES Member Portal on Monday the 22nd, with the live Q&A beginning at 12 Noon Eastern Daylight Time that day.

“Technology has long been available to record and reproduce music in more perceptually satisfactory ways than stereo,” state Lund (Senior scientist, Genelec OY) and Lee (Associate Professor, University of Huddersfield) in the “Goodbye Stereo” workshop description. “Formats known as 'surround' were a first step, but with 'immersive', excellent music performances can be preserved more sentiently. As ‘stereo’ is fast becoming just a playback option, we will discuss immersive recording techniques, and which mixing principles to put behind us, for instance level panning.” The workshop includes numerous compelling recording examples that aurally reinforce the technical concepts presented.

The “Goodbye Stereo” on-demand playback and live Q&A is the first in the new members-only Encore Series of events where noted presenters of popular, enlightening and even historic AES events will join AES members for online dialog.

The next two Encore Series events will also feature AES Virtual Vienna workshop authors: Alex Case’s “The Lead Vocal – Record and Mix Strategies” and Claudia Nader Jamie’s “Binaural Sound in ASMR-inducing [Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response] Media and Wellbeing”. Dates will be announced soon.

Winners of the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society Best Paper Award for 2019 and the AES Virtual Vienna Convention Best Student Paper Award were announced on Tuesday, June 2, at the AES Virtual Vienna Convention. The awards highlight outstanding research Paper contributions from authors around the world covering a wide range of the latest audio science research topics and innovations. The awards were presented during the Opening Ceremony of the AES Virtual Vienna Convention. The Opening Ceremony, along with complete convention proceedings and its Technical Program, is available for viewing through June 30 by AES Virtual Vienna attendees and new registrants at AESEurope.com.

The 2019 Journal of the Audio Engineering Society Best Paper Award was presented by JAES Editor Bozena Kostek and was awarded to Benoit Alary, Archontis Politis, Sebastian Schlecht and Vesa Välimäki for their paper “Directional Feedback Delay Network.” The paper’s abstract reads in part:

Artificial reverberation algorithms are used to enhance dry audio signals. Delay-based reverberators can produce a realistic effect at a reasonable computational cost. While the recent popularity of spatial audio algorithms is mainly related to the reproduction of the perceived direction of sound sources, there is also a need to spatialize the reverberant sound field. This paper proposes a new method to control the directional distribution of energy over time, within a delay-based reverberator, capable of producing a directional impulse response with anisotropic energy decay.

The paper can be found in the JAES October 2019 issue or, as an Open Access document, it can be downloaded at aes.org/e-lib/download.cfm/20693.pdf?ID=20693.  

The Best Student Paper Award, submitted to AES Virtual Vienna and peer-reviewed, was presented by AES Virtual Vienna Papers Co-chair Areti Andreopoulou and was awarded to Annika Neidhardt and Boris Reif for their paper “Minimum BRIR Grid Resolution for Interactive Position Changes in Dynamic Binaural Synthesis.” The paper’s abstract reads in part:

This paper presents a psychoacoustic study on the minimum BRIR grid resolution required for a smooth transition in an interactive listener translation in virtual acoustic environments produced over headphones. The results show that the required resolution depends on the signal. While for white noise, only the highest resolution brought the best results; for sounds with limited bandwidth, lower resolutions sufficed.

The author’s presentation of the Best Student Paper is included in the complete AES Virtual Vienna Technical Program of presentations, including Research Papers, Workshops, Posters, Engineering Briefs, Technical Tours and more, available online through June 30 at AESEurope.com, with registration still open for those who wish to experience AES Virtual Vienna on their own schedule through the on-demand archive. 

— New initiative focusing on promoting methodologies, practices and technologies involved in developing and bringing audio products to market promotes first online event —

The Audio Product Education Institute (APEI), an initiative of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) that is committed to furthering the knowledge and skills of professionals involved in the development of audio products, will present Interactive Voice Con, an online program designed to address real-world experiences in Voice Integrated Product Development. This first APEI event will take place online July 9 — 4:00PM to 6:00PM, Eastern Daylight Time. Registration for this free event is at https://tinyurl.com/AES-APEI. 

APEI was created by the Audio Engineering Society to expand the reach of the Product Development Track of the AES Conventions. The PD Track began in 2014 in Los Angeles at the 137th AES Convention and has continued to grow to become one of the most attended tracks during AES conventions. Scott Leslie, AES Convention Product Development Track Chair, is also leading APEI's initiatives.

“In the past we have focused on what makes great products, and it has been highly energized by our audiences,” says Leslie. “We want to expand the concept to the practices and technologies that companies need to pre-engineer products to speed time to market, increase market success and lower development risk." 

AES’s APEI Committee is composed of long-term professionals in the audio product development area who saw the dramatic increase in voice interactive audio products market, beginning with the Bluetooth® speaker and evolving progressively towards the Smart Speaker, create a huge demand for development professionals with multidisciplinary and highly specialized skills. APEI also identified that universities are teaching strong fundamentals but little audio-specific or hands-on development skills needed to advance these new team members at the rate they need to contribute at a high level. Many seasoned professionals from other product areas are also entering the audio world and need specific audio training and to learn best practices.

“Audio has entered as a major component into many new product areas including Security, Health Care and Traffic Control,” Leslie remarks. “It became clear that the demand for skilled product professionals is greatly exceeding the available education needed to support them.”

AES’s APEI roadmap intends to focus on six educational pillars:

• Interactive Voice Con – The development of voice-enabled products including smart speakers, automotive infotainment systems, smartphones, retail kiosks and others.
• Supply Chain and Sourcing – The methods, practices, economics and politics of the hardware, software and development services that go into every audio product produced.
• Modeling and Measurement – Modeling methods and software, measurement practices and equipment are an essential element in getting products to market quickly and ensuring sustainable customer experience and regulatory conformance. APEI is working to connect with leaders in these areas, including outside the audio industry, to bring knowledge of how to implement these disciplines within an organization and transform product development to the needed state both present and future.
• Product Management – Arguably the most important function in the product world today, yet rarely practiced at the level needed for achieving a high level of market success. APEI plans to bring the world’s experts in product management to the world of audio.
• The Legal World – Copyrights, patents, trademarks, intellectual property, contracts and anything else that deals with the legal opportunities and challenges of developing, producing and selling a product today.
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – The future of how products will function. The amount of research and implementation of this science is remarkable in many areas. Audio products will benefit from these technologies and best practices greatly. Everyone involved in the product development life cycle should have some range of knowledge in this area to help shape the future of their products.

Given the COVID-19 situation, APEI’s initial event is being scheduled online. 

The AES APEI’s first event, Interactive Voice Con, will address real-world experiences in Voice Integrated Product Development

When: July 9, 4:00PM - 6:00PM Eastern Daylight Time

Format: Online streaming from Santa Clara, CA. 

Two 45-minute sessions, plus Q&A after each session.

Target Audience: Audio product professionals seeking to increase their skills and understanding of what it takes to develop a successful Smart Speaker. Acoustics, electronics, DSP and software engineers and leaders, marketing managers and all those integral in the supply chain.

Overview: In this inaugural session, our two presenters will discuss a series of real-world challenges they have faced in developing sophisticated interactive smart speaker products. Topics addressed will cover the disciplines in voice-integrated products, from Acoustics to Microphones, Electronics, DSP and Output Transducers.

Cost: Free.

Registration: Visit https://tinyurl.com/AES-APEI. 

Attendees will gain a keen understanding of how all these areas must work together in order for a product to succeed in attaining the goals set by the product manager. Attendees will learn how companies in the past were not equipped to make the best decisions or to integrate these disciplines to succeed with their end product.

APEI Presenters:

Paul Beckman, CTO, DSP Concepts, Santa Clara, California

Link to Bio: https://dspconcepts.com/about/leadership-team

Mike Klasco, APEI Committee Member and CEO of Menlo Scientific, Richmond, California

Link to Bio: https://www.menloscientific.com/team

Platinum Sponsor - DSP Concepts 

 UPDATE: $172,406.54 raised. Can we hear from you today?

The Audio Engineering Society has not proven immune to the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking across the globe. The traditional cashflow of the Society, fueled by its events, has been severely disrupted. The AES has launched a fundraising campaign to ensure the Society’s continued operation through the crisis. The goal of the initiative is to raise $500,000 USD by an extended deadline of June 15. In an appeal to AES stakeholders, AES President Agnieszka Roginska acknowledged that many AES members, and many among the Society’s manufacturer and service provider partners, are facing their own challenges in this time of global upheaval. “Others,” said Roginska in her letter, “may be in a more stable position and able to once again contribute to the Society. If it is within your ability, may we ask that you make a financial contribution to help see your AES through these unprecedented times?”

Since the launch of the campaign, numerous individuals have renewed their memberships, choosing in some cases to extend their membership by several years as an investment in the Society and in their personal future in the industry. Campaign-specific contributions ranging from $5 to $4,500 USD have been made, totaling  $172,406.54 USD. “The AES  is extremely grateful for all contributions,” said Roginska.

Audio Engineering Society members and partners have a unique perspective on the benefits the Society brings to individuals for career advancement and to the audio industry as a whole. From the AES’s crucial Standards work, the promotion of audio research, the development of milestone events to education spanning the breadth of audio technology and its application, the Society has led the industry forward for more than 70 years.

Though the AES operates on a lean budget for an organization of its size, its small but dedicated staff and its volunteer leadership are tirelessly working to shepherd the Society through this generation-defining crisis, investigating myriad possible sources of sustaining income while exploring new initiatives to continue its mission and provide timely and relevant member benefits.The AES has expenses as with any business, such as rent, utilities and infrastructure, web hosting and email  and various contracted services. Expansion of member benefits already underway when the pandemic ensued include a new portal for AES Live: Videos. Creation of a virtual convention, AES Virtual Vienna, has incurred start-up costs while the cancellation and postponement of several AES events has impacted expected cashflow.

Donations may be made on the AES website or via PayPal (use PayPal's "Send" function to route your donation directly to [email protected]). No donation is too small.

As a special thank you, the AES will recognize individuals making contributions of $400 USD with a three-month Sustaining Member status; at $500 USD, contributing individuals will receive sustaining member status through December 2020. As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, donations to AES by U.S. taxpayers are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Individuals and companies can also gift a membership to colleagues or friends facing economic challenges through the AES Gift Membership program.

“Working together, the AES will persevere,” proclaims Roginska. “We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this request. Visit AES.org to find out more about what the Audio Engineering Society has to offer and for ways that you can Listen, Learn and Connect with audio peers and pros around the world.”