Title: Director of Training and Development
Company: Just Add Power
Location: Seminole, FL
Overtime: Martin is committed to staying active. He attends CrossFit regularly and plays soccer at least once a week. He can also be found playing his favorite video games late at night.
Why You Need to Know Him: With a master's in education, Martin is deeply invested in facilitating learning and understanding. As the director of training and development with Just Add Power, he is determined to bridge the gap between development and deployment.
Eric Martin's path to the AV industry is a unique one, rooted in his passion for video games. His early experiences of figuring out the components needed to connect his gaming systems to his TV sparked his interest in computer hardware and building his own PCs. This knowledge became a valuable asset when he transitioned into teaching, allowing him to effectively teach science and computer programming.
His skills in AV, computer networking, and pedagogy were a perfect fit when Just Add Power needed a trainer to bridge the gap between legacy HDMI matrices and AV-over-IP. His role is to identify areas where integrators could benefit from additional knowledge, making installations easier and more efficient.
"My job is to spot where the integrator needs to know or learn more so the installation is easy without wearing a programming hat," Martin explained.
Just Add Power is constantly innovating, and so is Martin, who is expanding his knowledge to easily translate highly technical subjects into accessible terms that others can understand. He is never afraid to ask questions, which stems from his early education days.
"That comes from my days as a teacher when I dealt with teenagers who were afraid to ask something for fear of sounding stupid to their peers," he said. "If I don't understand it, how could anyone else possibly understand it?"
Martin takes pride in Just Add Power's industry-leading technical support programs, in-person and remotely. For him, the job doesn't end when the device works; the entire system must function seamlessly. He is also passionate about investing in the future of the AV industry by developing education programs for Just Add Power to take into local Florida schools. "It's gratifying to think we're helping propel the next generation of AV installers into the future," he offered.
With the industry constantly changing, Martin believes you have to be willing to modify and improve your resources continually. "Coming from a science background, you learn that there are a thousand ways to fail or for something not to work, but it's all about finding that one success," he said. "There's a eureka moment where everything comes together at once. Usually, a gradual evolution—a small tweak, adjustment, or modification—goes into the product, training, or installation, but it amounts to a huge difference in the end."
