Finding an A/V installion company...how'd ya do it?

[Esoteric]

See, I don't see a 60 degree front light as necessarily "wrong". It is not ideal, but it is not "wrong" either. You do the best you can in any given situation.

I hate to walk away from a project because I know my client will then be tempted to go out and find someone who will tell them it is indeed possible, and do it incorrectly.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by Gracetech

The most important thing a consultant can do sometimes is kill a project. I've seen to many close calls and accidents from a project that should have been killed. Instead the sales person looking to make a sale would sell a project promising alot of what he/she couldn't deliver.

That's probably a good question to ask now that i think about it. How many projects have you NOT done...because things would not work right or would not be safe.

Safety is one thing and should not be compromised, however the "not work right" aspect of many systems can be very subjective. Obviously a solution that does not fulfill clearly defined goals or expectations does not work right, but when addressing AV the expectations and goals may often not be so well defined and inflexible that there is a clear go/no go delineation. Instead there is often a range of results that lie somewhere between the optimal or preferred result and an unacceptable result. There have been numerous projects for which my role has been as much, if not more, avoiding an unacceptable result than it is trying to get a specific result and in some cases that may be a more critical role to serve.

So while there is definitely a time to take a stand and walk away, and I have done so more than once, I also feel that there are many times that there is an obligation and benefit to 'stay the course' even when 'working right' may not mean working as you believe is best. And as Mike noted, it might be much better for your client than the alternative if you were to walk away.

[Esoteric]

And let me say that certainly if safety is an issue then yes, there is an incorrect way.

And there are also a range of results. I always talk with my clients about what makes an "acceptable" result, and that always goes into the contract.