In short: AVFI started in 1996 as VFI, a four-product videoconferencing furniture company. As the technology it supported evolved from bulky camera stands to modern hybrid collaboration systems, the product line grew with it: podiums, lecterns, tables, credenzas, and mounts for education, corporate, government, and healthcare markets across the USA. Few manufacturers make it to a 30-year mark, and this is the story of how AVFI got there.
Thirty years ago, AVFI launched and printed its very first brochure. It had four products in it, and it went out under a company name most people today have never heard: Videoconference Furniture International, or VFI. “We had no marketing department, no social media, no YouTube, no AI,” says Mike Skinner, AVFI’s founder and CEO, marking the anniversary. “Just an idea, a belief that we could build something better, and a commitment to look after our customers.”
This is the story of how that brochure turned into the podiums, lecterns, and AV furniture that schools, government offices, and corporations across the USA and Canada use every day, and why a company with thirty years of successful history is worth paying attention to if you’re looking for a long-term manufacturing partner.
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Who Is AVFI, and Why Has It Been Building Presentation Furniture Since 1996?
AVFI — Audio Visual Furniture International — is a North American manufacturer and supplier of podiums, lecterns, and AV furniture, founded in 1996 under the name Videoconference Furniture International. The company was built to solve one specific problem: the videoconferencing equipment of the mid-1990s had nowhere good to sit, and that gap in the market became the entire business.
That single problem is still, in a way, the whole business. Technology needs something to support it, a place to put a camera, a laptop, a microphone, a rack of gear. And that “something” has to look presentable, hold up to years of daily use, and not get in the way of the person using it.
Explore the full AVFI product solutions.
How Did AVFI Get Its Start?
The company name reflected exactly what it did. Videoconference Furniture International wasn’t a general office furniture company that happened to sell a few AV pieces on the side. It existed because early videoconferencing hardware, bulky cameras, codecs, and monitors, needed purpose-built stands, and nobody else in the market was making them well.
And that’s how the first brochure came to life. Under the “vfi” logo, the cover carried the line “Furniture Designs That Communicate,” above a photo of one of the original stands: a mobile cart holding a Sony monitor and a PTZ camera, built specifically to carry videoconferencing hardware that, at the time, had nowhere else to go.
Original 1996 VFI brochure cover for Videoconference Furniture International, showing the company’s first videoconference furniture stand.
It’s a world away from a modern multimedia lectern, but the underlying idea, furniture built around a piece of technology, not the other way around, hasn’t moved an inch. That early focus on specialization, rather than being a generalist furniture supplier, is a thread that runs through the company’s entire history, and it’s arguably the most defensible reason AVFI is still standing thirty years later.
What Has Changed at AVFI Over 30 Years?
Everything around the original four-product catalog changed: the technology, the name, the market, and the product line itself. Here’s a snapshot of what that looks like in practice:
| 1996 (VFI) | 2026 (AVFI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | Videoconference Furniture International | Audio Visual Furniture International |
| Core market | Videoconferencing furniture only | Education, corporate, government, and healthcare |
| Catalog size | 4 products | Hundreds of models across 7+ categories |
| Product categories | Videoconference stands | Podiums, lecterns, tables, control room furniture, credenzas, mounts, custom AV furniture |
| How AVFI sold | Direct catalog orders | A large dealer network across the USA and Canada |
But a bigger product range wasn’t the only thing changing. The technology itself was evolving just as quickly, and AVFI had to evolve with it. The name change from VFI to AVFI is a good marker of that shift. Once the product line moved beyond videoconferencing into general AV and presentation furniture — podiums, lecterns, credenzas, control room workstations like the MWS30 Modular Control Room Workstation System — the old name simply didn’t describe the business anymore.
How Has the AV Furniture Market Changed Around AVFI?
The furniture didn’t change in a vacuum. The way people present, teach, and meet changed dramatically underneath it. In 2019, only about 6.5% of private-sector U.S. workers worked primarily from home, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number spiked during the pandemic and has since settled into a durable hybrid pattern, with data analyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis showing close to 22% of U.S. workers working from home at least some of the time in 2025.
That shift didn’t eliminate the need for physical presentation spaces; it changed what those spaces needed to do. A modern classroom, boardroom, or council chamber now has to support in-person and remote participants at the same time, which is exactly why the product list grew from “videoconference stands” to podiums, lecterns, control room furniture, and display mounts like the PM2-XL Large Single 60”–90” (152–229 cm) Display Mount. The four-product 1996 catalog couldn’t have supported this. The current one was built for it.
Why Do So Few Manufacturers Make It to 30 Years?
Because most businesses don’t survive that long, and the ones that do usually had to earn every year of it. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, the 15-year survival rate for new business establishments is roughly 25.5%, and survival odds continue to narrow with every additional decade in business. Manufacturing specifically tends to fare a little better than the broader economy over the medium term, but “better than average” still means most manufacturers never see a 30th anniversary.
That context isn’t self-congratulation — it’s the honest reason longevity matters to a buyer. “A 30-year-old manufacturer has survived multiple recessions, at least one full technology cycle, and decades of competitors entering and leaving the market,” Skinner says. “That’s a different kind of reliability than a five-year-old company can offer, no matter how good its current catalog looks.”
What Hasn’t Changed in 30 Years?
A few things haven’t changed, and that’s by design. “We still believe in manufacturing quality products. We still believe in supporting our dealer partners. We still believe that great service matters. And we still believe that every piece of technology needs something to support it. That’s what we build,” Skinner says. In practice, that shows up as:
- Manufacturing its own products, not relabeled furniture bought from someone else’s factory and sold under the AVFI name.
- A dealer network that still comes first. That’s the same way the company operated with its very first brochure, and it remains the primary way customers find and buy AVFI furniture today.
- Service after the sale, not just during it.
- Furniture built to support the technology in the room. That’s the one idea that has never stopped being true, from the first videoconference stand to the newest multimedia lectern.
Why Do Institutions Keep Coming Back to a 30-Year-Old Furniture Maker?
Much of AVFI’s customer base isn’t buying furniture every budget cycle. Schools, universities, government agencies, corporate campuses, healthcare organizations, and control rooms tend to purchase presentation furniture once and then expect it to keep working for a decade or more, through multiple rounds of AV upgrades, staff turnover, and shifting room layouts. That expectation has shaped AVFI’s approach since the beginning: rather than designing around short product cycles or whatever happens to be trending in a given year, the company builds around durability and adaptability, so the furniture can outlast at least one full generation of the technology sitting on top of it.
That focus explains something else, too. It’s part of why AVFI is still active after thirty years, while a long list of manufacturers that entered the market around the same time are not. And that’s why longevity matters. It isn’t simply about age; it’s evidence that customers kept coming back, technology kept changing, and the company continued adapting year after year.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for AVFI?
More of the same discipline, applied to whatever comes next. Nobody on the original VFI team could have predicted AI any more than anyone can predict exactly what presentation technology looks like in 2036, but the pattern holds: new technology creates a new furniture problem, and solving that problem is what AVFI exists to do.
Thirty years ago, AVFI was solving a challenge few people had even recognized: how to properly support the emerging world of videoconferencing. Today, the technologies are different, but the philosophy remains exactly the same. Whether it’s AI-enabled collaboration, hybrid learning environments, or tomorrow’s presentation technologies, AVFI will continue doing what it has always done: designing furniture that helps technology perform at its best.
An idea and a four-product brochure were enough to start, thirty years ago. “Thank you to every employee, dealer, customer, supplier, and friend who has been part of this journey,” Skinner says. “We’re looking forward to what comes next.”
AVFI manufactures and supplies podiums, lecterns, tables, credenzas, control room furniture, and display mounts for education, corporate, government, and healthcare clients across the USA, with the durability, technology integration, and service standard that thirty years in an institutional market demands.
Explore Where 30 Years of AVFI Product Development Has Landed:
- Podiums and Lecterns
- PD51 Mobile Instructor Station
- LEX31 Multimedia Lectern
- MWS30 Modular Control Room Workstation System
- CR2000EX Dual Rack Credenza
- PM2-XL Large Single 60”–90” (152–229 cm) Display Mount
Browse the full AVFI product catalog
Contact the AVFI team to see what’s next.
AVFI History Questions We Hear Most
How long has AVFI been in business?
AVFI was founded in 1996, making 2026 its thirtieth year in business. It operated under the name Videoconference Furniture International (VFI) for its early years before rebranding to Audio Visual Furniture International as its product line expanded.
What did AVFI make when it started?
Four products, all built for the videoconferencing industry — furniture stands designed to hold the cameras, codecs, and monitors used in early videoconferencing setups. There were no podiums or lecterns in that first catalog; those came later as customer needs evolved.
Why did the company change its name from VFI to AVFI?
The product line outgrew the name. Once the company started building podiums, lecterns, and general AV furniture, not just videoconferencing stands, “Videoconference Furniture International” no longer described what was actually in the catalog, so it became Audio Visual Furniture International.
Is AVFI still an independent, founder-led company?
Yes. Mike Skinner, who founded the company as VFI in 1996, remains the owner and CEO of AVFI today.
Where is AVFI furniture manufactured, and is it eligible for government purchasing?
AVFI designs, engineers, and manufactures its furniture in North America rather than importing and relabeling products built elsewhere. That North American manufacturing is what makes AVFI furniture TAA compliant — eligible for purchase under GSA Schedule and other federal contracts that require Trade Agreements Act compliance.
How does AVFI’s original videoconference furniture compare with today’s products?
The original catalog focused on single-purpose stands built to hold one camera and codec. Today’s lineup includes height-adjustable podiums, multimedia lecterns, modular conference tables, control room workstations, and display mounts, built for far more complex hybrid presentation environments than existed in 1996.
How many products does AVFI make now compared to 1996?
The first catalog had four products. Today AVFI’s line spans podiums, lecterns, tables, desks, racks, credenzas, stands, mounts, and carts — hundreds of models across seven-plus categories. Browse the full current catalog.
Sources: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business (2026); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The Rise in Remote Work Since the Pandemic and Its Impact on Productivity”; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, “Is Remote Work Declining? What the Latest Data Show” (2026).