AV SuperFriends

Recorded June 22, 2022 Have y'all heard of this VR thing? It's a thing! Or is it… We start with an article about highly customized content for highly specialized academic programs and how that just doesn't scale. And that leads a discussion covering everything from shared standards for metaverse content to nursing simulation systems to user generated content. Then, scope creep. Have you done that...

Recorded June 24, 2022 It's a Christmas Miracle— all six AV SuperFriends are on the same episode together! We start with some AV news that created a minor crisis for some of us (for about 30 minutes), but as it's about one of our "favorite" products, we're enjoying the schadenfreude. Also, maybe if your network allows unauthenticated devices to connect directly, you deserve the lumps. Then we're j...

Recorded June 09, 2022 Chris, Larry, Rachel, and Justin were all together in Las Vegas for the largest single gathering of AV SuperFriends since 2019, so we fired up the microphones to share our general impressions of the first InfoComm since the last one! We cover products of note, the best swag on the show floor, celebrity sightings, the utter lack of VR (yea!), the sad lack of esports (boo!), f...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Doug McCartney from Oakland University and Jon Loney of Whitman College to talk about the NWMET that didn't happen in 2020, Doug's recent election t...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Jessica Sunset from LightWerks to talk about how colleges and universities can be better partners with integrators (hint: parking!) and how integrat...

Recorded May 13, 2022 It's our annual InfoComm Preview show! Or, if you are listening to this after the first week of June, it's our annual InfoComm Wrap-up show! Chris, Larry, and Justin will be there in person, so come join us for presentations, tours, and interviews. Or, listen to recordings of those same presentations, tours, and interviews because InfoComm is over! We hash through what we exp...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Kramer's Kristen Garner to talk about building the relationship with higher education, updating firmware, and Kramer's recent purchase of UC Workspa...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Robert Durbin from Crestron to talk high level concepts, Crestron's A+ program, the four flavors of DM, and using tin snips to modernize your DMPS p...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we grab Dave Stewart from Eastern Washington University (and Chris's former colleague!) and Kevin Gelman of Alfatron Electronics to talk about EWU's testing and imp...

Recorded May 20, 2022 We start with a new story about Morehouse College wanting VR for everyone. It certainly seems more viable at smaller schools, but we're skeptical. Then, Chris wants help creating a truly useful sandbox space. Marc suggests lots of infrastructure, Justin recommends an area for bench testing and a nicer version for outside users, Larry talks about the concept of "a safe space t...

Recorded May 6, 2022 Before the show even begins, Chris grabs the mic and expresses his frustrations with participants on video calls. It's 2022 and there's simply no excuse. Then, Larry poses an interesting question: If we all had the funding and time to update or replace almost every AV system on our campuses, how would we do it? Would we stay the course and get a few years ahead on refresh cycl...

Recorded April 29, 2022 Hey, Rachel is back! Well, for the news segment, anyway. NAB was this past week and Rachel shares some insights into what trade shows might portend for the future. Then it's time to dive deep into the software we all use throughout all aspects of an AV project. Notes, task management, shared network folders, CAD, Sketchup, and everything in between. Also, if you're taking n...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Marc Yakubisin from Diversified and talk through how integrators can be better partners with colleges and universities AND how those colleges and un...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by new kid on the block, Joe Way from USC. We talk faculty feedback, incremental software upgrades to existing systems, faculty feedback, a deliberate...

Recorded April 8, 2022 Working with integrators and consultants is a necessary part of the job for any higher ed AV manager, and the AV SuperFriends have plenty of suggestions to make that process easier. Step 1, don't give away engineering and design. Step 2, don't give away consulting and end user interaction. Step 3, don't give away programming. Step 4, don't give away integration. In fact, jus...

Recorded March 31, 2022 Chris and Marc were at NWMET 2022 in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in March and set up a table in the middle of the hallway to talk with as many people as possible about AV in higher education. In this episode, we're joined by Frank Alaimo and Andy Borts from UNLV to talk about their more measured approach to creating and supporting modern teaching and learning spaces. Fra...

Recorded April 22, 2022 After over a month away, we're back and have all sorts of things to talk about… but not on this episode. We start with more data from EDUCAUSE that suggests leadership should talk with their local IT staff who support the learning spaces on campus. It's a good article from a trusted source to forward on to your managers and directors. Then, what's all this event support we...

Recorded March 11, 2022 Jamie brings an article that describes two very different experiences with warranty and support… of socks. It's relevant in a weird way. And in a year when we're having to be extra flexible with our choices of equipment due to the supply chain madness, it does raise the question of just how much that manufacturer support weighs in our decisions of what to specify. Speaking...

Recorded March 18, 2022 We immediately derail the show with an in-depth discussion of blockchain and educational credentials. Larry and Marc have been looking into this and it seems to be the future of education… sort of. Then, we cover campus support structures. That is, how is your support team staffed? Is your install team your support team? Do you have your own support desk or do all the calls...

Recorded March 4, 2022 Marc brings an article about the commoditization of IT skills as organizations mature. It spurs some good discussion for our next topic about hiring staff. So, is it better to hire an IT person who then learns AV or hire an AV person who then learns IT? Larry put a similar question out on Twitter related to hiring or growing programmers. Finally, Marc wants to know what out...

Recorded February 18, 2022 If we're discussing emerging technologies in learning spaces, we're obviously going to talk about the metaverse… but not the one you're thinking of. Marc brings an article and associated study from Forbes and JP Morgan that reveals the plans that that the financial world has for the future. And no, it's not goggles. Larry also references an article from 2012 that raises...

Recorded February 11, 2022 QSC divides into two divisions, focusing on their pro audio products and burgeoning control and AV transport lines respectively. Is this a good move? Time will tell, but they certainly have the metrics to show what website visitors are looking for. Oddly enough, after this announcement, QSC held an event where they announced products in both lines. It was… weird. Then we...

Recorded February 4, 2022 In the AV news, we review Kramer purchasing UC Workspace, best known for their Quicklaunch software. I find this intriguing because as PCs become the center of conferencing systems, Quicklaunch provides a customizable unifying interface regardless of platform. Then Chris demands the rest of the AV SuperFriends help him determine the "best" method for integrating multiple...

Recorded January 14, 2022 This month's topic was supposed to be about the return of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) and the upcoming HETMA Spring conference, but in light of ISE cancelling their show (again!) and "rescheduling" to May, we figured it was time to satirize the constant cancelling and rescheduling of large tradeshows and conferences by writing them an obituary. So, in loving memory… a...

Recorded January 21, 2022 It's a lecture capture spectacular! The AV SuperFriends are joined by two guests, Michael Quinones and Raul Burriel, and with our powers combined… we are still unable to identify the perfect lecture capture system. Heck, we can't even really define lecture capture. But that doesn't stop us from walking through the earliest days of ITV systems, camcorders, VHS & DVD record...