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by Rob Simmons
To Don Walker, audio-visual is life. For over 40 years Don Walker satisfyingly worked in the audio-visual field, but on October 31, 2006, he decided to retire.
Don worked for Sound Vision only for the last 2 ˝ years of his career. His time here was a great help to us, and he brought a tremendous amount of experience with him. By the time he was started at Sound Vision, he had seen every situation and problem that could happen with AV equipment.
Don got his start in the field with a degree in electronics automation from Devry Technological Institute. His big break came when a fairly new upstart business named Ancha Electronics hired him after college. Just like that, he was on his way to a career that would span five decades. Don received his training from his future father-in-law, which he said helped him a great deal because his father-in-law was a perfectionist and a really fast worker. When I asked Don what it was like to learn like that he joked, "It was like getting taught how to play basketball by Michael Jordan."
Of course the field has changed dramatically over the years. When Don first started out, they were still using vacuum tubes and the old Sony Beta. Now, everything continues to get smaller and smaller and more and more complex. Don said when he first started a projector installation was always a two-man job; today he can do it alone in half of the time. Part of the problem was that a video projector in the 1960's weighed 160 pounds; now most weigh in at 30 pounds—or much less.
Don told me he will remember the individual projects more than anything. His favorite was the Soldier Field renovation in 2003, which he was part of. He said he was there for eight weeks and about 12 hours per day to complete the project. He installed all of the TV camera locations and helped with the skyboxes and executive booths. When I asked Don what the most rewarding part of his career was he responded, "knowing that I made a difference in peoples' lives."
John Miles wanted to add that "Don did make a difference in his few short years on our staff. He quickly became known as a true professional and was typically assigned to our more complex projects, including Marengo High School and his final project at a major corporation's boardroom. The reason was quite simple: we knew when Don walked away from the project, it was completed and the client was extremely pleased with the quality of work. We all wish him well in his retirement years."
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