I came to this work through hotels.
I ran hotel-based AV operations for a national event technology company and held leadership roles at Hilton and Marriott International. James Mancino and I met working at the Bellevue Red Lion, and in November 2001 we founded Service Solutions AV, because the Seattle market had no customer-first option for AV.
David Delaney, Founder
Where I am from
I am Haida. My family's roots are in Kasaan, a village on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, and I keep deep ties there.
I am also a Sealaska shareholder. Sealaska Corporation is the Alaska Native regional corporation for Southeast Alaska.
I live in Mukilteo, Washington, with my wife and two children, and I plan to return to Kasaan to live. I am one of the four people who lead this company.
Kasaan
Kasaan sits on Kasaan Bay, on the east side of Prince of Wales Island, about 30 miles northwest of Ketchikan. Haida people crossed Dixon Entrance from Haida Gwaii and have lived on Prince of Wales Island for centuries.
Kasaan's Whale House dates from around 1880. The Organized Village of Kasaan, the federally recognized tribe, led the house's most recent restoration. It worked with Kavilco, the village corporation that owns the house, and with the Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation, and the work ended with a rededication in 2016. The tribe runs guided tours of the house and Totem Trail Park, which it describes as “a sacred and historical site to the Haida and the community.”
Kasaan has a tribal government, a school, a carving shed and Haida language resources. It tells its own story better than I can, so start with its own pages.
What I do now
I spend most of my time with manufacturers, distributors and dealers, working out which emerging technology is ready to put in front of a client and which is not yet. I lead our installation and integration division.
Working as guests
Being Haida does not make me an expert on any other nation, and I do not speak for Kasaan or for any tribe. Each nation is distinct.
In Washington, we work on the homelands of the tribes here, as guests, and under each host's direction. At cultural events, the host decides what we record, stream or photograph; we stop when asked; we fly no drones without permission; and we never record or reuse songs, dances or regalia without permission from the people they belong to.
We work with tribal casinos nationally, and we keep in mind whose building we are in: the enterprise of a tribal government. Who regulates what differs by property, and we comply with the specific gaming regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction in each facility we work in.
If you work in tribal gaming, none of this is news to you. I would rather say it plainly than leave you wondering whether we know it.