It’s the 2nd Annual AV SuperFriends Holiday Show! We couldn’t decide between a standard gift exchange and a White Elephant gift exchange, so we’re doing both and discussion of our various podcast-from-home arrangements, challenges with supply chains, and campus network improvements.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

First, here’s the Top Ten reasons we all work in AV. It’s a listicle and we love that. Oddly, this article says you don’t need an advanced degree but AV is also challenging. Weird.

Then to the larger topic at hand: Metric AV. Wait, no. The metrics of AV. That is, how do we measure success? There are many quantitative ways to measure a functioning AV system, but what about the qualitative?

Finally, Chris went digging under his couch cushions and found $100,000 and wants help spending it.

Larry and Chris were both at InfoComm in Orlando and EDspaces in Pittsburgh, but will manufacturers continue to make major announcements at large trade shows, or will they host their own events?

We return to the conversation about how to identify our departments on 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?

We review some new trends in learning spaces—that is, trends of the physical environments. If nothing else, it’s clear that everyone loves coffee.

This month we dive deep into the world of AVoIP. The cost-delta is almost nil, the technologies and products are maturing, and it opens an entire new world of finger pointing and shirking responsibility!

We start with a listicle about five trends to watch for at InfoComm 2021. Were these accurate predictions? Sorta.

Then we all share unusual support tickets that we didn’t see coming. Tickets have decided turned from quantitative to qualitative.

Finally, we introduce a new segment that we’re calling “Dinosaurs of AV.” These are items that really shouldn’t be part of a general classroom or teaching space and are due for retirement by asteroid.

The AV SuperFriends share their current frustrations with supply chain issues causing delays in projects and some solid suggestions on how to mitigate those challenges.

Next, who wants to talk about org charts? Marc is currently experiencing adventures in IT reorganization and it has raised the question of where AV belongs. We all agree that it's different everywhere.

Finally, we're going touchless. Marc suggests even if we don't like the concept of touch-free UI, it's coming soon, regardless.

The AV SuperFriends are joined by Josh Kell, CEO of Horizon AVL System Integration, to talk eSports who has been working with Larry on an eSports arena at UNCG.

We talk about laying the groundwork for a successful, long-term, and competitive eSports program, getting 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.

It’s the season finale of Off the Rails!

The AV news is from the world of K-12 (because Chris didn’t read the headline), but is relevant to Higher Ed in that it’s about talking with users to determine needs and tasks long before selecting technologies.

We break format and stay on a single topic on the challenges with hiring AV staff. Jamie shares some of the issues he’s run into, especially with candidates who don’t read job requirements and standardized interview questions.

What defines classroom AV systems in 2021? Technology hasn’t really changed, but the tasks in those classrooms most certainly has changed which means we now select the technology differently. What was once considered an optional add-on is now a critical component and other items that were previously considered to be core components can be removed.

We also cover some recent news from QSC about on-going supply chain shortages. Rather than continuously delay orders, QSC is apparently telling industry 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.

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. Also, Justin and Don talk about the excellent scholarship and internship opportunities afforded by the AVIXA Foundation. Apply now!