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 present...
Feb 08, 2022•35 min•Season 2Ep. 5
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...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 10
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 ...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 9
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...
Jan 08, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 3
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...
Dec 31, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 8
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! ...
Dec 16, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 31
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… virtuall...
Dec 08, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 3
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 everyth...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 6
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...
Nov 18, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 5
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,...
Nov 08, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 14
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 suppor...
Nov 02, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 2
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 cha...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 2
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 ...
Oct 08, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 1
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 ...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 26
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 continuo...
Sep 15, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 12
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 pro...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 25
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, suppo...
Aug 19, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 24
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 ...
Aug 01, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 11
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 dis...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 23
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 w...
Jul 09, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 22
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 ord...
Jul 08, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 10
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 ...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 21
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 pe...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 20
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 ...
Jun 08, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 9
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 Sus...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 19
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...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 18
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. A...
May 08, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 8
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. W...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 17
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 ...
Apr 15, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 16
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 ...
Apr 08, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
