For Nelson Canter, deputy manager of Soundesing Ltda, one of his main challenges in the audiovisual industry was to form a working group with which he felt satisfied by his technical knowledge and his support in the day-to-day management.
By Richard Santa S.
From a very young age, Nelson Canter made voice recordings on home equipment, repaired sound amplifiers and other equipment. Thus, as a game, he discovered his interest in sound.
When he finished his basic studies, he decided to follow his instinct and studied sound engineering in the first class of San Buenaventura University. Without finishing university he was working as a project engineer in the company Sonygraf Ltda, in which he took his first steps as a professional.
"From an internship in the last two semesters of the university I joined a company with more than 13 years of experience. Then I decided to seek independence and that's how I ended up partnering with Carlos Andrés Pardo to consolidate what is now Soundesign Ltda".
Education has been a fundamental part of his professional life, so he has sought to stay updated with courses and seminars from Meyersound, Das Audio, Shure, Kramer Electronics, Crestron, Panasonic, Smart and Biamp, among others.
Learning from day to day
As deputy manager and partner of Soundesing Ltda, Nelson Canter has an extensive workday that starts at 7:30 in the morning and can go until nine at night. Part of his time is shared with the technical advice to Kramer Colombia in the part of projects and engineering developments.
"A day's work is quite different if we have projects in progress or have proposals to deliver. After solving one of the commonly called 'chicharrones' or simple integration requirements, I dedicate myself to putting together designs for one of the clients, in addition to visiting the works and supervising the installation and integration of the systems we supply."
Precisely one of those 'chicharrones' that most remembers the day-to-day work occurred in 2009, when his company was supplying a system of conference microphones for the plenary room of the Council of the municipality of Manizales, Colombia.
For this project they decided to bring the equipment from China, after a hiring process that took a long time and was through a third party. One of their suppliers sent them 224 units of delegate microphones and one of the president's.
The room had to be inaugurated on a specific date and the microphones did not arrive, despite the fact that the import and the legal processes of entry into the country were made in record time.
"The delay made headlines in the local newspaper. This taught me that even though you want to get a project delivered on time, there can always be some surprise. Despite everything, the delivery was a success and the system is currently running smoothly."
Facing challenges
Our Professional of the Month ensures that the challenges he faces every day in his work come from the same solutions they offer, everything in theory works but when implementing a solution in the field, that is when learning really begins.
"Analyzing equipment and system failures in the field are some of the challenges on a daily basis, problems with automation equipment, or simple malfunctions, are what really enrich you every day."
He maintains that one of the most difficult challenges he has been presented with is to find a work team with which he feels supported, as well as satisfied by their knowledge and support.
"Thanks to colleagues with whom I study at the university I currently have a good working group to make professional installations, programming and integration of audiovisual equipment, and this same group is the one with which you can count on a Friday for some cultural outing to an event or simply to talk."
On the objectives that a manager of an audiovisual company must achieve, he says that the main one is to remain current and at the forefront. "It is paramount to be aware of where the industry and standards in video and audio are going, fairs and seminars are vital to achieve this, as well as research."
Future of the industry
For Nelson Canter, the audiovisual industry in Latin America has a lot of future, driven by the technological advances that are glimpsed day by day, and that will give a lot of work for a long time.
"In Colombia there are easily more than 100 companies dedicated to the audiovisual market with different approaches. We are in the field of integrators that every day grows more, that is, more competition, the end customer wants a solution more than boxes in a supermarket, he wants things to work and not have to do much for it, so it is a growing market with a lot of future".
In his seven years of professional experience he has been able to see how the changes they have lived in these years have been. He gives as an example that in 2003, at least in Colombia, there was only talk of analog signals in video.
But now, the most notable evolution is that digital signals are talked about all the time in video and also that they not only transport video, but also audio, specifically the HDMI connection standard, which has evolved to transmit 3D signal.
Passion for adrenaline
This Bogota engineer with an outstanding career in the audiovisual industry has two passions in which he likes to invest his free time.
"With two friends, a couple of years ago we dedicated ourselves to participate in valid 4x4 trials, aboard a Land Rover Sanatan model 69, in the town of Guatavita that is quite close to Bogotá, and has beautiful landscapes, in addition to being the right setting for this type of sport on wheels."
He adds that another of his passions are roller coasters, "passion that led me to visit in mid-2011 Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles, where we visited the Six Flags park where I could enjoy with my girlfriend some of the best attractions of this type."
Nelson Canter is the second of three siblings, with a teaching father and a mother dedicated to haute couture. He declares himself a music lover, among his favorite genres are rock, trance and industrial, which accompany him all the time in the office.
He also enjoys traveling and does it frequently, either to know the world or to train and know the latest developments in the industry, so he has been attending for three years without fail the fair organized by InfoComm, which is held in the United States.
