AV SuperFriends: Recent Episodes

AV SuperFriends

The AV SuperFriends are AV and eLearning nerds who embrace the challenges that come with managing audiovisual systems and resources within a higher education environment. Most of us have had similar experiences and seek to find answers in an ever-changing audiovisual world. We engage the higher education audiovisual community through podcasts, videos, panel discussions, interviews, and social media to share ideas and solve problems. Our shared experiences and your own will lead to new and creative solutions.

In summary, we are going to steal all your ideas and share them with everyone.

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Recorded July 17, 2026

In Part 2 of our conversation about building an internal AV integration team, the panel turns from the organizational obstacles to the practical question: how do you actually justify, staff, and scale the operation?

We dig into translating outsourced labor costs into FTE requests, documenting hidden workloads, using dashboards and project data to make the case to leadership, and allowing a little strategic failure to expose where the existing team has reached its limits. The discussion also explores whether the next hire should be another technician or someone higher in the stack, such as a project manager, field supervisor, designer, or other knowledge-focused role.

Along the way, we consider how student employees can free up full-time staff, why "internship" may be a better recruiting pitch than "student worker," how good integrators can complement rather than replace an internal team, and why every staffing plan needs to be ready before a stray FTE or pile of magical, mystical money suddenly appears.

Connect with Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdickson0ctsd/

Alternate show titles:

  • A design apprentice, so to speak
  • Don't bring up your dirty math!
  • Support Plus
  • I could save them $100,000 a year
  • I'm going to tag onto Marc and then change
  • I can take care of you and you can take care of me
  • The AV consultant doesn't know how we do it on campus
  • Just like a consultant would…
  • That's not the way levers are pulled
  • Which isn't a service we actually offer… but it's a service we offer
  • This was actually a good show
  • It's not like math…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded July 17, 2026

Building an internal AV integration team sounds simple enough: hire a few people, buy some tools, and stop paying an outside integrator to discover that the display was unplugged. In reality, it means navigating staffing models, capital projects, facilities partnerships, student labor, service agreements, institutional funding, and the mysterious process by which everyone agrees an idea is excellent while still refusing to provide an FTE.

Special guest Tim Dickson joins to discuss Clemson's effort to expand its internal AV capabilities while supporting more than 300 classrooms with a very small team. The panel digs into which skills should remain in-house, where outside labor still makes sense, how to justify positions through savings and recurring service work, and how existing staff can grow into programming, design, field supervision, and other specialized roles.

Note that this is Part 1 of 2 because the show is allegedly a 30-minute monthly roundtable, but no one involved appears capable of stopping at 30 minutes, or stopping at all. Part 2 will continue the conversation with no meaningful evidence that anyone learned from the experience.

Connect with Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdickson0ctsd/

Alternate show titles:

  • A design apprentice, so to speak
  • Don't bring up your dirty math!
  • Support Plus
  • I could save them $100,000 a year
  • I'm going to tag onto Marc and then change
  • I can take care of you and you can take care of me
  • The AV consultant doesn't know how we do it on campus
  • Just like a consultant would…
  • That's not the way levers are pulled
  • Which isn't a service we actually offer… but it's a service we offer
  • This was actually a good show
  • It's not like math…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded July 24, 2026

How long should classroom AV systems actually last? The panel revisits refresh cycles and quickly discovers that the answer ranges from a carefully planned five or six or seven or eight years to "whenever the last surviving input card finally catches fire." We compare full-room replacements with increasingly modular upgrades, debate which components can remain in service indefinitely, and examine what happens when departments treat technology as a one-time purchase rather than something that must eventually be funded again.

We also check in on Auracast, the perpetually imminent technology of the future, following a real-world deployment at a UK train station. Then, because apparently this is something campuses must now consider, we discuss securing classroom computers against people opening them up and stealing the RAM and GPUs.

Along the way, we encounter abandoned projection screens, emergency spare parts, classrooms held together by obsolete switchers, and the uncomfortable realization that sometimes the only sustainable refresh strategy is moving a still-working component from somewhere nobody will notice.

News story: https://www.avnetwork.com/installations/ampetronic-listen-technologies-auri-installed-at-brighton-station

Alternate show titles:

  • Let's talk about the Apple thing real quick
  • Are all of you still hot on this?
  • This is the technology of the future and it always will be
  • I'm not trying to convince you that this isn't going to happen
  • Laser stream quantum version
  • Micro-pirate radio station
  • Everything else is loosey goosey
  • Covid 2: The Return
  • Some years we ebb, some years we flow
  • We just signed on to lease our computers
  • I don't get a choice
  • Let's go to the other side of this… Justin!
  • So we said "Hey" (Hey!)
  • Blow through a couple projectors
  • Room Classic!
  • Cells don't make audio
  • Plug this hole with an AV widget
  • I keep trying to ignore your hand
  • You need to be careful with that word: guarantee
  • The first wave of technicians…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 26, 2026

Freshly returned from the show floor at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends gather for a full-length roundtable on trade show regrets: the booths they missed, the sessions they skipped, the demos they should have recorded, and the party they may never emotionally recover from missing.

This episode wanders through the aftermath of a massive conference week, including arguments over who should really be explaining AI to the AV industry, what happens when AVIXA TV is more networked than expected, why show-floor "hidden gems" are still somehow hidden behind the wrong booth wall, and how even seasoned attendees can come home realizing they saw only a tiny slice of the show. Along the way, the crew revisits booth tour challenges, suspicious conference sandwiches, tote bag logistics, USB-C mysteries, browser-based control, over-caffeinated presentations, and the now-legendary Panasonic dinner brownies.

It's part InfoComm recap, part confessional, and part warning label for anyone who thinks they can actually see everything at a trade show. Alternate show titles:

  • It was a wet wrap
  • Back door Uber ride
  • Cold air blowing on your butt
  • The brownies… like popcorn!
  • Another Larry-free Friday
  • Just a conference center with a bunch of tech
  • That little bit of confidence was shattered
  • Y'all got chili dogs?
  • Just buy the damn meat

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded July 10, 2026

Who owns the classroom, and who pays when the technology inside it breaks, ages out, or needs to be replaced?

This week, the AV SuperFriends compare the very different ways their institutions classify, schedule, fund, refresh, and support academic spaces. What sounds like a simple split between general-purpose and departmental classrooms quickly turns into covered spaces, shared rooms, temporary surge spaces, competing service levels, one-time grants, and departments that may not even want the rooms they have been assigned.

The panel explores how those ownership models affect classroom standards, support response times, project planning, and long-term refresh cycles. Depending on the institution, technology may be centrally funded and maintained, or left to individual colleges and departments until something finally dies. That creates uneven classroom experiences, endless arguments over responsibility, and the recurring question of whether a problem is a support ticket, a project, or someone else's headache.

Then, the conversation turns to the lowly document camera. Are faculty still using them, are they quietly collecting dust, or have schools simply stopped replacing them to see whether anyone notices? Along the way, the group praises SynAudCon training, proposes an unauthorized CTS study guide, debates whether the math really matters, and takes the usual scenic route through commissioning, punch lists, bad terminations, and dramatic lectern advertising.

News article:

https://www.avinteractive.com/news/training-news/avixa-offers-members-pro-audio-training-from-synaudcon-02-07-2026/

Alternate show titles:

  • It's like watching an old movie
  • That's a feature, not a bug
  • There is math, but it doesn't really matter
  • What's going on at your school?
  • …and nobody has time for that
  • I wish I was y'all
  • Is this a pyramid scheme?
  • That's where I get a little cloudy
  • We only upgrade when things die
  • A DMPS with leather
  • Good colleges who operate in an intelligent manner
  • That's a seminar room!
  • We're not allowed to ask about the budget
  • How do you design around that?
  • Everything's going to die and you're going to be hosed
  • We had parts and we had whole rooms
  • Just take 'em out

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Jamie visits the Vanco booth at InfoComm 2026 to learn about the EVO-IP AV-over-IP lineup, from full-featured systems with Dante, USB, control, video walls, and digital signage to simpler plug-and-play options. The conversation also gets into Vanco's Dante adapters, including USB-C and ARC tools that solve some very specific, very annoying higher-ed audio problems.

https://www.vanco1.com

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In this Perspectives episode, Jamie stops by the Telycam booth to check out the new Explorer PTZ camera family, including larger Sony 4/3 sensors, better low-light performance, brushless motors, 12G-SDI, HDMI, NDI, and onboard recording. They also dig into the Mix One, Telycam's all-in-one PTZ controller, switcher, and streaming device that might be doing just enough to make Jamie's camera hunt finally end.

https://telycam.com

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In this Perspectives episode, we stop by the Inogeni booth at InfoComm 2026 to dig into the IP2USB and its ability to turn IP video streams, USB cameras, and Dante audio into a clean USB conferencing source. We also get a look at CamTrack, a tiny box doing big-room camera automation tricks without forcing everyone into a whole new camera ecosystem.

https://inogeni.com

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In this short Perspectives episode, we stop by AVPro at InfoComm 2026 to learn about the ConferX AC-CX42 Pro, a compact conferencing switcher with dual USB-C DisplayPort alt mode inputs, KVM switching, bidirectional USB data, and power delivery. It's a quick look at a device that may solve some very real classroom and conference room headaches, especially for higher ed spaces juggling resident PCs, BYOD laptops, USB peripherals, and "why doesn't this just work?" workflows.

https://www.avproglobal.com

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Recorded June 12, 2026

In this Fourth of July–flavored episode of On Topic, the panel celebrates America's birthday the only way they know how: by declaring independence from the worst habits in higher ed AV.

This month's grievances include single-vendor ecosystem lock-in, consultant-led designs that ignore campus standards, isolated "AV network islands," overcomplicated touch panels, mystery DSP files, proprietary cables, terrible display home screens, and every "professional" product that somehow requires a cloud account just to configure the thing.

Along the way, the panel debates automation versus user control, whether classrooms really need touch panels at all, and why interoperability always seems to mean "mostly works, as long as you bought everything from us."

It's patriotic, petty, and painfully familiar: a fireworks show of AV complaints aimed directly at the systems, specs, and design habits we should have dumped into the harbor years ago.

Alternate show titles:

  • We might be making headway
  • The future of buildings
  • No new islands!
  • At least a ferry service
  • Press to start
  • Blank and Freeze
  • I want to agree with you, but…
  • Sometimes people plug in things they don't want to see
  • No middle ground

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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In this Perspectives episode from InfoComm 2026, we sit down with Aaron Todd of OpenAVC for a conversation that goes well beyond a simple product demo. OpenAVC is an open, platform-agnostic AV control platform aimed at breaking the industry's long-standing dependence on locked-down hardware ecosystems and expensive proprietary boxes just to run simple room controls.

Aaron walks through the philosophy behind the project, how it can run on everything from Windows and Linux to Raspberry Pi and even Android tablets, and why AV control should increasingly be treated as a software problem rather than a hardware purchase. We also get into GitHub, community contributions, driver support, AI-assisted development, and why open tools like this could be especially meaningful for higher ed teams trying to stretch budgets, extend the life of existing systems, and build the workflows they actually need.

This one leans into the bigger story: open control, cost savings, higher-ed relevance, and the "why are we still doing it this way?" disruption angle.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/openavc

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Recorded June 19, 2026

After a full week at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends stagger onto the AVIXA TV set for one final wrap show: tired feet, fried brains, louder-than-necessary opinions, and just enough caffeine to mistake exhaustion for insight.

This episode is the team's end-of-show download after days of booth demos, hallway meetings, badge scans, lukewarm coffee, live shows, sketchy product pitches, and enough walking to qualify as either professional development or a cry for help. The crew talks through what actually stood out on the show floor, including the quiet rise of REST APIs, AV gear that's finally opening up to outside control, middleware boxes that make existing systems smarter, and AI that might be useful when it isn't just being sprinkled on brochures like tradeshow glitter.

They also pick their favorite finds from the week, including Inogeni's IP2USB tools, Ross Vertex's "wait, it does what?" visualization platform, Nureva's HDX audio approach, larger-chip PTZ cameras, decentralized DSP, and Epson's beautifully boring direct-view LED display that does the one thing AV people keep begging for: display the image without trying to become a smart TV.

It's the InfoComm wrap show: part trend report, part group therapy, part warning label for anyone who thinks "quick booth visit" means anything under 45 minutes.

News article: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/fire-breaks-out-on-ba-flight-packed-with-infocomm-visitors-16-06-2026/

Alternate show titles:

  • Acoustic chicken
  • Rise of REST
  • Just use these and put it in there
  • This is my excited face
  • Costco Down
  • I might actually trust NDI now
  • Down to one tchotchke and life is good
  • There's AI built in!
  • Level 17 master guru ninja
  • Known mistakes over unknown mistakes
  • You messed with my code, man
  • That horse ain't pushing that cart
  • You can't defeat physics but you can try
  • It might be possible today
  • The future is now
  • We're going to buy all your stuff, blow it up, and re-do it
  • I can't even explain what it is
  • How many vertices do I need?
  • More affordable; that's what better meant
  • I want to marinate on it
  • Beyond the IO

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 19, 2026

In this final InfoComm 2026 morning show, the AV SuperFriends are running on caffeine, conditioned air, and whatever energy is left after three packed days in Las Vegas. The crew recaps the previous day's marathon of AI sessions, podcast recordings, and the wildly successful Q-SYS-sponsored "Voice of the Vertical" game show—complete with questionable judging, reluctant contestants, fire alarms, and a winning team that may or may not have known anything about AV.

From there, they look ahead to the annual hidden-gems show floor tour, including honorable mentions for the products that were worth seeing but geographically inconvenient. Along the way, the conversation wanders through AI workshops, fake dashboards, VR goggles, fiber USB-C cables, large-sensor cameras, higher-ed broadcast furniture, and whether "projectors as a service" is a nightmare, a necessity, or both.

It's the last morning show of InfoComm 2026, and everyone is tired—but there's still one more day of show floor wandering, AVIXA TV, questionable product scouting, and arena-rock-level enthusiasm to go.

Alternate show titles:

  • My team won, by the way
  • I got hosed
  • I quit!
  • Give them fake AI
  • I'm gonna nerf this a little bit
  • Urinal rating system
  • I made a comment one person didn't like
  • I made assumptions about them and moved on
  • That looks like an interesting widget
  • We've been wanting to tip toe into this…
  • Installment plans or indentured servitude?
  • Pay per packet
  • I shocked myself with the conversation
  • It's a tidal wave

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 18, 2026

Live from the Biamp booth at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends sit down with Zach Snook, Chris Dieterich, Michael Hooper, and Abdul Chaudhri to talk through Biamp's latest announcements for higher ed and beyond.

The conversation covers Biamp Workplace Control, including its cloud or local configuration, drag-and-drop design, node-based logic, Lua scripting, and AI-assisted workflows. They also dig into the new Devio UCX line for Teams and Zoom Rooms, expandable mics and speakers, USB-C content sharing and charging, and the value of running a full collaboration system from a single power connection.

Along the way, the crew explores sound masking, speech privacy, paging, Parlé Voice Lift, Max Connect Auditorium Mode, ClearOne microphone integration, and Biamp's free design services—plus the usual AVSF detours into booth noise, wardrobe emergencies, steak dinner drama, and which microphone is actually blinking.

Connect with our guests:

  • Zack Snook https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachsnook/
  • Abdul Chaudhri https://www.linkedin.com/in/no1salesleader/
  • Chris Dieterich https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-dieterich-cts-cqd-22843190/
  • Michael Hooper https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlhooper/

Products discussed:

  • Workplace Control and Workplace Control Designer

  • https://www.biamp.com/company/press-releases/press-release-detail/biamp-introduces-workplace-control--a-unified-av-automation-platform

  • Devio UCX

  • ​​https://www.biamp.com/company/press-releases/press-release-detail/biamp-introduces-devio-ucx--a-new-android-based-uc-compute-platform-with-integrated-professional-dsp

  • Parle Voicelift

  • https://www.biamp.com/solutions/applications/parle-voice-lift

Alternate show titles:

  • If you remove the Internet from your system
  • We do eavesdropping
  • Specially trained chihuahuas
  • Reasonable music
  • It can help but it cannot change physics
  • Borderline too small
  • That's a very popular form factor… legally.
  • Small things that make me happy
  • I've checked 'em and they're actually accurate

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 18, 2026

The AV SuperFriends are back on the InfoComm 2026 show floor for day two with first impressions, fresh booth finds, and a newcomer's view of just how overwhelming the show can be.

This episode covers the practical side of InfoComm: EASE modeling, PTZ camera overload, reusable silicone cable ties, modular conferencing systems like Nureva HDX, and the ongoing tension between full ecosystem solutions and small, purpose-built widgets. The crew also spots a familiar trend: plenty of auto-tracking, plenty of "AI," and not always a clear difference between the two.

Rachel Bradshaw crashes the show to talk about working the Vanco booth, hearing directly from end users, and how AV is being used to create better experiences in places like zoos, courtrooms, campuses, and public spaces. Along the way, the group digs into Dante adapters, EVO-IP updates, digital signage, accessibility, and why sometimes the most exciting thing on the show floor is still a really satisfying button.

Alternate show titles:

  • It's a lot
  • Here's something that'll blow your mind
  • Silicone zip ties
  • Can we get our logo on this?
  • Rack dressing
  • Widgets, big time
  • Chinese button factory booth
  • Hi-Fi listening room
  • If you're an end user, ask your integrator
  • You can't go in there with a cattle prod

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 17, 2026

Live from the Q-SYS booth at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends sit down with Mike Brandes and David Maksa to talk through what's new, what's practical, and what might accidentally become a future entitlement.

The big topic is Q-SYS NVM, the new network video distribution platform aimed at larger-scale deployments where ultra-low latency is less important than getting lots of video to lots of displays without melting the network… or the budget. The panel digs into bandwidth, latency, PTP timing, frame lock, USB bridging possibilities, sports books, cruise ships, theme parks, and why programming an entire demo system in under two minutes is either impressive or deeply suspicious.

They also take a look at the new Q-SYS meeting room options, including the MTR-on-Windows conference bar, modular room kits, light-touch provisioning, QR-code onboarding, Cheetos mode, and the eternal danger of throwing away the box too soon. From there, the conversation wanders into performance audio, free design services, questionable speaker arrays, and the higher-ed pain of walking across campus just to plug HDMI back in.

It's part product discussion, part therapy session, and part live proof that "single pane of glass" remains both the dream and the punchline.

Connect with our guests:

  • Mike Brandes https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebrandesav/
  • David Maksa https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maksa-05527322/

Q-SYS products discussed

  • NVM https://www.qsys.com/products/q-sys/video/nvm-series/
  • Room Suite Collaboration Bar https://www.qsys.com/products/q-sys/roomsuite/roomsuite-collaboration-bar/
  • Room Suite Modular System https://www.qsys.com/products/q-sys/roomsuite/roomsuite-modular-system/
  • Performance Audio line https://www.qsys.com/products/loudspeakers/installed/passive/performance/pl-series/

Alternate show titles:

  • Teach and preach spaces
  • Get up on that mic
  • 10-4, good buddy
  • Try to do the entire thing with no mouse
  • I'm sure there's an entitlement involved
  • Saddle up your horses
  • Wizard-based configuration
  • Take away scissors from people who are running
  • We all love our science fair product line
  • I had some chicken tenders

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded January 1, 2017… or June 17, 2026

Live from InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends kick off the show floor with a morning check-in from the Computer Comforts booth and immediately discover that their mixer believes it is January 1, 2017. Naturally, this leads to time travel investment advice, questionable production decisions, and the introduction of their newest unpaid-but-fed intern, Jon, who may or may not survive a week of AV nonsense in Las Vegas.

The crew previews a packed InfoComm schedule, including live shows, an AV-focused practical AI session, the now-infamous unofficial show floor tour, and a Friday appearance on AVIXA TV. They also dig into what they are actually looking for this year: interactive direct-view LED, reasonably priced soundbars, useful AI workflows, orchestration software tools, smaller disruptor companies, broadcast furniture, better PTZ camera sensors, and add-on systems that can make existing classrooms and conference rooms smarter without ripping everything out.

Along the way, there is a surprisingly detailed review of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, an extended discussion of whether direct-view LED walls can be smuggled home from the show floor, and the eternal AV trade show question: what small booth has the weird little widget that might quietly solve a real problem?

Follow along all week as the AV SuperFriends wander InfoComm 2026 looking for practical tools, hidden gems, and whatever else gets thrown at them.

Alternate show titles:

  • Smidge and a bit
  • A decent sound bar that doesn't cost a ton
  • The land of 1,000 soundbars
  • I'll wait for Netflix
  • I have my own Sphere
  • Skeptical-ness
  • Fisher-Price broadcast studio
  • Emotional Support Broadcast Console
  • Disruptor Camera Company
  • A fool's errand
  • Is Sony guts
  • I need it gooder

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 5, 2026

This week on Off the Rails, we descend into the glamorous, finger-burning, cable-stretching world of Layer 1: the place where every brilliant AV system either starts working… or quietly dies behind a rack because someone trusted a discount connector.

The regular panel is joined by Stacy Kaskon and Brant Mathiason from Neutrik to talk about why physical connectivity still matters, why proper termination is becoming a lost art, and how Neutrik's new FAST training initiative aims to teach students, techs, integrators, and higher ed AV teams how to build, test, and trust the cables and connections literally holding their systems together. Soldering, RJ45s, fiber, connector standards, classroom durability, InfoComm training, and the eternal truth that no amount of programming will fix a bad cable all make the cut.

Then, because this is Off the Rails, the group swaps horror stories about cursed terminations, fiber polished in bucket trucks, cables pulled with pickup trucks, adapters stacked like archaeological layers, and all the other "temporary" fixes that somehow became load-bearing infrastructure.

Neutrik FAST Training contact: fast.training@neutrikgroup.com

Connect with our guests:

  • Stacy Kaskon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-kaskon-4435ba2b/
  • Brant Mathiason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brant-mathiason-a19535b/

News story discussed:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/collaboration/microsoft-sunsets-its-covid-era-teams-together-mode-02-06-2026/

Alternate show titles:

  • Singularity of bad ideas
  • Glob and blob-level soldering
  • You're not going to solve a Layer 1 problem with programming
  • That happens until it can't any more
  • One person wears a tutu

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 15, 2026

This episode of On Topic gets into the glamorous, soul-polishing world of how AV projects actually begin, which is apparently somewhere between a formal intake form, a support ticket that got out of hand, a hallway ambush, and someone discovering the room needs power, asbestos abatement, and lots of opinions.

The panel compares how different campuses define and initiate projects, from TeamDynamix and ServiceNow workflows to informal emails, consultation requests, facilities handoffs, and the dreaded "this was supposed to be a simple fix" scenario. A big theme is the messy boundary between support ticket, request, incident, problem, and project, especially when aging systems, construction needs, or money get involved.

They also get into the joys and failures of project management platforms, Project, Planner, Smartsheet, TeamDynamix, ServiceNow, and the eternal higher-ed struggle of trying to force real work, real communication, and real accountability into software that was clearly designed by people who have never been asked do any of that.

In short: projects should start with clear scope, timelines, goals, funding, stakeholders, and process. In reality, they start with an email that says, "quick question," and end with everyone arguing over whether it was ever a project in the first place.

Alternate show titles:

  • Is this directed to me?
  • Wow, that's big!
  • I don't touch tickets
  • What if I email you?
  • Hey, we're going to do this thing
  • We'll have the meeting eventually
  • Facilities doesn't do power
  • Requires a state employee to inspect the electrician
  • We get requests every which way from Sunday
  • We want to drive everybody to a ticket
  • Rapid fire from wherever-the-hell-it-came-from
  • That means it's approved and no one wants to do that sh*t
  • I don't do projects, I do stories and epics

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 21, 2026

In this road-show episode of Off the Rails, the crew broadcasts live (from the same room, even) from NWMET in Salt Lake City, surrounded by too many laptops, too many cables, travel fatigue, and the kind of improvised conference setup that makes AV people both proud and deeply ashamed.

The conversation starts with two cheerful reminders that everything is temporary: digital signage may be "dead," meeting room appliances may be next, and anything running on abandoned Android builds is probably just waiting to become tomorrow's security problem. From there, the group digs into the real higher-ed pain points behind cloud-managed signage, appliance lifecycles, accessibility requirements, captioning, and why "cheap and fast" usually leaves "good" bleeding out behind the rack.

They also recap NWMET itself, including the executive summit, AI sessions, accessibility discussions, vendor floor discoveries, oversized displays, strange LED signage widgets, USB bridge boxes, and one especially baffling speaker deployment that may or may not have been designed during a bad trip. It's a conference recap, a product roast, and a warning label for anyone who thinks AV support can be handled entirely from a browser tab.

News articles:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/digital-signage-and-dooh/digital-signage-is-dead-its-totally-dead-as-we-know-it-20-05-2026/
  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/android-end-of-life-alarm-sounded-at-the-av-user-group-13-05-2026/

Alternate episode titles:

  • Converting it to Kentuckian
  • What is this A-1 thing you keep talking about?
  • Place water near your special area
  • Higher Ed Festivus
  • It doesn't work like that
  • Is that because everyone lost their sh*t in the mail?
  • It was an Austin Powers moment
  • Tissues, Fabric, and Muscle
  • A lot of speakers on the wall
  • I know, it was sold out!

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 1, 2026

In this episode, the crew tackles the cursed middle ground of campus AV: spaces that are technically classrooms, sort of event venues, occasionally multipurpose rooms, and absolutely someone else's problem until the microphone dies five minutes before the dean walks in.

The discussion starts with classrooms hiding inside dorms, performance venues moonlighting as lecture halls, performing arts spaces being asked to behave like standard teaching rooms, and the eternal mystery of "who exactly is moving the lectern back?" From there, the panel wanders into the even darker woods of off-campus support, county extension locations, pseudo-university spaces, rented venues, service agreements, chargebacks, lifecycle planning, and the dangerous phrase "just give us your standard classroom setup."

Along the way, they discover that standards are not just a pile of boxes, support does not magically travel across counties, and transparent lecterns are only classy until the glue yellows and everyone can see the wires.

Alternate show titles:

  • What do you do with your students?
  • STD Aware
  • How big is Oregon?
  • Traveling snake oil salesman
  • Which of the four food groups?
  • Who may or may not be named the same as you…
  • We get in our little vehicles…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 8, 2026

This week on Off the Rails, the gang celebrates finals week the only way higher ed AV/IT knows how: by watching a major cloud platform wobble and quietly whispering sweet nothings to the on-prem rack. The Instructure Canvas mess kicks off a discussion about cloud dependency, LMS integrations, sketchy APIs, cyber insurance, and the comforting lie that "hosted" means "not our problem."

Then it's on to upcoming NWMET and InfoComm sessions about building local AI tools for AV design, documentation, math, and workflows… because sometimes the best cloud strategy is "don't."

The main topic tackles higher ed media production studios, virtual production spaces, visualization labs, esports rooms, and all the other shiny innovation boxes campuses love to build before remembering someone has to staff, fund, maintain, and explain them. The crew digs into automation, realistic expectations, revenue potential, student involvement, and why your $3,000 LED volume is adorable.

Finally, a listener's question about HyFlex classroom audio leads to ceiling mics, Catchbox, lectern mics, Dante, and the timeless truth that microphones are happiest when they're disappointing someone.

News story:

https://www.kcur.org/education/2026-05-07/hackers-hit-university-of-missouri-system-and-9-000-other-canvas-schools

AVSF Presentations:

NWMET Conference: https://www.nwmet.org

  • "Weaponizing AI for AV and IT Design"
  • Weds May 20, 100p

InfoComm: https://www.infocommshow.org

  • "From Prompt to Project: Applying AI to Higher Ed AV Design"
  • Thurs June 17, 1000a

RDL Dante Headphone Amplifier: https://rdlnet.com/product/av-nh1/

Alternate show titles:

  • It's just text / and 9,000 other schools!
  • Find me every vulnerability
  • This is real; it could happen
  • It's a really cool concept
  • There's so much leakage that can happen
  • What is happening in North Carolina?
  • There's a few variants of this strain that goes around
  • We call that Bro-Jo
  • We gotta fill this hole
  • The secret word is…
  • Public-Private Partnerships
  • The bottom people get it shoved in their face
  • We're not building these spaces for good enough
  • Magic with a Pac-Man button
  • Braggart…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded April 17, 2026

In this episode, the crew turns a simple question about classroom speakers into a full-blown AV theology fight. Should small classrooms use ceiling speakers, front-wall point-source speakers, voice lift, program audio, or whatever happens to be lying around in the warehouse? Naturally, the answer is "it depends," followed immediately by 35 minutes of everyone insisting their version of "depends" is the only sane one.

The discussion gets into the real-world mess of higher ed classroom audio: even coverage, voice lift thresholds, ceiling lay-in speakers versus cans, front-of-room program speakers, accessibility systems, bad acoustics, noisy HVAC, amplifier/speaker mismatches, and the eternal question of whether "good enough" is actually good enough. Along the way, the panel debates physics, budget, installer convenience, student experience, and how many speakers it takes before a room becomes less of a classroom and more of an ersatz municipal warning siren.

In short: if you've ever looked at a classroom audio system and wondered, "Why did they do it that way?" then this episode provides several answers… all of them wrong, all of them defensible, and most of them louder than necessary.

Alternate show titles:

  • It's diapers… it depends
  • Do we still do speech just from the cans
  • SAR method: sounds about right
  • How many rooms do you have like this?
  • Could they add a column in the middle?
  • They can hear all the accounting numbers, they just can't see 'em
  • Not the EASE software, but ease of install
  • I had to throw them away

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 24, 2026

This week, the AV SuperFriends rummage through the NAB grab bag without actually attending NAB, because nothing says "industry analysis" like judging announcements from press releases and email blasts. But first, the crew starts with Marc's field report from Biamp's 50th anniversary event, including factory tours, anechoic chamber weirdness, voice lift demos, ClearOne gear being reborn in Biamp boxes, and the very real threat of an electric Hummer rental becoming a police chase subplot.

Then it's on to the blurred lines between production AV and presentation AV: Blackmagic going hard into SMPTE 2110 and software-based audio mixing, BirdDog adding Dante AV-H, NDI inching closer to classroom viability with HDCP support, Bitfocus Buttons making control systems nervous, and Rode trying to make podcast production less like a punishment for student media studios. Finally, Sony's camera-level content authenticity tools send everyone into the AI-content-verification weeds before the show ends with the obvious NAB Best in Show: a rolling mobile studio robot cart that looks like Johnny Five joined the AV department and got trapped in a furniture catalog.

News and announcements discussed:

  • Biamp's 50th

  • https://www.biamp.com/company/biamp-50

  • Blackmagic Fairlight Live

  • https://www.mixonline.com/technology/news-products/blackmagic-design-launches-fairlight-live-mixing-system

  • https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fairlightlive

  • BirdDog Dante AV-H

  • https://birddog.tv/whatson/

  • Ikan Studio Rover

  • https://ikancorp.com/shop/mobile-studio-solutions/portable-broadcast-av-studio-cart-19-teleprompter-ndi-ptz-camera-motorized-lift-poe-led-panel/

  • Bitfocus Buttons

  • ​​https://bitfocus.io/buttons

  • https://ravepubs.com/bitfocus-buttons-wins-nab-show-product-of-the-year-award/

  • Sony content protection

  • https://authenticity.sony.net/camera/en-us/

  • https://www.cined.com/sony-ap-test-in-camera-authenticity-technology-for-non-ai-images/

  • Rodecaster Studio

  • https://studio.rode.com/
  • https://www.newsshooter.com/2026/04/20/rodecaster-studio-built-with-ai-for-editing-podcasts/

Alternate show titles:

  • How I became an esteemed guest, I do not know
  • It exposes itself
  • It's OBS for audio
  • Going deep into 2110
  • I'm not shipping you food
  • I'm sitting on one right now
  • Just to bust Justin's onion
  • I was the only tech person
  • Let me ask this stupid question
  • It's IT with cameras
  • Fool enough people to make them believe
  • A Raspberry Pi and a Global Cache

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded April 17, 2026

AV SuperFriends goes global!

In this quick episode, the gang chats with Darryl Krall about the new Global Higher Education AV Technology Day, a joint event uniting ETC, AETM, and SCHOMS for a worldwide day of higher ed AV conversation.

There is talk of presenters, time zones, sessions, time zones, topics, time zones, and the hope that this turns into a long-running annual tradition, plus the usual AVSF nonsense about naps, calendars, and making the whole thing just a little worse in the best possible way. Also, time zones.

Join the event on April 29: https://golive.on24.com/event/5294820/en/EF9316096C24E87EC35FC900DCED381A/registration

Join your regional group (or join all of them!)

ETC: https://www.etcollaborative.org/

AETM: https://www.aetm.org/

SCHOMS: https://www.schoms.ac.uk/

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded April 10, 2026

In this episode, the goon squad takes a swing at the AI gold rush, the made-up drama of "AV-over-IP 2.0," and the growing industry tradition of rebranding the same old nonsense with shinier buzzwords. If you've ever wondered whether cloud creep, interoperability promises, and subscription pricing are solving real problems or just creating newer, dumber ones, this one's for you.

Then the panel gets into one of higher ed AV's favorite recurring fights: why everyone thinks classroom tech should cost about $600, why "just throw a TV on the wall" is never the simple solution people think it is, and how furniture somehow always gets approved before the technology that makes the room actually work.

Along the way, they also wander into lecterns, teaching stations, and the usual AV nerd arguing over boxes, desks, and support standards like civilization depends on it.

News: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/avoip-news/there-is-no-av-over-ip-2-0-the-label-does-not-match-reality-09-04-2026/

Alternate Show Titles:

  • HDBaseMrT
  • Mis-interpreted from the AI bot
  • I don't see a problem with this
  • Shopping for a Buick, like I do
  • There's been a bit of a culture change
  • The new leadership regime
  • Justifying your costs by others failing
  • I didn't hope that this would happen
  • You have to fail to go forward
  • You guys just make this too complicated
  • The math is sound

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded March 13, 2026

This episode of On Topic tackles "Spring cleaning" by focusing less on tidy closets and more on the grime higher ed AV teams create for themselves. The panel trades stories about delayed refreshes, inherited programming messes, legacy systems that refuse to die, rushed project deadlines, and the temporary fixes that somehow become permanent. Before you get clean, revel in the filth…

It's a funny, brutally honest look at technical debt, bad design choices, and the institutional rot that keeps old problems hanging around far longer than they should. If your campus has mystery cables, aging systems, and one room everyone's afraid to touch, this episode will feel painfully familiar. Let's get filthy!

Alternate show titles:

  • Budgets are optional
  • Those are sticky weird situations
  • Normally I'm shady and gross
  • I wasn't a pro, so I used two plusses
  • Good luck, I'm sorry
  • Museum of AV decisions
  • It did what it did
  • Be here when the tree falls on the house
  • I feel like the whole university is guilty of this
  • Just everybody calm down!
  • It's gonna be… not bad
  • If y'all didn't take an entire month off for Christmas…

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded March 20, 2026

In this episode, the panel tackles one of the most overdue conversations in higher ed: AV network security. The regular panel is joined by the founding members of AV Trust, Doug Schaefer, Colin Birney, and Frank Padikkala.

The news segment focuses on cybersecurity education pipelines, exploring how earlier hands-on exposure and employer partnerships could help build a more prepared workforce for technical fields.

The main segment discusses the newly launched AV Trust initiative and the broader challenge of securing AV systems that increasingly live on shared enterprise networks. The conversation covers everything from outdated firmware practices, rebadged hardware, and weak manufacturer documentation, to IoT risk, cloud-connected devices, and the need for AV professionals to better understand the language of IT and cybersecurity. Rather than treating security as a niche or optional concern, the panel argues that AV must mature into a more transparent, standards-driven, and collaborative part of the larger technology ecosystem.

By the end, the episode lands on a clear takeaway: AV is no longer separate from the network, and security can no longer be someone else's problem. With AV Trust aiming to bridge gaps through education, standards work, and community participation, this episode is a candid, funny, and timely look at where the industry needs to go next.

News article: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2026-03-18-what-happens-when-employers-co-design-the-cybersecurity-classroom

Connect with our guests:

  • Colin Birney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-birney/
  • Doug Schaefer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-schaefer/
  • Frank Padikkala: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankpadikkala/

AV Trust:

  • https://www.avtrust.org
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/av-trust

Educause HECVAT: https://www.educause.edu/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit

ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC): https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/CC

Alternate show titles:

  • You know what pays really well? Ransomware!
  • Ain't no mountain high enough
  • You can't stop me, but I'd love for you to participate
  • A security-first mindset
  • Security updates are tied to feature updates
  • What's a risk profile?
  • I have no idea what it does
  • I'm clueless as far as security is concerned
  • Security by obscurity
  • The most miserable, hateful devices you can put on your network
  • We do this really well with everyone other than IT
  • Manufacturer X Model Y
  • We have no idea what's on your switch
  • The AV industry is way out over our skis
  • I'm going to say something controversial
  • A marketing company that will mail you a box
  • I can probably tell if it's alive
  • No amount of remote monitoring tells me that
  • It can get to something, but it's not my network
  • Security doesn't have to be a taboo topic that we all avoid

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded March 6, 2026

In this episode of Off the Rails, the panel opens with a conversation about AV Trust and what it means for cybersecurity, standards, and the growing expectation that AV systems have to be treated like serious networked technology, not mysterious boxes that somehow get a pass. Join us on March 20 when we'll have the whole team from AV Trust on the show to talk network security.

From there, the crew turns to a much deeper discussion on design drawings and schematics. Where different designers start, how they think through a system, what belongs on a drawing, and how documentation shifts from rough concept to something another person can actually build, wire, label, and support.

The back half turns into a familiar higher ed therapy session about the campus departments that try to "help" by buying their own gear, setting things up themselves, and only calling AV once the whole thing has gone sideways.

So you get cybersecurity, design philosophy, workflow nerdery, and just enough support-tragedy storytelling to make the whole thing feel painfully relatable in the best AVSF way.

News story: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/news/av-trust-cybersecurity-commercial-av-industry/146270

Connect with AV Trust: https://avtrust.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/av-trust/

Alternate show titles:

  • This is a big deal
  • Come on, do better!
  • Almost as the mediator
  • I told y'all
  • Sports Bar Classroom
  • I fill in the guts
  • I kinda understand how this goes together
  • It's just a lot of one-offs
  • You must have gobs of network ports in your classrooms
  • Eh, I have what I need…
  • Most of my drawing drawings are in AutoCAD
  • No, I just hate people screwing sh*t up
  • I want one channel of mono
  • There are times where that is the answer
  • Welcome to my entire campus
  • They're only calling because they want to be able to continue to call
  • Your Layer 1 is solid as sh*t

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded February 20, 2026

The panel this week is full of guest voices. The news segment examines AI-driven collaboration tools, particularly automatic recordings and transcripts, and the governance risks they introduce. The focus isn't hype, but ownership, confidentiality, consent, and what happens when institutional policy lags behind platform features.

Then the panel explores storytelling as a leadership skill. The discussion centers on intentional framing, timing, and how AV professionals can better communicate impact to stakeholders beyond technical specifications.

The final segment discusses furniture development for learning environments. The conversation highlights how intentional furniture design influences pedagogy, flexibility, and long-term scalability, balancing showcase spaces with sustainable campus standards.

News article:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2026/02/11/unc-admin-can-now-officially-secretly-record

Connect with Eric Gleske: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-j-gleske/

Connect with Chris Kolavo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriskolavo-cci/

Connect with Atkins Fleming: LINK REMOVED

Computer Comforts: https://computercomforts.com/products/av-hub/

Alternate show titles:

  • Be on your best behavior
  • The invasion of privacy because of technology
  • The potential to be virtual
  • I'm a story teller
  • We've had a fascinating journey
  • Your COVID was longer than mine…
  • That's great, Dr. Scientist!

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded February 13, 2026

It's March (yes, March– deal with it), the AV SuperFriends gather to lay down the law… higher ed AV law, that is. This month's On Topic tackles the Top Ten Commandments of AV: the rules you should follow, the ones you sometimes break, and the ones you pretend you've always believed in.

From protecting audio at all costs and designing for serviceability, to avoiding 4K hype, over-automation, USB abuse, and unlabeled cables, the panel debates what actually matters when building and supporting campus systems. It's a fast-moving mix of standards, safety factors, lifecycle thinking, and a healthy dose of "why are we still doing this?"

Opinionated, practical, and just irreverent enough, consider this your stone tablet for smarter AV design… subject to revision next month, that is.

Alternate show titles:

  • Sometimes you find yourself walking around thinking a lot
  • Today's commandments are…
  • Do you want to disservice half the room?
  • How do you get away with that?
  • Is that in your scope to check?
  • The university as a whole…
  • Yes, if you're touching the wall

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded February 6, 2026

ISE season is in full swing, and while much of the AV world is busy chasing booth demos and press releases from Europe, the AV SuperFriends are back doing what they do best: cutting through the hype. In this episode, the panel digs into the latest ISE announcements and trends, separating what's genuinely useful for higher ed from what looks great under trade-show lighting but falls apart in real classrooms.

A major thread of the conversation focuses on rethinking camera deployments in teaching and meeting spaces. The crew challenges the default "one camera at the front of the room" mentality, unpacking how faculty behavior, room geometry, and instructional goals should drive camera placement, not product marketing. From multi-camera approaches to integrated camera bars and tracking features, the discussion centers on what actually improves teaching and learning versus what just checks a feature box.

Naturally, the conversation eventually drifts into resolution arms races, with healthy skepticism about 8K's relevance and outright disbelief at the industry's eagerness to jump to 16K.

News articles discussed:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/audio/biamp-workplace-update-heads-raft-of-company-innovations-04-02-2026/
  • https://ravepubs.com/sennheiser-launches-new-devicehub/
  • https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/lg-joins-the-rest-of-the-world-accepts-that-people-dont-want-8k-tvs/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/posts/josh-orenstein_8k-tv-is-officially-dying-and-the-production-activity-7424132250562392064-UOaD

Alternate show titles:

  • One step at a time, Marc
  • This pane of glass is a pain in my ass
  • Shoebox worth of sh*t
  • I want to be all inclusive
  • Listen, pal…
  • You know what, maybe he's right?
  • With as much proliferication…
  • I haven't quite got to the "I'm yelling at you" part
  • When it exposes itself…
  • Four cameras!
  • I heard that's supposed to save lives
  • I heard that's the bees knees
  • Oh, joy!
  • I don't think physics works like that

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded January 16, 2026

In this episode of On Topic, the panel leans hard into the "Groundhog Day" reality of higher ed AV, where every semester feels like a rerun of the last one. From the same classrooms and support tickets to the same mysterious $7 HDMI cable failures, the panel reflects on why our work so often feels stuck on repeat, even as we insist "this time it'll be different."

With their usual mix of sarcasm, experience, and self-awareness, they review the projects, services, and processes that keep coming back year after year… sometimes for good reasons, sometimes because no one ever really fixes the root problem. It's a funny, honest look at institutional memory, consultant déjà vu, and the strange comfort of knowing that no matter what changes, some AV challenges are forever.

Alternate show titles:

  • What failed last time?
  • I'm a shopping cart
  • Not every year… every DAY
  • I'm afraid to ask the question
  • Room with too many TVs
  • In cloud or on prem again
  • Cloud-based whatchamadoolie
  • I'll track your life
  • Does everybody get access?
  • Hybrid bastardized version
  • What does that mean for YOUR internet of things?
  • In my secret cloud
  • Check in to get the services
  • I'll flag it, but I won't unflag it

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded January 23, 2026

In this episode, the panel looks into the growing disconnect between AI hype and the realities of higher-ed operations. As campuses spin up task forces and strategy decks, the people closest to the work are still trying to explain that real progress comes from solid processes, clean data, and systems that actually integrate, not shiny tools bolted on top of chaos.

The conversation drifts (on purpose) through buzzwords, half-baked pilots, and the familiar frustration of being asked to support technologies that skipped the fundamentals. Along the way, the panel brings a healthy mix of skepticism, humor, and hard-earned experience from living at the intersection of AV, IT, and reality.

It's part therapy session, part reality check, and part drive-time radio nonsense. If you're sitting on an AI committee, dodging hype cycles, or just trying to keep classrooms running while everything gets labeled "AI-powered," this one will hit close to home.

News article: European Journal of Education - Intelligent Classrooms: How AI and IoT Can Reshape Learning Spaces

Connect with Dr. Kati Peditto: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katipeditto/

DLR Group "Evolution of Campus" https://www.dlrgroup.com/firm-news/evolution-of-campus-research-outcomes/

Alternate show titles:

  • You drive the bus you throw people under
  • It's a switch on the wall
  • The AI-native
  • We're gonna need you to talk about this with other people
  • Two-factor three different times
  • The sun couldn't rise tomorrow
  • The cooperative nature this will require is one of the biggest hurdles
  • We're doing this and if not you're getting fired
  • Start in an existing building
  • How insistent are you?
  • AI-enabled whatchamadoolie
  • Your internal relationships are not my problem
  • Wait, can I give some context real quick?
  • What the hell is the ask?
  • Define something!
  • Learning styles don't exist
  • Information isn't as important as it used to be
  • Florida ceiling
  • They've conversated with the clients
  • Am I gonna be the wet blanket here?
  • Just give me some bread crumbs
  • If your university has X amount of money
  • How do we know we've elevated the human experience?
  • Doubling the number of butts in seats

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded January 9, 2026

It's mid-January, and we kick off the first full show of the year with news from CES nonsense, reviewing what consumer tech trends might actually sneak into higher-ed AV and which ones should stay in Las Vegas forever. That quickly turns into an AI-heavy conversation covering lecture capture anxiety, faculty concerns, digital avatars, and synthetic presenters.

Then we dig into what happens when trust in a manufacturer, platform, or product is broken, whether that trust can ever truly be rebuilt, and how past experiences shape long-term decisions around standards, vendors, and institutional risk.

With conference previews, a preview of NWMET, and the usual mix of practical insight and unnecessary hypotheticals, this episode is a fitting start to the year. If your semester just started and your systems are already acting up, you're among friends.

News stories discussed:

  • https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/01/07/ai-software-that-can-create-digital-clones-of-employees-unveiled-at-ces-2026
  • https://www.engadget.com/wearables/ixis-autofocusing-lenses-multifocal-glasses-ces-2026-212608427.html
  • https://smarthairclipper.com/
  • https://mypersonas.ai/

Connect with Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rburriel/

Alternate show titles:

  • Micro lawnmower
  • I do enjoy wearing banana hammocks
  • Your Subscription Ran Out
  • Why are we hiring experts, I just want to replace me!
  • Unauthorized Digital Twin
  • Testing in production
  • There's no testing… just production
  • I'm always going to assume that something is my fault
  • We didn't think anyone would actually do that
  • AI-bolted on features
  • There are booths at InfoComm that I walk right past
  • Button panel of tomorrow
  • It's all ones and zeros
  • MET payday loans
  • Find your swimsuits for 2027

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded December 12, 2025

It's the AV SuperFriends New Year's special, which means one part retrospective, one part speculation, and several parts nonsense. The panel looks back at their predictions for 2025 to see who deserves credit, who gets partial credit, and who should maybe stop predicting things altogether. From conference room technology to AV-over-IP realities, the team grades themselves with the kind of honesty only friends (and live chat hecklers) can provide.

Then, eyes turn cautiously toward 2026. Expect bold takes on where AV is actually headed, which "next big things" might finally show up, and which trends are still just vaporware. Dante AV, displays, digital twins, medium conference room solutions, and the ever-present gap between marketing promises and real-world deployments all get their moment under the microscope.

As always, it's opinionated, occasionally insightful, and completely Larry-free. If you like your year-end AV and IT technology analysis served with sarcasm, self-awareness, and honesty, this one's for you.

Alternate show titles:

  • 50 percent with an asterisk
  • A-S-T-R-X
  • Hot Dog Crap
  • I've got a few or a couple or some number here
  • PoE Toilet
  • Which Kinda Works
  • This might be a run-on sentence
  • We've never been closer
  • Room Classic
  • KFC Classroom
  • KFC is world wide

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded December 5, 2025

As December pretends to be festive while refusing to fully commit to Christmas, the AV SuperFriends gather to celebrate that special time of year when inboxes are ignored, productivity is optional, and every project update is deferred. Naturally, this means the conversation focuses on patent lawsuits, seasonal anxiety, and the true meaning of future-proof… which, as it turns out, might actually mean sealed in concrete for eternity.

From Barco's latest courtroom adventure to the existential question of who actually owns and maintains the hundreds of learning spaces PCs on campus, the panel wanders joyfully into topics no one planned for but everyone has opinions about. Sprinkle in questionable NDI workflows, a debate over whether ServiceNow stories should start with "Once upon a time," and at least one visceral reaction to USB extenders, and you've got yourself a classic AVSF experience.

News story: https://www.ravepubs.com/barco-yealink-patent-verdict-clickshare/

AI-generated alternate show titles

  • Once Upon a ServiceNow Ticket
  • Future-Proofed… and Future-Ruined
  • Legal AV: The Trend Nobody Wanted
  • The Great PC Custody Battle
  • Reserved, Reversed, Whatever; Lawyers Are Involved
  • NDI, USB, and Other Seasonal Nightmares
  • December: Now Technically Christmas-Adjacent

Far superior human-created alternate show titles:

  • It depends, it's diapers
  • Immensely reserved
  • Buckets are bigger than cans
  • Future proof
  • Zip tied off to all these rafters
  • A hot dog is not a sandwich
  • You seem to have it made here
  • It happens so magical I don't know all the details
  • We can biotrack 'em
  • We have one support desk except for the…
  • What do you mean by general support?
  • Stop picking on me!
  • We got some weird ask from some faculty
  • When did we talk about this?
  • I'm gonna cram it in somewhere
  • You missed one thing, Marc
  • I don't have any PC problems
  • Church benches

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded November 14, 2025

The AV SuperFriends kick off their first holiday special of the season with a spirited look at the gear, gadgets, and AV workflows that should make life easier, but only if you also bought the missing accessories, licenses, adapters, or seventeen extra widgets the manufacturer forgot to mention.

In classic Christmas fashion, the crew shares their "Batteries Not Included" frustrations: software that secretly requires expensive hardware, switchers that almost solve every problem but miss the basics, power supplies that mysteriously vanish from product boxes, and cloud-connected ecosystems with more prerequisites than a graduate-level course.

Along the way, the panel detours into holiday lights, dubious Best Buy happenings, the return of RDL-style power-supply roulette, and the annual reminder that USB extension is still cursed. They also preview an upcoming deep-dive on enterprise cloud AV, tease the December call-in show, and, of course, deliver an unhealthy dose of seasonal immaturity.

If you've ever unboxed a "perfect" AV solution only to discover it needs three more boxes, a license key, an aggregator VM, and a Christmas miracle to function, this episode is for you.

Alternate show titles:

  • Holiday Mode
  • The setting on your doohicky
  • Don't put it in holiday mode
  • Who dropped the dogs off
  • Allen Head Doll House
  • It does everything you want but nothing you need
  • Least offensive to "you gotta be kidding me"
  • You can't get this to that
  • You can buy HDBaseT out, you just can't get it in
  • Similar to Larry, but different
  • You always have to buy the power supplies separate
  • They mostly last
  • That's not the answer; stop it!
  • Some adult supervision required
  • I want that in my stocking

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded November 21, 2025

In this jam-packed episode, the AV SuperFriends welcome two guests from sunny Southern California, Raj Singh from USC and Joe Way from UCLA, to tackle one of the most challenging topics in higher-ed technology today: cloud-connected AV. The panel reviews what it truly means to run a "connected campus," exploring the benefits, hurdles, required workflows, stakeholder alignment, and how automation and virtualization are reshaping classroom support.

But it's not all cloud talk! USC and UCLA are days away from their big Crosstown Cup rivalry game, making this the biggest weekly rivalry segment of the season. Expect good-natured trash talk, playful jabs, and a surprisingly collaborative discussion between two AV teams who are supposed to be mortal enemies.

Along the way, the panel veers off the rails into corporate jargon, classroom design myths, camera panic ticket escalations, and the ever-expanding universe of AV podcasts and tools. As always, there's plenty of humor, plenty of trash talk, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting.

Whether you care about AV architecture, cross-campus ecosystems, sports rivalries, or just want to hear two LA schools grin through their competitive tension, this episode has something for you.

Download AV Buddy:

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/av-buddy/id476993821

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ionpixel.avbuddynew

Connect with our guests:

Joe Way: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiahway/

Raj Singh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/r5ingh/

Alternate show titles:

  • AV in a Box
  • Craft Brewing Cloud
  • So when AWS goes down…
  • We're sky-connected
  • Simple scales and complex fails
  • You all spent a crapton of money
  • Adopting standards that are already pre-existing
  • Tickets are the results of problems
  • They don't know how to speak "us"
  • They're saying crap I've never heard in my life
  • No one cares about the network
  • We want the AI applications to be on the ground
  • I have a number and it is 10
  • People view your strategy through their strategy
  • Do NOT let me do installation
  • I was high on something

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 16, 2025

In this special Perspectives episode, Justin and Chris recorded live from ETC 2025 in Raleigh, NC, setting up in the middle of the action to capture conversations with Frank Alaimo from UNLV and Jim Spencer from Legrand.

The panel digs into the real-world challenges facing campus AV teams today: modernizing aging classrooms, navigating procurement hurdles, managing user expectations, staffing shortages, and the never-ending push toward standardization and scalability. Expect candid stories, practical insights, a few jokes about geography and campus politics, and a grounded look at what's actually happening on campuses heading into 2025.

Whether you missed ETC this year or just want the hallway-track vibe, this Perspectives episode brings the conference floor straight to your headphones.

Connect with our guests: Jim Spencer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jspence4/ Frank Alaimo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-alaimo-cts-i-01872466/

Join us at ETC 2026: https://www.etcollaborative.org/

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded November 7, 2025

In this episode, Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, Justin, and special guest Craig Park tackle the complexities of large capital projects, the importance of early engagement with AV consultants, and the often murky waters of project communication.

The conversation takes a humorous turn as they explore the trials and tribulations of navigating institutional silos, the challenges of meeting evolving educational needs, and the inevitable "telephone game" that occurs in project management. With insights on everything from classroom design to the philosophical implications of technology placement, this episode is packed with practical advice and entertaining anecdotes because in the world of AV, nothing is ever straightforward!

Connect with Craig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigpark/

Listen to EdUp Smart Space: https://www.edupexperience.com/p/edupsmartspace/

Clark & Enersen: https://www.clarkenersen.com/

News article:

https://www.pages.biamp.com/index.php/email/emailWebview?email=OTI0LUpDWi03OTIAAAGd-OtXNgg1KlLd-RKlOt4vzDs3GRaZJ9NDForsuZXNtxtjAou5AngX71XLAYLZJ-EcPMbTf_pggjwyNPVJzRoBGWtpV3KKo2pwjw

AVoIP article:

https://www.avnation.tv/2025/10/06/av-over-ip-in-higher-education-from-hype-to-higher-purpose/

Alternate show titles:

  • It's not about the person on the far end; I don't care about that
  • The data says we need to care about our analog space
  • We have a voice lift building over here
  • We can almost leave the acoustician out of the room
  • Oral clarity and visual acuity
  • Top of mind or full of stomach
  • How do we raise the bar instead of lower the bar?
  • Something is better than nothing
  • That's like my happy place
  • Why didn't you tell me I was being stupid?
  • You didn't tell us loud enough…
  • If a decision is being made that goes against the laws of physics…
  • I didn't have gray hair before that meeting
  • Oh, man, I've been loud
  • I got a couple questions about Punch Out
  • Design Bid Build Litigate
  • We're doing all the easy stuff
  • We're designing 50 year buildings with 8 year technology
  • I don't have a solution for that
  • It's never me; I don't own sh*t
  • Checkbook of novelty checks
  • We'll all end up on an island
  • I haven't seen anything innovative in two and a half years

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 24, 2025

In this Thanksgiving special, the crew gathers at the bustling Circus Circus in Las Vegas (by way of theater of the mind). Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, Justin, and special guest Frank Alaimo, dive into the chaos of AV integration during the holiday season, while serving up piping hot takes and mashed-up opinions.

As they navigate the complexities of holiday technology requests, the conversation hilariously veers into the world of DIY AV setups, unexpected tech purchases, and the challenges of integrating consumer-grade equipment into professional environments. From the infamous 'hockey puck' microphones to the wild world of Raspberry Pi lighting setups, nothing is off the table.

So loosen your belts, grab a plate, and settle in for a feast of sound, humor, and a few too many turkey puns!

Connect with Frank: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-alaimo-cts-i-01872466/

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • Turkey Talk and Tech Troubles
  • A Thanksgiving Roundtable of AV Shenanigans
  • Gravy and Gadgets
  • A Thanksgiving AV Extravaganza
  • A Turkey-Themed AV Roundtable

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • When you see people on stilts, you know it's a fancy joint
  • This is actually fulfilling one of my life goals
  • Mistakes were made
  • The Whoa-Pro!
  • It works right out of the box
  • A hockey puck USB mic
  • It has little legs on it, maybe not
  • The turducken of meeting rooms
  • They start banging it out and you're like "Oh!"
  • What do you think is going on in this classroom, dude?
  • This is news to me!
  • An army of fruit rolling around

We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded throughout October 2025

The AV SuperFriends return for their annual Halloween adventure, and this year, the hauntings have gone stadium-wide. When the university football field is plagued by flickering lights, phantom crowd noise, and a scoreboard frozen at 13 seconds left, the team uncovers a century-old mystery: a championship game from 1925 that was never finished.

Armed with motion-capture suits, AR projection mapping, and one wildly unstable multicast tunnel, Marc, Larry, Jamie, Chris, and Justin must help the ghosts complete their final drive and face down legendary Coach Mortimer "Iron Whistle" Grange, who still believes the game isn't over until he blows the whistle.

🎃 Friday Night Frights, an AV SuperFriends Halloween Special.

Special thanks to Richard Mitchell and Michael Hooper.

All blame goes to Chris and Marc for this nonsense. ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 17, 2025

In our first ever live in-person episode of the Weekly Rivalry, the spotlight shines on Waco, Texas, as the Central Florida Knights take on the Baylor Bears in a thrilling showdown that transcends football. Justin and Chris with special guests Mike Ferry from UCF and Connor Krey from Baylor as they explore the intricate interplay between AV and IT teams that keep everything running smoothly.

As the two institutions gear up for a homecoming game, the conversation touches on everything from in-house integration, to the quirks of managing classroom technology, to playful debates over the best AV practices, surprising classroom transformations, and the realities of team collaboration. Plus, don't miss the rapid-fire questions in the fourth quarter, where quick thinking and AV knowledge can make all the difference.

As the game unfolds, the stakes rise, and the camaraderie shines through, proving that in the world of higher education AV, it's not just about the game. It's about the dedication to creating exceptional learning environments.

Connect with our guests:

Mike Ferry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-ferry-52333137/

Connor Krey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conner-krey-b864235/

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded Oct 8, 2025

In this episode, the crew tackles the realities of higher ed AV projects that just don’t go according to plan.

When timelines slip, budgets tighten, or rooms are handed over mid-flight, how do campus tech teams adapt and deliver before classes start? Chris, Marc, Larry, Jamie, Justin, and special guest Chris Gaut exchange tales about project rescues, impossible deadlines, and those “we don’t need you… until we do” moments, whether it’s taking over a half-finished install, fixing someone else’s mistakes, or deciding when to step in (and when to let it burn).

Later, the discussion turns to mixed-use spaces and the eternal debate over surround sound in classrooms and auditoriums: what customers say they want versus what they really need.

In the news, Zoom wants to be your video content management platform, taking on Kaltura, Yuja, Panopto, etc. Good.

News: https://www.zoom.com/en/products/video-management/

Connect with our guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-gaut-430607174/

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • We Didn’t Start the Fire (But Facilities Did)
  • Let It Burn: A Project Management Love Story
  • Scope, Schedule, and Smoke Damage
  • The Great Handoff Heist
  • Pumpkin Spice and Panic Season
  • Who Signed Off on This?
  • Surround Sound in the Storage Closet
  • AV Triage: Do No Harm, Fix Everything
  • Hot Mics and Hotter Deadlines
  • Off the Rails: Now with 30% More Fire

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • Am I paying for this bill?
  • It might not be a… synchronous course
  • It’s not that I’m not positive on AI…
  • Buy low, sell high
  • You have steak in the game
  • Two people in one rack
  • I want some pain to be felt
  • Owner Found Equipment
  • If you’ve got a PM who’s going through a bumpy divorce
  • This is oddly specific
  • We’re outside their sphere of control
  • Justin and his crazy ass hairbrained AV shit
  • There’s no submittals for lighting control…
  • Malicious compliance
  • This is my cousin Shmustin
  • I’m picturing Justin in tear-away cargo pants
  • We call that surrounded by sound
  • That’s why you do mono everywhere
  • They both like high quality projection
  • I’m not doing it, that’s stupid
  • Choose your own adventure
  • No, because I lied to them
  • Mano-a-mono
  • Math that out

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 3, 2025

In this episode, the crew gears up for the 2025 ETC Conference in Raleigh, NC, swapping predictions, travel plans, and a few questionable presentation ideas. Brandon Pope from NC State and Tim Cichos from Notre Dame join to preview what attendees can expect from the conference, from the carefully planned venues and community spirit to the sessions that promise to mix genuine insight with the usual mischief.

The news segment debates goggles, infinite desktops, and TikTok eyewear that no one asked for. The panel also unpacks how AV and IT teams evolve from specialized support units to campus-wide partners. The Weekly Rivalry returns with campus tech bragging rights on the line with football-style scorekeeping applied to AV, IT, and higher ed technology showdowns.

News story: https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-halts-vision-pro-overhaul-focus-ai-glasses-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-10-01/

Connect with our guests:

  • Tim Cichos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tcichos/
  • Brandon Pope: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-pope-nc-edtech-profile/

ETC Conference: https://www.etcollaborative.org/2025-annual-conference

AI-Generated Alternate Titles:

  • Pumpkin Spice and Patch Cables
  • The ETC Pre-Game Show
  • Stuff, Things, and Infinite Desktops
  • TikTok Goggles for Higher Ed
  • Flooding the Zone with AV Wisdom
  • The Carolinas Conference Countdown
  • Mannequins, MacBooks, and Mayhem
  • Raleigh Rally: The AV SuperFriends Hit the Road
  • Goggles, Gremlins, and Great Expectations
  • Prepping for ETC Like It’s Finals Week

Far superior human-generated alternate titles:

  • Infinite Desktop
  • Your desktop is in my airspace
  • Will it increase their band-width?
  • I think what Chris said is the important part
  • Little did you know, I’m the CFO
  • The rest of us are pretty much useless
  • Is this about BBQ again?
  • Sneakernet Days
  • I’m going to see all this BS about AI
  • I didn’t on purpose go there
  • That’s what the snap monkeys are for!
  • From central to not-central to central again
  • Spend Money!
  • Frugalivity
  • Just don’t put sound in your rooms
  • They were keeping puddles in there
  • Brian’s Brains
  • I’ve lost every time since

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 19, 2025

It’s October, and the AV SuperFriends are leaning into the spooky season with a conversation that’s equal parts eerie and insightful. They tackle some of the haunted house problems in higher ed AV: ghost signals that won’t quit, obsolete equipment that seems impossible to kill off, and the slow creep of outdated standards lurking in classrooms everywhere.

Joining the discussion are special guests Gary Cummins Indiana University and Neal Feuerhelm from the University of Illinois, who weigh in on how their campuses are handling the monsters of modernization. From faculty demands for shiny new gear to the challenges of keeping hundreds of teaching spaces alive and stable, the group debates what’s worth upgrading, what’s better left buried, and how to keep technology aligned with real teaching and learning goals.

And since it wouldn’t be fall without a little football, the episode features a spirited Weekly Rivalry matchup between Illinois and Indiana. Much like on the gridiron, each university makes its case for AV dominance, touting classroom innovations, campus traditions, and the resilience of their teams. The friendly trash talk goes into overtime with lightning-round questions and leaves listeners with one key takeaway: in higher ed AV, rivalries may be playful, but the commitment to delivering reliable, effective teaching technology is very real.

Connect with our guests:

Gary Cummins - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-cummins-5690026b/

Neal Feuerhelm - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nfeuerhelm/

AI-generated Alternate Episode Titles:

  • Spooky Trends & a Big Ten Showdown
  • Ether Killer and the Haunted Classroom
  • When Old Gear Refuses to Die
  • Spooky Season, Creepy Standards, and a Big Ten Showdown
  • Ghosts in the Machine: Higher Ed’s Halloween Special
  • Haunted Touch Panels and Other AV Nightmares
  • Rivalries, Revenants, and Room Schedulers

Far Superior Human-Generated Alternate Show Titles:

  • You want all those ports back?
  • They went from putting everything on there to nothing
  • There’s not enough of it to justify putting in a special thing
  • Are you too busy to finish a thought?
  • Your standards are at random heights
  • The consumerification of all our AV products
  • That meant it was dead, not asleep
  • Either one, I don’t want to do anymore…
  • Live grounding bus bar
  • I don’t know how many pools you have on campus
  • We got a name for that
  • It involved a lot of lube
  • Turn it to 11
  • You can’t really touch the HTML
  • It’s the viewer’s problem

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 12, 2025

It’s episode 1-2-3 Off the Rails, and the crew is joined by two special guests for an especially thick and robust panel for a discussion of multi-display classrooms that either delight faculty or guarantee support tickets, the eternal war over dongles, aspect ratios, and those pesky 4:3 PowerPoints that just won’t die.

Special guests Tino Kaltsas and BC Hatchett jump into the chaos, sharing stories about bats in classrooms, rogue lighting complaints, and makeshift pandemic-era libraries-turned-classrooms. The panel debates whether multi-display AV systems are a blessing or a curse, all while tossing good-natured jabs and commiserating over faculty whiteboard obsession.

And of course, it wouldn’t be an Off the Rails live show without the Weekly Rivalry segment featuring this week’s unlikely face-off between Wisconsin and Vanderbilt. With their original opponents chickening out, the Badgers and Commodores go toe-to-toe in a spirited four-quarter contest of AV wits, scored with touchdowns, field goals, and a surprising number of bats.

News: https://www.cined.com/apple-iphone-17-pro-introduces-prores-raw-and-genlock-for-filmmakers/

AI-Generated Alternate Show Titles:

  • Bats, Whiteboards, and Multi-Display Madness
  • The One True Aspect Ratio (and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves)
  • When Your Library Becomes a Classroom and Your Classroom Gets Bats
  • Zip Ties, Velcro, and the Scars to Prove It
  • Weekly Rivalry: Wisconsin vs. Vanderbilt—The Matchup Nobody Asked For
  • Pumpkin Spice and PowerPoint Crimes
  • Genlock, Dongles, and the Quest for Simplicity
  • From Cheese Curds to Hot Chicken: A Higher Ed Showdown
  • Please Stop Writing on the Auditorium Whiteboards

Far superior human generated alternate show titles:

  • Broadcast-ish quality
  • There’s a button on your phone?
  • Listen… she was sleeping
  • I didn’t realize that was a big fauxpas
  • That’s a piece of garbage on a chair
  • Makes me want to start smoking again
  • I have a maybe-even-worse scenario
  • The goober who comes in off the street
  • Somebody’s got to speak a bit of truth
  • Asking for a hammer to dig a ditch
  • Sound freeze
  • Bats in our belfry
  • Chasing this thing around with a Dell box
  • Did you tell them the sun moves?
  • I was super pleased with it
  • That’s a great example of Marc being wrong
  • We do math pretty well
  • Test in production
  • It’s a squeaker!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 5, 2025

The AV SuperFriends are back with two special guests, Casey Sisco (UTSA) and Atkins Fleming (Texas State). This one covers it all: from facial recognition at football stadiums, to the never-ending challenges of digital signage.

The highlight of the show is our Weekly Rivalry segment, where Texas State and UTSA face off in a sports-style showdown for AV & IT bragging rights. With Casey and Atkins representing their campuses, the panel covers standards, design strategies, and the quirks that make each team unique. Touchdowns are scored, safeties called, and by the end we’ve got a winner crowned in the I-35 Showdown.

It’s rivalry, it’s comedy, and it’s AV therapy, all rolled into one.

News: https://edscoop.com/university-of-florida-debuts-facial-authentication-for-sports-events/

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • Pumpkin Spice and Projector Lamps
  • Digital Signage and Other Bad Decisions
  • Facial Recognition at the Football Gate
  • Velcro, Zip Ties, and Rivalries
  • From Body Farms to Concrete Labs
  • The Great USB Extension Debate
  • Standardization vs. Innovation
  • Who Runs Texas Tech? (No not that Texas Tech)

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • You can’t change culture
  • Take your stick and plug it in
  • As long as it works for them…
  • Why would I put it online?
  • Alls we do is put the display on the wall
  • Not for MY group
  • I wasn’t in the conversation when this was being set up
  • But do you care? I DO care
  • We get into a lot of… battles
  • Use code “Raul” for 10% off
  • Health codes, maybe?
  • Free Tacos on Tuesday
  • Hurdle spaces
  • USB control hub room thing
  • What I’m hearing is Stagnatation
  • The body farm is just littered with dead humans
  • Flies, and rot, and maggots
  • I-35 showdown

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 15, 2025

In this episode, Chris, Jamie, Larry, and Justin revel in the chaos and excitement of back-to-school preparations and reminisce about their experiences from ten years ago while tackling the challenges of the new academic year.

The discussion kicks off with a lighthearted look at the absurdities of the back-to-school rush, including the frantic requests from faculty and the inevitable tech hiccups. The team shares their thoughts on how far AV technology has come in the past decade and reflects on the lessons learned along the way. From the struggles of outdated systems to the thrill of new installations, they cover it all.

As they navigate through their own back-to-school stories, the panelists reveal their personal strategies for managing the busy season and keeping their sanity intact.

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • Back to School: AV Edition
  • Lessons Learned: A Decade of AV
  • The Back-to-School Survival Guide
  • AV Flashbacks: 10 Years of Chaos
  • Tech Trials and Triumphs
  • From Panic to Preparation
  • AV SuperFriends: Back to School Madness
  • Navigating the New School Year

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • They hibernate and then re-hatch
  • Looks like an owl winking at you
  • Everybody loves whiteboards
  • That whiteboard is structural
  • These were working before they touched them
  • You know who didn’t say that?
  • He… didn’t get fired
  • It’s my first day!
  • I’ve been flat on purpose
  • Dumb questions like “Are you done yet?”

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 29, 2025

Just in time for the big Texas at Ohio State game, it’s a special episode of AVSF! When the calendar hands us a rare fifth Friday, the AV SuperFriends don’t take the week off. We go live with a special bonus episode full of chaos, competition, and classroom technology trash talk. Chris, Jamie, Marc, and Justin are joined by two guests: Chris Harshfield from Ohio State and David Cannon from UT Austin.

This week’s Weekly Rivalry segment pits Buckeyes against Longhorns in a gameday-style showdown of AV & IT. Ohio State touts consistency, standardization, and reliability; Texas fires back with swagger, experimentation, and capital-project muscle. The panel keeps score with field goals, touchdowns, and questionable penalties, while the guests trade stories about tier-one support armies, bizarre teaching spaces (from daycares to pickle labs), and the occasional bucket of “dog heads.”

From HDBaseT vs. AVoIP to the eternal Velcro vs. zip tie debate, nothing is off-limits in this spirited back-and-forth. And when the final whistle blows, it’s not just about who wins on the scoreboard, but it’s about what “championship-level” classroom technology really means.

Connect with Chris Harshfield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-harshfield-6aba67225/ harshfield.6@osu.edu

Connect with David Cannon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cannon-cts-d-cts-i-mta-silver-4b625831/ davidcannon@austin.utexas.edu

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 22, 2025

We kick things off with the big news of the week: AOL finally pulling the plug on dial-up internet. Yes, it was somehow still a thing. Cue the nostalgia, sound effects, and plenty of snark.

From there, we debate the future of AVoIP. Is it the solution for everything, just another tool in the quiver, or the next technology destined to quietly fade away? Expect strong opinions, clashing perspectives, and a few surprising alliances you didn’t see coming.

We also launch a brand-new segment: Weekly Rivalry. Our first matchup? A non-rivalry between Iowa State and UNLV, brought to life with sports-style commentary, AV smack talk, and behind-the-scenes looks at how each campus tackles classroom tech, standardization, and those weird spaces nobody talks about.

Topics this week include:

  • The end of AOL dial-up (seriously, it was still around)
  • The great AV over IP debate: future standard or passing fad?
  • Standardization, room checks, and the weirdest classrooms ever supported
  • Why faculty still love (or hate) classroom PCs

News article:

https://www.theverge.com/news/757194/aol-dial-up-is-dead

https://help.aol.com/articles/dial-up-internet-to-be-discontinued

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • Firmware Updates and Budget Cuts
  • Traffic Jam at the USB-C Junction
  • Goodbye, Dial-Up. Hello, AOL Discs on eBay.
  • AVoverIP: Tool, Fad, or Forever?
  • Ceiling Mics, Dongle Rescues, and Other Heroics
  • The Quiver, the Toolbox, and the Cable Slot That Eats HDMI
  • More Opinions Than Panelists
  • Cloud Dreams and Network Nightmares
  • Cadaver Labs, Poultry Farms, and Men’s Room IDF Closets

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • That’s big in Kentucky
  • Teddy is probably not going to have internet
  • I still have a Hotmail
  • More women for us!
  • I’m OK being blasphemous
  • We were aligned until you opened your mouth
  • From the thing over IP to the other thing
  • Baseband is coming to an end
  • You said that where you can’t be wrong
  • It’ll all figure itself out
  • I keep arrows in the toolbox
  • This is not just a Vegas thing, this is a Frank thing
  • Have you seen society?
  • We’re not pumping out geniuses!
  • We’ve had that for 10 years and it still doesn’t work
  • Digital plumbers
  • Some overwhelming whatever it is
  • It’s not that; it’s laziness
  • How many multi-factors do I need to get into this?
  • I can do this in my bedroom
  • There’s going to be a nerd on the back-end
  • Reboot the speaker
  • The AI will reboot it for you
  • Go get ‘em, tiger!
  • That stupid clocking thing
  • I lean into things that we hate
  • 28-year-old Frank would have said something different
  • We don’t have money for Velcro-brand Velcro
  • It’s a 1-seater!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 8, 2025

In this episode of Off the Rails, Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, and Justin review the chaotic world of last-minute project requests. They share their experiences, strategies, and a few laughs while navigating the often unpredictable demands of faculty and staff just before the new semester kicks off.

The conversation kicks off with a lighthearted look at the absurdity of trying to accommodate requests that come in at the eleventh hour. The panelists discuss the importance of setting realistic timelines and the challenges of managing expectations when it comes to integrating new technology into classrooms. They reflect on their own institutions' processes for prioritizing projects and the fine line between accommodating urgent requests and maintaining a sustainable workflow.

As they explore the intricacies of preventive maintenance and room checks, the team emphasizes the value of proactive measures to catch issues before they become problems. With anecdotes about their unique approaches, they provide insights into how to keep AV systems running smoothly while also dealing with the inevitable chaos that comes with the start of a new academic year.

News article:

  • https://www.edsurge.com/news/2025-08-06-how-sci-fi-taught-me-to-embrace-ai-in-my-classroom
  • https://www.zerogpt.com

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • Last Minute Madness
  • Can You Squeeze Me In?
  • The Art of the Last-Minute Request
  • AV Chaos: Back to School Edition
  • Preventive Maintenance: The Unsung Hero
  • Just One More Thing...
  • When Time is Not on Your Side
  • Classroom Crisis Management
  • How to Say No Without Saying No
  • AV Super Friends: Under Pressure

Far superior human alternate show titles:

  • Learn calculus, damn it
  • That means you’re old and you’re about to die
  • We’re in that same boat again!
  • It depends who’s asking
  • I am the gatekeeper
  • Reasonability
  • Wheeling and dealing
  • How reasonable is it?
  • Small little turnovers
  • Just say “No”
  • There’s a camera on the thing

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded July 11, 2025

In this episode, the goon squad discusses testing AV equipment and the often murky waters of bench testing. Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, and Justin as they share their experiences, opinions, and a few laughs about the realities of ensuring gear works as intended before it hits the field.

The discussion kicks off with a humorous take on the common practice of just throwing gear into new environments without thorough testing. The panelists debate the balance between best practices and the chaotic nature of real-world installations, exploring how much testing is truly necessary and what constitutes effective bench testing. With anecdotes from their own experiences, they explore the risks and rewards of deploying untested gear in high-stakes situations.

Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, this episode is packed with semi-useful advice.

Don't forget to connect with us on social media and share this episode with your fellow AV enthusiasts!

Alternate show titles:

  • What if it’s an AI camera?
  • We took most of the cubes out
  • The biggest non-verbal hedge I’ve ever heard
  • Our projects are bench tests
  • We do bench testing randomly
  • This is not gonna work
  • It works until it doesn’t
  • It started blowing up buildings
  • I got a spare widget that I know works
  • We were doing some weird sh*t
  • I’m just jacking around
  • Maybe Jesus doesn’t like your network
  • I trust you nerds most of the time
  • Our testing begins during the semester

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded July 25, 2025

In this episode, join Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, and Justin as they discuss the the broken business model of per room, per system, per month, per year cloud service pricing, the ongoing struggle with outdated features and devices that just won’t die and the question of when to cut the cord on legacy systems, sharing their own experiences and the sometimes humorous realities of managing AV technology.

They review the terribleness of wireless sharing appliances and the frustrations that come with them, as well as the importance of gathering feedback from faculty and students. They also touch on the necessity of evaluating usage data and making informed decisions based on real-world needs rather than assumptions.

News:

https://www.ravepubs.com/openav-cloud-adds-adobe-appspace-sharp-bose/

https://www.avinteractive.com/news/products/openav-cloud-initiative-recruits-two-dozen-new-members-15-07-2025/

AI-generated Alternate Show Titles:

  • When to Cut the Cord
  • Don't Let the Blu Ray Players Die in Vain
  • Wireless Sharing Woes
  • From Legacy to Lament
  • Data-Driven Decisions
  • AV Tech: The Good, The Bad, and The Outdated
  • When Do We Say Goodbye?
  • AV Apocalypse Now
  • Lessons from the Trenches
  • Streamlining the Chaos

Far superior human-generated alternate show titles:

  • Be a part of it with as little work as possible
  • There’s nothing to it
  • Money motivates
  • Member that?
  • I need this old widget to talk to this other widget
  • It’s all in the metaverse
  • That one from last year gets nothing
  • Let’s all do it wrong together
  • This isn’t on your network; it’s in the cloud
  • I will speak for higher ed at large
  • Yellow light for the premium package
  • Now you’ve got a hoedown
  • You’re making an assumption; they never said that
  • Give me a really big package
  • Way too many clouds
  • Everything on the same cloud
  • Dirty Data
  • A giant spreadsheet of garbage
  • But here’s the thing… you like your job
  • Sketcho box
  • Free is not free
  • We don’t have a lot of bandwidth to be wrong
  • Pay some other department to really manhandle it
  • I’m in the middle of this sh*t right now and it’s a storm
  • Doing the wireless thing is easy / Have this: it’s going to fail you
  • Give us feedback on about what you hate about ‘em
  • You’re really gonna hate this sh*t

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded July 16, 2025

In this episode, the panel looks at the world of automatic cameras and the evolving landscape of commercial displays in higher education. Join Chris, Jamie, Marc, and Justin as they share their experiences, insights, and a few laughs while discussing the pros and cons of automatic camera systems. The conversation touches on everything from user preferences to the challenges of integrating these technologies into classrooms and conference rooms.

The panel reflects on their recent deployments, highlighting the mixed feedback they've received and the varying levels of success with automatic tracking and framing technologies. They also explore the implications of cheaper commercial displays, the risks associated with smart features, and whether the trade-offs are worth it for the end users.

News: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/business/panasonic-sale-of-projector-business-to-orix-called-off-09-07-2025/

Alternate Show Titles:

  • Mercantile Exchange
  • Merkintech
  • Actioncam by Mattel
  • I actually drugged Larry
  • The hypocrite hour
  • Just slap that OS on there and call it a day
  • I want to play a game called Devil’s Advocate
  • You don’t have a choice
  • Random-ass manufacturers
  • We don’t worry about warranty
  • This story’s in tents
  • There’s no wall mount!
  • At some point I don’t actually care

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

In this episode, Jamie brings you an exciting update from InfoComm 2025. He catches up with Mike from Magewell to discuss a groundbreaking new product designed to simplify the integration of NDI streams into video conferencing software. The Pro Convert IP to USB addresses a common pain point for users who need to connect NDI sources in environments with strict IT policies, such as universities and corporate settings.

Mike explains how this innovative device decodes various formats, including NDI, SRT, RTMP, and RTSP, and outputs them as UVC, making them recognizable as webcam inputs. This means that any software capable of using a webcam can now access NDI streams without the need for complex installations or configurations.

Listeners will appreciate the user-friendly web interface that allows for easy setup and management of multiple input sources. Mike also shares insights on the device's API and SDK, providing options for custom development and centralized management through their Control Hub software. Whether you’re a seasoned AV professional or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable information about the future of AV technology.

If you're eager to get your hands on the Pro Convert IP to USB, Magewell expects to have inventory available in the US by the end of June. Don't miss out on this game-changing solution!

For more information: https://magewell.com

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

In this episode, Jamie catches up with Shaun from Xilica at InfoComm 2025 to delve into the innovative audio technology solutions that Xilica has been developing for over 20 years. Based in Toronto, Xilica is making strides in the audio DSP market, particularly in university classrooms, conference rooms, and courtrooms.

Shaun shares insights into the company's flexible and modular DSP products, highlighting the benefits of open architecture that allows for easy upgrades and cost optimization. With a focus on reducing inventory complexity for integrators and enhancing user experience for end customers, Xilica is redefining audio solutions.

Listeners will learn about Xilica's standout offerings, including the compact PoE DSP and the upcoming Room Hub, designed to simplify audio installations with built-in AI technology for noise reduction and device discovery. This episode is packed with valuable insights into Xilica's approach to audio technology and their vision for the future.

For more information about Xilica and their products, visit https://www.Xilica.com .

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 27, 2025

In this episode, the team reflects on their recent adventures at InfoComm 2025, highlighting innovative products and the implications of forced obsolescence in AV technology. They explore the sustainability challenges faced by institutions as they navigate the complexities of rapidly changing software and hardware landscapes. The conversation takes a humorous turn as they tackle topics like the importance of proper firmware updates and the potential pitfalls of relying on major software vendors.

Listeners will enjoy anecdotes, insights, and a lively discussion about the future of AV systems, including the latest trends in cloud services, AI integration, and the quest for more efficient solutions.

News article: https://www.avinteractive.com/territories-news/europe/german-state-minister-declares-were-done-with-teams-16-06-2025/

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Alternate show titles:

  • Are you hearing any scuttle?
  • Mini Marc in your pocket
  • Say Hey!
  • It’s not like I can think it
  • I haven’t worked on it for two weeks solid
  • You have to really be patient with this
  • It just needs to be smart
  • I haven’t done the math on it
  • So you’re telling me there’s a chance
  • Sigh… stupid Chris!
  • I’ll give it to you for free

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 20, 2025

In this explosive Independence Day special, the AV SuperFriends celebrate five years of podcasting with a bang! Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, and Justin as they blow up the things they dislike about AV and IT in higher education.

From cloud-based control systems to oversized DSPs, the panel tackles the industry's most frustrating trends and technologies that have overstayed their welcome. With fireworks and laughter, they share their grievances, offering a cathartic release for anyone who's ever felt overwhelmed by the complexities of modern AV solutions.

une in for a fun-filled episode that’s equal parts celebration and critique, and discover what the AV SuperFriends want to blow up next!

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

Jamie chats with Jason from Blustream, who shares the company’s exciting transition from residential to commercial AV solutions.

Discover how Blustream is leveraging their expertise in HDMI technology and audio solutions to address the needs of the commercial market. Jason discusses their unique products, including the HDMI Bluetooth audio extractor and embedder, which merges Bluetooth technology with HDMI to simplify audio distribution in various settings.

The conversation also dives into Blustream's impressive line of Dante products, designed to enhance audio management and routing capabilities. Jason highlights the DA14x14 audio matrix, a powerful device that supports multiple audio formats and provides control options for seamless integration.

Tune in for an engaging discussion filled with insights on problem-solving in the AV industry and the innovative spirit driving Blustream's product development. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn about the cutting-edge solutions that could transform your AV setups!

For more information about Blustream and their offerings, visit https://www.blustream-us.com/

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 13, 2025

Jamie catches up with Chuck from Visionary Solutions at InfoComm 2025 to discuss their latest innovations in AV over IP technology. Discover the exciting new features of Visionary's products, including the newly designed wall plates that integrate decoders and USB-C ports, allowing for seamless connectivity and power for devices like cameras and touchscreens.

Chuck shares insights on the groundbreaking XB5 conferencing bridge, which simplifies BYOD setups by combining power, wired network connections, and bidirectional audio/video into a single USB-C cable. This game-changing solution is set to revolutionize how AV professionals approach conferencing in educational spaces, making setups easier and more efficient.

Listeners will be thrilled to learn about the capabilities of the XB5, including independent routing of video, audio, and USB services, enabling complex setups without the hassle of multiple cables. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with valuable information about the future of AV technology and the exciting direction Visionary Solutions is headed.

For more information about Visionary Solutions and their products, visit visionary-av.com.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

Jamie talks asset management for higher education with Andy from Empirical Systems at Infocomm 2025. Discover how Empirical is revolutionizing the way educational institutions manage their technology assets, providing a comprehensive solution that streamlines information storage and budgeting for classroom and conference room tech.

Andy shares his journey from Cornell University to developing this innovative system, revealing the challenges he faced in classroom technology management during the pandemic. Learn about the key features of Empirical, including a user-friendly data import process enhanced by AI, which allows institutions to easily integrate existing information and track assets effectively.

The conversation also highlights the powerful forecasting dashboards that enable users to project costs for technology upgrades over multiple years, making budgeting a breeze for middle management. With insights into the importance of data accuracy and the ability to visualize financial forecasts, this episode is packed with valuable information for anyone involved in AV technology in education.

To learn more about Empirical Systems and request a demo, visit empirical-av.com.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

Jamie interviews Eamon Drew from Turtle AV, a company that has made a significant splash in the industry since its launch just months ago. Eamon shares insights into the innovative products Turtle AV is bringing to the market, particularly their focus on Dante AV technology and the unique advantages it offers.

Discover how Turtle AV's flagship product line, the Chazy AV-A series, is revolutionizing the way AV professionals approach video technology. Eamon discusses the challenges and opportunities they faced while developing their solutions, and how their commitment to quality and cost-effectiveness is setting them apart in a competitive landscape. With multiple Best of Show awards already under their belt, the conversation delves into the practical applications of their technology, including low latency, high-quality video transmission, and energy efficiency.

Eamon also highlights the user-friendly nature of their products, including a web-based controller that simplifies network management and integration with existing systems. Tune in for a fascinating discussion filled with valuable insights and the excitement of innovation in the AV industry. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Check out Turtle AV online at turtleav.com for more information on their products and offerings.

https://turtleav.com/

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2025

In this episode of, the crew wraps up their time at Infocomm with a lively discussion filled with humor, reflections, and a few surprises. Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, and Justin as they recount their adventures during the final morning of the conference, sharing stories of long walks, questionable food choices, and the inevitable chaos that comes with a busy trade show.

The team dives into the latest trends they’ve observed, including the growing emphasis on manufacturing transparency and the rise of e-ink displays for signage solutions. They also discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by new software and cloud-based solutions in higher education AV, while contemplating the future of Auracast and its potential impact on the industry.

With their characteristic banter and camaraderie, the crew also touches on the importance of understanding the market landscape and how these innovations can shape the way we approach technology in educational environments. Tune in for a mix of insights, laughter, and a behind-the-scenes look at the Infocom experience.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 12, 2025

In this episode, the crew comes from the whirlwind of Infocomm Day 2, where caffeine is running low and back pain is running high. Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, Justin, and a rotating cast of special guests from Q-SYS as they share their experiences, insights, and the occasional absurdity that comes with navigating the bustling show floor.

The team from Q-SYS discusses everything from the latest in audio-visual technology to their personal mishaps, including a secret pineapple drink moment (hi Atkins!) and the challenges of AI integration in higher education. With a blend of humor and practical advice, they touch on topics like Q-SYS innovations, networking challenges, and the importance of understanding AV over IP systems. Did you know you can print directly from your Q-SYS core?

Tune in for a lively and entertaining conversation that captures the chaos and camaraderie of the AV industry. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Connect with our guests:

Mike Brandes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebrandesav/

David Maksa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maksa-05527322/

David Judy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djudy/

Ed Veeser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-veeser-cts-24323713b/

Jonathan Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmicmoo/

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 12, 2025

In this episode, the crew is live from the bustling Infocomm show floor, tackling everything from the sticky humidity of Orlando to the latest trends in audio and video technology for higher education. Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, Justin, and surprise guests as they share their insights, experiences, and a few laughs while navigating the chaos of the second day at the conference.

The team dives into fascinating discussions about the importance of audio, the challenges of integrating new technologies, and the unexpected joy of seeing attendees engage with innovative products. They explore the evolving needs of classrooms, the significance of wireless microphones, and the impact of software solutions in the AV landscape. As always, their camaraderie shines through, making for an entertaining and informative episode.

Tune in for a mix of humor, practical advice, and a behind-the-scenes look at the Infocom experience. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Catchbox: https://www.catchbox.com

Computer Comforts: https://www.computercomforts.com

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded June 11, 2025

In this episode, the crew gathers live from the bustling Infocomm show floor for a lively discussion filled with insights, humor, and a few unexpected detours. Join Chris, Jamie, Larry, Rachel, and Justin as they navigate the excitement of the event, share their experiences, and reflect on the challenges of teaching and learning in the AV landscape.

The team dives into their individual sessions, with Rachel discussing sustainability in live events, Larry recounting his harrowing flight experience, and Chris teasing his upcoming talk on automated cameras. The conversation flows as they explore the latest trends in AI, accessibility, and the ever-evolving world of USB-C technology. As always, their camaraderie shines through, making for an entertaining and informative episode.

Tune in to hear about the latest innovations, the chaos of the show floor, and the joys of connecting with colleagues in person. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your fellow AV enthusiasts and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Larry’s flight news story: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/delta-flight-diverted-jacksonville-what-we-know

Al-generated show titles:

  • The Never Ending Week

  • Sweaty Swamp Adventures

  • Cable Management Chaos

  • Delta Dilemmas

  • AI and the Art of AV

  • Wandering the Show Floor

  • The AV Experience

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 27 and May 30, 2025

In this episode, the crew chats with Catchbox about their approach to rethinking microphones and DSPs, talks up the potential of a IP-enabled Stream Deck, and reviews Infocomm preparations.

The Elgato Stream Deck, known for its versatility, shows potential for integration into educational environments. With its ability to streamline workflows and simplify complex tasks, the Stream Deck could be a game-changer for technology managers looking to create an engaging and interactive classroom.

On the other hand, Catchbox has taken the concept of audience participation to a whole new level. The Catchbox Cube allows instructors to throw a microphone to students, encouraging spontaneous engagement and making learning more interactive. In addition, the Catchbox Clip, Stick, and Hub (and the awesome charging dock!) have us rethinking how we integrate microphones into our classrooms.

Finally, the team shares their strategies for navigating the InfoComm show floor, uncovering hidden gems, and avoiding the pitfalls of over-scheduling. This lively discussion is packed with humor, anecdotes, and practical tips to ensure you make the most of your experience at the show.

Catchbox: https://www.catchbox.com

Elgato Stream Deck Network Dock: https://www.elgato.com/us/en/p/network-dock-stream-deck

Alternate show titles:

  • AV Adjacentness
  • Juicy data insights
  • Osnap
  • Potentially Disruptish
  • How much aggravation do you want to go through?
  • 13 years later
  • Honey for our ears
  • The average user is the professor
  • There was no benchmark
  • It is a complete failure without a Catchbox microphone
  • Let’s try to squeeze everything in there
  • A full RU with all this extra I/O
  • It’s harder to steer big ships
  • Dodgeball tournament
  • Free beer for everyone!
  • Turn it up to 11
  • I want to hear my sphincter shrink!
  • MST4K

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 23, 2025

In this episode, we’re joined by the team from Liberty to talk about brand new features and capabilities of their CX Unify platform. Beyond simple online/offline status, this cloud hosted and platform-agnostic monitoring and remediation tool is brimming with AI-integration and more real-time information than you’ve ever seen. Check it out at InfoComm for a live demo!

We also discuss Aurora Multimedia’s new line of IPBaseT encoders and decoders that apparently deploy like HDBaseT but behave like AVoIP. We’re going to check it out in Orlando.

Tune in for a fun and informative episode that promises to keep you entertained while providing practical advice for making the most of your next AV trade show experience. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Liberty: https://www.libertyonline.com/

CX Unify: https://cxunify.com/

Aurora IPBaseT: https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/1249842/153660260658185493

Alternate show titles:

  • Cloud Wars
  • Chuck’ll talk to you
  • How many hats do you wear?
  • Don’t talk to him, he has the truth!
  • Paul hands me off to Harry
  • Wall of QR codes
  • Can we invite you to our Happy Hour?

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 9, 2025

In this episode, the crew gathers for a lively roundtable discussion focused on the upcoming Infocomm trade show. Join Chris, Jamie, Marc, Rachel, Larry, and Justin as they share their excitement and insights about what to expect at the conference, along with their personal agendas and speaking engagements. The conversation is filled with the trademark humor and camaraderie that fans have come to love, as they exchange tips on how to navigate the busy show floor and make the most of the experience.

The team reviews Rachel's five essential tips for a successful Infocomm visit, including the importance of networking, finding the best booths, and leveraging the wealth of knowledge available from industry leaders. Listeners will also hear about the various panels and sessions the AV SuperFriends will be participating in, highlighting their commitment to sharing expertise and fostering community within the AV industry.

Tune in for a fun and informative episode that promises to equip you with everything you need to know before heading to Infocom. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

News article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-tips-breakthrough-infocomm-rachel-bradshaw-hebee/

Alternate show titles:

  • Blueglass Hills
  • Stuck in a closet
  • Summarize in Four seconds
  • …and he keeps bees!
  • Point the fifth
  • Get your LinkedIn house in order
  • I mean that from the bottom of my heart
  • You do your job next week
  • You’re at InfoComm, sir!
  • And then you run out of underwear
  • There’s a conclusion at the end
  • And then I’m spent
  • Rachel Shanghai’d Marc into a panel
  • Optimizing Things for Stuff
  • I don’t think you were ever El Presidente
  • Built-in tribe of curious people
  • That was kinda sketchy
  • Standing Room Only
  • Don’t give away the secret sauce
  • I’ve just been letting it go and blaming it on Justin
  • Sticky floors and cigarette smoke
  • They’re just sticky for different reasons
  • That’s a rude thing to call your children
  • I slept in my car

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded May 16, 2025

In this episode, the gang holds a lively discussion about the joys and challenges of inheriting AV spaces in higher education. Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, and Justin share their experiences with unexpected AV setups, from poorly designed classrooms to over-engineered systems that leave everyone scratching their heads. They explore the complexities of managing these inherited spaces, the importance of maintaining functionality, and the sometimes messy reality of integrating new technology into old systems.

The team also looks ahead to InfoComm 2025, sharing what they hope to find and learn, including the latest trends in USB-C technology, AI in AV, and the ongoing quest for interoperability in AVoIP systems. Tune in for a blend of humor, industry insights, and a peek into the future of AV technology in higher education. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Alternate show titles:

  • I needed the whole kaboodle
  • The addition of the widgets
  • Is there a disco ball?
  • An even smaller bed
  • Modesty panel
  • Somehow it got in there
  • We weren’t super thrilled with it
  • Paid by a percentage of the standard BoM
  • Pile of Menagerie
  • Spread them wider in your area
  • Because of who’s involved and how we get paid
  • Massaging it to fit
  • Your flavor of VGA
  • OMG guys!
  • Subway punch card
  • They’re going to have to wait
  • We’re going to go through your systems and take things out
  • We can get in it; we can fix it
  • I’ll tell you what you could do
  • Barrell around it
  • Lipstick on a pig
  • The front door of the university
  • Do all the wizbang
  • The device
  • Raw connectivity
  • They don’t like your kitchen
  • 87.5% BS
  • My USB device has AI on it
  • Ports and protocols
  • The China Side

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode of Perspectives, we’re back at NWMET 2025, connecting with Jack Ewer from Sennheiser to discuss the innovative TCC M ceiling microphone. Jack explains how this latest model differs from the TCC2, featuring a smaller coverage area and advanced beamforming technology that targets audio capture in conference rooms, boardrooms, and learning environments.

The conversation dives into the microphone's unique features, including its single Dante input and the ability to daisy chain multiple units, allowing for easy integration into larger spaces. Jack shares insights on the automatic setup process, emphasizing the microphone’s focus on excluding unwanted noise, making it a perfect solution for various applications.

We also explore Sennheiser's new sound bars, which incorporate Dante connectivity and advanced audio technology. Join us for an informative session filled with practical insights and expert perspectives on the latest advancements in audio technology. If you find value in this episode, please share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode of Perspectives, Chris, Marc, and Larry catch up with Jessica Sunset from LG at NWMET 2025. Jessica introduces their exciting line of all-in-one DV LED bundles designed specifically for higher education. With sizes ranging from 136 inches to 325 inches, these products come complete with controllers, mounting hardware, and even LG's assisted installation service, making setup a breeze.

The conversation shifts to LG's innovative CreateBoard, which is software agnostic and offers a five-year warranty. Jessica emphasizes the importance of customer feedback in developing products that truly meet the needs of users, showcasing how LG is adapting to the demands of the AV landscape.

Join us for an engaging discussion filled with insights on the latest AV technology trends, the importance of collaboration in product development, and how LG is making waves in the industry. If you enjoy this episode, don’t forget to share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode of AV SuperFriends Perspectives, the team is live from NWMET 2025, where they visit TEKVOX to explore their innovative approach to AV solutions for classrooms and conference rooms. Josh provides insights into TEKVOX’s unique “classroom in a box” concept, which simplifies AV deployment by offering fully programmed and tested systems that are ready for plug-and-play installation.

The conversation delves into how TEKVOX addresses the challenges faced by educational institutions, particularly those with limited staff and resources. Josh explains how their holistic approach not only enhances user experience but also allows for easy modifications and upgrades to existing systems. With a focus on creating a consistent and seamless experience across different campuses, TEKVOX aims to alleviate the complexities of AV management.

Join us for a fascinating discussion on the future of AV in education, including the potential for as-a-service models and the importance of reliable support for remote teams. If you find value in this episode, please share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode of AV SuperFriends Perspectives, we’re talking AVoIP technology with Rick Puleo from Lumens at NWMET 2025. Rick introduces us to the OIP-N series encoder/decoder, showcasing its unique features that set it apart in the AV landscape. We explore how this device allows seamless encoding and decoding of video and audio streams, providing a bi-directional connection that enhances flexibility in higher education environments.

The discussion highlights the significance of USB-C connectivity, enabling users to integrate multiple camera feeds and audio sources effortlessly. Rick shares insights on the challenges faced by educators and how this technology can simplify AV setups, making it easier for instructors to manage their audio and visual inputs without the need for complex configurations.

Join us for this engaging conversation filled with expert insights and practical applications that could transform your AV systems. If you find value in what you hear, don’t forget to share this episode with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

The team is live from NWMET 2025, where they catch up with Ricky Lane from Neat to explore the innovative features of their latest products. The discussion dives into the exciting world of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) capabilities and how Neat is making it easier for users to engage in meetings without the hassle of complicated setups.

Ricky shares insights on Neat's approach to creating user-friendly AV solutions, including the automatic camera framing and advanced microphone technology that enhance meeting equity for all participants. The conversation highlights the seamless integration of Neat's devices with popular platforms like Zoom and Teams, allowing users to enjoy a rich feature set regardless of their setup.

Join us for an engaging chat filled with practical information and expert perspectives on the future of collaborative technology in meeting spaces. If you find value in this episode, don’t forget to share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode, Chris, Marc, and Larry are back at NWMET 2025, diving into the exciting world of Auracast and the new Bluetooth standard with guests Dan Case from Carroll College and Dave Bertrand from Williams Sound. The discussion centers around how Auracast is set to revolutionize assisted listening systems and general audio broadcasting, providing a seamless and inclusive experience for users.

Dave and Dan share their insights on the challenges faced by traditional systems and how Bluetooth technology can eliminate the stigma associated with assisted listening devices. With Auracast’s one-to-many broadcasting capabilities and impressive range, they explore the potential benefits for educational environments, including enhanced accessibility and improved user experiences.

Join us as we uncover the future of audio technology in classrooms, theaters, and beyond. Don’t miss this engaging conversation filled with expert insights and practical applications. If you enjoy the episode, share it with your colleagues and consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode, Marc and Larry visit with guests Mike Pedersen from Iowa State University and Shaun Hayes from Utah Tech University. They share their insights on the value of networking and the focused discussions that set this event apart from larger trade shows like InfoComm.

The conversation highlights the challenges faced by smaller institutions, including funding and personnel shortages, while exploring innovative solutions for sustaining upgraded AV systems post-COVID. Our guests reflect on the importance of collaboration among peers and the unique vendor interactions that foster a solutions-oriented environment.

Join us for a candid discussion filled with valuable perspectives on the current state of higher education AV and the community spirit that thrives at regional conferences. If you enjoy the insights shared, be sure to support the AV SuperFriends and share this episode with your colleagues!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded May 01, 2025

In this episode, Chris, Marc, Larry, and special guest Frank Alaimo reflect on their experiences at NWMET 2025, a growing conference that has expanded its reach beyond the Northwest. They discuss the evolution of the event, the importance of networking, and the insights gained from various presentations and discussions.

The conversation touches on budgetary challenges faced by educational institutions and the innovative solutions being explored to enhance classroom technology. Frank shares his perspective on the shift towards more streamlined AV setups, emphasizing the need for adaptable and cost-effective solutions. The group also delves into the potential impact of emerging technologies like Auracast and how they could disrupt traditional AV practices.

Join us for a lively discussion filled with humor, insights, and a glimpse into the future of educational technology. Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 30, 2025

In this episode, Chris, Marc, and Larry are at NWMET 2025 and are joined by special guest Joe Way. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking partnership between UCLA and PlaceOS aimed at creating a smart campus. Joe shares his insights on leveraging cloud technology, data integration, and the holistic student experience beyond traditional classroom settings.

We discuss the challenges and opportunities of upgrading aging infrastructure, the importance of governance in large-scale projects, and how innovative AV solutions can enhance learning environments. From smart drinking fountains to automated classroom setups, this episode is packed with thought-provoking ideas and a glimpse into the future of higher education technology.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

News:

https://www.ucla.edu/news/2025/04/30/ucla-place-os-smart-campus-partnership

https://www.avinteractive.com/territories-news/us-canada/ucla-and-placeos-team-up-to-create-a-smart-campus-28-04-2025/

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Building the Smart Campus
  • The Future of Learning Environments
  • Data-Driven Education
  • Innovating Campus Life
  • AV Integration for the Modern Campus
  • Smart Solutions for Higher Ed
  • Transforming Learning Spaces
  • The AV Revolution in Education
  • Elevating the Student Experience
  • From Classrooms to Campuses

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 18, 2025

In this episode, the gang looks at the chaos and excitement surrounding commencement season in higher education. From the intricacies of AV setups to the humorous mishaps that can occur, our experts share their experiences and insights on managing these large-scale events. Tune in for a blend of technical expertise and light-hearted banter!

We also sneak in a news discussion about the widespread Zoom outage and the ramifications thereof. If nothing else, all the work from home people had a new excuse why they didn’t get anything done for a few hours.

News: https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/zoom_outage_godaddy_blamed/

Alternate Show Titles:

  • Lick his title
  • I’m a little behind
  • Weather channel radio thing
  • Listserv debauchery
  • I touched a lot of stuff
  • Deans are always special
  • Naturally, they try to cheat
  • Yell at them!
  • Fine, I’m out!
  • Can’t you meet bi-monthly?
  • Tailgating Commencement
  • It is a big show!
  • He said festival, not carnival
  • Johnny out on the quad
  • Just in case there’s a streaker

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 25, 2025

In this episode, the gang shares their unique experiences dealing with the unexpected influx of classroom requests, the challenges of rebranding, and the hilarious misadventures that come with custom integration. From the absurdities of DIY solutions to the creative ways they tackle technical hurdles, this episode is packed with laughter, insights, and a few surprises along the way.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

News: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/news/avi-systems-rebrands-as-forte/141056/

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • The Classroom Conundrum
  • Rebranding Shenanigans
  • AV Requests Gone Wild
  • The Great Classroom Caper
  • When AV Meets Chaos
  • The AV Circus
  • The Request That Broke Us
  • AV Integration: Expect the Unexpected
  • How to Build a Classroom on a Whim
  • The AV Team’s Guide to Surviving Madness

Far superior human-created alternate show titles:

  • Facilities is painting turds
  • The deferred list
  • The island of misfit children classrooms
  • Unique Unicorn Systems
  • An Army of Part-Timers
  • Kinda a big ask
  • Did you re-use the toilets?
  • Metal things
  • Things that don’t turn on
  • Nicotine yellow speakers
  • Reduce your movement
  • Extra cognitive load
  • Time vampires
  • Church ladies
  • Jesus benefits out of this
  • You can’t push that around safely
  • They’re not wrinkled and sh*tty
  • Everything I do is special teams
  • Rattle can
  • Middle-of-Nowhere, Illinois

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 11, 2025

In this episode, the crew welcomes special guest Joe Cornwall as they discuss the surprising anniversary of a beloved connector, the introduction of the new GPMI standard, and the impact of USB Type-C on modern AV setups. With plenty of tangents and technical insights, this episode is a wild ride through the current state of AV technology and its future.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

News articles discussed:

  • https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/china-launches-hdmi-and-displayport-alternative-gpmi-boasts-up-to-192-gbps-bandwidth-480w-power-delivery
  • https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/audio-quality-its-impact-perception-message-messenger-jay-paul-cts-za0bf/
  • https://www.npr.org/2025/03/24/nx-s1-5334468/speaking-into-a-microphone-your-audio-quality-can-impact-the-way-people-view-you
  • https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2415254122

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Off the Rails: The AV Chronicles
  • The Connector Conundrum
  • USB Type-C: The Game Changer
  • Audio Quality Matters!
  • Navigating the AV Landscape
  • The Future of AV Technology
  • The Chaos of AV
  • Learning from Mistakes
  • The AV Connection
  • Tech Talk Gone Wild
  • AV Shenanigans
  • What Could Go Wrong?

Far superior human-created show titles:

  • A friggin’ house of cards
  • IBM Laptop
  • Don’t come to our campus
  • What size of UHaul was it?
  • I was doing webinars!
  • I worked without power for six days
  • That’s enough to get your sh*t going
  • USB-C matrix switching
  • If I was to dive off that really tall diving board
  • BYOD spigot
  • USB-C is just the holding pattern
  • I’m OK if you say I’m crazy
  • This has been adequate
  • It drives me absolutely bonkers
  • I have the worst camera on the planet
  • …and looking good

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded March 14, 2025

In this episode, the gang dives into the annual ritual of spring cleaning, sharing their unique takes on what it means to declutter in the AV world. From the challenges of managing outdated equipment to the humorous anecdotes of discovering long-forgotten gear, the panel explores the importance of refreshing and reorganizing their spaces.

Join Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, and Justin as they discuss their personal spring cleaning projects, including the hard decisions around legacy systems and the sometimes absurd lengths they go to keep things running. Expect plenty of laughs, insightful commentary, and the camaraderie that only comes from years of shared experiences in the AV field.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Spring Cleaning: AV Edition
  • Decluttering the AV Space
  • Out with the Old: A Spring Cleaning Journey
  • Legacy Gear and Spring Renewal
  • The Great AV Purge
  • Cleaning Up Our Act

Far superior human created alternate show titles:

  • Keep throwing bandaids on it
  • Speaking of things that don’t die
  • 18 bucks little man
  • Rapid fire MPS
  • I didn’t say I liked it
  • They’re just sitting and I don’t know
  • Do you know how much money we saved by keeping those in production?
  • You and me are going to dig this hole together
  • Hot swaps!
  • How do normal people deal with that decision making?
  • The smart choice of the stupid options
  • Getting rid of all that and putting it out to pasture

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded March 21, 2025

In this episode, the crew explores the absurdities of their roles, the challenges of getting a seat at the table for capital projects, and the importance of being the canary in the coal mine when it comes to network issues. With a blend of humor and practical insights, they tackle everything from AI avatars to the intricacies of AVoIP technology.

As the conversation unfolds, the panel shares their experiences with navigating the complexities of institutional collaboration, the need for effective communication with IT departments, and how to advocate for the AV perspective in large-scale projects. Expect plenty of laughs, a few tangents, and a whole lot of AV wisdom.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

PTP Master class series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydI-Ez71Zf0

(Thanks to Davis Pasquariello!)

News article discussed: https://comprehensiveco.com/comprehensive-transformer-cables-meet-your-usb-needs-all-in-one-cable/

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • The AV Canary in the Coal Mine
  • Navigating Capital Projects
  • AI Avatars and AV Adventures
  • Getting a Seat at the Table
  • The Great AV Debate
  • When AV Meets IT

Far superior human-generated alternate show titles:

  • And back again
  • I’ve got those; I hate ‘em
  • I think we getted there by…
  • There’s no trophies for finding problems
  • Acknowledged as a solutions provider
  • Creating less cost on projects
  • Squash that down
  • I’ll be a bit blasphemous here…
  • You can’t just demand a meeting
  • Sometimes you have to let it break
  • Access points here, speakers there
  • You have to get them to believe you
  • Rinky-dink codec
  • When you know… something’s weird
  • It’s not the network
  • We’ll unplug our thing right away
  • If was having a network problem, I wouldn’t know
  • They’ll start to trust you after a while
  • Cabling crew
  • Constantly barking at it
  • Patrolling all the IDFs

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded March 12, 2025

The crew dives into a raucous discussion about the nuances of professional development in the AV world.

As part of the global Podcasthon, we’re proud to feature the work of the AVIXA Foundation. Joined by special guest Joseph Valerio from the AVIXA Foundation, the panel explores the importance of fostering career pathways and the role of education in shaping the future of AV professionals.

With a preview of the upcoming NWMET Conference, the conversation shifts to the value of networking, sharing experiences, and the unique environment that smaller conferences provide.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

Special thanks to Computer Comforts, Inc. for their support of the AV SuperFriends!

AVIXA Foundation:

  • https://www.avixa.org/avixa-foundation
  • https://www.avixa.org/about-avixa/who-we-are/avixa-foundation/scholarships
  • https://www.avixa.org/impact
  • Donate
  • For more information: Foundation@avixa.org

NWMET https://www.nwmet.org

2025 Conference Boise, ID - April 29 - May 2, 2025

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • The Quest for Professional Development
  • Navigating the AV Landscape
  • NWMET Conference Countdown
  • From Mistakes to Mastery
  • Building Bridges in Education
  • Professional Development and Pancakes
  • Networking Over Nibbles
  • The AVIXA Connection
  • Making Connections in AV
  • The Importance of AV Community

Human-created alternate show titles: (this is a lie - cjd)

  • Let's Get Professional (Development)
  • Networking: The Real Conference MVP
  • Proudly Not Just Another Conference
  • The Art of the AV Conference
  • Meet, Greet, and Repeat

Far superior AVSF-created alternate show titles:

  • Accidental listens
  • Are we going to go through tax law?
  • Welcome to Tax Talk
  • We’re turning 30
  • Are we past “awareness?”
  • We’ve given over $800,000
  • Just here to be murdered…
  • This is preparing
  • Are you going wide or deep?
  • Cloud services and how our stuff aligns with it
  • Common sh*t that comes out of my mouth
  • We’re broke, so we’re not going to travel
  • Show me that you’re ready to go
  • Just a big carrot
  • You fail, you poor!
  • President for Life
  • It’s an official edict
  • Don’t have the budget or stamina
  • Cocktails with all the other attendees
  • He’s not lying about the food
  • Four drinks per attendee per session

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded February 19, 2025

In this lively episode, we tackle updating standards amidst fluctuating budgets and the pressure of one-time funds. The discussion also covers the practicalities of AV over IP technology and how it can reshape classroom environments. From the importance of stocking common components to the nuances of managing departmental requests, this episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in AV management.

Don't forget to share the podcast with your colleagues, and if you enjoy what you hear, consider supporting the AV SuperFriends!

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Standards and Surprises
  • The Art of Budgeting
  • One-Time Funds and Other Mysteries
  • Flexibility in AV Standards
  • Navigating the AV Landscape
  • The Maze of Standards and One-Time Funds

Human-created alternate show titles:

  • Let’s put in the network sh*t and let’s go!
  • Multiple products rumored to be coming out
  • What it would look like on my island network
  • The Kit Bandwagon
  • You hold it like that
  • Student changeout
  • This isn’t Kentucky
  • North Carolina money
  • It’s not the stuff, it’s the capabilities
  • Super Sneakernet
  • 100 different mistakes
  • Everything ends up in the “other” bucket
  • Zoom iPad things
  • Homegrown Raspberry Pi
  • We’re not sociopaths here
  • Expand your mind
  • Learn more sh*t
  • That’s Tomorrow Jamie’s hiccup
  • The Kit of What’s Available
  • That doesn’t mean you’re sophisticated

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded February 21, 2025

This week, we tackle the pressing issue of integrating PCs with AV gear on the same network, discussing the pros and cons of VLANs, and the legacy decisions that keep those separated. Marc introduces a thought-provoking exercise on prioritizing the capabilities of our learning spaces, and the panel debates the value of various technologies from interactive displays to lecture capture systems. As always, the conversation veers into the absurd, with plenty of laughs along the way. Plus, Jamie discusses a game-changing new product that could revolutionize how we connect AV devices to our networks.

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • The VLAN Conundrum
  • Power to the Devices
  • From the Classroom to the Cloud
  • AV Integration: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
  • Decoding AV Over IP
  • The $100 Learning Space Challenge
  • One VLAN to Rule Them All

Human alternate show titles:

  • The only way to update ‘em is to pull ‘em off a wall
  • Manufacturers on Blast
  • The Rooms Trend
  • Sometimes two, if you’re a sociopath
  • Because Zoom said so
  • A think tank of individuals
  • The things that happen on my campus are not my decision
  • Larry’s Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs
  • I’m not super successful
  • We’re not successful at it, but it’s a need
  • Pull off the data
  • Actually it’s more important
  • My accidental crap
  • Isolate the stupid traffic
  • I’m still blasting it everywhere

We stream live every Friday at about 3:30 PM Eastern/12:30 PM Pacific, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded February 14, 2025

In this Valentine’s Day special, the crew dives into a lively discussion about the latest trends in cloud-hosted monitoring systems that promise to do it all to the quirks of working with various learning management systems. The panel shares their thoughts on the challenges of integrating technology in dynamic spaces and the importance of understanding the needs of users who may not have traditional access to AV equipment.

Will they find the perfect balance between functionality and user-friendliness? Tune in to find out!

News: https://onedtech.philhillaa.com/p/state-of-higher-ed-lms-market-for-us-and-canada-year-end-2024-edition

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Cloudy with a Chance of AV
  • Love is in the Air (And So is the AV)
  • The AV Sweetheart Special
  • Roses are Red, AV is Blue
  • Hearts and Hardware

Much better human alternate show titles:

  • Girl, you know it’s true
  • Hidden under a carrot or hamburger
  • Why are you doing this?
  • Red light green light
  • It’s not my network
  • What do you mean, “What do you mean?”
  • Throw it away and buy our new sh*t
  • Are you proud of that?
  • Y’all are breaking all your rules
  • I’m like “Good! Let’s do it!”
  • Still wouldn’t do it
  • That’s a big gap
  • All it’s doing is saving me time
  • Are we willing to get uncomfortable?
  • BOYD-first posture
  • It’s an official standard
  • Gas station roses

We stream live every Friday at about 3:30 PM Eastern/12:30 PM Pacific, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com.

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded January 17, 2025

It’s February, which means Groundhog Day! On this episode of On Topic, we review the perennial favorites of the IT and AV world that keep coming back year after year, from the trials of consultants to the challenges of wireless display technologies. We cover the ongoing debates around device compatibility, network security, and the ever-elusive search for the perfect microphone system. Plus, we share our experiences with the quirky requests that come from faculty and staff, and the creative solutions we’ve tried to implement (or avoid) over the years.

Don’t miss out on the fun - tune in for a jam-packed episode filled with insights, laughter, and the occasional rant. And remember, your support helps keep the AV SuperFriends rolling, so share the love and spread the word!

Connect with Teddy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddy-murphy-mba-cts-3a31903b/

Alternate show titles:

  • Future You Problem
  • Potential Nickel and Diming
  • Voodoo magic witchcraft
  • Equipment to spy on them
  • China is listening
  • I ain’t touching that with a 15 ft pole
  • They couldn’t afford the electric
  • I told you that sh*t two years ago
  • I’ll put it on an island if it works
  • Show seasons
  • Wacky-ass aspect ratios
  • Podunk podunk

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded January 24, 2025

We’re joined by Colin Birney who highlights how MSPs operate as a tier-two support system, providing expertise and assistance for institutions that may not have the resources to manage their AV systems effectively. This model allows for a more streamlined approach to troubleshooting and ensures that educational institutions can focus on their primary mission: teaching and learning.

The discussion also touches on the often amusing colloquial names given to various campus spaces. We all recount our experiences with confusing room names that can lead to miscommunication and frustration. With so many rooms named after donors or faculty members, it’s easy to see how someone might struggle to locate the “Mitchell Room” when their ticket only says “Room 101.”

All this and the news, too!

News article discussed: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/products/primeview-introduces-world-first-led-roll-up-display-21-01-2025/

Connect with Colin Birney and AV-MSP:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-birney/

https://av-msp.com

Educause HECVAT:

https://library.educause.edu/resources/2020/4/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit

Alternate show titles:

  • They don’t tell you where their people are
  • Tier 2 desk
  • We don’t really like to talk to end users
  • Does it matter if your DSP was offline for 5 minutes?
  • AV is IOT
  • Not when it’s inconvenient it’s not…
  • Just stop making wireless appliances
  • Event insurance
  • Depends on the class…
  • The “What if?” game
  • Buried under busy work
  • Figure out what that thing is on your arm
  • Buy ‘em chicken tenders
  • Designing for support
  • Les Moore

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded January 10, 2025

In our first episode of the year, we launch a brand new series where we review some of our recent internal projects. Marc kicks it off with his project of an ambitious transformation of a residential-standard building into a modern collaborative space, complete with flexible meeting spaces for a mix of university staff and non-university guest users. Also news of the discontinuation of Crestron's DigitalMedia products (but not really) and consumer devices driving commercial AV.

Crestron’s announcement: https://go.crestroninfo.com/webmail/767943/1926282682/f167ee3ceca170406bc12c4d7b1f96a64cd2029764e3a6dd248c7290118a0ac2

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • War Room Woes
  • Dirt Walls and Other Disasters
  • The Great Crestron Conundrum
  • MicroLED Madness
  • Consumer AV: The New Frontier
  • Teams Rooms: The Unexpected Solution
  • From Residential to Revolutionary

Much better human-suggested alternate show titles:

  • That hyphen is important
  • It’s not a house
  • Buckets of use case
  • Digital signage president
  • Wow wall
  • Leadership didn’t want to spend a lot of money
  • That’s where all our stuff lives
  • They’re not fake; they’re just stupid
  • A lot of surface mounted garbage
  • In need of some type of technology
  • This sh*t never changes
  • Little tiny sharpshooter groups
  • Explore the rooms

We stream live every Friday at about 3:30 PM Eastern/12:30 PM Pacific, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded December 13, 2025

Welcome to the future!

Join us as we review last year's predictions, with some hits and plenty of misses, and make bold new forecasts for the year ahead. From more Microsoft integration woes to the potential of all-in-one LED displays, there's plenty to discuss and debate.

AI-suggested Alternate show titles:

  • Predictions, Pontifications, and Preposterous Proclamations
  • The Future is Now, and It’s Confusing
  • Consultants, Cabling, and Crystal Balls
  • AI: Under Every Couch Cushion
  • The Year of the Kit
  • More Microsoft, More Problems
  • Infamous or Illustrious?
  • The Digital Accessibility Act is Coming
  • No More Network Islands
  • USB-C: The Real Deal
  • A Quarter Dozen Displays
  • New Boss, New Challenges

Much better alternate show titles by humans:

  • Man-dates
  • Some trash that AI has done
  • I would argue it’s not there there
  • Compute of the year
  • Handy, but gross
  • Everybody in IT agrees that’s great
  • Here comes the consultant
  • We want to see it talk
  • See everything within without
  • Quarter dozen

We stream live every Friday at about 300p Eastern/1200p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded December 6, 2024

Celebrate with us as we hit a milestone - Episode 100 of Off the Rails! This episode is packed with nostalgia, laughter, and a touch of chaos as we reminisce about our journey. Join Chris, Jamie, Marc, Larry, Justin, and special guest Rachel as they dive into their favorite moments and discuss when AV was truly the most AV.

We also explore the world of 4D movie experiences with Justin's hilarious recount of a wild ride at a Nashville theater. If you've ever wondered about the mysteries of AV, this episode is a must-listen.

Plus, don't miss our special announcements about the upcoming AV Christmas Carol live read!

Join us live every Friday and connect with us on social media for more AV insights and laughs.

And remember, your support keeps the AV SuperFriends rolling, so spread the word and enjoy the show!

Alternate show titles:

  • Public spaces in which I’m willing to be wet
  • Looks like a very dry movie
  • Me and her ate our gummies
  • I start observing things
  • I made notes of things I observed
  • Tubes hanging out of ‘em
  • You’ll know when I start to get concerned
  • I don’t mind being a little moist
  • There’s no seatbelt
  • Was that a calibration
  • I’m worried about staying in the mf-ing chair
  • She can’t eat her popcorn
  • When the horse happened
  • My back hurt for a week
  • I don’t know if she’s walking straight
  • I’m pretty sure you’d puke
  • 4D MTR
  • It takes subtle indicators to fool your mind
  • The weirdos who bought $5,000 Apple headsets
  • I’m ready to scar my children permanently tonight!
  • There’s pain and there’s pain
  • Those AV carts are cute and all…
  • Too good for a tube TV
  • That experience was “meh”
  • That was a terrible time in my life
  • There’s no mystery to that
  • I wear pants and I don’t touch my (volume) knob
  • I will never live it down

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded November 22, 2024

In this special holiday episode, we explore why we've all landed on AV Santa's naughty list this year. Jamie recounts a PTP clock fiasco, Marc reviews his overly ambitious Teams Rooms rollout, Larry finds himself recommending 21:9 displays, Justin grapples with direct view LED walls and network islands, and Chris rounds it off with tales of outdated equipment and missed opportunities in building renovations.

Be sure to join us for our live Christmas special on Friday, December 20th, at 3:30 PM Eastern/12:30 PM Pacific. Stay tuned on social media for more details!

Alternate show titles:

  • AVoIP belongs on the enterprise
  • PTP clocks are sneaky little bastards
  • It’s like teenagers in the 80s
  • We just drove through fences
  • Have y’all ever asked the question…
  • That’s what architects think
  • When you do them, it’s a bit of a cluster
  • Every adapter under the sun
  • They’re really difficult to manage
  • We all pooh-pooh it
  • And then this morning happened…
  • Sea level suites
  • I haven’t gone wackadoo yet
  • Microscopes with microphones
  • The Robin Hood of AV

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

Rate and review us on your favorite platform to help spread the word!

View Details

Recorded November 15, 2024

(Still AI slop that needs editing for coherence - cjd)

Can you feel the tension of an impending finale?

As we approach the century mark, we review the perils of product development to the disconnect between manufacturers and end users. Shaun shares his insider perspective on how manufacturers prioritize product ideas, the role of software in AV, and the importance of customer feedback in shaping the future of technology.

We also explore the pitfalls of one-size-fits-all design guides, the frustrations of dealing with outdated solutions, and the ever-present struggle of procurement versus integration.

AV NEWS: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-11-13-revolutionizing-how-educators-find-tech-solutions

Connect with Shaun Robinson:

  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunrobinson7/
  • https://www.xilica.com
  • shaun.robinson@xilica.com

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • AV SuperFriends: The Penultimate Adventure
  • Legacy Infrastructure and Other Myths
  • Widget Fest: Where Adaptors Take the Stage
  • Manufacturers vs. Reality: The Ultimate Showdown
  • Procurement: The Real Battlefield
  • Goggles Are the Future

Much better alternate show titles from humans:

  • Unindated
  • Where do you want it hung?
  • We can’t control it
  • Idiots and monkeys with wrenches
  • Look at me; I bought a TV
  • Who they gonna call?
  • We’re edumacating people here
  • Our service of choice
  • Panja Cleanup Crew
  • Let’s assume that they have product managers
  • Let’s go make one of those but a little bit better
  • Basket of widgets
  • Spending millions of dollars making garbage
  • It took too long and it’s not a problem any more
  • Before anyone knew how to spell QR code
  • It didn’t work… great
  • Let’s cook a new cake
  • Ex-”tron” Rep
  • Who the F are you talking to?
  • Knowing thy client
  • Things happen when I press buttons
  • One brochure away from success
  • Get in my white panel van

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded November 8, 2024

(Is it just me or are these AI-generated summaries getting worse?)

Join us to discuss the pros and cons of AV over IP encoders and the sunk cost fallacy of repurposing outdated AV equipment. We debate the practicality of multi-input encoders, the allure of HDBaseT cameras, and the inevitable obsolescence of technology. Are these AV solutions worth the investment, or is it time to move on?

The conversation meanders into the realm of aspect ratios, the future of ultra-wide displays, and the unexpected role of goggles in the AV landscape. Plus, we explore the potential of Gain Sharing POE and the pitfalls of overbuilt systems.

News article discussed (sorta): https://9to5mac.com/2024/11/04/tvos-18-2-aspect-ratio-apple-tv/

AI-generated alternate show titles:

  • AV Over IP: The Switcher Saga
  • Introduction and Panelist Introductions
  • Aspect Ratios and Ultra-Wide Displays
  • AV Over IP Encoders: Pros and Cons
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy: Repurposing Old Equipment
  • Gain Sharing POE: Innovation or Gimmick?
  • Conclusion and Final Thoughts

AVSF-generated alternate show titles:

  • Don’t worry; it’ll stretch
  • I’m guilty of bringing this up
  • MSRP is our motto
  • We’re like cereal boxes
  • Possibly, maybe
  • I want to see all the associated things
  • Kit of box parts
  • It just goes in
  • Room for growth
  • I don’t get paychecks that way
  • $100 doc cams that we put everywhere

We stream live (almost) every Friday at about 315p Eastern / 1215p Pacific, and listen to all episodes at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 30, 2024

(I’m still letting AI write this, but I have to edit it more and more recently - cjd)

It's time for a Thanksgiving special with the AV SuperFriends! We’re discussing our favorite AV "side dishes"—those unsung heroes in AV systems that make everything work smoothly.

As they gather for a virtual Thanksgiving dinner, the AV SuperFriends explore the role of HDMI extenders, button panels with built-in processors, and ever-useful IP-controlled power distribution. They also dive into the intricacies of network video decoders and the importance of networking with other institutions to share knowledge and ideas. Plus, they tackle the age-old debate of stuffing versus dressing and the best way to enjoy a Frosty with fries.

But it wouldn't be an AV SuperFriends episode without a bit of mayhem. With overproof rum, cigars, and a homemade crème brûlée flambe on the menu, things get a little heated—literally. Will Lisle's kitchen survive the festivities? Tune in to find out!

Connect with Lisle Waldron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lislew/

Alternate show titles:

  • AV Side Dishes
  • Proprietary bootleg weird versions
  • I tend to not use the weird ones
  • Here you go; good luck
  • Off the top of my brain
  • Shout out to you button panels out there
  • If you want to redraw and copy my sh*t
  • Chicken Noodley
  • Soup in an IV bag
  • Let’s go pick your meat
  • Granola bar soup
  • That one is more Chinese than most
  • Events that have a definite beginning and end
  • There’s no law there
  • I am the law
  • A brick of butter
  • Sanity boxes
  • The cornerstone of every nutritious breakfast
  • Shove it up the butt of a bird
  • Stuffing goes in the bird, dressing goes on the side
  • Frosty was the first ice cream
  • The T fell off because he was too drunk

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 18, 2024

(Still written by the AI goon squad - cjd)

Get ready for a wild ride about projects and products that almost hit the mark but fell short, and the ever-present challenge of finding the perfect balance between seminar rooms and classrooms. We dive into topics like the future of smart glasses in classrooms, the pitfalls of hardware-based annotation devices, and the elusive middle ground between basic seminar rooms and full-fledged integrated systems. We also cover the challenges of commercial construction, and the ever-evolving world of digital signage and wireless sharing appliances.

Article discussed: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-10-10-if-smart-glasses-are-coming-what-will-that-mean-for-classrooms

Alternate show titles (written by AI):

  • The Great Camera Conundrum
  • The Seminar Room Dilemma
  • Is that a Camera in Your Conference Room?
  • Navigating the Seminar Room Jungle
  • When Soundbars Aren’t Enough



Better alternate show titles (written by AVSF):

  • Glasses in our classes
  • QM Elf
  • It’s still on doc cam to this day
  • Have you ever driven off a cliff…
  • Just buy a decoder and you guys make it work

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded throughout October 2024

In our biggest production ever, we’re proud to present AVSF: The Ghost in the Machine.

The AV SuperFriends are called upon to fix haunted classrooms on campus. Join the team as they venture into the heart of the haunting, battling against time and supernatural forces to uncover the secrets buried beneath the campus. With humor, teamwork, and a touch of the paranormal, this episode promises thrills, chills, spills, bills, and a few laughs along the way.

This was 3 months of work, 11,000 words, 45 pages, 12 speaking roles, a cast of your favorite AV nerds, 8 original songs, 30 minutes of original score, and 120 minutes of utter AV SuperFriends nonsense. Be sure to check out the version on YouTube with 20 images synced to the story to really get the full multimedia experience. It’s a sequel to last year’s special, but you don’t have to be familiar with that episode to enjoy this one. What are we going to do next year to top it?

Directed by, written by, and songs and music by: Christopher Dechter

Editing by and soundscapes by: Marc Cholewczynski

Special appearances by:

  • Chris Neto
  • Britt Yenser
  • Don Merritt
  • Frank Alaimo
  • Atkins Fleming
  • Richard Mitchell
  • Cameron Sofsky

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded October 11, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write all this stuff - cjd)

We dive into the world of assistive technologies, AI-generated transcripts, and the quirks of Bluetooth systems. Today's discussion zeroes in on the upcoming digital accessibility deadlines, the challenges of compliance, and the importance of starting somewhere, even when the task seems daunting. We also explore the exciting potential of Bluetooth Low Energy audio systems and how they can revolutionize assistive listening in educational environments.

Finally, we discuss the peculiarities of AI transcription services. Are they ready for prime time? Spoiler alert: not quite yet.

News article: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-07-19-are-schools-and-edtech-companies-ready-for-the-digital-accessibility-deadline

Connect with Mikey Shaffer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyshaffer/

Bluetooth SIG Auracast: https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/

Ampetronic Auracast: https://www.ampetronic.com/auracast-broadcast-overview/

Listen Technologies monthly webinar on ADA: https://www.listentech.com/training/

Listen Technologies Auri product line: https://www.listentech.com/auri/

AI-suggested alternate show titles:

  • Bluetooth Bonanza
  • The Accessibility Adventure
  • AI Transcription Terrors
  • Assistive Listening Revolution
  • Digital Deadline Drama
  • The Future is Bluetooth
  • Transcription Trials and Tribulations
  • The Great Accessibility Debate
  • Tech Tangles and Triumphs
  • AV Adventures in Accessibility

Better alternative show titles:

  • The Dante for ALS
  • Talk like someone from Kentucky
  • I love not taking notes
  • A bunch of Furbies hanging out

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 27, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write all this stuff cjd)

Today's discussion tackles topics such as the minimum viable product for AV projects and the challenges of AI-generated content. The conversation dives into the intricacies of AV project management, from cutting corners during commissioning, to the potential pitfalls of cloud-based management systems.

The team also shares their thoughts on the latest trends in AV technology, including the rise of cloud services for managing AV equipment and the importance of setting realistic expectations for technology solutions.

News: https://www.shure.com/en-US/support/shurecloud

Zoom Test: https://www.zoom.us/test

Alternate show titles:

  • The Cloud Conundrum
  • AI Adventures
  • AV Sprinkles on Dog Doo
  • The Minimum Viable Podcast
  • Legacy Metrics and Modern Solutions
  • Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
  • Configuration Only
  • Shine on the Wall
  • Done vs. Done Done

Better alternate show titles:

  • The real problem is putting it all on the network
  • We learnt Larry something
  • We put as much grease as we could on that sumbitch and we couldn’t get it in there
  • Just gimme a standard room
  • I don’t love it, but it’s OK
  • Is the customer going to complain about this?
  • But that’s somebody else’s job
  • Swallowing that down sucks
  • I would rather tweak the audio than label cables
  • I would rather screw over support than the customer
  • I don’t like to do that but that’s the way it is

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 20, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write this - cjd)

Welcome to the AV SuperFriends on Topic, episode number 51! In this special October episode, we dive into the scariest trends in AV. From the pitfalls of over-reliance on IT-centric AV solutions to the haunting rise of unrealistic client expectations, this episode is packed with spine-chilling insights and our signature blend of expertise and humor.

Today's discussion tackles topics like the overcomplication of AV systems, the dangers of network islands, and the growing frustration with licensing for everyday items. Plus, we share our thoughts on the ever-evolving world of soundbars and the complexities of room systems like Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms.

Whether you're an AV professional or just someone interested in the latest tech trends, this episode offers valuable insights and plenty of laughs. Don't miss out on the fun and make sure to connect with us on our social media channels!

Alternate show titles:

  • The AV Horror Show
  • Network Nightmares
  • Soundbar Madness
  • Licensing Hell
  • Room System Woes

Better alternate show titles:

  • AV Sprinkles
  • I give it to them in the wrong space

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded September 13, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write all this stuff - cjd)

In this special Friday the 13th episode, the AV SuperFriends are back with a mix of humor, chaos, and insightful discussions on the latest in higher ed AV.

Today's topics include the love-hate relationship with button panels and the complexities of troubleshooting AV systems. The team dives into why button panels are still relevant, the importance of simplifying user interfaces, and the pitfalls of overcomplicating troubleshooting processes.

They also discuss the latest survey from Western Governors University on faculty perceptions of educational technology. The conversation touches on the burnout caused by constant connectivity and the pressure to keep up with ever-evolving tech tools.

As always, the episode is sprinkled with humor, off-topic banter, and a couple of brand-new commercials that are sure to make you chuckle.

Article discussed:

  • https://edscoop.com/university-college-faculty-technology-burnout-wgu-survey/
  • https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25080448/embargoed-wgu-labs-final_2024-faculty-edtech-survey.pdf

Alternate show titles:

  • Button Panels: The New Touch Panels
  • Why Does Everything Have to be So Difficult?
  • More Tech, More Problems
  • Friday the 13th AV Adventures
  • Faculty Burnout and Tech Fatigue

Better alternate show titles:

  • We’re going to be On-Prem-Remote
  • People prefer the knob
  • I need a 6-gang rough-in
  • Two gallons of Internet
  • Check this out!
  • Buy it first and try it out
  • If you do, you made a mistake
  • Black box effect
  • It could be any of the ‘trons

We stream live every Friday, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 16, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write all this stuff - cjd)

Chris Dechter kicks off another Friday afternoon podcast adventure with the AV SuperFriends. Despite a larger panel and some absences, the team dives into the ever-thrilling topic of budgeting in higher education AV systems.

Joined by a diverse panel including Marc Cholewczynski, Larry Darling, Justin Rexing, Lyle Waldron, and Donnie Merritt, the discussion revolves around the challenges and strategies of managing AV budgets across various institutions. From differing approaches to budgeting, to the impact of COVID-19 on funding, and the importance of standardization, the team explores how to stretch every dollar while maintaining functionality.

They also touch on the importance of being at the table with university executives, understanding the real needs of teaching spaces, and the potential for rethinking AV standards in a post-COVID world.

Whether you're dealing with a shoestring budget or trying to make the most of one-time funds, this episode offers valuable insights and practical advice for anyone involved in higher ed AV management.

Alternate show titles (from AI):

  • The Budgeting Adventure
  • Stretching Every Dollar
  • AV Budget Woes
  • Standards Are Not Brands
  • The Art of Budgeting

Article discussed: https://www.avnation.tv/2024/07/29/the-higher-ed-technology-storm-brewing/

Connect with our guests: Don Merritt - Director, Instructional Resources at the University of Central Florida https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmerrittphd/

Lisle Waldron - Manager, Multimedia and Audio-Visual Services at The University of Trinidad and Tobago https://www.linkedin.com/in/lislew/

Real alternate show titles:

  • I’m part of Florida now
  • Magical Money from Heaven
  • A Wish on a Monkey’s Paw
  • Faculty don’t care what they’re touching
  • I’m Justin on an Island
  • The Good News is I have No Money

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing ► Lyle Waldron: @lylewaldron ► Donnie Merritt: @donniemerritt

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 23, 2024

(Yes, I let AI write this - cjd)

On today’s show, we dive into some of the worst AV mistakes we’ve ever made but never admitted to. From miswired speaker systems to network multicast nightmares, this episode is a confessional of epic proportions. We also tackle a listener email about tuning audio in a room, offering practical advice on how to make classrooms sound better using DSPs like QSC’s Q-SYS.

Article discussed: Extron Firmware Update: https://www.extron.com/article/gcp-driver_1740

Connect with Richard Mitchell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-mitchell-41972a8/

Alternate show titles:

  • Global Resonance Only
  • I Was Hot Sh*t
  • The Great Diesel Gas Hybrid Experiment
  • Shake It Till You Make It
  • Mono Audio for the Win
  • Nuke It from Orbit
  • Firmware Friday

Better alternate show titles:

  • Enough to wire a house
  • I went through ten or twelve
  • The whole sum’ b*tch
  • There’s sound when I leave
  • I was convinced to tie a cable to my belt
  • I’m pretty sure I just filled this up with diesel
  • I just had the IP address mixed in there
  • Three words: Syn Aud Con

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month, and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded August 9, 2024

Chris is confused about what day it is so he has to intro the show twice. Then once we’ve figure that out, we’re joined by Robert Durbin and Travis Cawthorne from Kramer AV to talk about their recent acquisition of ZeeVee.

Next, we discuss the concept of streamlining classroom AV systems to just a PC or laptop… or both. Why does anyone need more than that anyway? All your content is starting there, so get rid of the rest of your stuff! It’s contentious, but surely a glimpse of the future.

Finally, there’s a technology arms race for building out spaces on campus with student recruiting specifically in mind. Besides, those campus tours never go look at our oldest and worst spaces, do they?

Article discussed: https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2024/07/how-universities-can-use-tech-recruit-students

Robert Durbin

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwdurbin/

Travis Cawthorne

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traviscawthorne/

Alternate show titles:

  • I love to drag around a case
  • Oversaturated with ‘trons
  • It’s USB all the way down
  • Jamming Teams Room
  • 90% is happening from a single source
  • The other side of that argument is everyone else
  • The cheapest USB adapter you have
  • What Jamie did as a science experiment was cool
  • Up to your knees in network video
  • You got your chocolate in my peanut butter
  • Tronasys
  • Whack-a-mole one-button

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded (and streamed live) on July 26, 2024

No topic provided again this month, so we decided to look at the numbers for display technologies. Where does it make sense to consider LCDs vs. projectors vs. LEDs? Chris even built a spreadsheet of rough numbers because he’s a nerd that way. Are LEDs becoming cheap enough to replace projectors? Is anyone building LCD videowalls these days? What are you installing on your campus?

Spreadsheet link: https://tinyurl.com/dkxv92t4

Alternate show titles:

  • I should have three or four and looking at more
  • Put the money on the wall

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewczynski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded July 19, 2024

It’s the summer doldrums, so instead of news, Marc shares the AV experiences from his summer vacation to the House of Mouse. Oddly painted speakers, immersion breaking VR, and RF-beacon driven proximity audio broadcasts are just some of the highlights.

Then we respond to a Reddit forum post about how university AV teams are structured. Everyone is a bit different and we didn’t even get to full division organization charts. Some of us have partner teams on campus, some do it all, and some even do other teams’ jobs for them. How are you structured?

Finally, who is buying all these capturing-recording-streaming boxes and why? This concept breaks Chris’s brain and causes him to lose sleep.

Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/1e40pxi/university_jobs

Alternate show titles:

  • The Surprise AV Experience
  • Fuschia not Chartreuse
  • The Costco Experience
  • Dollywood After Dark
  • Subpar AV
  • We do some advanced systems
  • A lot of twirling
  • How do you do all that work?
  • The Cabling Crew
  • If our internal team is in the hospital…
  • Legitimate Programming
  • Nobody’s responsible for anything ever
  • It’s hard to know what everybody does all the time
  • It’s not a flat service

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded July 12, 2024

We’re bookending the show with SMPTE 2110 stories, so we start with discussion of Cisco hosting a webinar on Precision Time Protocol (PTP). If you don’t know what all that is, it’s potentially huge news for AVoIP to play nice on enterprise networks from the sleepy giant of networking.

Then we discuss the non-electronic products we prefer for building equipment racks, mounting projectors, hiding gear behind display monitors, and working with conference tables. We’re pretty well all over the place, but we all agree that ADA compliance and keeping things clean go hand-in-hand.

Finally, we consider an odd product from Blackmagic Design. This could be the greatest thing we didn’t see at InfoComm or the worst thing ever created. And it’s SMPTE 2110 native!

Cisco webinar: https://blogs.cisco.com/sports-media-entertainment/take-your-st-2110-workflow-to-the-next-level

Blackmagic Ethernet switch: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicethernetswitch

Alternate show titles:

  • Whatever the other acronyms are
  • It nerdily excited me
  • It’s going to have to trickle down a lot
  • They have to do things and figure it out
  • Keeps hands out of places
  • It’s a 15 lumen projector
  • Bop-it!
  • There’s always a better way to do it
  • Be careful of people’s knees
  • It was kind of a b*tthole move on my part
  • I’ve done weirder

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 26, 2024

No topic was provided this month, so instead we’re going to make this our summer Fourth of July special. So, get out your flags, wake up the kids for the renewal of their annual loyalty oath, fire up the grills, smoker, or barbecue, light off the sparklers and firecrackers, and let’s celebrate America by blowing up a small part of it.

We’ve each collected our favorite AV products, solutions, services, or approaches that we’d like to blow up. Larry doesn’t like formal instructor stations in conference rooms, Marc hates giant card frames, Chris despises giant amplifiers powering only a few loudspeakers, Justin is not a fan of professional PTZ cameras with only USB output, and Jamie detests displays with onboard operating systems.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 12, 2024

In something of a lost recording that Chris couldn’t find, Justin, Larry, and Chris visit with Liberty AV and speak with Kevin Peterman about AVoIP solutions, Corey Briggs about cloud monitoring, and Ed Jankowski about Liberty’s approach to the AV industry.

Special thanks to Brad Thomas for wrangling colleagues.

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 21, 2024

The AV SuperFriends have returned from InfoComm which means it’s an InfoComm recap show! Short version: there was far less “AI” braggadocio and way more cloud cloud cloud. For those of you who weren’t able to join us on our traditional Friday AM show floor tour, we review our selections from that and links are below. We also discuss some additional products and solutions that we missed and didn’t read about until the following week but wish we could have seen in person.

Products from the best InfoComm show floor tour:

  • Inogeni Toggle

    • https://inogeni.com/product-category/byod-byom-switcher/

    • Hovercam eGlass

    • https://eglass.io/

    • Hovercam Pilot wireless lectern

    • https://www.hovercam.com/teaching-stations

    • Liberty CX Detect

    • https://cxunify.com/cxdetect.html

    • Apantac Dante on-ramp - DA-HDTV-Dante-Tx-UHD

    • https://www.apantac.com/products/mt-hood/hdmi-to-dante-converter

    • Revolution Acoustics SSP6 Multiducers

    • https://www.revolutionacoustics.com/products/ssp6-multiducers

    • Squirrels Ditto wireless sharing software

    • https://www.airsquirrels.com/ditto

    • Listen AURI Bluetooth system

    • https://www.listentech.com/auri/

    • https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/

    • Catchbox Plus system

    • https://catchbox.com/catchbox-plus

Alternate show titles:

  • Stupid browser
  • This is awesome and here’s why
  • It’s gonna be kumbaya
  • Nano-whatever-the-hell-technology
  • No OSHA, no rules
  • Sorry if I gave you my COVID

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 14, 2024

Larry, Justin, and Chris visit with Zach Snook from Biamp (while sitting on the most comfortable chairs on the show floor) to discuss their newest announcements and product updates, including the long-awaited analog input on the VBC conferencing bars. Jamie will be disappointed at no AVB connectivity for expansion, so he’ll have to be satisfied with LAN control and monitoring… for now!

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 14, 2024

Larry, Chris, and Justin review their thoughts from Day 2 and what they’re looking for during Day 3. There’s been more LED displays (including lots of all-in-one units) at far more reasonable prices, lots of USB-C (could it actually be an option for wide deployments in the future?), and some dude on the very top of a ladder.

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2024

(Note: Our super duper awesome recorder died right in the middle of this episode, so it cuts off abruptly; see the episode artwork. Unrelated: anyone want to buy a multichannel recorder?)

Larry, Justin, and Chris invade the Computer Comforts booth to talk classroom furniture, the development process, partnerships with university customers, and even some new ideas that Chris totally invented on the spot. We also welcome by a motley crew of fellow higher ed tech managers from the adjacent HETMA booth to talk about their experiences at InfoComm thus far.

Thanks again to Chris Kolavo, Vince Barletta, and Chad Asay at Computer Comforts for letting us drag cables all over their booth!

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 13, 2024

Larry, Justin, and Chris share their thoughts about Day 1 at InfoComm and trends they’re seeing at the show. AI is MIA, there’s lots of iterative software improvements to existing hardware, and be sure to stop by the Panasonic booth to see the mist display. We also discuss our approaches to automatic cameras and hybrid seminar spaces.

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website:https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 12, 2024

Justin, Larry, and Chris are joined by Mike Brandes, David Maksa, and Jonathan Moore from Q-SYS for an unorthodox and honest discussion of product ecosystems, working with partner manufacturers, computes vs. computeRs, adding software features years after shipping hardware, NDI emulation mode, and darn near everything in between. Thanks for sitting in with us! Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebrandesav/

David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-maksa-05527322/

Jonathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmicmoo/

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded June 12, 2024

Even after a few false starts and a recalcitrant multi-channel recorder, we did manage to squeeze out an early morning episode before the show floor opened. Justin, Larry, and Chris talk high level trends and solutions we expect to see this week. We’re expecting better AI-enabled automatic cameras, cloud-connected everything, and room systems that we can actually integrate in a traditional teaching environment.

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded (and streamed live) on May 17, 2024

This month’s topic is “InfoComm” so we saw that as an opportunity to discuss what trends we’re seeing, what we’re looking forward to and what types of products we’re looking for at the show. We also teased some of the recordings and events we’ll be attending at InfoComm so follow us on the Tweeters and LinkedIn to find us on the show floor and get some special AVSF swag!

Alternate show titles:

  • Networked… Stuff
  • Zoom-enabled projector
  • Smart-ish microphone
  • The secret sauce is the software
  • No-Jamboard
  • Is it Azure ready?
  • Oh, my gawd, no. Larry, that’s wrong.

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded May 24, 2024

MIT has invented revolutionary electrified material for sound masking and absorption… aka, curtains. That’s not entirely fair and it’s not yet a real thing, but this technology might become commonplace in the future.

Then we discuss just what services we provide to campus and to whom. We also cover who qualifies and why and how we determine who gets supported (everyone) and how we determine what is and isn’t covered. It’s… messy.

Finally, just what happens when someone presses the “System Start” button… or is there even a button for that? Are we defaulting routes based on user metrics? Are we enabling cameras and unmuting mics?

News story: https://news.mit.edu/2024/sound-suppressing-silk-can-create-quiet-spaces-0507

Alternate show titles:

  • Larry, you’re wagging your finger at me
  • Justin, you’ve been painted into this corner
  • We have one job….support
  • We don’t support that
  • Who’s going to clean up this paint?
  • We’re becoming more seg-mentated
  • Hidden conference rooms
  • International Work from Home Day

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded May 10, 2024

After pushing for higher and higher resolutions, some broadcasters are giving up and returning to the comfort of 1080P. Besides, if most people are watching said broadcasts on a 5” phone stream over mobile data, then what’s the point of 4K or 8K?

Then we revisit a presentation we gave recently at NWMET on the Top 10 Things to Avoid in Your Next AV Project. We can’t count and provide eleven things, but you get the point. Even the AV SuperFriends compromise on some of these from time to time, but please don’t start new projects with any of them.

Finally, because it’s the end of the school year and almost the end of the fiscal year, lots of departments and colleges are asking IT to help them spend their money. We review some of the most ridiculous or unreasonable requests we’ve received from departments or colleges and how we responded.

News article discussed: https://www.svconline.com/proav-today/sports-leagues-uefa-shifting-away-4k

Our episode from 2023 on USB: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/episodes/off-the-rails-episode-55-it-will-universally-aggravate-you

Alternate show titles:

  • Kit of choice
  • I’m not trying to pooh pooh these things
  • Certified
  • How would somebody know if they have consumer-ish garbage?
  • On the back of a napkin…
  • Haptic seats
  • I wanna wirelessly plug in my laptop
  • More pop-ups than a porn site
  • Nevermind. You can do it again
  • Or don’t welcome them
  • I’m giving you the swimmies
  • It such a cute ask
  • I got a call from a facilities PM guy
  • Aircraft carrier instructor station

We stream live on the first and third Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 16, 2024

This month’s topic is “Commencement” and we don’t want to talk about that. So, instead, we’re going to talk about working with students, graduating students to the next level of their academic and professional careers, and converting student workers into full time employees.

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 26, 2024

The AV industry has a bit of a drinking problem and step one is admitting it. Thanks to friends of the show Brittany DiCesare and Steve Greenblatt for their editorial in Commercial Integrator. To be clear, we’re not anti-alcohol and we all enjoy a drink or four at our industry events, but when event after event after event is nothing but drinking, maybe it’s time to rethink things. Heck, there are entire organizations who seem to exist solely for the purpose of drinking and it’s a bit tiresome. Ok, off the soapbox.

We’re joined by Jose Mozota, President of Fremen Solutions, to talk about some of the challenges, opportunities, and solutions around AVoIP. This started as the simple question of “which one is best” and ended up a wide ranging conversation about manufacturer adoption, network topology, proprietary and open codecs, why no one really cares about 4:4:4 color subsampling or 4K resolution, and why AVoIP is an inaccurate acronym.

Finally, we share some listener feedback that sums up why we do what we do.

News article discussed:

https://www.commercialintegrator.com/insights/a-healthy-approach-to-trade-shows-and-industry-events/133567/

Alternate show titles:

  • Build that Bridge to Connect that Island
  • Everyone has an island somewhere
  • Mmm… maybe
  • That would be a must to have for me
  • Three or four flavors of this crap
  • AVoIP is a misnomer

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded (and broadcast live) on March 28, 2024

We’re still at NWMET and hosting a morning fireside chat show! Jamie and Larry are impressed by NWMET, Justin’s bad knee, the long road our portable recording kit took to get from Kentucky or Oregon, the well-rounded but focused atmosphere of NWMET, and our special NWMET bucks.

NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded (and broadcast live) on March 25, 2024

For the first time since last summer, (almost) all of the AV SuperFriends were together in one place at NWMET 2024 in Corvallis, Oregon, so we figured we might as well record a show. And yes, we’re really in a bowling alley.

Earlier that day, we hosted a town hall open forum at Biamp HQ and we had so many topics, we simply couldn’t get to them all, so we pick up from where we left off and work through topics such as auto-tracking cameras, microphones for students, AVoIP, budgeting, and the joys of software licensing.

A special thanks to our good friends at Biamp.

Biamp: https://www.biamp.com

NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded April 17, 2024

Rather than a single news story, we cover a handful of product announcements from (and prior to) NAB. Blackmagic announced a bunch of SMPTE 2110 devices (sorta), Osbot has an NDI adapter that goes the wrong way, Cleanfeed is now supporting video (yea!), and PTZ Optics has an entire software production suite for their cameras.

Then, we get into One Button Studios. Please don’t build these. There’s too many compromises and the experience is terrible. What people really want are “Self-service studios” that fit existing (and supported) campus workflows. Sure, you can build unicorns, but please stop. Also, if you do build one, it had better well use only one button. One of the AV SuperFriends works at a campus with a nominal one button studio that has a seven page instruction guide…

Finally, Chris shares his concept of designing AV systems out of spite. Some might call it malicious AV integration, but it’s more of an opportunity to streamline and improve general classrooms.

Alternate show titles:

  • I await the true mass disruption
  • It’s now for us poor people
  • Curmudgedly Old Truck Guys
  • Porn picking VHS
  • I use foot pedals
  • Everybody is on their own here
  • This is where it gets slippery
  • One button anonymous
  • There is no metric out there
  • Bring Your Own One Button Studio Studio
  • If you build enough unicorns, it stops building a unicorn
  • Rectal scan
  • See that knob? That’s what that does
  • Don’t do this, but do that
  • I’m afraid of it being successful
  • I need it to have some success

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded March 15, 2024

It’s time to get out the mops and brooms, clear out those storage closets, gather up all your old Class A amplifiers, analog cameras, and CRT monitors and throw them in the nearest waterway. If anyone asks, you have a permit and you’re just returning those parts to nature. Besides, it’s all biodegradable if you wait long enough…

Marc is getting rid of wires, Larry is removing tiny displays from big rooms, Jamie is throwing away older monitors with weird resolutions, Chris is deleting transport controls, and Justin hates all the remotes with the buttons cut off.

Let’s get cleaning!

We stream our recording sessions for On Topic live on or about 3pm Eastern / 12pm Pacific on the third Friday of each month. Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn to join our next show.

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded March 22, 2024

It’s not really news as much as a product announcement that almost hits the mark. We really like this neat little camera on paper but then… limited I/O and guaranteed bloated software. Let’s call it a swing and a miss.

Then we return to how we tier our AV systems and, honestly, it’s getting messy enough that we probably need a comparison matrix to keep track. Marc finally introduces touch panels, Chris provides the capability for BYOD UCC (but no one has asked for it yet), Jamie expands his already monstrous systems, Larry hates powered screens (and he’s not wrong), and Justin does his own thing.

Finally, how to respond when we start a project and the client says something along the lines of “... and we already bought the TV.”

Alternate show titles:

  • Barely sound
  • More normal classroom
  • Why is there a touch panel?
  • Years past? I did that last week
  • I have imaginary buckets
  • Wireless presentation can go to hell
  • Not my other bucket
  • We also need it to be a fish aquarium

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded March 8, 2024

More and more AVoIP systems are being sold because more and more AVoIP systems are getting specified into new projects. It’s an amazing coincidence! We cover an article from Commercial Integrator about how commercial integrators see AVoIP.

Then in part 27 of our 213 part series on how we organize our AV systems into buckets, tiers, levels, types, packages, etc., we finally get out of our level 1 and into level 2… sorta. If nothing else, it’s highly informative for AVSF internally because several of us are making adjustments based on the feedback from the rest of the panel.

Finally, people are wearing Apple goggles to the movies! Well, they are, but that’s not the point of this social media post that proposes burning down all movie theaters and staying at home to watch TV in your goggles. Which has been a real thing for a decade or more. /shrug

News article: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/business_resources/research/chronicling-av-over-ip-revolution-avoip-dd-24

Apple Vision Pro is better than the movies: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleVisionPro/comments/1b4ijnt/saw_dune_2_in_true_imax_was_disappointed/

Or just wear Apple Vision Pro to the movies: https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1765213788855218681

Alternate show titles:

  • That’s probably the wrong word
  • You’re not doing what you’re speaking
  • Pie chart circle chart
  • I don’t have to think as a designer
  • We do a lot of weird stuff
  • It’s the worst room ever
  • It’s better than the 14 year old system that’s there now
  • Taj Mahal of classrooms
  • We’re above remotes
  • Secret wireless island
  • The experience is better when I isolate myself from all other humans

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

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Recorded (and streamed live) on February 16, 2016

This month’s topic is “rethinking spaces” so we decided to discuss projects that we’ve completed recently that we wish we’d approached differently. Marc hates microphones, Chris hates complexity, Justin hates how the AV services are marketed on campus, Jamie hates treating rooms as clones of one another, and Larry hates blanket approaches (and single monitors on lecterns).

We stream live on the 3rd Friday every month and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com

Alternate show titles:

  • Ninja stars
  • If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all
  • Demanding higher quality
  • That’s not what I mean by kit
  • We’ve stopped giving everybody everything
  • They didn’t need that thing to begin with

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded February 23, 2024

While planning the episode, we couldn’t decide between a news story on VR or a news story on holograms, so we decided to cover them both. Hint: they’re not real

Then we continue our discussion of how we each stratify and organize the different types of systems we commonly deploy on our campuses. It’s just as messy as you’d think with us all declaring confidently we have rigid systems in place and nevermind all the exceptions.

News articles discussed:

  • https://www.installation-international.com/case-studies/world-leading-vr-teaching-facility-opens-at-the-university-of-nottingham
  • https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/teaching-learning/2024/02/23/holograms-begin-beaming-classrooms

Alternate show titles:

  • They’re just things in the wrong places
  • It just rolls
  • A content feed from an appliance
  • Are we ready for positive town?
  • HDMI Spigot
  • Force them into a button panel
  • Put that right into the projector
  • You hear that sh*t, too
  • Don’t ask stupid questions
  • Dinosaur chicken combination
  • I do get a new screen; it is not 21:9
  • That’s the line in the sand
  • Wheel of torture
  • Cuttle Huddy
  • That thing’s freakin’ huge!

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

View Details

Recorded February 9, 2024

Did y’all know ISE was just last week? That means we’re obligated to talk about it at least one more time for the news, so we have an article that identifies three trends from ISE that we’ll see again at InfoComm. Two of them are nothingburgers, but the third… so close, but yet so far.

Then we dive deep into how we structure our AV systems and room types. Do they all fit neatly into three or four categories (hint: nope!) or are we all over the road? Marc confidently declares he has only three types of systems (but then immediately identifies exceptions), Larry also notes the level of support in the nomenclature, Jamie uses human-readable names, Chris boxed himself in too early and is suffering the consequences, and Justin does his own thing because Kentucky! This is just the first segment in a series, so yell at your car stereo along with us!

And finally, some/most/all of us will be at the NWMET Conference in Oregon in March, so we hope you’ll consider joining us there!

News article: https://www.avnetwork.com/news/ise-2024-3-trends-that-will-extend-to-infocomm-2024

NWMET Conference: https://www.nwmet.org

Alternate show titles:

  • Hot Desking
  • You give me everything or I don’t want any of it
  • Have it all or don’t do it at all
  • If it’s not some common shit I don’t want to look at it
  • If it’s Sharepoint, it’s worse
  • This is the new language
  • Finger Lickin’ Good
  • We’re that dumb
  • If you call, we instal
  • Kentucky Control System
  • All that sh*t you use all the time
  • Catch-all custom bucket
  • Package Town

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

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Recorded January 19, 2024

Our topic for February is “things just won’t go away” or “things that keep coming back year after year” like Groundhog Day. We’ve each selected items that we all hope might see their shadow and disappear for a while. BYOD, VR, terrible marketing, wireless sharing, and more. We’re also testing some format changes to On Topic to keep the show shorter and LIVE on various platforms, so look for those unannounced live streams on the socials.

Alternate titles:

  • I was thinking about this hard
  • I still can’t stop
  • Bad marketing
  • This is why people strap goggles to their head to visit the zoo
  • It kinda fluctuates in and out
  • This is why people think holograms exist
  • Bring Your Own Goggles

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

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Recorded Feb 02, 2024

LIVE from ISE!

Well, not really, but given some of the other coverage from Barcelona, it’s still more timely and more in depth from 5,000 miles away. This is our take on the news from ISE this week. In true AVSF style, this discussion is spicy, yet reasonable, as we review the new products, the coverage, the people, and the show itself.

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

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Recorded January 12, 2024

Remember when refrigerators would just sit there in the kitchen and keep food cold and we really, really wanted them to tell us what to cook? No? Well, too bad! We cover a story from CES about an AI-powered, excuse me, “AI” powered fridge that wants to scan your tomatoes!

Then, we delve into the concept of basing every AV system on the same equipment and same cabling... unless you’re running Dante microphone arrays as analog sources. Price be damned, we’re AVoIP everywhere, even when we don’t need it because it’s the future!

Finally, Oregon State University is hosting the NWMET conference in March and almost all of the AV SuperFriends will be there. Well, at least two of us will be there and the others will find last minute excuses like “I never requested the travel approval” or “I’m afraid of my boss and won’t ask” so come join some of us for a great conference of fellow higher ed AV, IT, and learning design nerds!

News article discussed:

  • France 24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhOIDbc3os4
  • The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/27/24016939/samsung-2024-ai-family-hub-smart-fridge-features

NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

Alternate show titles:

  • That was very zigzaggy to me
  • Mechanical sympathy
  • Rethinking what signal flow means
  • Physical Ins and Physical Outs
  • It can do all kinds of weird sh*t
  • Cloud-driven experiences
  • I’ve done a lot of weird sh*t lately

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

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Recorded January 5, 2024

It’s a new year and we’re starting 2024 by looking backward! We return to a previous topic: working with integrators. On Off the Rails 78, we debated Marc’s question about how to ensure we get delivered what we wanted from AV integrators… and that conversation prompted quite the debate on Twitter, led by friend of the show, Joe Way. So, we invited Joe on the show to talk in more than 140 characters. Did we solve it this time?

We also review an article from the Harvard Business review about working from home and we each select our favorite (or least favorite) products of 2023.

Article discussed: https://hbr.org/2023/12/research-the-growing-inequality-of-who-gets-to-work-from-home

Joe’s Tweet response to OTR 78: https://twitter.com/JosiahWay/status/1734813050602156410

These are a few of our favorite things we used in 2023:

  • Marc: Sennheiser TeamConnectCeiling 2 (but only in analog mode)
  • Chris: Promethean ActivePanel LX
  • Justin: Elgato Streamdeck
  • Larry: Shure MXA310
  • Jamie: Mystery Electronics FC8X
  • Joe: Bose S1 Pro
  • Joe’s second pick: Symetrix xIO XLR

Alternate show titles:

  • Waiting for you to ask for some petty thing
  • How can I do this without everyone here at home?
  • If you’re at home, you’re just jacking around
  • Now that you have more than 140 characters
  • Maybe I had too many edibles
  • The logic is sound
  • Here’s my point to all this sh*t
  • 80% of the time I sound like an idiot redneck
  • The rubber is going to meet the road at some point
  • Unicorn world

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links: ► Chris Dechter: @cdechter ► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie ► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat ► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity ► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1 ► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

View Details

Recorded December 20, 2023

(Part 2 of 2)

It’s our third annual prediction show! And I predict we’ll do it again next year.

We first review our predictions from last year to see just how well we did. Some of us were dead on, others were hit & miss, and yet others seem to be deliberately vague just to claim accuracy regardless of outcome.

Then, we each prognosticate on what to expect in 2024. Much of it seems to be around AI and Teams. Sorry.

This discussion lasted almost an hour, so we split it into two episodes.

Alternate show titles:

  • Don’t touch my pixels
  • Don’t go anywhere near that V
  • I’ve been exposed to more VR
  • They’re strapping it to every product
  • Show us on the doll
  • Blown all over your campus
  • Justin Time
  • All unicorns and rainbows
  • We gotta keep up with our sh*t

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Recorded December 20, 2023

(Part 1 of 2)

It’s our third annual prediction show! And I predict we’ll do it again next year.

We first review our predictions from last year to see just how well we did. Some of us were dead on, others were hit & miss, and yet others seem to be deliberately vague just to claim accuracy regardless of outcome.

Then, we each prognosticate on what to expect in 2024. Much of it seems to be around AI and Teams. Sorry.

This discussion lasted almost an hour, so we split it into two episodes.

Alternate show titles:

  • Don’t touch my pixels
  • Don’t go anywhere near that V
  • I’ve been exposed to more VR
  • They’re strapping it to every product
  • Show us on the doll
  • Blown all over your campus
  • Justin Time
  • All unicorns and rainbows
  • We gotta keep up with our sh*t

View Details

Recorded December 8, 2023

Today’s news is a summary of the Geometry of Learning research project from friend of the show, Dr. Jon Dorbolo, about teaching in round classrooms. Done well, these are fantastic learning spaces with untold opportunity. Done poorly, they are technology-driven failures. Those two outcomes are not mutually exclusive.

Then, we attempted to discuss how to document projects so that external contracted integrators deliver what we need, regardless of who is providing the design and programming. We really didn’t get anywhere and the conversation devolved into an almost-argument with one side simply repeating that they have it all figured out and the other swearing in frustration. It was… weird. We’ll have to return to this project, but if you have suggestions for ironclad language to ensure what is delivered meets project specifications, we’d love to hear it.

Finally, we all summarize 2023 with an item that surprised us. For some, it was poorly conceptualized room systems, for others it was a return to building wide (or campus wide) AV systems, and at least one of us was pleasantly surprised by our own internal team’s skillset.

Article discussed: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/12/collaboration-for-teaching-and-learning-in-the-round

Attend NWMET in March 2024: https://www.nwmet.org

Alternate show titles:

  • Does it work, does it help?
  • Does it do what you want it to do?
  • Well-choreographed
  • Success 10 years ago is not success now
  • What’s easy for them to do is not what’s correct to do
  • Soup to nuts
  • Knowledge labor and manual labor
  • Limited amount of knowledge workers
  • Island unicorns
  • It’s just another layer on top of this BS
  • Repeat, rinse until you get what you want
  • It doesn’t matter if it’s useful stuff, but it’s “stuff”
  • You have to think about the culture here
  • Flex our manpower

View Details

Recorded November 15, 2023

It’s December, so it’s time for a holiday wishlist! Each of us shares the AV device or service that we’d really like under the Christmas tree. Some of these are real products, others are slight variations on commonly available products, and one requires a time machine.

Merry Christmas, y’all!

▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀

► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com

► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends

► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends

► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com

► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss

Individual Twitter links:

► Chris Dechter: @cdechter

► Jamie Rinehart: @avsfjamie

► Marc Cholewycynzski: @avdiplomat

► Rachel Bradshaw: @tempurity

► Larry Darling: @lsdarling1

► Justin Rexing: @justinrexing

View Details

Recorded December 1, 2023

Our news comes from the Chronicle of Higher Education who now recognizes that teaching via lecture and teaching via active learning are not mutually exclusive nor diametrically opposed. Shocker! It’s possible to effectively teach via lecture in an active learning classroom and engage students in active learning in a lecture hall. But we all knew that, didn’t we?

Speaking of multi-use spaces, how are we designing and deploying our multi-purpose classrooms and event spaces? It’s taken for granted that they’re all terrible, but just play along, will you? We talk about wall sensors, single large systems vs. overflow feeds, wall sensors, moveable lecterns, wall sensors, and no Zoom for you, and everything in between. Also, just who is resetting these rooms between classes?

Finally, it’s time yet again for the AVSF: Live! Holiday Spectacular. We hope you can join us on December 15th!

News story: https://www.chronicle.com/article/which-is-better-active-learning-or-lecture-its-not-so-simple Archive: https://archive.ph/MDU1l Study: https://link.springer.https://archive.ph/MDU1lcom/article/10.1007/s10648-023-09826-1

Alternate show titles:

  • In 20,000 and 4 or whenever
  • Research wormhole
  • My little soapbox
  • AV merit badges
  • I enjoy designing around the BS
  • It fits all of their needs
  • Cameras and microphones and other bullcrap
  • You said a couple of secret words
  • Do they know that they’re “they” in this scenario?
  • Both can be true
  • They are stupid and they are fun to design
  • Do it twice

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Join the AV SuperFriends LIVE on Dec 15 at 3p EST for a higher ed AV-themed Holiday Party! We will have live guests, a Santa's workshop photo exchange, and the official AVSFmas tree! It should be a great time of holiday cheer!

https://avsf.live

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Recorded November 17, 2023

Our news article this week is really more of an opinion piece by a friend of the show and all around good guy, Steve Greenblatt of Control Concepts. He opines that maybe, just maybe, contractors shouldn’t be chasing only profit margins, but providing solutions that customers will really appreciate. Blasphemy!

Then we’re joined by Mike Pedersen from Iowa State University to talk about in-house integration. Mike shares his trials and tribulations of building an internal team from scratch and leading them to success. Mike’s model at Iowa State is truly one to follow and he’s a great resource on the process of standing up a team to tackle almost any AV integration project.

Finally, is there a series of new devices that have solved the USB-C connection conundrum? Someone try these and let us know!

Connect with Mike:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-pedersen-cts-d-cts-i-7477191/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/ped1971

Attend ETC 2024 at Iowa State: https://www.etcollaborative.org

News article discussed: https://www.avnetwork.com/news/on-your-business-purpose-before-profit

Alternate show titles:

  • I don’t pay attention too much to my business
  • Bulbs strewn about
  • Who cares about cable labels?
  • Wired with a shovel
  • It was just spaghetti land
  • AV archaeology
  • Trust me, I’m here now
  • Widgets and gizmos and tchotchkes

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Recorded November 10, 2023

We start with an article written by a commercial integrator about commercial integrators in Commercial Integrator. While the points the raise are valid (for some), it raises the question as to who is the intended audience.

Then we’re joined by Johanna Pierson from the Wentworth Institute of Technology to talk about how smaller schools do classroom AV, events, conference rooms, and everything in between (except printers). She shares her experiences with a small systems integrator who is a true partner with Johanna’s team and how they’ve fostered a mutually beneficial relationship.

Article discussed: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/blogs/experience-matters-hidden-costs-of-not-working-with-av-systems-integrators

Connect with Johanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-p-a6ab7816b/

Alternate show titles:

  • Everyone loves printers
  • I brought my bolt cutters
  • Dragging the university into the modern era
  • Warm analog video
  • I don’t take no for an answer if it’s a stupid answer
  • Flowers… and AV
  • I’m not the budget
  • I want them to go on with their lives

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Recorded October 27, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

If you recall, last year we accidentally set fire to Marc’s house while trying to deep fry a turkey. This year we all went to Jamie’s house where Larry volunteered to smoke the turkey overnight, which turned out great! While enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, we each shared our thoughts on some AV turkeys– that is, products or services that don’t quite live up to their promises. Marc hates network switches, Larry thinks perhaps we’re overusing ceiling microphone arrays, Justin is skeptical of too many devices based on Android that will become security concerns in the future, Chris likes the concept but hates the execution of wi-fi group microphone apps, and Jamie has given up on fiber-based extenders.

PS: always get the full coverage for your rental car.

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Recorded October 18, 2023

AI is all the rage, so we’re going to discuss AI. We start with a discussion of Biamp’s new AI-derived DSP processing and we’re joined by Richard Mitchell of Biamp. We then expand the discussion to broader topics of AI-powered (or at least AI-branded) AV from cameras to microphones to control systems to digital signage.

Finally, what about all these spaces that someone else did on the cheap an now we’re asked to “fix” them?

News: https://www.biamp.com/company/newsletters/2023/october-component

Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-mitchell-41972a8/

Alternate show titles:

  • It’s distracting because you can’t see them
  • I’m a little dubious
  • Notch that shit out
  • Get rid of the clap, not the clapping
  • That’s penicillin
  • Physics reducer
  • Bring back some of the BS
  • Good, better, best, and raw
  • Crowns or Crayons
  • Go ahead and take a picture of my mug
  • It’s hard and you made it in a nice little package
  • The AI Purge
  • The Easy Button
  • Don’t engage!

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Recorded October 12, 2023

It’s our second annual Halloween Spooktacular! This year, we went all out with a fully-produced audio drama from an original script. Who knew we could do an AV-themed horror story? This was probably the most work we’ve ever put into a show and has been two months in the making. We had a blast making it and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. We’re proud to present AV SuperFriends: The Haunted Hospital

Written by Christopher Dechter

Edited by Marc Cholewczynski

Starring Marc Cholewczynski, Larry Darling, Christopher Dechter, Justin Rexing, and Jamie Rinehart

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Recorded Sept 15, 2023

(Part 2 of 2)

Rather than discuss whatever the topic is this month, we decided to challenge ourselves to collaboratively determine how capable of a basic classroom we can put together. Focusing on the capabilities, not the stuff, and given the scenario of a general purpose classroom, about 30 students, single display, and collaboration/hybrid capable, we hashed out just how we’d each approach the system with the ultimate goal of how low we can go. Or, more accurately, how low are we comfortable going and still considering it a fully supportable system.

This discussion lasted almost an hour, so we split it into two episodes.

Alternate show titles

  • We all have those closets
  • Sometimes I’m forced to do things I don’t want to do
  • There’s way more money in Oregon than Kentucky, y’all
  • The buttons are razored off
  • The clocks on those things get funky
  • Do you have a clapper?
  • If you hear it in the room, you hear it in Zoom (but not well)
  • Just focus on the V
  • Monitored by Putin or something

View Details

Recorded Sept 15, 2023

(Part 1 of 2)

Rather than discuss whatever the topic is this month, we decided to challenge ourselves to collaboratively determine how capable of a basic classroom we can put together. Focusing on the capabilities, not the stuff, and given the scenario of a general purpose classroom, about 30 students, single display, and collaboration/hybrid capable, we hashed out just how we’d each approach the system with the ultimate goal of how low we can go. Or, more accurately, how low are we comfortable going and still considering it a fully supportable system.

This discussion lasted almost an hour, so we split it into two episodes.

Alternate show titles

  • We all have those closets
  • Sometimes I’m forced to do things I don’t want to do
  • There’s way more money in Oregon than Kentucky, y’all
  • The buttons are razored off
  • The clocks on those things get funky
  • Do you have a clapper?
  • If you hear it in the room, you hear it in Zoom (but not well)
  • Just focus on the V
  • Monitored by Putin or something

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Recorded September 8, 2023

Instead of the news, we focus on a topic we’ve noticed a lot recently: that the AVIXA CTS is being pushed as an entry-level certification. It really isn’t, nor should it be, but if it’s getting that reputation, it devalues the certification for everyone.

Next, student workers. They’re a fantastic resource and we all have dozens of them running around and helping out, right? Wait, some of you don’t have students in your department? You need to fix that, tout suite! It’s great real world IT experience for them and great workforce augmentation for us!

Finally, Jamie managed to finagle a new job without leaving his chair via a re-org. We all share our top tips and tricks that someone new to management needs to know.

Reddit posts that bother us:

  • https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/1693dcj/why_arent_there_3rd_party_cts_resources/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/14nvvke/currently_a_service_tech/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/15luqwq/what_does_a_typical_day_for_a_first_year_av/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/155o7oh/any_certs_helpful_for_someone_breaking_in/

Alternate show titles:

  • Big D and Little d
  • I’ve got my little d
  • CTS-VR
  • If you’re a professional, keep up with your sh*t
  • Sometimes, they are the presents
  • Mixed bag of nuts
  • If you don’t trust them, then why did you hire them?
  • Fake IT
  • Students are People
  • Put up or Shut up Time
  • I don’t have time to dig my own grave
  • I don’t need seven goalies
  • Force it from below
  • He got his little d at InfoComm

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Recorded September 1, 2023

There’s no news today, so we’re going to read a letter from a listener who raises some questions about how we budget and plan long projects. They’re not wrong, but also things are not quite cut and dry.

Then, the joys and challenges of modern room systems. After fighting for so long to get away from h.323 codecs ruining everything, are we recreating the same problems? We do our best to avoid brand names because multiple AV SuperFriends are being told from leadership that these room systems are happening with or without them, so might as well get on board. The rest of us are hoping we can avoid them.

Finally, we all share a few tales of the stuff we’ve broken. Marc destroys projectors, Chris destroys large LCDs, Jamie destroys codecs (hooray!), Larry destroys speakers, and Justin destroys his own health.

Alternate show titles:

  • North Carolino
  • Used Carl Salesman
  • Not OUR dashboard
  • They cause my ass to burn all the time
  • I’ve tried it; I don’t like the taste of it
  • We thought about it, we did it, and now I want to undo it
  • I feel greasy
  • You’re like a toddler in a liquor store
  • We do a lot of weird garbage
  • I’ve smoked a lot of things
  • Getting Blown Off on Ladders

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Recorded August 18, 2023

Let’s talk about the Student Experience. And that’s really why we’re all here, isn’t it? We discuss what students are expecting from a university in 2023, advocating for students when no one else will, and crushing everything down to be delivered by Zoom or Teams. After all, we have one chance to get it right; are we cutting corners that puts that all at risk?

After we’re done complaining, we also discuss some good examples of technology-enabled spaces that put the student experience first– esports, maker spaces, informal learning spaces, and more.

Alternate show titles:

  • 80% is great as long as everybody gets it
  • Students don’t quantify experience
  • They recognize when they don’t like it
  • A reason to be in the room
  • This thing’s a dog turd
  • The adequate room
  • The student experience is adequacy
  • Removing stuff can improve a system
  • Never do widget-fest
  • We did not do academic harm
  • Building community spaces

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Recorded August 25, 2022

Did you know esports is dead? Neither did we, but here’s an article about it and while it may not be filling stadiums, the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated.

Then we’re joined by Don Merritt from the University of Central Florida to discuss learning spaces without focusing on “the stuff.” As technologists, it’s tempting to talk about features without activities and Brand A vs Brand B, losing sight of the nature of what we’re doing. After all, if the students and faculty don’t care what model projector, display, DSP, or control surface is in learning spaces, should we?

Finally, Dante AV is here. And there’s just way too many flavors.

Connect with our guest:

  • Don Merritt, Director of Instructional Resources at University of Central Florida
  • LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmerrittphd/
  • UCF Office of Instructional Resources - https://oir.ucf.edu

Article discussed: https://sambarberie.substack.com/p/esports-is-unraveling

Dante AV: https://www.audinate.com/products/manufacturer-products/dante-av-video

More suggested links from Don Merritt:

  • National Center of Education Statistics - https://nces.ed.gov/
  • FICM - 4.3.1 Space Use Codes: Definitions, Descriptions, and Limitations (ed.gov)

  • This is the National Center for Education Statistics' page for space use codes - national definitions of classrooms, labs, etc.

  • The UK Higher Education Learning Space Toolkit - UCISA

  • Journal of Technology and Teacher Education - Learning & Technology Library (LearnTechLib)
  • Journal of Learning Spaces (uncg.edu)
  • SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report Contents
  • Designing Spaces to Serve Communities | Learning Spaces Collaboratory (pkallsc.org)
  • Learning Environments Research | Home (springer.com)
  • Equal Access: Universal Design of Physical Spaces | DO-IT (washington.edu)
  • Research on Active Learning at Duke - Duke Learning Innovation
  • Teaching in an Active Learning Classroom (ALC) | Center for Educational Innovation (umn.edu)
  • Teaching my first gaming in education seminar | Bryan Alexander

Alternate show titles:

  • Students Learn Less
  • It’s not about the technology
  • We are not supporting faculty as well as we should
  • There is still value in the sage on the stage
  • There’s more on their plate than you think there is
  • Keep it as simple as possible
  • We’re all not using the same definition
  • We’re in danger of using the local definitions
  • Learning Campuses, not Learning Spaces
  • Wifi in stairwells
  • Watching them in their natural habitat
  • Gravy on top of it all
  • I was terrified the cornole league was going to fold
  • We can make online hotdogs

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Recorded July 21, 2023

We’re joined by Marina Walton from Trinity University to talk Faculty Support covering everything from identifying champions, supporting innovative learning spaces (that everyone hates), engaging department chairs, hosting an IT Open House to put faces to names, adding a personal touch to IT support, and much more. We also discuss an article (and related study) about giving faculty more time to learn and adopt new technologies before deploying them campus wide.

Connect with Marina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-walton-m-a-ed-cts-884782173/

Article discussed: https://edscoop.com/faculty-edtech-review-time-survey/

Full report: https://www.wgulabs.org/posts/cin-faculty-survey-2022-faculty-as-edtech-innovators-moving-beyond-stereotypes-to-promote-institutional-change

Alternate show titles:

  • We just figured out how to use the other one
  • It’s the same thing, just a different name
  • Biting off that hard bite first
  • Find the complainers
  • This has never worked
  • Of course it works– watch!
  • Does it turn on, show a picture; don’t worry about it
  • Just because it works, doesn’t mean it’s a success

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Recorded July 28, 2023

We’re joined by AV industry luminary, influencer, blogger, journalist, podcaster, and all around great person, Alesia Hendley, to talk InfoComm 2023, her journey through almost every vertical of the AV industry, and coming future trends.

We also discuss an article on why there isn’t a single, universal AVoIP standard and the growing influence of conference bars and all-in-one conferencing devices getting used in all the wrong spaces. Should pro audio companies really be getting into prosumer, IT-focused “room in a box” solutions?

Alesia is on all the things:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alesiahendley/
  • Twitter: @thesmoothfactor
  • Web: https://www.thesmoothfactor.com/
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmoothfactor/

Article discussed: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/avoip-news/does-there-really-need-to-be-a-single-av-over-ip-standard-27-07-2023/

Alternate show titles:

  • Come home and die
  • I need a grown-up job
  • Don’t be afraid to pivot
  • Audio is going to get better– whoop de doo
  • Half of our industry doesn’t get Twitter
  • What if they’re stalking me?
  • To y’alls point
  • Different levels of shitty
  • Part of a complete, balanced breakfast
  • You can stick that thing right up your keister
  • The hootie-hoo comes up first on the Googling

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Recorded July 14, 2023

We’re joined by Steve Greenblatt and Brittany DiCesare from Control Concepts to talk programming, programming, and more programming. While most AV projects seem to involve a vague scope of work and set of drawings, leaving the dots to be connected by the programmer, Steve and Brittany suggest a more holistic approach wherein software and automation is considered from the beginning. We talk about manufacturer plug-ins and modules, hiring programmers vs. growing programmers, AI-powered easy buttons, and designing AV based on the quality of software support in the control software rather than the hardware capabilities.

Control Concepts https://www.controlconcepts.net

Steve Greenblatt, President

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegreenblatt
  • Twitter: @stevegreenblatt
  • Ask the Programmer podcast: https://asktheprogrammer.podbean.com/
  • AV Nation A State of Control podcast: https://www.avnation.tv/series/a-state-of-control/

Brittany DiCesare, Client Success Manager

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittdice
  • Twitter: @brittdice

Alternate show titles:

  • Hipster AV
  • Run what you brung
  • Economical Tchotchke Versions
  • Becoming relevant again… maybe
  • Faster, Easier, Cheaper
  • You’ve gotta control it somehow
  • The Easy Button is killing programmers
  • I experiment with all kinds of things
  • Professional Configurator
  • A lot of sorta-working stuff
  • The Large Brain the Sky

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Recorded June 13, 2023

We figured since five of the six AV SuperFriends were all in the same building, we’d record our On Topic episode for July.  The topic is Showcase Spaces, but rather than review our own showcase spaces, we discuss the general process of developing a showcase space, what the end user clients want, and that’s it’s absolutely, completely possible to have a showcase space that is just terrible in every way and still serve its purpose.

Alternate show titles:

  • That’s going to take an architect
  • The finest of the fine stuff
  • What’s the wow factor
  • But they look good

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Recorded June 16, 2023

Marc visits the Userful booth at InfoComm 2023

Userful: https://www.userful.com/

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Recorded June 16, 2023

Marc and Jamie visit the Liberty AV booth to talk about the Teleportivity AI demo.

Liberty AV: https://secure.libertycable.com/

Teleportivity: https://teleportivity.com/

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Recorded June 15, 2023

Jamie visits the Forward Thinking Designs booth at InfoComm 2023

Forward Thinking Designs: https://www.forwardthinkingdesigns.com/

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Recorded June 15, 2023

Jamie and Marc visit the Visionary Solutions booth at InfoComm 2023

Visionary: https://visionary-av.com/

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Recorded June 15, 2023

Justin sits down with Joe Cornwall to reflect on InfoComm 2023

Joe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCornwall

Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephcornwall/

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Recorded June 15, 2023

Justin and Chris visit the Q-SYS booth at InfoComm 2023

Q-SYS: https://www.qsys.com

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Recorded June 14, 2023

Marc visits the Stewart Audio booth at InfoComm 2023

Stewart Audio: https://stewartaudio.com/

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Recorded June 14, 2023

Marc and Chris visit the Evertz booth at InfoComm 2023

Evertz: https://av.evertz.com/

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Recorded June 16, 2023

For our final group recording at InfoComm 2023, we invaded the Biamp booth where we were joined by Shirley Imai, Richard Mitchel, and Michael Hooper to discuss how the week went, the most interesting things we saw at the show, and what InfoComm is like from a manufacturer’s perspective (hint: they don’t get to leave the booth). 

Alternate show titles:

  • Michael Boltron
  • What do you bring as a former higher ed person? Nothing
  • I’m like Hawaii
  • I like to do strange things

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Recorded June 16, 2023

As we were setting up for our Day 3 preview, we noticed Frank Padikkala nearby and corralled him into our nonsense to talk about networking, IT as people, and the importance of diversity in everything we do.

Alternate show titles:

  • The Most Amazing Moderator I’ve ever had
  • Get your sh*t off the network
  • The Perfect Network
  • (You’re not going to) become a cybersecurity expert in 30 minutes
  • People, Process, Technology
  • Put it in a PowerPoint

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Recorded June 15, 2023

In our wrap show for Day 2 at InfoComm 2023, we’re joined by very good friend of the show, Darryl Krall from Panasonic Connect to talk about trends such as Chat GPT, AI, AVoIP, and gathering data and analytics from all our stuff. 

Thanks to Panasonic Connect for letting us take over their booth for the waning hours of the day

Alternate show titles:

  • Has this system ever worked?
  • It’s like Ragu - It’s in there
  • Any fish you wish
  • It’s Zeros and Ones

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Recorded June 15, 2023

We’re back LIVE from the InfoComm show floor before the show floor is open with our thoughts on Day 1, trends we’re seeing, products of interest, and noting that simply everything is on the network these days.  

Alternate show titles:

  • Everybody’s big to Jamie
  • It’s about switch protection
  • Cool, but unnecessary
  • Using AI as a brand to sell it

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Recorded June 14, 2023

We’re celebrating our 100th full episode! When we started our podcast adventure, it was simply a way to continue sharing ideas during COVID and we’re all heartened to hear just how many people really enjoy our nonsense.

For this very special episode, we were prepared to share our thoughts about Day 1 of InfoComm, but instead we invited a cadre of friends, listeners, supporters, and general well-wishers (and whoever was brave enough to wander over and pick up the mic) to join us for a few minutes and give their opinions.

Special thanks to Frank Kolavo and his team at Computer Comforts for letting us park at their booth! Visit them at: https://www.computercomforts.com

Featuring the voices of:

  • Joe Way
  • Tim Van Woeart
  • Ken Williams
  • Jim Wellings
  • Ryan Gray
  • Jimmie Singleton
  • Frank Alaimo
  • Ann Kelly
  • BC Hatchett
  • Natalie Gillespie
  • Johanna Pierson
  • Chris Hewitt
  • Erin Maher-Moran

Alternate show titles:

  • Tim was double dutching over here
  • People are seeing the value in free
  • That’s a BS marketing term
  • The way most people use it is nonsense
  • “but not in every room”
  • No, there’s no cookies
  • And the funfetti variety
  • I think we’re going to need a bigger booth
  • All problems become nails
  • Hot desking
  • And you used the word compute correctly

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Recorded June 14, 2023

For the first time ever, all six AV SuperFriends are in the same room… like close enough to touch each other… and touch each other we did!  We recorded on the show floor before the show floor opened and shared our thoughts on InfoComm 2023, our plans for the day, where you can find us, hosted sessions, network challenges, and the possibility of gaining knowledge by… eating brains?  

Alternate show titles:

  • Hit the floor as hard as I can
  • This is a product
  • I want to see something out of this world
  • Official Acquisitions Row
  • Fake People

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Recorded June 13, 2023

It’s our first ever live recording with five of the six AV SuperFriends in the same room, so prepare for a show with an even more rambunctious atmosphere. We cover Apple’s announcements of their new Goggles On Please Pro headset, Apple’s overlooked announcement of FaceTime (and by extensions Zoom and Teams) coming to the Apple TV and thus to a conference room near you (we don’t like it either, but it’s going to happen), the AV SuperFriends thoughts on the first Higher Ed AV Awards, and our last set of predictions for InfoComm 2023. We’ll be cranking these out every day this week, so get ready!

Apple Vision Pro:

  • https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/
  • https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/06/apple-vision-pro-screen-concession-gadget/674375/
  • https://www.tomsguide.com/news/apple-vision-pro-virtual-keyboard-is-visually-stunning-heres-how-it-looks
  • https://www.creativebloq.com/news/vision-pro-memes

Apple TV FaceTime support:

  • https://www.zdnet.com/article/you-can-now-facetime-from-your-apple-tv/

HEAV Awards:

  • https://higheredav.com/higher-ed-av-awards/

Alternate show titles:

  • Openly groping each other
  • Apple Room
  • The Best Adjunct
  • If kids were willing to come play with me
  • Googled the Igloo thing
  • They can change it with money
  • The widest aspect display possible
  • There’s no reason to have AI in this
  • You shop for AV where you get your bananas

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Recorded May 19, 2023

It’s June and, for the pro AV world, that means InfoComm… and that also happens to be the topic of this month’s episode.  Our download numbers show that you’re likely listening to this before you travel to Orlando, so this episode is all about what we’re doing there all week long.  Justin is teaching a 3-day course, Chris is leading a HETMA workshop, Larry is presenting a case study, and we’re recording and publishing every day, so look for a glut of content.

If you’re listening to this episode after InfoComm 2023, you can score us on our predictions and plans.  See you in Orlando, y’all!

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Recorded June 2, 2023

It’s a veritable smorgasbord, a cornucopia, a plethora of topics! In our last show before InfoComm, we cover such diverse elements as fear, surprise, a ruthless efficien… wait.

We discuss the announcement of a 16K (consumer) display that isn’t 16K or for consumers. It’s weird, but most importantly, it’s not in 21:9 but instead in 16:9 (AKA the correct aspect ratio).

Then, we delve into the challenges (and opportunities) with hiring qualified staff at our schools. Pay is too low to directly compete with the commercial AV industry, but work-life balance and the (generally) excellent benefits can offset that, partially. Marc talks about success hiring student workers as full timers, Chris warns about looking only at salary, Larry questions just how much the work-life balance is worth, Jamie came from an industry that somehow paid less than education, and Justin is working 14 jobs to afford his yacht.

We wrap with coverage of scholarship opportunities by AVIXA, so for those of you with student workers, be sure they apply!

Articles discussed:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/displays/world-first-110-16k-consumer-tv-unveiled-at-display-week-31-05-2023
  • https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/5/pivoting-to-higher-ed-4-ways-to-successfully-recruit-tech-job-applicants
  • https://go.avixa.org/webmail/888683/700837296/90dd14f350fbe5467659035de80fe48665ee767781cff5863c2db82a62f754ce

Alternate Show Titles:

  • Home digital signage
  • Why did you make this product?
  • I was very disappointed by the article
  • Long Paws
  • Even moving to higher ed was a raise
  • San Fran-freakin-cisco
  • The “me” in central Iowa
  • Expose yourself to the industry
  • Kickback or pushback

View Details

Recorded May 12, 2023

Well, it finally happened; a big school is going all in on VR in a big, general ed program. Goggles on, please. Arizona State is replacing their introductory biology lab classes with VR. Chris is not amused.

Then, we review recent technologies to determine if they are just marketing or if these are real, long-term solutions. Marc doesn’t like term “broadcast” anywhere near your PTZ cameras and Zoom events, Chris says USB-C is just marketing and a real thing, Justin reviews recent “automatic” setup utilities for DSPs and network switches, Jamie really has it in for MTRs, and Larry notes where Hyflex falls short.

Finally, the AV SuperFriends are taking over #AVintheAM on Twitter. Look for that on May 21, 2023, so if you’re listening to this after that date, that’s why Twitter shut down forever on May 22.

News: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/digital-teaching-learning/2023/05/10/arizona-states-big-bet-virtual-reality

Alternate Show Titles:

  • River City Ransom
  • Excel sheets in VR
  • Chemy 101
  • Walmart-ify It
  • It’s trash, too
  • I’m using air quotes you can’t see
  • Most of the time it works
  • It’s just a hose
  • It doesn’t care what you try to put through it
  • The value of the easy button
  • Difficult Mode
  • You plug it in and it doesn’t work
  • Just drop it on your network and see what happens
  • Giant displays of heads
  • You can do it!
  • Zeams Rooms
  • Move it around your WAN
  • Happy little trees

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AV SuperFriends #AVintheAM - May 21, 2023

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Recorded May 5, 2023

We start with a news story about making digital content accessible and that leads to a larger discussion of accessibility in AV. Look for that on a future show.

Then we talk “selling” our campus clients on AV in order to deliver the experience they think they want; especially in conference rooms. Marc leverages the client’s business case to convince them how to spend, Justin hates the word “sales,” and the rest of us are simply trying to drive prices downward on standard spaces. Except Chris, who is the only one of the AVSF who actually budgets projects correctly including required specialized infrastructure, labor, and contingency pricing. It’s an apples-to-oranges discussion, but Chris is correct and everyone else is wrong (because I write these descriptions).

Finally, we stay on conference rooms and share our thoughts on BYOM and why it’s not a thing. Yes, we get it, you can make it happen with all-in-wonder packages, commodity AV hardware, and wireless doodads, not to mention larger switching infrastructure (unless you’re doing it via IP which requires none of that), but that all pales to a simple installed PC.

News: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-05-03-digital-accessibility-is-a-bigger-education-issue-than-we-think-here-s-what-we-can-do-about-it

Alternate show titles:

  • Still cashing those checks
  • It’s just “effort”
  • The Easiest Way to Say No
  • He Called you for everything he shouldn’t have clicked on
  • And you realize it was nothing that was in the ticket
  • What you just said IS sales
  • Half-giraffes
  • They wanted to look good
  • Athletics is an Arms Race
  • I charge only in nickels and dimes
  • I don’t know what sales is to you all
  • All the shiny furniture
  • What’s an adapter?
  • There’s a lot of letters between I and O
  • You can bring your laptop and it will probably work

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Recorded April 14, 2023

Is it over yet? While the topic for this month’s show wasn’t clear, it was assumed to be about the approaching end of the school year. Instead, we opted to discuss technologies that we’re just sick and tired of discussing. And, if you know us, you know we just love VR and the metaverse. And while we don’t wish anyone ill will, we do enjoy our schadenfreude.

News articles:

  • https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-eliminates-its-metaverse-division-as-part-of-companys-layoffs-plan-94b03650
  • https://futurism.com/the-byte/virtual-metaverse-real-estate-trouble
  • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-03-26/apple-reality-headset-details-pro-features-top-100-meeting-watch-like-start-lfpgdgdb
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/technology/apple-augmented-reality-dissent.html

Alternate show titles:

  • Curved-D
  • Mass Deployment Everywhere All the Time
  • I didn’t mean to be intentional
  • Would you say I have a plethora?
  • It’s swinging and we’re just jamming stuff in there
  • Smarthat
  • Strap the thing to your ass

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Recorded April 28, 2023

Instead of AV news, we return to the topic of digital canvases only a few days after our previous discussion. We’re joined by Atkins Fleming who has a suggestion for a software platform that seems perfect for digital canvases and remote teaching and learning, but the company seems unaware of the education market.

Then we hash out the support tools and skills necessary for modern AV systems. Jamie puts it best when he says, “bring your laptop.” As AV becomes more and more IT, those with an IT background seem most comfortable supporting IP-based AV and many of those who grew up with analog AV are struggling. If nothing else, buy everyone a few managed network switches and get them comfortable with managing IPs and VLANs.

Finally, Jamie covers the news from NAB. There were lots of announcements related to large, cloud-based delivery platforms, but perhaps the best news is the increasing support for SMPTE 2110 as a unified interoperable AVoIP standard. Fingers crossed!

ON24: https://www.on24.com

Alternate show titles:

  • Don’t Say WebEx
  • Novelty Checkbook
  • I don’t know; talk to Marc about that one
  • Our skillset made it easy for us
  • Piece of Pizza
  • The team is like “what the heck?”
  • This is right up our wheelhouse
  • Catered Zoom Rooms
  • Stop Grabbing Your Toolbag and take your laptop
  • Stop grabbing that too
  • Judging success by the number of USB adapters
  • That’s the beauty about what we’re doing and it’s also terrible
  • I have a couple that I pulled off
  • Maybe sometimes
  • Just click it and it goes
  • Ready for me to blast across the WAN
  • I’m on the fence; I keep flip flopping

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Recorded April 27, 2023

We begin with a follow up to a news article we covered a few months ago regarding the University of Arkansas buying the University of Phoenix. Has the deal soured? Are there concerns of propriety and branding? Oh, my, yes!

Next, we’re joined by Raul Burriel from Oregon State University (and current President of NWMET) to talk about the NWMET 2023 conference at Carroll College in Helena, MT earlier this month and to give the first ever preview of NWMET 2024 in Corvallis, OR next year, hosted by our very own AV SuperFriend Marc! We can’t spoil what’s in store for next year’s conference, but here’s a hint: rain!

Then we hash our options for digital canvas displays— that is single unbroken video displays with multiple content fields. Something like that anyway. Chris and Jamie talk about one they had at UMKC ten years ago, Larry discusses a variation he built a few years ago for a computer animation classroom, and Justin suggests manipulating content via software instead of hardware. Chris is going to install an ultrawide digital canvas display this summer, but not in the aspect ratio you’re thinking. To heck with 21:9, here comes 32:9 displays!

Northwest Managers of Educational Technology (NWMET)

  • https://www.nwmet.org

News Articles:

  • https://edscoop.com/university-arkansas-trustees-vote-against-phoenix-acquisition/
  • https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/03/31/university-phoenix-arkansas-deal-draws-scrutiny/

Alternate show titles:

  • It was largely Don’s fault
  • We bought this, now what?
  • How do we use this thing now that we have it?
  • I’m the only person looking at my screens
  • Just a little wonky-ass
  • The Content is IN the Computer
  • Throw it out and replace it
  • Give somebody the back-end
  • Use this; don’t call me

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Recorded March 10, 2023

Who wants some riveting discussion of IT budgeting? Yeah, neither do we, but we make a heckuva effort to stay awake for this. Chris budgets projects with massive contingencies and with market pricing, Marc budgets by time, Larry is concerned about trying to make up all of last year’s projects and complete this year’s projects, Jamie borrows used gear from the rich to give to the poor, and Justin just wants to know “What can I buy today that will last until I no longer work here?”

Alternate titles:

  • WAGs and SWAGs
  • Standard Deviation minus 7
  • Sound in the Ceiling
  • Administrative Swirl
  • Done Been Learnt

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Recorded March 29, 2023

Ever wanted a 360 camera paired with a camera bar below a display? Me neither, but here’s a news story (well, product announcement) from our favorite inappropriate UCC solution.

Then we hash out the various options for BIG displays (and we all agree that anything over 85” falls into the category of big displays). Does projection still win the day? Are we still building LCD video walls? What about LED video walls? As prices continue to come down, have our perspectives on display technologies changed?

Finally, digital signage— the “almost AV” we love to hate. Jamie wants to hand off content to students and run ads everywhere, Chris would just be happy if the cabling was cleaned up, Marc is fighting the uphill battle to standardize on a standardized content platform, Larry already has a standard signage platform that not everyone uses, and Justin is proud of the system WKU has in place.

Article discussed:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/products/owl-labs-first-with-front-of-room-and-360-camera-pairing-27-03-2023/

Alternate Titles:

  • No risk it, no biscuit
  • Where do you not want to see this well?
  • A dollar a lumen
  • The poking stick

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Recorded March 24, 2023

We’re joined by Paul Ziele to talk networking… and we get waaaay into it. We’re talking Mariana Trench, Kola Borehole, Hollow Earth. Record deepness… and we really only scratched the surface. We’ll have Paul back to continue this talk.

Paul shares his frustrations with AV people not knowing networking, Network people not knowing AV, and no one willing to budge more than a few wiggles to make it all work.

We also share a listener email about appropriate applications of 21:9 and we’re all (mostly) onboard! See, we’re not entirely anti-ultrawide aspect ratios…

Article discussed: Dirty Hands and IPMX https://www.avnetwork.com/news/dirty-hands-and-ipmx

Paul Ziele’s Deep Dive series https://www.avnetwork.com/news/zielie-deep-dive-series-introduction

Alternate episode titles:

  • It works until it doesn’t
  • Automagically
  • No one could mess that up
  • A lot of things breakdown when you leave a single subnet
  • It’s a secret because the manufacturer doesn’t know the answer
  • Dumber products or smarter integrators
  • Call me when nobody buys it
  • I hate security
  • There is almost no device in AV that has good enough security
  • Don’t put that button in; people will use it
  • They’ll change 15 settings at once
  • Put on your big boy pants
  • The Layer 2-3 boundary
  • If a limit isn’t given, then it’s unlimited
  • Forbidden VLAN

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Recorded February 10, 2023

It’s the coldest part of winter, so let’s talk Spring Cleaning! Remember to fully submerse your touch panels in bleach before re… oh, not that kind of spring cleaning. We’re joined by Joe Way to talk through our plans for Spring Clinging— that is, what we should be thinking about replacing, what we are holding on to, and what things we should be getting rid of entirely. We all have rooms full of old gear that should go… or should it?

On an unrelated note, we also want to hear from you on 21:9, so head over to Twitter to share your opinion.

Article mentioned by Larry: https://www.ravepubs.com/why-mtr-with-front-row-looks-so-bad/

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Recorded February 24, 2023

This is the audio recording of our live session at the HETMA 2023 Conference. We proclaimed that AV is dead and simply part of the larger IT umbrella… or is it! We were joined by Ryan Gray of Yavapai College who wrote in a few weeks earlier suggesting a new approach to the continuing AV/IT convergence, so we put him on the panel. Thanks to HETMA for the opportunity to share with the community and for all those who asked live questions.

HETMA: https://www.hetma.org

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Recorded Feb 3, 2023

We cover all the news from ISE… cough

The state of Arkansas is buying Phoenix… or something. We hash out what it might mean for the future of higher education when traditional universities buy online for-profit schools.

Then, training. What training are we working on? What about our staff? Are we focused on technical skills or wider professional development? And where does the AVIXA CTS belong?

Finally, we get a mailbag question on wireless sharing appliances. While we all like the concept of wireless sharing, we don’t like the dedicated appliances. Free advice to manufacturers: stop adding “collaborative” features to these little boxes.

Articles discussed:

  • https://www.highereddive.com/news/university-phoenix-acquisition-arkansas-system-for-profit/641378/
  • https://www.highereddive.com/news/hilbert-college-acquire-for-profit-valley-college/641247/

Alternate show titles:

  • 21x9 will never happen
  • They had to put their name on a stadium
  • Perceived value
  • Oh, boy, our program sucks
  • Walmart.edu
  • That might be on my short list, too
  • A programmer who doesn’t like to type or do math
  • Registered Communication Dudes and Dudettes
  • Screw this screw and pull this cable
  • Pooh-poohing signal flow
  • Boop! Hit the button
  • A mound of swag

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Recorded January 11, 2023

This month’s topic is BYOD and why that’s a terrible idea all around. Wait, it’s not? Well, you’ll have to convince me.

We discuss BYOD for conferencing vs. BYOD for presentation only, BYOD for meetings, BYOD for student devices, wired vs wireless connections, why all wireless sharing appliances are bad, and even campus-wide iPad/Chromebook/laptop programs. Larry introduces the term BYODTRTMADETPIF and Justin again reminds us of his (in)famous Zoom Rooms.

Alternate show titles:

  • Anything that may be on your person
  • BYOPD
  • BYODTRTMADETPIF
  • BYODPCVC
  • This topic makes me queasy
  • Bring Your Own Cloud
  • Bring Another Device
  • Bring Your Own LaserDisc
  • It’s either gonna work or it’s not
  • Non-Meat Version
  • Built into Meat
  • Bring Your Own Room

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In light of so much recent AI-related news, we skip the news and dive right into AI.  Will AI take over or is it just the newest fad in technology?  Afterall, we’ve been using AI-generated artwork for months, so that means even this podcast is AI-enabled, right?

The current spate of AI search engines are really just cranking out the top result from Google, Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, and other sites, often without citing sources or verifying information, but they sure do seem to be the bees knees!  Or are they?  Is this the Dunning-Kruger Effect or Gell-Mann Amnesia?

Regardless, we openly speculate about the AI-enabled AV consultant of the future.  We already have automatic calculators for projector throw distance, screen size, microphone layouts, speaker coverage, and more, so how soon until we have a single program that takes all the information entered into account and can generate AV systems writ large? 

Alternate show titles:

  • This is Super Clippy!
  • Not today, Dave
  • Not fed by ads, yet
  • Super Furby of the Future
  • Roughtimate
  • Trust but verify
  • Eyeballs on the spitball

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Recorded January 20, 2023

In a change of pace for Off the Rails, we’re going to stick to one subject: USB. We’re joined by Joe Cornwall, Legrand’s AV Technology Evangelist to dive deep into USB and why it seems to be anything but universal.

We all get the question from users that their laptop, tablet, phone has USB-C for charging, so why can’t we do that in an AV system? We’ll also cover such questions as: Why is trying to simply extend USB a bad idea? Why can’t I rely on USB extension? Why is HDBT & AVoIP more reliable to do essentially the same thing? Why is USB switching a bag of hurt? Why is it so hard to identify the right cable with the proper capabilities?

Finally, all the panelists will share their thoughts on implementing USB-C in their classrooms. Spoiler: sorta, but not really.

Also, stop extending USB.

  • Legrand’s AV University - https://www.legrandav.com/tools_and_training/training/training_and_certification
  • Look for Joe’s AV Transport and Signal Distribution Masterclass at InfoComm 2023!

Alternate show titles:

  • USB-C, the AV Unicorn
  • You cannot tow that boat with a Corvette
  • The parts you need to do that; they don’t exist yet
  • Lots of reasons to start foaming a the mouth
  • The bad taste left in your mouth
  • 80 gigabits per second
  • Give ‘em the finger and walk away
  • USB-C is a desktop transport; full stop
  • It’s called “Go Home!”
  • As fat as it needs to be

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Recorded December 14, 2022

It’s our annual prediction show!

But first, a Festivus Miracle— ClearOne and Shure have settled their dispute over squares, or whatever it was.

Anyway, we review our predictions from January 2022 to see how right (or wrong) we were and then make bold predictions for 2023. Marc talks AR and VR, Chris foresees a student-driven redefining of the college experience, Rachel is both impressed and creeped out by AI, Jamie sees increased training and development for instructors, Justin expects someone to buy Zoom (Amazon? Apple?), and Larry says we’ll all be using Microsoft Teams more than Zoom.

Article discussed: https://www.avnetwork.com/news/shure-clearone-have-reached-global-settlement

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Recorded Dec 16, 2022

Apple is including a new application in all their devices with a new service pack called Freeform. While it may look like any other whiteboarding app, it is a harbinger of the types of second or third channel content that students will bring with them to our classrooms as it’s now pre-installed on billions of devices.

Then we review the concept of designing on expected system lifecycle rather than capability. Should every system we design, specify, install, and support run forever? Or, given the significant changes in teaching and learning over the last three years, should we be prepared to modify systems after only two or three years?

Finally, now that almost all learning spaces are distance education capable, can instructors expect the same level of production and support? How do we manage those expectations?

Apple Freeform:

  • https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/12/apple-launches-freeform-a-powerful-new-app-designed-for-creative-collaboration/

Alternate show titles:

  • Cockroach Technology
  • That’s all I expected out of this device
  • Don’t Future-proof
  • Disposable Equipment
  • … and a Side Toilet
  • They Beta Drove It
  • Rip off the bandaid without them knowing
  • I didn’t get no complaints

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Recorded December 09, 2022

(Watch the video of this show: https://avsf.live )

In our second live show, we host a typical awkward office holiday party complete with ugly sweaters, a gift exchange, seasons greetings from the Higher Ed AV community, some special guests join us to share what they’ve been up to, and AVSF trivia to give away AVSF swag (and everyone likes swag, right?). And Chris Neto breaks big news about the future of #AVinTheAM!

Our gift exchange is of AV-related gifts that we found in our storage spaces. Old classroom-in-a-box systems, non-standard ersatz keystone inserts, table devices with more non-standard inserts, a lamp-based travel projector, a “compute,” even AVSF swag— it’s all fair game. Special kudos to Larry for sending Jamie a hammer for his whack-a-mole control system and to Rachel for sending Marc the world’s weirdest sad clown artwork… which is now the episode artwork!

If you want to be part of the next AVSF: Live show, sign up for notifications here: https://avsf.live

Erin’s Maher-Moran’s links:

  • HETMA Prism Scholarship
  • AV Nation Ed Tech Podcast

Chris Neto’s links:

  • AVintheAM

  • @theAVintheAM

Joe Way’s links:

  • Higher Ed AV

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Recorded October 26, 2022

In the spirit of American retail annual sales scheduling, here’s a holiday episode recorded in October. Our theme for this show is stocking stuffers, so we all have a little gift to share (aka a “recommendation”) or something from our AV wish list that will hopefully arrive soon. Little Marc gives everyone AVoIP decoders, little Chris gives “secret” analog I/O for QSC Cores and wants the perfect button panel controller, little Justin gives everyone an NDI to USB converter, little Jamie also gifts us all an NDI decoder, and little Larry brings a Dante remote decoder from the local corner store.

Don’t forget to join the AV SuperFriends LIVE on Friday, December 9 at 300p EST for our holiday spectacular!

AVSF Live: https://avsf.live

Products discussed:

  • VANCO Handheld HDMI Tester: https://www.vanco1.com/product/handheld-4k-hdmi-tester/
  • BirdDog Pod: https://birddog.tv/pod-overview/
  • BirdDog Play: https://birddog.tv/play-overview/
  • Focusrite RedNet R1: https://pro.focusrite.com/category/audiooverip/item/rednet-r1

Alternate show titles:

  • Fool around at the house
  • Jamie learnt me something today
  • That’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year
  • Uncle Larry’s at it again
  • It’s a twofer learnt day
  • Listen to Zoom trash my sound

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Join the AV SuperFriends: Live!  

https://avsf.live 

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Recorded November 11, 2022

Remember movie theaters? Enormous sodas, greasy popcorn, giant candies, and … Zoom? Have you ever wished you could combine the experience of a summer blockbuster with a Zoom meeting? Neither have we, but it’s coming to a theater near you.

Then we return to the topic of AR, VR, XR, and other Rs. Larry makes a cogent argument about AR and Marc broadens his definition to encompass nearly everything. Regardless of how we think of it, the application of AR in higher ed will be driven by students, so be ready. Also, the Metaverse is never happening.

Finally, Larry shares his thoughts on UNCG’s new Esports arena. What does he like, what would he change, and where is gaming leading us in the future?

Article discussed: https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/7/23446136/amc-zoom-rooms-theaters-meetings

UNCG’s Esports Arena: https://esports.uncg.edu

AVSF: Live! on December 9: https://avsf.live

Alternate show titles:

  • An Owl Cam at the Movies
  • Where are we using AR today?
  • We’re just calling old shit “AR”
  • The AR-ish type thing we’re trying to do here
  • The Google Person
  • Real-time Fact-checking
  • Baby’s First Step was Zoom
  • According to Wikipedia…
  • That’s the Job!
  • No Cameras and Flashing Allowed

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Recorded November 4, 2022

Meetings! We love ‘em! We need more of ‘em! Or do we? And are all these fancy spaces we’ve built out to support hybrid meetings just adding to the problem?

Next we dive deep into the hardware side (and a few software bits, too) of selecting AVoIP encoders and decoders. We’re putting together a list of criteria, separating them into Nice to Have and Need to Have and are in the process of testing these all in real-world environments. Why? Because we aren’t going to wait until Q3 of 2023 and there’s a LOT of alternatives out there.

Finally, Jamie raised an interesting question: has the challenge in getting certain types of equipment changed how we get rid of old gear? Are we hanging onto equipment that would have ordinarily been discarded and sent to surplus in 2019? Justin has the best suggestion for how determine when something must be cast-off.

Article discussed: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220926005145/en/One-third-of-Meetings-Are-Unnecessary-Costing-Companies-Millions-and-No-One-Is-Happy-About-It

Alternate show titles:

  • That One Special Space
  • Frustration Multiplier
  • It’s a Pixel Bus
  • I’m a regular person
  • Rookie-friendly
  • Just put a magnet on it
  • I cut ‘em up all the time

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Recorded October 28, 2022

In the news, Chris shares his thoughts from the recent CCUMC conference at UCF in Orlando.  Also, CCUMC has changed their inscrutable name to the slightly more scrutable ETC.

Then we’re joined by Jason Zapf from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay to discuss how to (or how not to) provide hybrid capability in active learning environments.  While the temptation is go big and expensive, we all provide alternative suggestions to keep things simple and not over complicate an already busy learning environment.  

Finally, we hash out the recent push for the 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio.  It’s not particularly new (1957), it will lead to detrimental compromises in screen element size, and frankly, it’s not going to happen, Microsoft. 

ETC (nee CCUMC): https://www.etcollaborative.org

Alternate show titles:

  • I hate everything about it
  • It goes all the way up
  • Hell, no… but!
  • Eat together, drink together, sleep together

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Recorded October 21, 2022

For Thanksgiving, the AV SuperFriends all gathered at Marc’s house and stood around the kitchen waiting for the turkey to cook in the indoor deep-fryer. In addition to an assortment of side dishes, we all brought an AV Turkey to share. Marc reminds us of the nonsense of touchless AV control, Chris complains bitterly about wireless sharing appliances, Justin gives up on Stem Audio, Jamie rewinds to multi-cable digital video extension, and Larry despises digital signage. Turkeys all around!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

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Recorded September 28, 2022

In a change of pace, we’ve collected our scariest and creepiest tales of AV projects, equipment, customers, and support. Join the AV SuperFriends as we sit around the bonfire and share our tales of fright. Justin brings an Old Kentucky Fable, Marc recounts his end of summer waking nightmare, Larry reminds us that our worst fears can come true during the Year of Good Enough, and Chris visits the Twilight Zone to recount the Needs Analysis of Terror.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

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Recorded September 16, 2022

We had a different news story selected for this week but given the recent public email exchanges between Aurora Multimedia and Crestron, we had to discuss it. Is Crestron being the bully or getting taken advantage of? Marc raises the possibility that this is all a staged act to generate publicity and we all like the idea of a Crestron - Aurora conspiracy!

Then, we’re joined by Dean Heckler of Heckler Design to talk about his company’s novel approach to AV-friendly furniture, mounts, brackets, and finding the niche products that make life easier. Dean talks us through Heckler’s earliest days making iPad mounting brackets, to custom pieces for large universities, to the process of re-thinking the classroom lectern, to ADA wall panels— all with an eye on making everything feel like it’s from the future.

Finally, Chris is going to replace every projection screen on campus with direct view displays, regardless of size and appropriate viewing height. Well, not exactly, but we discuss the concept of doing so and the price delta between large monitors and small projection screens. Seriously, though, why are we installing 105” projection screens?

Heckler: https://www.hecklerdesign.com

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Recorded September 9, 2022

The AV SuperFriends kick off Season 3 with some announcements of upcoming changes and a new show, AVSF: Live! Yes, live-- on video, that is-- but live! With video and you! We want you to join us! The link is below.

Then we return to our Twitter poll from a few weeks ago to share the results. With equipment lead times continuing to be a challenge, what are other schools doing? We hash out the three most common approaches— waiting for preferred gear, looking around at alternatives, or implementing new equipment.

Marc then shares his thoughts from a recent tour to Biamp’s headquarters in Portland, OR. It sounds like it’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Finally, we dig into the mailbag and respond to a listener email about control system automation. Our discussion gets pretty heated!

AVSF Live!: https://avsf.live

Twitter poll: https://twitter.com/AVSuperfriends/status/1562109314923237376

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This month’s topic is software AV and we couldn’t decide between software AVoIP content, software AV control, or software management platforms, so we’ll cover all three! We start with an article about a semiconductor manufacturer widening software (and hardware) support for SMPTE 2110, which gets us one step closer to HDBaseT-style interoperability… in theory.

Then, it’s a whirlwind tour of software AV content, control, applications, and more. Why are we using legacy thinking when building our networks? Will we ever fully trust the PC to be a true AV endpoint? After all a huge amount of current content originates from or is delivered to the classroom PC, so why can’t we (reliably) leverage that for multi-protocol high bandwidth content?

Article discussed: https://www.ravepubs.com/macnica-new-software-hardware-smpte-2110/

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Recorded August 12, 2022

We fire up the AVSF time machine and travel back to 2010… to talk about HDBaseT. It’s all in good fun, but it’s a weird article to see in 2022.

Then, what’s your threshold for standardization? That is, are you looking to broaden you AV equipment portfolio or just waiting out the on-going equipment delays? What happens if that wait becomes six, eight, 12, 16 months or more? Jamie is always game to try new gear, Chris is re-engineering systems from the ground up, Justin is stuck between a rock and a hard place, Larry is concerned about staff support, and Marc is staying the course.

Finally, how are we responding to the increasing commoditization of AV integration? In addition to structured cable contractors, there are new service providers who want to help you offload some of your repetitive work (and make money, of course). It’s an interesting concept…

Article discussed: https://www.avnetwork.com/features/how-hdbaset-simplifies-av-installs

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Recorded August 5, 2022

Panopto is buying Kaltura! Sorta. The investment firm who owns Panopto also wants to own Kaltura. While this could mean we’ll see a really cool platform come from this “merger,” most likely it’ll be bad for all of us. Look for your license fees to increase dramatically.

Then, what do you mean by “AV design?” What does it mean to be an AV designer? How much time are you spending doing documentation? How much is too much? Justin just wants to avoid questions, Larry would rather think of cool concepts than create drawings, Jamie hates CAD, Marc hates all documentation, and Chris loves all documentation (in fact, he’s working on a reflected ceiling plan right now).

Finally, what do we all think about eliminating traditional AV cabling and equipment just because we can? Sure, it might not be best practice, but could it be considered “good enough practice” for our spaces?

Articles discussed:

  • https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-panopto-bids-to-buy-israeli-video-co-kaltura-for-383m-1001419838
  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/business/panopto-raises-its-bid-to-buy-competitor-kaltura-to-383m-01-08-2022/
  • https://old.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/wefc3x/av_systems_designers_of_reddit_how_much_time_do/

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Recorded July 15, 2022

It’s Back to School season! What will the 2022 - 2023 school year bring?

We start with an article from EdSurge about schools who put massive student CRM systems on hold and are now restarting those massive projects. Regardless of how many times we’ve all been through this process, the end result seems to be the same: a litany of complaints, nostalgic stories of the previous system, and plans for the next upgrade.

Then, plans for our Fall terms to start in just a few weeks. Setting expectations based on un-finished projects, mitigating standards to make something work, and delays delays delays. We also prognosticate on what we think will be our top help desk tickets this fall. But, if nothing else, fresh Trapper Keepers for all!

Article discussed:

  • https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-06-21-higher-ed-is-investing-in-student-success-tech-is-it-a-new-golden-age-or-just-vague-talk

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We start with an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that asks why colleges and universities are constructing so many new buildings, but leaving older facilities to rot. We’re all guilty of focusing on the new hotness and ignoring the old and busted, but what will happen now that enrollment is set to drop?

Then, active learning rooms. Do they really need all that stuff (no) or all those options (no) or all those displays (no) ? Larry explains active learning as a food analogy, Marc suggests we focus on the students and avoid all the “stuff,” Justin uses software rather than hardware to avoid monstrous AV budgets, Jamie bemoans the lack of pedagogy and over spending of technology, and Chris has built way too many of these spaces all over the country.

Finally, AVIXA wants feedback on the CTS programs. We review the survey for the general CTS and share how we think the CTS holders on our teams leverage those skills.

Article discussed:

  • https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-overbuilt-campus
  • https://archive.ph/XDGwT

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Recorded July 8, 2022

Marc starts us off with an article about new, high resolution and AI-driven optical microphones that will never be a product, but will be in almost every audio product in five years... and probably in your phone, too.  If this technology goes where we think it will, it’ll be the next version of beam-tracking & beam-steering.

Then, with apologies to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, we apply the Five Stages of Grief to delayed AV projects (which in 2022 means every project).  We discuss the client perspective as they experience denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  We also share some of the analogies we use to explain to clients why partially received AV systems can’t be installed.  Hamburgers and cars seem to be the most common.  Also, Justin shares his terrible method of preparing hamburgers.

Finally, Larry has an idea about hand-me-down classrooms and we try to help determine if that’s a good idea, bad idea, or just reality.  

Article discussed:

  • https://gizmodo.com/optical-mic-camera-record-multiple-instruments-separate-1849104793
  • https://www.cs.cmu.edu/news/2022/optical-microphone

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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 thing you didn’t know about and weren’t technically responsible to do? Why does it always seem to fall to AV and IT to take on more than we're responsible for and clean up others’ messes? Is it because we’re the last ones in the door? Or, because everyone knows we’ll get it done? Probably both.

EdScoop article: https://edscoop.com/virtual-reality-universities-class-design/

NYT article: https://rd.nytimes.com/projects/an-end-to-end-guide-to-photogrammetry-with-mobile-devices

Metaverse Standards: https://metaverse-standards.org/

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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 joined by Geoff Robinson from PTZOptics to discuss their recent release of MIDI camera controls. Does this mean you can use a drum kit as a control system? Sure! Can you tie presets to cues in your production software? Yepper! Jamie said it best in that we probably don’t have an immediate use, but rather a myriad of future applications for this. Very cool!

Finally, we discuss the challenges of hiring qualified IT staff at universities. Chris and Larry are both hiring now, Jamie just went through the process a few months ago, Justin must keep the position listings as generic as possible to attract a wider applicant pool, Marc keeps getting asked to apply for internal positions to sandbag the search, and Rachel is amazed at just how regimented the hiring process is at universities. Anyone want a job? We’re hiring!

PTZOptics MIDI Camera Control: https://ptzoptics.com/midi/

Articles discussed:

  • https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/06/vulnerabilities-in-meeting-owl-videoconference-device-imperil-100k-users/
  • https://edscoop.com/owl-labs-vulnerability-patch-cisa/

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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!), fidget spinners, Justin’s drug smuggling backpack, purses vs clutches, the single best product of the show, the .87 miles from one side of the convention center to the other, computes are not a thing, AVlebrities, where to stay in Vegas, gauging distance by egg tossing, the best steaks in Vegas, Rachel’s (and Chris’s) apparent fandom of Smash Mouth, the best hangover breakfasts in Vegas, why Friday is the best day at InfoComm, and Justin’s adventures in sneaking onto the show floor. 

Special thanks to Chris Neto and our friends at Starin Marketing for the podcasting space!

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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 to the NWMET Hall of Fame (and his brand new car!), plans for NWMET in the future, and Doug’s reflection on almost 40 years of educational technology.

Doug’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mccartney-97aa2516/

Jon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonloneyakajlo/

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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 integrators can be better partners with colleges and universities (stop bidding the lowest cost gear).

Jessica’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-sunset-38369b3/

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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 expect to see and hear: Chris is still expecting announcements of heretofore unannounced stuff, Justin is wondering if we’ll see last year’s gear with a new model number, Marc isn’t expecting much of anything and would prefer manufacturers use the show to get product ideas from end users, Larry is expecting only minor announcements, and Jamie is giving up and going to the beach for a the week.

Follow us on Twitter @AVSuperFriends to stay updated with what we’re doing!

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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 Workspace.

Kristen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisgarner/

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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 products. Note: please don’t modify your DMPS with tin snips.

Robert’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-durbin-64b79852/

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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 implementation of advanced camera systems in their classrooms.

Dave Stewart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-stewart-558b7717/

Alfatron: https://www.alfatronelectronics.com

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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 to fail,” and Jamie is building sandboxes all over campus on someone else’s dime.

Finally, Marc has a project at OSU involving VR and AR systems for agricultural programs and giving away devices to students.  It sounds like a heckuva recruiting tool. 

News Stories discussed:

https://edscoop.com/morehouse-college-vr-metaverse/
https://edscoop.com/ohio-state-ends-ipad-program/
https://dive4ag.oregonstate.edu/virtual-reality-field-experiences
https://www.timelooper.com 

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         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 cycles? Would we dramatically shift directions, capabilities, and platforms? Or, would we panic and flounder while paralyzed with indecision?

Finally, we respond to a listener question who wants to know how we onboard new equipment and track it through our various receiving, networking, integration, and support systems? While none of us have found one perfect software solution, there are some interesting options that don’t involve a shared spreadsheet…

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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 notes on your phone, yes, we all think you’re texting. Stop it.

Finally, we all have gear that just won’t die and even after removing it from a system, we can’t bear to part with it because we’ll find a use for it somewhere, somehow. And in 2022, when DSPs are hard to come by, those old mixer amplifiers are looking pretty good…

Article: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/04/28/nab-announces-attendance-of-52468-at-2022-show

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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 universities can be better partners with their integrators. 

Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-yakubisin-836965a3/
Diversified: https://onediversified.com/
NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

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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 design process, and faculty feedback. We also try to stump Joe by asking what he would do differently considering the past two years, but he's quite happy with his teaching and learning spaces. 

USC Learning Environments: https://itservices.usc.edu/spaces/
Joe Way: 
https://twitter.com/josiahway
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiahway
NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

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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, just do it all in house.

Marc has recommendations about working on capital projects, Larry is happy to work with outside experts on highly specialized projects, Chris wants integrator pricing estimates to be honest and not hide costs or overcharge, Justin has a well-established system at WKU of splitting projects into multiple phases so they can be budgeted and contracted separately, and Jamie wants to ensure that if an integrator is engaged, that he is in the loop as the liaison to ensure standards are being met and followed.

We also discuss bringing new integrators onboard, building relationships, leveraging multiple suppliers for box sales, and when to expand those relationships with value-added services.

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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. Frank shares his big, bold plan for the hardware and AV systems and Andy discusses his unique and highly successful model for faculty support using those systems. If you need guidance on how to implement campus-wide hybrid teaching and learning on your campus, this is the model to follow.

UNLV RebelFlex: https://www.it.unlv.edu/classroom-technology/rebelflex
NWMET: https://www.nwmet.org

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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 keep getting roped into? Can we build our learning spaces to support events or will users just want something else in addition? Marc wants to clearly define the support scope, Justin keeps running into his video production colleagues, Jamie is way ahead of the game with aux I/O in every classroom, and Chris would be happy if people would just stop putting gaff tape on his microphones.

Finally, we all go over our clever little ways to avoid the dreaded capital asset tags. At least technology is getting cheaper…

Article discussed: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2022/4/educause-quickpoll-results-learning-spaces-transformation

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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 of supply chain, let’s talk supply chain! Marc can’t plan for projects, Larry is wary of replacing anything until everything is here, Chris is using the summer for maintenance and staff training, Justin is tired of spending 50% of his time getting asked for schedule updates, and Jamie thinks 2022 might just be the year of deferred maintenance. We’ll check back in 12… 16… 26 weeks…

Article: https://www.residentialsystems.com/blogs/a-tale-of-two-warranties

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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 go to the university help desk— and can they actually help? Take notes!

Finally, Chris wants to know what everyone thinks of auto-framing and auto-tracking cameras? Are they worth it over a regular PTZ camera or just another feature to be disabled?

Article discussed: https://edscoop.com/territorium-credential-engine-learner-records/

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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 standard cabling infrastructure looks like. Are we following all the TIA standards and best practices or are we simply paying them lip service?

Article discussed:

  • https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/reinvent-your-career-along-the-skills-pyramid/articleshow/39655798.cms
  • (Alternate link) https://archive.ph/qOibz

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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 many of the same issues. Links are all below.

So, will the metaverse take over classrooms? Not in the Lawnmower Man way you’re thinking, but definitely look for persistent, unique identifiers, NFTs, and blockchain technology to show up in your favorite content platforms, campus LMS, and productivity software. Once that groundwork is in place, look for similar integrations into your AV systems, too. Besides, the goggles do nothing.

Story:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2022/02/16/jpmorgan-opens-a-bank-branch-in-the-metaverse-but-its-not-for-what-you-think-its-for/amp/

Report:

https://www.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm/treasury-services/documents/opportunities-in-the-metaverse.pdf

Article:

https://dmlhub.net/publications/connected-learning-agenda-for-research-and-design/index.html

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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 dive into AV replacement cycles, refresh cycles, life expectancy— whatever you prefer to call it. Do we set arbitrary schedules of 5, 7, 10 years or tie AV refresh projects to capital projects and building renovations. Marc tries to forecast 20 years out, Jamie had a plan that all went out the window, Larry bases his plans on PC replacements, Justin doesn’t have a budget, and Chris wants to upgrade everything when the first item dies.

Finally, we celebrate the little widgets, tchotchkes, adapters, converters, and odds & ends that keep our AV systems running. These products are truly the glue that holds the industry together.

Article: https://www.avnetwork.com/news/exclusive-interview-qsc-creates-two-independent-divisions

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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 (that is, more than one) PTZ cameras into a classroom system. Should we transport baseband video and switch the cameras outboard of the presentation system? What about IP network video direct to the PC and switching the cameras in software? Or, do we use USB cameras via extenders and switch the cameras on in software? While we don’t determine the ultimate solution, we do come up with a common solution that works today and provides for future capability. We are all aware of that “last inch” between the AV system and the PC and have high hopes it will get solved in the future.

Finally, it’s the first ever AVSF Hall of Shame/Fame awards. Our first winner is an easy one, except when Jamie tries to extend that honor to all the products in the same family and Marc starts swearing.

Article discussed: https://www.yahoo.com/now/kramer-acquires-uc-workspace-strategic-170000933.html

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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… and such.

HOWEVER… online conferences are emerging everywhere and the AV SuperFriends will be presenting a session at the HETMA Spring conference this month, so go sign up and bring your best questions. The link is below.

This leads to our larger discussion of what the future of events will look like. Will we still have massive national expositions with tens of thousands of people? (Yes) Will we have more and more smaller, more targeted regional tradeshows? (Yes) What about mixed mode events with conference sessions presented locally, remotely, hybrid and everything in between? (Yes, yes, and yes).

Besides, if nothing else, Larry and Chris will be there.

Sign up for the HETMA Spring 2022 Conference: https://www.hetma.org

News: https://www.ravepubs.com/ise-2022-postponed/

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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 recording, and even famously abandoned systems like iTunes University (remember that?). We also review hardware encoders, capture software, local recordings, cloud delivery, and LMS integration. And, at the end, we all just use Zoom because that’s what instructors know.

Finally, Jamie shares a clever method for bootstrapping light video production switchers into his classroom systems. Despite everyone else’s reservations, it is something worth considering.

News: https://campustechnology.com/articles/2021/02/24/study-finds-use-of-video-boosts-learning.aspx

OSU Streaming Blog: https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/streaming/

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Recorded January 7, 2022

With enrollment decreasing, some schools are looking to specialized learning spaces to match their specialized academic programs. Is this a harbinger of university learning spaces to come in the future? (Yes)

Then, we cover a topic that has been rattling around in all our heads in different ways: the gap between pedagogical development and physical operation of a hybrid learning spaces. Our schools put lots of effort into assisting faculty in developing their curriculum for teaching in hybrid spaces and as AV nerds, we work hard to make those hybrid spaces as capable as possible, but those two groups don’t often come together. It’s part of the qualitative conversation we’ve been having and one that is only evident after we’ve gotten past the “make everything hybrid” phase of the last two years.

Finally, we review the results of our first Technology on Trial on Extended Reality. It leads to some spirited discussion and not even the AV SuperFriends can agree on this one.

Article discussed: https://hechingerreport.org/facing-an-existential-crisis-some-colleges-do-something-rare-for-them-adapt/

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Recorded December 10, 2021

It’s a prediction show! Educause suggests 10 IT-related trends we should all be aware of and we decide they’re not in order, so we’re starting with number 6. As with anything from Educause, it’s highly-researched and detailed, but often just a little too milquetoast for our tastes.

Then the SuperFriends each has a prediction for 2022. Some of us are suggesting general technologies (blockchain, AVoIP), others are focused more on the adoption of various technologies, and Larry is concerned that after almost two years of working, teaching, and learning from home, that “good enough” will be seen as good enough and cause all sorts of integration and quality issues. Have we really lowered the bar that much? (Yes).

Article: https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/research/top-10-it-issues-technologies-and-trends/2022

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Recorded December 17, 2021

Have y’all heard of this Metaverse thingy? It’s exactly like Second Life from 2003, but… uh… new? And people want to live in it for some reason? I don’t get it. No one does, but we’re all playing along. So, we have a news story about a recent poll that says people want to work in the Metaverse because it’ll… uh… increase… productivity… somehow?

Then we introduce a new segment we call Technology on Trial where we select a new or emerging technology that is getting a lot of coverage and present arguments for and against. It’s like Law and Order, but the listeners are the jury. Look for an upcoming Twitter poll to determine the outcome!

Finally, we look back on our predictions for our fall semesters. Were we right in our prognostications about instructors and students having trouble adapting to hybrid learning environments? Hint: No… and yes!

Articles dicussed:

  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/collaboration/nearly-half-employees-want-workplace-metaverse-08-12-2021/
  • https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/12/educause-quickpoll-results-xr-technology

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Recorded December 3, 2021

Are your AV devices secure? Probably not. Is your campus network secure? Fingers crossed!

We start with some recent non-AV news about campus network security and ransomware that forced two entire community colleges to simply close temporarily.

Then we discuss the current state of AV network security. How many devices do we all have out there on the network running firmware from years ago? Has that firmware been through a security audit recently? Or ever? Of course not! AV manufacturers have a bit of a cultural problem when it comes to security in that it often seems to be an afterthought-- even for native AVoIP devices or gear that requires a network connection to function.

Finally, we commiserate about campus clients who want to second-guess project estimates. Over the last two years, everyone has gotten used to "good enough AV” experiences while teaching, learning, and working from home, but is that really good enough for a university learning space? Also, we just bought this TV at Best Buy. Can you just install that for us real quick?

Article discussed:

  • https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/11/30/butler-county-lewis-and-clark-community-colleges-hacked

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Recorded November 17, 2021

It’s the 2nd Annual AV SuperFriends Holiday Show! Yes, we’re recording this in November, even before Thanksgiving, which just feels weird, but such are the necessities of podcast publishing schedules. In return, we’ve added some additional production to the show in the form of not-at-all annoying sound effects and background music!

For our Holiday Show, we couldn’t decide between a standard gift exchange and a White Elephant gift exchange, so we’re doing both… virtually of course. We came up with rules: the gift must be AV-related, must exist in real life, but can cost any amount. It’s a podcast, so play along, folks!

This episode is really for us to have fun, but even so, there’s some good-natured discussion of our various podcast-from-home arrangements, challenges with supply chains, and campus network improvements.

So, a video wall for little Justin, a gold-plated microphone for little Rachel, a sound-proof booth for little Jamie, a set of packing crates for little Chris, network transceivers for little Marc, and new LED panels for little Larry.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Recorded November 19, 2021

Have you ever wondered why you work in AV? Well, here’s the Top Ten reasons. It’s a listicle and we love that. Oddly, it says you don’t need an advanced degree but that AV is challenging. Weird.

Then to the larger topic at hand: Metric AV. Wait, no. The metrics of AV. That is, how do we measure success? Jamie kidnaps people. Larry spies on them from the bushes outside. Marc puts together focus groups. Justin tells them only what they can’t do. And Chris designs everything by powers of ten. But seriously, there are many quantitative ways to measure a functioning AV system, but what about the qualitative? Listen on!

Finally, Chris went digging under his couch cushions and found $100,000 and wants help spending it. Despite Marc’s best efforts, we’re going to focus on the stuff! But for good reasons. How would you spend an extra $100,000?

Article discussed: https://www.ravepubs.com/top-10-reasons-to-work-in-av/

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Recorded November 12, 2021

Two of the AV SuperFriends have been to two large trade shows and conferences and lived to tell the tale.  Larry and Chris were both at InfoComm in Orlando and EDspaces in Pittsburgh and, while both shows were smaller than in previous years, there were still large crowds, lots of people to talk to, and plenty of AV and learning spaces discussions.  It was also a bit weird to see people from the neck down and not wedged into a box on Zoom.  But that does raise the question: will manufacturers continue to make major announcements at large trade shows, or will they host their own events? 

Then, we return to the conversation about how to identify our departments on campus.  We first discussed this in June and since then some of us have taken new positions and others have found themselves embroiled in a division-wide reorganization.  How should we position our departments to campus?  Are we too focused on the equipment in our classroom spaces and not enough on the larger learning experiences that take place outside those spaces?  Or are we too centered on the academic aspect of our roles and not enough on the general construction-related tasks and responsibilities that many of us have?  It’s a pickle!

Finally, we review some new trends in learning spaces—that is, trends of the physical environments.  We’re all seeing more learning taking place outside the four walls of a traditional classroom space, so how are we addressing the mixed hybrid online environments, informal spaces, classrooms without student seating, student seating outside of classrooms, and computer labs without computers.  If nothing else, it’s clear that everyone loves coffee.

Furniture mentioned during the show: https://www.nookpod.com

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This month we dive deep into the world of AVoIP.  It’s a thing.  The cost-delta is over point-to-point transmission almost nil, the technologies and products are maturing, and it opens an entire new world of finger pointing and shirking responsibility! 

We first discussed AVoIP last October on Off the Rails Episode 4, so please give that a listen for more on how we’re leveraging it at our institutions.  Justin is still living in the wild, wild west of networking, Jamie is firing NDI down dark fiber, Marc is transporting all his production cameras over the campus LAN, Larry is building an AVoIP eSports arena, and Chris is swapping HDBaseT for IP in new general classroom designs because why not?

While we all have different approaches, one item we all agree on is to work closely with your networking team.  Some of us got lucky and just happened to be part of the Network/Telecom/Infrastructure teams and others had to go make friends to ensure their VLANs and ports were configured correctly.  If you’re not a first-name basis with your networking colleagues, you will be soon, so be proactive and get to know them before you start firing traffic across the network.

We also do a quick Lightning Round about our preferred managed network switches and we’re again all over the map.  Cisco, Extreme, Luxul, Netgear, there’s room for everyone!

And even after all that, there’s more to come, so stay tuned for the inevitable AVoIP part 3!

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Recorded October 21, 2021

If you’re reading this, the AV SuperFriends have been to InfoComm 2021 and lived to tell the tale.  Well, at least two of us have (Chris and Larry).  Everyone else skipped it and have been removed from the will.

Speaking of InfoComm, we start with a listicle from rAVe Pubs about five trends to watch for at InfoComm 2021.  Were these accurate predictions?  As someone who attended, the answer is… sorta? And no, I did not look at IP-based KVMs.

Then we all share unusual support tickets that we didn’t see coming.  There were a lot of predictions about how this first semester back would go, and as we’re all past the half-way point, we can say that tickets have decided turned from quantitative to qualitative.  That is, lots of request for improving the hybrid teaching experience, and less about “it’s all broke.” So, that’s good.

Finally, we introduce a new segment that we’re calling “Dinosaurs of AV.” We even have theme music.  These are items that really shouldn’t be part of a general classroom or teaching space and are due for retirement by asteroid. We’ll periodically return to this list as it will only grow over time.

Article:

https://www.ravepubs.com/5-things-to-know-about-signal-routing-switching-before-infocomm-2021/

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Recorded October 1, 2021   Hey, Classroom: Turn on projector.  Turn ON projector.  Hey, Classroom: Turn projector ON.  Darn this voice control!     On this episode, the AV SuperFriends share their current frustrations with supply chain issues causing delays in projects.  We also share some solid suggestions on how to mitigate those challenges.  Justin is Frankensteining systems out of whatever he has on hand, whereas Larry is ordering equipment for summer 2022 already.     Next, who wants to talk about org charts?  Trick question-- we all do!  Marc is currently experiencing adventures in IT reorganization and it has raised the question of where AV belongs in the larger IT structure.  Or does it?  Regardless of whether your AV team is part of IT Support, IT Networking, or IT Academic Technology, we all agree that it's different everywhere.   Finally, we're going touchless.  That is, we promise to stop touching... things.  Larry doesn't want people yelling into the void to operate classroom systems, Chris wants to schedule every space in order to automate as much as possible, Jamie still wants to use more arcade buttons, and Marc suggests even if we don't like the concept of touch-free UI, it's coming soon, one way or another.

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Recorded September 17, 2021

Fire up your RGB LEDs, put on your headset, and get caffeinated!  For this month’s episode of On Topic, the AV SuperFriends are joined by Josh Kell, CEO of Horizon AVL System Integration, to talk about eSports. Josh has been working with Larry on a new eSports arena at UNCG and he provides a fascinating look at developing an eSports program holistically and not just piling a bunch of computers into a room and calling it good. 

Despite this being an AV-focused show, the technology itself isn’t the most important aspect of eSports and we talk about laying the groundwork for a successful, long-term, and competitive eSports program, tying into existing academic programs on your campus, dogged persistence to get buy-in from university leadership, and ensuring everyone understands that eSports is not just video games.

We also give a preview of the two workshops the AV SuperFriends are leading at InfoComm 2021.  Join us on Tuesday, October 26 for the Higher Ed AV Project Life Cycle Crash Course, and the Higher Ed AV Design Challenge: Developing Flexible Institutional AV Standards. 

Links for Josh:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-kell-50a24735/
  • Tweeters: https://twitter.com/AVLKell
  • Company: https://horizonavl.com

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Recorded September 10, 2021

It’s the season finale of Off the Rails! We did it— an entire year of shows… and no on air fights. A lot of swearing by text (Chris), complaining about things (Chris), and getting frustrated at people not reading emails (Chris). Wait a minute… For Season 2, starting in a few weeks, or whenever we get around to it (Chris says “the first week of October”), we’ll have more topics to discuss, more news, and more technology! And we might even get around to new commercials (which are already written but have been sitting since December).

The AV news article discussed on this episode comes from the world of K-12 (because Chris didn’t read the headline closely enough) but is quite relevant to colleges and universities in that it’s about talking with users to determine needs and tasks long before selecting technologies. I think we all recognized it as best practice and wish it happened more often.

Then, we again break format and stay on a single topic for the entire show— this time on the challenges, processes, and frustrations with hiring AV staff at our institutions. Jamie is in the middle of it right now and he shares some of the issues he’s run into, especially with candidates who don’t read job requirements and standardized interview questions. Is it best to hire someone with a solid technical background, or focus on the person and train them up to the position? All this and more!

Article discussed: https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2021/09/how-choose-k-12-educational-technology-intentionally

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This month’s topic is “Time for Change,” which we interpreted as “how do we think of classroom AV systems in 2021 as opposed to the same systems in 2019?” The technology hasn’t really changed, but the tasks in those classrooms most certainly have changed, which means we now select the technology differently.

But before we get into all that, we cover some recent news from QSC—or at least leaked from QSC via Rave—about how they’re responding to on-going supply chain shortages. Rather than continuously delay orders, QSC is apparently telling their industry partners (but not necessarily their end-user customers) that some product lines simply will not be available for the foreseeable future. It’s an interesting tact to be sure, and Jamie and Rachel are especially appreciative of it. Rachel also highly recommends an article by a colleague on communicating with customers during a crisis (linked below).

Then we discuss what a classroom system should look like in 2021 or 2022. Sure, the general technologies are the same as we’ve been recommending for years, but now what was once considered an optional add-on is a critical component that is absolutely required for day-to-day teaching and learning. Additionally, “classrooms” clearly extend beyond the four walls of the physical room, so other technology items that were previously considered to be core components can be removed as they no longer easily tie into the new model of mixed hybrid and hyflex learning.

Articles discussed:

  • https://www.ravepubs.com/qsc-stop-fulfilling-orders/
  • https://castercomm.com/2021/08/27/three-pillars-that-should-define-your-crisis-comms/

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Recorded August 20, 2021

One of the things we all love about our jobs at colleges and universities is working with students. They’re a fantastic resource, eager to help, keen to help, and willing to hop on a bike and race across campus at a moment’s notice.

On this unusual episode of Off the Rails, we stay on topic and focus entirely on our interactions with student staff in our departments. We’re joined by Don De Mello and Lawrence Eng of Oregon State University to talk about their top tier program for recruiting, hiring, mentoring, training, and preparing students for professional positions after they graduate.

We talk about everything from writing the position descriptions for students, treating them like professional staff, integrating them into the working environment, and growing them as professionals and even programmers.

Also, Justin and Don talk about the excellent scholarship and internship opportunities afforded by the AVIXA Foundation. Apply now!

Don De Mello: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-demello-7b352117/

Lawrence Eng: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-eng-763b188/

AVIXA Scholarships:
https://www.avixa.org/about-avixa/who-we-are/avixa-foundation/scholarships

AVIXA Internship program:
https://www.avixa.org/about-avixa/who-we-are/avixa-foundation/internships/av-interns

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Recorded August 13, 2021

We’re back! It’s been a weird couple of weeks with some of the AV SuperFriends moving across town, some moving across the country, and others staying right where they are. Summer is full of vacations and travel… and so many AV installation projects! And what better way to close out summer than with a discussion of digital signage on our campuses?

We first try to define digital signage in a very general sense and then describe some of the issues we’ve had deploying, supporting, and maintaining it at our institutions. Jamie describes how to blind your students and faculty, Rachel suggests we use the devices that students carry with them, and Chris shares how to booby trap digital signage content players so they don’t sit on a logo for 8 months.

We then talk about how we might use digital signage players and displays for academic purposes and vice versa. After all, we’ve got a bunch of displays around— we might as well turn them into informal huddle spaces or support the teaching in the space.

Also, we discuss some AV news about something that should have happened a year ago— Zoom support on Smart TV streaming boxes. Well, at least on one box from Amazon. Where are the home telepresence devices?

News story: https://www.techhive.com/article/3627488/amazons-second-gen-fire-tv-cube-now-lets-you-make-zoom-calls.html

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Recorded July 7, 2021

It’s Back to School season, so get some new shoes, a nice shirt for the first day, a new Trapper Keeper and pencil bag, and let’s all take an awkward picture by the front door on the way out to catch the school bus. And, we have some survey results to discuss— and we love our surveys! — from Classroom Technology on the ways Online Learning (whatever that means) is changing post-pandemic. The students are driving change, so it’ll be interesting to return to this topic after a year and see how we did.

Next up, Marc knows what our top Help Desk ticket issues will be this fall and lets us all in on the secret. Are you prepared? It really focuses on the dichotomy of experience between teaching and learning at home and from a classroom. And it will inform AV design for years to come. Also, get rid of your codecs in classrooms.

Finally, do you have rooms you haven’t been in for over a year? Well, chase those spiders away, those rooms need to be 100% for the start of Fall classes! Jamie walks us through how UMKC does their room checks and the advantages of allocating resources to support that model.

Article discussed during the show:

  • https://campustechnology.com/articles/2021/06/22/how-the-pandemic-changed-higher-eds-priorities-for-online-learning.aspx

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Recorded July 9, 2021

In AV news, Sharp/NEC announces a new display with support for an insertable module (SDM, the replacement for OPS) that has NDI and Dante onboard. While that sounds as exciting as burnt toast, it could be a harbinger of things to come— displays (and general AV devices) with support for multiple AVoIP transport protocols on a single NIC. It’s clearly the way of the future, so let’s hope we see more of this in the coming months.

Speaking of harbingers, we then review some disruptive technologies that are available today and changing how we think about designing classroom AV systems. Some of these technologies are so disruptive, we’re including them in our newest classroom standards… if that makes sense. We also return to the idea of a PC as the center of the AV system, instead of the monstrous $5,000 all-in-one switcher.

Finally, students are keeping us on our toes as we have to adapt to their learning styles and comfort with multiple, simultaneous content streams— official and unofficial— during classes. Should we really let the whims of 19 year old students determine the future of learning spaces and AV design? Like, for sure, boomer.

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Recorded July 2, 2021

Biamp buys Neets and presumably looks to get into the larger ecosystem of AV control.  And that raises some interesting questions about control systems.  Aside from the big two, Crestron and Extron (AMX no longer counts), we're seeing a ever-increasing number of smaller companies introducing solid control options, often at a significant savings.   We've tried a few from Atlona, QSC, and others and they show real promise.  Also, what's the deal with these ePTZ cameras?  Are they worth it?  Spoiler: for the most part, yes.  

Articles and links from the show:

  • https://neets.io
  • https://www.biamp.com/company/press-releases/press-release-detail/biamp-acquires-neets-a-s
  • https://www.avinteractive.com/news/business/biamp-broadens-control-range-neets-acquisition-22-06-2021/
  • https://www.ravepubs.com/biamp-control-system-manufacturer/

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Recorded June 11, 2021

It’s summer! Spend the next three hours as the AV SuperFriends review all their summer projects, one by one. No, that’s boring and tedious. We’re all doing the same thing you’re doing at your school.

Instead, let’s talk supply chain. We’re joined by Clay Stahlka, Senior PreSales Engineer at Starin to talk about the current situation regarding the AV and electronics supply chain. Clay shares his insider perspective and gives some great tips on planning projects early in order to get your gear on time.

Marc also shares an article about holograms (which don’t really exist). They’re the future! No, no they’re not, but not because we don’t all want a Star Trek Holodeck— Rachel reminds us that there’s simply no content for holograms (which still don’t exist).

Connect with Clay Stahlka on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clay-stahlka-cts-d-06205941/

Articles from the episode:

  • https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-companies-want-to-make-holograms-part-of-routine-office-life-11623232800
  • https://blog.google/technology/research/project-starline/

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Recorded June 18, 2021

Trade shows are back and that means lists upon lists of trade show awards! We look at a list from ISE by Commercial Integrator and CE Pro and note some awards that make sense and some that seem suspicious. Also, Jamie really doesn’t like “listicles” like this.

Then, let’s talk AV department branding and identity? What is our current AV department called? Are those names out of date or still accurate? What should we be called in 2021? In a super non-scientific study, Chris gathered 25-30 names from universities around the country (but he didn’t note which name came from which school) and we’re pretty sure some version of your department name is in there somewhere. Hopefully this spurs some similar discussions at your school.

Finally, what actually happens when someone presses the “Power Off” button on your touch panels or button panels? Are we really powering off equipment or just telling the users that so everything is ready immediately for the next user? What about remote power control? Are you using that and if not, why are you doing it wrong? PoE is great until it isn’t. And Justin reveals that all the instructors at WKU are required to strap two yard sticks together and flip the rocker switches on the back of ceiling-mounted projectors at the end of every class.

Top New Technology Awards article:

  • https://www.commercialintegrator.com/product_news/2021-top-new-technology-awards-winners/

Department Names:

  • Academic Technology and Media Services
  • Audiovisual Educational Technology and Media Services
  • Audio Visual & Systems Technology
  • AV & Event Services
  • AV Operations
  • AV Services / Audiovisual Services
  • AV Solutions
  • Audio/Video Services and Engineering
  • Classroom Support Services
  • Classroom Technology and Media
  • Classroom Technology Services
  • Classroom Technology Support
  • Classrooms, Digital Media and Events
  • Collaboration and Classroom Technologies
  • Desktop and Classroom Technology
  • Instructional AV
  • Instructional Technology
  • Interactive Video Services
  • Learning and Technology Spaces
  • Learning Environments
  • Learning Experience & Technology
  • Learning Spaces
  • Media Services / Media Services Technology
  • Media Productions and Audio Visual Services
  • Multimedia Classrooms
  • Office of Classroom Management
  • Teaching and Learning Technologies
  • Technology Management Services
  • Technology Support Services
  • Video Communication Services

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Recorded June 4, 2021

It’s June so hopefully you have your summer orders submitted because it’s too late now!

We start with a quick look at AVIXA’s recent survey on commercial AV salaries, certifications, and job satisfaction and how those might be reflected in Higher Ed. We then review a report from Commercial Integrator about the future of distance learning written by non-educators, though one of them does mention pedagogy.

Speaking of which, Larry suggested we share our current AV industry pet peeves and there is no shortage of things that are bothering us, be they from manufacturers, integrators, vendors, or even other universities. In the interest of time, some of us didn’t get to all of our list, so there’s plenty more where that came from. It was quite cathartic, actually.

Finally, while it may be well known to some, we didn’t realize that Zoom is providing full commercial AV designs for everything from conference rooms to classrooms to telepresence suites. The designs are quite comprehensive, but use multiple manufactures where they’re not always necessary (in our opinion). If nothing else, the Zoom designs are a good place to start.

Links from the episode:

  • https://go.avixa.org/webmail/888683/42579103/2e447cf9a9d892949d1ab60e0c1cab8e36844b94be6a7d8e8412cc0915030fb8
  • https://www.commercialintegrator.com/download/a-look-at-distance-learning-in-2021-and-beyond/
  • https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/sections/360009297492-Professional-Services-ProAV-Designs

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Recorded May 14, 2021

The AV SuperFriends welcome Mandy Beckner, President and Chief Operating Officer at THE rAVe Agency to the show and peer into our Magic 8 Ball to determine what tradeshows, conferences, and events are going to look like in the future. The 8 Ball says “Reply hazy, try again,” which isn’t terribly helpful.

Some events are already returning with various approaches to COVID-19 safety while others are seemingly going to wait out 2021 and hope for better luck in 2022. Regardless of the status of your favorite conference or tradeshow, online events— or some variation thereof— seem to be here to stay. In a world where information is king, how do you sell the shared conference experience over the actual information? Are manufacturers, sponsors, presenters, and attendees alike willing to admit that it’s not just about the information, but the larger experience?

News stories discussed:

  • ISE throws in the towel in Amsterdam and Munich
  • What Is the Future of the Edtech Conference?

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Recorded May 21, 2021

Let’s start with some AV industry news about two integrators merging. Wait, why are we covering this? Ah, because Marc sees this as a coordinated move into the education vertical. After all, schools have money (CARES or otherwise), a need to spend it, and generally their staff are easy to push around.

Next up, it’s summer project show & tell! We each talk about a project that we’re looking forward to— Marc is building an aquarium, Chris is describes the Phil Collins Sussudio Stustudio, Larry is focusing on eSprouts (or perhaps eSports), Justin is cranking out Zoom Rooms, and Jamie is laying the groundwork for zero latency direct fiber connections between campuses. Rachel then surprises us all with an under-the-radar project about standardized 3D content formats that is likely years away, but sure sounds cool.

Finally, we dive deep into difficulties finding AV integrators with availability for our projects in recent months. Most of us prefer to do everything in house, but as COVID upgrades in 2020 took the place of a regular replacement cycle, we’re effectively a year behind, so our university AV staff are booked for 2021 and there’s still more to do. On the other hand, a lot of schools don’t do their own installs and never have, so they are reliant upon AV integrators. But what happens when those integrators aren’t available because they’re all busy with other commercial projects— especially the myriad of “return to the office” upgrades?

AV News articles:

  • https://www.avnetwork.com/news/trox-and-tierney-merge
  • https://www.commercialintegrator.com/business_resources/sales_marketing/trox-acquires-tierney-to-expand-education-client-base-across-north-america/
  • https://www.trox.com/20210426-trox-and-tierney-unite

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Recorded May 14, 2021

We start with our take on an article from Inside Higher Ed, which says “Students Want Online Learning Options Post-Pandemic.” In related news, water is wet and my son wants only hot dogs for dinner.

Next, we take a deep dive into the world of training, professional development, and industry certifications. Most of us have a collection of letters we can attach to our signatures when the moment calls for it, so we wanted to talk about which ones we consider truly valuable and which certifications we look for when reviewing job applications.

Finally, it’s a lightning round of unique control options we have implemented. That is, something beyond a standard touch panel, button panel, or keypad. Jamie games us all on a creative solution.

Article discussed: Students Want Online Learning Options Post-Pandemic

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Is AV part of IT? It’s a topic that keeps coming up in the larger higher ed AV circle and it’s the focus of our discussion this month. Did you know there are still schools out there who don’t consider their AV department to be under the auspices of IT? Some are located in the library, some are under the Provost, some are under facilities, some are part of the TV/video production team, and some are part of events. And, in our collective not-so-humble opinion, those schools need a new org chart. After all, AV and IT use many of the same technologies, the same standards, and certainly the same infrastructure, so why shouldn’t we all be one big happy family?

We also play a game of “You might not be using AVOIP if…”

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Recorded April 23, 2021

What does the phrase “distance education” mean at our institutions? Is it the same as “online education” or are those distinct models? And are we going to change those definitions post-COVID? We discuss a few recent news stories that higher education is considering looking into possibly doing some sort of distance education model… whatever that might mean.

We also beat up each other over our past terrible, terrible choices in flexible AV furniture and moveable lecterns. We’ve all done it and it never works as well (or as often) as we’d like and costs way, way too much. Don’t do it!

Finally, we’re joined by Aaron Peterson, an engineer from an AV integration firm, who wrote in with comments about our previous discussion on “Is Higher Ed AV part of Pro AV?” and was brave enough to come on the show and talk with us. Thanks, Aaron!

Articles referenced during the show:

  • https://www.commercialintegrator.com/markets/education/distance-learning-education-nsca-almo/
  • https://www.commercialintegrator.com/av/rosemont-college-hybrid-learning/
  • https://educationdata.org/online-education-statistics

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Recorded April 9, 2021

Is Higher Ed AV a type of Professional AV? There certainly are enough universities acting as in-house integrators, but we know it isn’t always that cut and dry. The fact that a university paid for a boundary mic on a pole tells us there is still work to be done. Seriously, a boundary mic on a camera extension pole, and people are proud enough to make press releases about it.

What are some indicators you look for when you are talking to other universities to determine that they have their ducks in a row? Internal programming staff? What about industry certifications and an emphasis on training? What’s important and what’s just noise.

And how does the rest of Pro AV see Higher Ed AV? (Here’s a hint: letting someone charge you to put boundary mics on poles stuck to the ceiling doesn’t help our image) How have we had to prove ourselves to architects, consultants, manufactures, and integrators to ensure they’re listening to us?

Install Fail: https://www.ravepubs.com/videosonic-chooses-mxl-ac-404-mics-for-zoom-room-application/

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On a recent episode, we peered 20 years into the future to imagine what universities and learning spaces might look like. The most fun aspect of that discussion was trying to the envision technologies that would be in use at the time. It was a balance between outlandish and very real technology of 2021, even if it currently exists only as a tech demo.

On this episode, the AV SuperFriends are all on the same page about what the next groundbreaking AV technology might be— and it’s not exciting to the end-users, but it is to the nerds in all of us. Hint: we're looking for the “Dante of video."

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Recorded March 26, 2021

We start by discussing our love/hate relationships with a specific large interactive monitor. We still aren’t sure if we like it or not, but it seems to be the best tool for the job. That might be damning with faint praise, but when it does everything you want but nothing you need, I’m not sure you will get a better endorsement.

Chris walks us through AV history as he describes the path that brought us to the one true aspect ratio we should be using. Oh, there are others, but should you really be using them?

Finally, Larry explains his concept of hybrid learning vs hyflex learning, using delicious, nutritious, scrumptious hot dogs. It’s actually quite clever, and it allows Justin to make a lot of wiener jokes.

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Recorded March 19, 2021

This entire episode is about 4K resolution and all the benefits and issues that come along with it. And by 4K, we mean UHD or 3840 x 2160.

Larry asks, if you were planning a new classroom building, would you design entirely to make the most use of 4k resolution in standard classrooms?  Does that mean every room with 20-foot ceilings for properly-sized displays?  If so, those rooms might not sound great, but they’d sure look fabulous!  With a screen that large there isn’t a bad seat in the room!  In fact, with a screen that wide there aren’t many seats in the room, but hey, that helps with social distancing and maximum occupancy.

What about 4K and hybrid learning?  Would you add 4K cameras for all your Zoom and Teams needs?  Wait, what’s this 360p number in the corner…

Stick around after the show for an outtake where Justin doesn’t get the very common AV “what’s your New Year’s Resolution” joke.

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This is a recording the AV SuperFriends did with Erik Ofgang of Tech & Learning about podcasting in education and podcasting for educators. We cover everything from what types of microphones are best, to how many co-hosts you should have (hint: less than five), to how often you should publish, to developing your story before going shopping.

Thanks to Erik for putting up with us!

Erik’s article is available here: https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/podcasting-for-educators

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Recorded February 12, 2021

Well, it’s Groundhog Day… again.

This month’s theme is supposed to be “the one year anniversary of COVID-19” but as that’s something we’ve all been living 24/7, it fell flat as a topic of discussion for the AV SuperFriends. Instead, we decided to look at long term impacts that COVID might have on higher ed AV and eLearning. We managed to push a monitor cart up to 88 mph and captured a recording of the AV SuperFriends: On Topic from March of 2041. Take that, space-time continuum!

Presenting six perspectives on what universities, higher ed AV, and eLearning looks like 20 years from now, here are six tales featuring drone cameras, swarms of microphones, multi-content display walls, corporate sponsorships, and apprenticeships aplenty!

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Recorded February 19, 2021

(The audio quality gets pretty spotty at times on this recording. Sorry, listeners.)

Years ago, the only way to do video conferencing was via proprietary hardware.  They had limited interoperability— remember the old People + Content model? — but you could always tell when you connecting to a different system. 

Then we started exploring the idea of using PCs as the center of a video conferencing system.  Software and hardware had caught up to where the quality of the call was roughly equivalent to the hardware appliances— and PCs are more flexible and can have added features during a call. 

Now we have systems that want to take control of the PC, essentially turning them back into dedicated appliances.  And at CES this year, Logitech announced a new line of VC appliances that work only with their cameras, and their microphones. 

Are we going back to the proprietary model of appliances?

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The big news is that Infocomm has moved— but not out of Orlando, so we can all continue to experience the added risk of a hurricane. But, if AVIXA can’t fix the location, they did a good job fixing the date. We react to the news and discuss why we hope this is a long term change (seriously, who wants to go to Vegas and Orlando in the middle of summer?). On that note, have we considered Infocomm: Nantucket? I hear it’s lovely that time of year!

Then we take a dive into the topic of central AV monitoring systems and determine that half of the group is just using those systems incorrectly… or not at all! (OK, that’s not what we agreed to say about the topic, but I get to write these and they don’t, so there!) Those who aren’t leveraging central AV monitoring are just being obstinate. These systems can make your life easier— just drink the Kool-Aid, people!

All that and more on the latest episode of the AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails!

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For this month’s show, we’re celebrating our love… of AV.  And it’s going to get messy in here.

It’s February, and as legally required by Hallmark and your Great Aunt Silvia, this show will be Valentine’s Day themed. We each have a box on our desk and we’re going to go around and virtually drop off little cards covered with stickers, glue, and glitter… and foil-wrapped candy. We share our backgrounds and how we got into AV and why we do what we do. For a bit of prognostication, we also cover what we’d love to see from AV in the future. 

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Recorded January 22, 2021

What is the perfect Higher Ed AV team size? The AV SuperFriends dig into this topic and come up with the perfect answer!

OK, not really, but we do find out that one of our universities has more AV employees than the rest of us combined… and they still need more, more, more! We discuss how different responsibilities affect team structure and attempt to come up with a ratio of supported spaces versus coverage. Chris has numbers. No one else likes them.

We then look at how we find those employees and discuss actual, no fooling, real life job listings. We’ve changed the names to protect the guilty and try to determine if universities are actually looking for Unicorns with low self esteem, or if they are just desperate for anyone who will swipe right at this point.

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Recorded January 8, 2021

It’s the start of a new year and the AV SuperFriends are off the rails again.

We start the show with a sincere apology to all the students, teachers, and parents out there until Rachel tells how she really feels and we have to mark this episode as EXPLICIT

Next, we introduce a new segment where we do a deep dive into the technical details of a recently-completed project. This one is IU’s flagship active learning room, but used to be the flagship map storage room, and was the flagship swimming pool room before that. Regardless, it’s a great room and Chris walks us through the design and installation process. We’d love to talk with you about one of your projects in an upcoming episode so we can steal ideas from your school, as well as from each other.

Finally, we discuss proprietary video conference hardware. Most of us thought that with the elimination of codecs in most of our spaces, this type of thing was going the way of the dinosaur. However, every time we look around someone is promoting a Zoom Room or MS Teams appliance. We wonder if this is a trend we got out in front of, or if we were throwing things out just when they were coming back in style.

Indiana University - Bloomington Student Building 015:

  • 2012 https://learningspaces.iu.edu/explore/rooms/SB015.html
  • 2020 https://cts.iu.edu/rooms/index?room=503

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Recorded December 18, 2020

(Producer’s Note: There’s some background noise throughout this episode that we didn’t catch until after the recording.  Lo siento con carne!)

It’s January, so let’s plan for summer!  

Chris is really, really upset with “Classrooms of the Future” (but not necessarily for the reasons you think) and give them both barrels.  Do you have a Classroom of the Future?  Isn’t it just the bee’s knees?  

Then, the AV SuperFriends recover and share their take on how to get ready for summer projects and Justin again tries to explain the wacky budgeting process at WKU. 

Also, Rachel has been getting lots of questions from AV manufacturers about forecasted spending from colleges and universities— budget decreases for some, increases for others, and mysteries for everyone.  Hint: Put all your funding requests into hybrid teaching technologies. 

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How many projects and installations are universities tackling over the holidays this year compared to last? For some of us, a lot-- for some, none. Weird.

Then Jeff Peterson and Jordan Basham return to continue the discussion from our last episode about university athletics AV, managing student employees, the future of live AV production, and the critical importance of being able to properly over/under cables.

We wrap with a lightning round of our AV-related New Year's Resolutions.

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Shure buys Stem Audio- are they making a play at the conference room market? (Hint: Yes). The AV SuperFriends are joined by Jeff Peterson from Oregon State University and Jordan Basham from Western Kentucky University to talk about AV for NCAA and Athletics as well as the interaction between academic AV and athletics AV. Also, what happens when you have a student you just can't let escape? Finally, we each have a Naughty and Nice list for the AV industry.

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Originally recorded November 20, 2020

Plug in the twinkle lights, shine up your aluminum pole, and get out the fancy liquor— it’s time for the holidays with the AV SuperFriends!

In keeping with the theme of general end-of-year merriment and holiday wishlists, we all share our letters to Santa asking for our favorite AV-related products… or items that don’t quite exist, but should. And Chris shares about seven of them, because he just can’t help it.

Next, we play a round of “if you can have only one item from your Holiday Wishlist, what would it be” as we each describe the one item we really, really want. A video wall for little Justin, a cup of bandwidth for little Jamie, and so forth. Finally, we close with the traditional Feats of Strength as it just wouldn’t be the Holidays without physical altercations.

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Originally recorded November 13, 2020 and November 20, 2020.

We have a news flash about Flash, where we share our flashing disbelief at the way the industry has prepared for the long-awaited end of Flash. Spin up your VMs and disable Windows Update!

Then, Dr. Jon Dorbolo returns to continue our exploration of technology and pedagogy with a look at what the future might bring.

Finally, we all went on the Internet and found this! Is that a 65-foot USB cable that you plan to rely upon to ensure all students have access to your instructor in a hyflex environment, or are you just happy to see the AV Superfriends again?

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The AV SuperFriends sit down with Dr. Jon Dorbolo from Oregon State University to talk about the interaction of technology and pedagogy.  Jon quickly puts us all in our place and runs circles around all of us-- except maybe Rachel and Larry-- as he provides a history lesson on teaching online over the last 30 years.  Also, remember Gopher?  And Turbo Gopher?  

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Originally recorded on November 6, 2020

On this episode of AV SuperFriends: On Topic, we’re taking a look back at an interesting last few months.  Did we choose the right model microphones and projec... ok, no one really cares about that.  We take a holistic look at AV, eLearning, pedagogy, and the college experience and talk through how making six years of changes in six months might affect the future learning spaces.  Also, Justin comes up with the idea to charge tuition to online students based on how far they are from campus.

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Originally recorded on October 23, 2020

Marc is upset with an integrator and that immediately derails our conversation.  Then, we argue about what makes a "standard" classroom.  How do we determine what that should mean on our campuses?  Has that changed in the last six months?  (Hint: Yes... and no).  Also, Jamie gets angry and manufacturers in general about equipment mounting. 

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Originally recorded October 16, 2020

Jamie is coming in hot with a problematic project.  We define AVoIP, then argue about that definition. Is it better to put things on the network or on a network? And who manages all our network stuff, anyway?

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Originally recorded October 02, 2020

We discuss our universities’ responses to COVID-19 and how those decisions might affect higher education AV design in the future.

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Originally Recorded on September 25, 2020

We discuss the changing relationship between trade shows and new products, take a look at AV’s responsibility in supporting pedagogy, and dive into the mailbag to answer your questions.

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Originally recorded on September 18, 2020

We discuss dueling trade shows, doing the wrong things-- but for the right reasons, and dig through the mailbag to answer your questions.

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Originally Recorded September 11, 2020

We talk about some clever, but cheap solutions to common AV issues, dig through the mailbag, and explore the concept of the academic gig economy.