Your way into professional AV — taught by the people who hire.
WS Academy is the training division of WS — built to close the gap between “I want to work in AV” and “I'm on the call sheet.”
The corporate AV industry has a labor pipeline problem. New technicians — especially in DFW — get their reps through trial-by-fire on real shows, with no formal grounding. The good shops train internally. The mediocre ones hope nobody breaks anything. There's a market gap for short, hands-on, regionally accessible training that mirrors actual jobsite pressure.
WS is one of the longest-running corporate AV companies in Dallas–Fort Worth. We've been doing the work for 10+ years — same warehouse, same gear, same kind of show calls every week. WS Academy turns that into a classroom.
We're not a certification mill. We don't grant transferrable industry credentials. What we do offer is two days of hands-on time on real gear, taught by people who'll be back at the FOH console next week — plus first call for WS labor opportunities when you're done.
Who teaches.
A small bench for MVP. Growing as we add courses.
pending
Grant Calderon
Primary Instructor
[Bio pending. Audio engineering, A1/A2 experience, decades on corporate-AV show calls.]
pending
Johnny Williams
Instructor
[Bio pending.]
pending
Nicholas Mitchell
Program Director
Runs WS Academy operations. The person you'll hear from on logistics, scheduling, billing.
About WS
WS Academy is a division of Williams Signal, Inc. — a corporate AV labor and production company based in Fort Worth.
Visit williamssignal.com ↗