Ask the Programmer

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Colin Birney, Co-Founder and Manager of Consulting Services at AV MSP and Vice President and Treasurer at AV Trust, to discuss his AV journey and the value of managed services in the AV industry. Colin Birney can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-birney/ . He can also be found at AV MSP https://av-msp.com  and AV Trust https://avtrust.or...

James King and Steve Greenblatt debut a creative episode format called Maintain/Update/Deprecate. Questions are posed with three answers, which James and Steve each rank from best to worst and explain why. The theme of this episode is skills, qualities, and career growth for AV programmers.   What skills are most important for the success of AV programmers? a. Platform expertise b. Software develo...

James King and Steve Greenblatt debut a creative episode format called Maintain/Update/Deprecate. Questions are posed with three answers, which James and Steve each rank from best to worst and explain why. The theme of this episode is the selection and design of AV control systems.   What is the future of AV control? a. Traditional dedicated control systems b. Software-based homegrown with off-the...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back guest moderator Dan Ferrisi, Group Director of Content + Editorial, Industrial + Tech at Emerald, to share his commitment to and investment in the AV industry and pose the question: How has AV programming or a programmer’s job become easier or harder over the last 10 years? Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back guest moderator Dan Ferrisi, Group Director of Content + Editorial, Industrial + Tech at Emerald, to share his personal AV journey and pose the question: What is the most common bad assumption people make about AV programmers or AV programming? Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrato...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Eugene Dunn, Ecosystem Project Support Engineer at Q-SYS, to share about his role in establishing standards and providing resources and support for AV programmers. Eugene Dunn can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenedunn3/ or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com. To join the conversation or have your ques...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Eugene Dunn, Ecosystem Project Support Engineer at Q-SYS, to share how he has applied his affinity for problem-solving throughout his AV journey and programming focus. Eugene Dunn can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenedunn3/ or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com. To join the conversation or have your quest...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mark Franklin, Senior Director of Computing Services at Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, to go deeper into the technology of OpenAV, discuss its evolution to meet the needs of users and support staff, and share how it addresses many of the common needs of maintaining AV systems. OpenAV can be found at https://github.com/Dartmouth-OpenAV/...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Mark Franklin, Senior Director of Computing Services at Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, to discuss how the common approach to AV system design, programming, deployment, and management was not working for him and his team, leading to the creation and development of the "OpenAV" solution, an IT approach to AV systems. OpenAV can be found at ht...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Fred Loucks, Founder of Hyperscale AV, to elaborate on the need, business case, challenges, and successful approach to AV monitoring. Fred previously appeared on episode 263. Fred Loucks can be reached via email, fred@hyperscaleav.com, or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-loucks/. Hyperscale AV can be found at hyperscaleav.com. Fred's article...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Fred Loucks, Founder of Hyperscale AV, to discuss his AV journey, background in theater and show control, and his passion for effective monitoring solutions for the AV industry. Fred Loucks can be reached via email, fred@hyperscaleav.com, or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-loucks/. Hyperscale AV can be found at hyperscaleav.com. Fred's article M...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss the value of being active and sharing his knowledge and experiences in online AV communities. Mike Krejci was previously on episodes 261, 222, 111, 34, and 35. Mike can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikekrejci/, and CTI can be found at cti.com. To join the conversation o...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss the factors that contribute to selecting a programming language for a project. Mike's LinkedIn article "How are we going to program this project?" can be found at this link: https://bit.ly/4chAS22. Mike Krejci was previously on episodes 222, 111, 34, and 35. Mike can be reached on LinkedIn at http...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back guest John Smith, an AV Solutions Programmer at New Era Technology, to discuss how he has benefited from being active in the AV programming community and the tips he can share with others in similar positions. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, le...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome guest John Smith, an AV Solutions Programmer at New Era Technology, to share his AV journey from technician to certified programmer. John Smith can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-smith-cts-i-820173149/, and New Era Technology can also be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-era-technology-us/. To join the conversa...

In this episode of Ask The Programmer, hosts Steve Greenblatt and James King continue their conversation with Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces at UCLA and co-founder of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA). This episode serves as a continuation of Episode 257, diving deeper into Joe’s work, transforming AV systems into part of a broader smart campus strategy. Joe...

In this episode of Ask The Programmer, hosts Steve Greenblatt and James King welcome back Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces at UCLA and co-founder of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA). Joe first appeared on the podcast in its early days (episodes 53, 54, and 113), making this conversation an opportunity to reconnect and reflect on how both the AV industry and th...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Brian Magrogan, Senior Systems Programmer & Network Systems Engineer at Verrex, to discuss the value of effective technical support and its impact on projects, brands, and decisions. Be sure to also check out Brian's previous appearances on episodes 255, 138, and 139. Brian Magrogan can be found on social media as @bmagrogan. Verrex can be found at...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Brian Magrogan, Senior Systems Programmer & Network Systems Engineer at Verrex, to discuss his experience using AI as an AV Programmer and ways AV Programmers, AV Professionals, and people in general can effectively leverage AI effectively. Be sure to also check out Brian's previous appearances on episodes 138 and 139. Brian Magrogan can be found on...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security, at Emerald, to discuss his question about what integrators should know about hiring and retaining internal programmers. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, and Securitysales.com. Be sure to also check out Dan's previous ap...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security, at Emerald, to discuss whether dedicated control systems will continue to be an essential part of installed AV systems, or whether they will become less prevalent as more products offer apps and their own control capabilities. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferr...

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss the roles and skill sets of a technical manager and a programmer, including where they are similar and where they differ, and explore whether a manager can also be a programmer. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV...

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss the role of a technical team manager, the unique skill set required, and the importance of maintaining technical skills. To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jamison Vandenberg, Academic Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, to discuss how he promotes AV career paths to student workers through hands-on training and experience. Jamison Vandenberg can be reached on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamison-vandenberg-04068430a/ or by email vandenbj@uwgb.edu. To join the conversation or have y...

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Jamison Vandenberg, Academic Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, to discuss his AV journey, his pJames King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Jamison Vandenberg, Academic Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, to discuss his AV journey, his passion for AV, and his commitment to learning and teaching AV. Jamison Vandenberg can be rea...