Name: Luke Jordan, PMP, CTS-I
Title: Account Manager
Company: Electro Acoustics
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Twitter: @LukeJordanEAVI
Overtime: Jordan, his wife Rachel, three-year-old son Henry, and his extended family vacation in Estes Park, CO every summer where they enjoy activities like hiking, fly fishing, and visiting local festivals. It is here that he discovered the “peace of standing waist deep in a river, fishing, and enjoying God’s creativity and awesome beauty.”
Why You Need To Know Him: Luke Jordan, PMP, CTS-I, age 29, is a friend to all in the AV industry. While his company is regional, he’s known for making connections across the entire industry, and is passionate about sharing lessons learned and tips for success.
Maybe He’s Born With It: Jordan, an account manager at Electro Acoustics (EA), his family’s company, knew from a young age that he would be involved in the world of AV. “When I was six, my dad took me to work—a.k.a. the Texas Rangers ballpark, where we were installing the sound system,” he recalled. “Going to an MLB ballpark and seeing the big, cool things my dad was working on was awesome. And I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. I never wavered from that point on.”
Though his parents pushed him to pursue other career paths, Jordan knew he had a home in AV and convinced his parents to employ him. “My parents would involve my older brother and me in discussions about the business and ask us how we would handle real-world issues they faced,” said Jordan. “Being a part of EA is so much more than technology and AV—it’s a business that is important to our city and to our people.”
Starting out as a project lead, Jordan worked his way around the company, learning various aspects of the business—from the nitty-gritty of field work to perfecting customer service skills in the office. In five years, Jordan and his brother Sam will take over management of EA.
Passion for Project Management: Jordan believes in the power of project management and certifications. And a lot of that can be traced back to communication. “Project management is all about communication more than anything else,” mused Jordan. “If you screw that up, it doesn’t matter how well you understood the client’s needs, how accurately you bid the project, how well the system was designed, or the quality of the install.”
Jordan obtained his Project Management Professional (PMP) designation as an accompaniment to his AV certificates because it “seemed wrong” not to invest in project management just as heavily as technical AV training.
And Jordan has invested heavily in both formal and informal training. He was AVIXA’s CTS Holder of the Year in 2016 and leads the association’s Integrators Council. While Jordan felt “wildly unqualified” to lead the council at first, he quickly realized his job was to ask questions and foster collaboration. Under his guidance, the council has published a best practices guide for hiring qualified candidates, and is working on a follow-up guide for hiring independent contractors. Jordan is also the recipient of AVIXA's 2018 Young AV Professionals Awards.
Volunteering for AVIXA has opened many doors to Jordan to “get out of his bubble” and work with other industry professionals to help create exceptional experiences for others. “This is not a job, this is more than a career,” Jordan said. “It’s a lifestyle and an opportunity to really build something bigger and leave a lasting impact by creating really good quality things.”
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