AV SuperFriends
178 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 days ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsThe 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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Episodes
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Where Have All the Integrators Gone?
May 28, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour - 93.9 MBRecorded 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...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Built to Take a Beating
May 21, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour - 105 MBRecorded 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 valu...
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - AV is the new IT
May 08, 2021 16:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBIs 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 char...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Zoom is the new Kleenex
April 29, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour - 100 MBRecorded 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 lec...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - What Would You Say You Do Here?
April 15, 2021 19:00 - 58 minutes - 80.9 MBRecorded 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 determi...
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Emerging Technologies
April 08, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 51.5 MBOn 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 exciti...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - It's Not a Tron Issue
April 01, 2021 19:00 - 59 minutes - 82.2 MBRecorded 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...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Porque 4K?
March 24, 2021 19:00 - 58 minutes - 79.9 MBRecorded 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 ther...
AV SuperFriends: Perspectives - Tech & Learning Interview
March 22, 2021 04:00 - 52 minutes - 72.9 MBThis 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
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Six Terrifying Visions of the Future
March 08, 2021 05:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBRecorded 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, spa...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Oh, Look, We’ve Created the Codec Again…
February 26, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBRecorded 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 qualit...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Umbrellas for the Cloud (It’s Never the Network)
February 11, 2021 05:00 - 59 minutes - 55 MBThe 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 SuperFriends: On Topic - Oh, for the Love of AV...
February 08, 2021 20:00 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBFor 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 cov...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - We Hunt Unicorns
January 27, 2021 23:05 - 1 hour - 60.4 MBRecorded 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 l...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - The New Trapper Keeper
January 13, 2021 20:00 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBRecorded 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...
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - The Future is a Spreadsheet Away
January 08, 2021 17:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBRecorded 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...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - That’s What Over Under Gets You
December 23, 2020 17:00 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBHow 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.
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Everyone Starts With a Bread Truck
December 16, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBShure 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.
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - It's a Festivus Miracle!
December 09, 2020 20:00 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBOriginally 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 ca...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Putting on My Future Hat
November 30, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBOriginally 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 ...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Unraveling a Ball of Wax
November 20, 2020 17:00 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBThe 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?
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Convenience Fee
November 18, 2020 20:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBOriginally 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 studen...
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Get Your IT Together
October 29, 2020 19:00 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBOriginally 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.
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Eh-vee-oh-ver-eye-pee
October 21, 2020 19:00 - 1 hour - 68.8 MBOriginally 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?
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - How I Spent My Summer Vacation
October 20, 2020 19:00 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MBOriginally 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.
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Stay in Your Lane
October 11, 2020 00:03 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBOriginally 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.
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - The Wrong Things for the Right Reasons
October 11, 2020 00:01 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBOriginally 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.
AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - The Menacing Phantom
October 10, 2020 23:58 - 49 minutes - 45.9 MBOriginally 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.