I’m Douglas Hoag, Principal Consultant and owner of DCH Technology Consulting, based in Chicago, IL. With more than 15 years in the audiovisual industry, I specialize in consulting, design, and owner’s representative services for complex built environments. My work spans courtrooms, council chambers, emergency operations centers, police stations, and corporate experience spaces, where technology must seamlessly support both in-person and hybrid collaboration. At DCH Technology Consulting, I take a human-centered design approach—balancing AVIXA, SMPTE, AES, ANSI, and AIA best practices with real-world workflows. My background includes global technology standardization efforts with Fortune 500 clients as well as civic projects requiring coordination between state and county stakeholders. I focus on creating cohesive, intuitive systems that support transparency, equitable conferencing, and future-ready infrastructure through solutions like AVoverIP, broadcast integration, and smart workflow design. I’m passionate about helping architects, owners, and technology teams bring their vision to life with audiovisual systems that feel intentional, intuitive, and built to last.

I studied mechanical engineering, and moved to Broadcast where I worked in television for 7 years specialising in live and outside broadcast.   In 1992 I transitioned from television to AV and set up Hewshott in 2002 as an independent consultancy practice.  I lead the Hewshott Group worldwide, supporting each office across 3 continents as they collectively deliver projects for clients worldwide. Hewshott provides advice and project delivery resources in the AV, IT and Acoustic sectors, blending all three as required to support clients as they navigate through the technical challenges across multiple vertical markets. Outside of Hewshott, I have engineered numerous recordings and specialise in sacred music recorded on-site and have recorded in some wonderful buildings.   In my spare time, my engineering roots surface as I have two classic cars that are in a constant state of repair and maintenance, and the occasional modification.

Audio Visual Subject Matter Expert AVIXA CTS, CTS-D & CTS-I Certified CEDIA CIT, IST, ESC, ESC-D, ESC-T & ESC-N Certified 30yrs of AV design engineering, installation, system commissioning, project management & troubleshooting experience for both commercial and residential AV with demonstrated, extensive competency across a broad spectrum of AV applications, for example; corporate, banking & finance, hospitality, education, medical, government, military, transportation hubs, casino & gaming, performance theatre, live entertainment venues, theme parks, museums, stadia, high-end residential & private cinema, and royal palaces. Global exposure designing & delivering AV projects in 16 countries across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East Regions. Extensively involved as an AV Subject Matter Expert developing AV Standards and international certification examination questions for both AVIXA & CEDIA. Australian & French dual citizen, currently divides time between Hong Kong & Vietnam.

With 14 years of experience in audio-visual system integration, consultancy, and deployment across the Asia-Pacific region, I’ve developed a strong understanding of the region’s unique challenges and opportunities. I’ve had the opportunity to work on large-scale AV and broadcast systems for some of the world’s leading multinational companies, aligning with global standards to support seamless collaboration and productivity across diverse teams and locations. I enjoy crafting practical, user-focused technology solutions, and increasingly draw on AI and emerging tech to improve workflows and outcomes. Outside of work, I teach immersive media as an adjunct lecturer, where I get to share my curiosity and inspire students to explore what’s possible.