AV SuperFriends

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!

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/

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

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!

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/

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.

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

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

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/

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