AV SuperFriends

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!

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?

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.