AvoCamp, an intensive training event in lighting and visual control technology, came to Buenos Aires for the first time, thanks to the leadership of TSD Group, Avolites’ representative in Argentina and Paraguay. The event took place from September 24 to 26 at TSD Group’s facilities located in the San Telmo neighborhood, in the City of Buenos Aires, bringing together a wide variety of industry professionals, including distributors, technicians and operators from all over Latin America. Francisco Yañez Valdivia, Area Manager for Latin America at Avolites and with an extensive career in the company, was one of the main coordinators of the event, along with Daniel Lema, CEO of TSD Group.
TSD Group, a leading company in the architectural and entertainment market in Argentina and South America, represents the main brands in the sector and meets the needs and requirements of professionals for more than 30 years.
Francisco Yañez, who began his career at Avolites as an operator and programmer before joining its team of distributors in 2012, has been instrumental in the brand’s expansion in South America. Certified as a trainer in 2014 and with experience as a Regional Sales Manager, Yañez resumed his role in 2022 as Area Manager. “AvoCamp is an intensive training program that covers the entire Avo ecosystem: Titan, Synergy, Prism, AI and Capture,” said Yañez. “After the success in 2023, we decided to bring it to South America for the first time, and TSD Group was the first distributor to host it in this region. We trust in their experience and ability to offer an excellent training experience.”
The organization of AvoCamp included a coordinated and professional effort between Avolites and TSD Group, which already had experience in Avolites training in Argentina. “The planning was impeccable,” said Francisco. “TSD and its team’s experience allowed for a seamless organization, and their professionalism was key to the success of this event.”
To ensure a complete and structured training, the program included several simultaneous classrooms and courses, adapted to different levels of experience. The attendees, divided into groups, rotated between rooms according to the content of their interest, which allowed to maximize the knowledge imparted in just three days. “This Avocamp was special because, for the first time, we held a double training, with a program for intermediate-level users and another for advanced users, which greatly enriched the dynamics and the conversations,” said Yañez Valdivia.
Daniel Lema, CEO of TSD Group, explained that this event is part of the company’s ongoing initiative to strengthen Avolites’ presence in Argentina and the region, where it has already established a solid leadership as a provider of advanced technology in lighting and visual effects. “Avolites chose us as their representative in Argentina more than ten years ago, and since then we have worked to achieve significant market penetration. The brand offers solutions that cover all the needs of a professional lighting designer, from basic controls to the powerful D9 console, which allows you to unify lighting, video and sound management in a single unit,” said Lema.
The AvoCamp had an unprecedented deployment in its content and organization, with multiple simultaneous classrooms and courses to adapt to the varied audience and their experience in the sector. In Daniel’s words, “we had to compensate for the attractiveness of the Dominican beaches, where the first Avocamp was held last year, so the production in Buenos Aires was superlative, and it was a resounding success.”
As for the instructors, the event featured prominent professionals from the sector. José Antonio Bermúdez, director of the KYO Design Studio based in Orlando, United States, led the Capture training, while Gonzalo Herranz, Avolites Product Specialist, and Francisco Yañez provided training in Titan, Ai, Prism and Synergy. “AvoCamp is designed to prepare operators for highly demanding events, helping them develop fast and concrete programming, with advanced options that allow them to materialize their ideas efficiently,” said Yañez.
The call for the event was made through regional distributors such as Promusic in Chile, Layset in Peru and Estudio Asombra in Colombia, as well as TSD in Argentina and Paraguay. “The response was excellent, and we managed to bring together a wide variety of technicians and programmers from different areas,” acknowledged Francisco Yañez, who stressed the importance of strengthening user knowledge to optimize the use of Avolites software. “Attendees usually leave grateful and with many new tools. We know that the experience of the AvoCamp helps operators improve their mastery of the system and develop their own work methodology.”
In addition to the intensive training sessions, the event offered attendees an authentic “AVO experience,” with fellowship dinners that encouraged the exchange of experiences in a relaxed atmosphere, closing with a final celebration in the Argentine style. “It was a positive experience for all of us who experienced AvoCamp, and TSD Group undoubtedly set the bar very high for future events in the region,” said Yañez.
Looking to the future, Avolites has confirmed its intention to repeat AvoCamp in 2025, with a view to making it itinerant, touring different countries in South America and maintaining the same line with Avolites’ vision of offering continuous training. “We invite all users to join this experience that will prepare them for the next level in their careers, especially considering the recent acquisition of Avolites by ROBE, which promises great news,” concluded Francisco Yañez Valdivia.
The interest shown by the entire sector encourages both companies to continue with this initiative and expand it to all of LatAm, as well as repeat it in the future, which is why they are already working on the 2025 edition.
“This does not mean that AVO and/or TSD Group only carry out this action annually, since the work philosophy of both companies leads us to continue with online training and training, as well as with full-day face-to-face courses that we conduct monthly,” said Lema.
The AvoCamp experience was not limited to the classroom. In addition to the intense training modules, attendees enjoyed camaraderie activities that included dinners with the best of Argentine cuisine, in an ideal environment for the exchange of experiences among colleagues. The closing dinner was a special moment in which professionals from the sector shared their experiences and strengthened ties, anticipating a next edition of the event.
“This is just the beginning,” said Daniel Lema. “Our commitment to constant training means that, in addition to AvoCamp, we offer in-person courses and monthly online training to continue enhancing the knowledge of professionals at Avolites. Looking ahead to 2025, we are already working to expand AvoCamp throughout Latin America, in a context where the recent acquisition of Avolites by ROBE predicts significant changes and new technologies that will take the brand to another level.”
AvoCamp has established itself as a benchmark in professional updating in the lighting sector, opening the door to innovations and opportunities for lighting designers and designers from all over the region, who now have a unique space to perfect their art and expand their creativity.
At the end of each Avocamp, users usually leave grateful and with a lot of new information. For the English brand, it is important for each operator and programmer to be able to optimize their work times and thus also have a better command of their control system, which is why it seeks to ensure that the Avocamp experience provides the necessary tools so that users can find and develop their own work methodology.
