We review a report from Commercial Integrator about the future of distance learning (whatever that means), Larry wants to talk general pet peeves so we all throw in on what manufacturers, integrators, vendors, and even other universities are doing that bothers us, and finally Zoom designs their own commercial AV systems (and they’re sort of weird).

The AV SuperFriends are joined by Mandy Beckner of the rAVe Agency to discuss events from the distant past (e.g. 2019) and events of the far-flung future (e.g. 2021). We talk about the return to in-person events, the continued proliferation of online events, and how to create a premium experience for folks that attend in person, while balancing the new requirement of trying to make everything available online.

Marc considers the recent merger between Trox and Tierney to be a major push into the education AV market, it’s show & tell time about upcoming summer projects, and a riveting discussion of AV labor forces and the increasing trouble finding available integrators.

How do you handle staff training and professional development at your institution? Is there time set aside for each staffer to spend 5-10% of their week learning a new technology or working towards a certification? Or are you doing it wrong? Also, who’s paying for these certifications and who should be paying for them?

If the IT is an umbrella structure covering everything from networks to security to application development to PC hardware, then AV is the most IT of any IT department. We do it all and are constantly asked to do more. What’s that? You’re not part of the IT structure at your school? Well, then you’re doing it wrong.

Have y’all heard of this distance education thing? Apparently, 33% of schools are considering continuing that after COVID. I can only assume that was a poorly-worded survey question as, honestly, who is NOT going to be doing more distance education than ever before?

Also, we hate moveable furniture, and an AV integrator joins the show to provide an outside perspective of working with universities.

Embarrassing commercial AV installations at a “prestigious New York university,” is Higher Ed AV really part of professional AV (yes), and what’s the one thing you’d change about the AV industry?

Ever wondered what sorts of technologies the AV SuperFriends would really like to see from AV and electronics manufacturers? Well, wonder no more, because the dream of ubiquitous multicast video streaming is (almost) here!

Several of the AV SuperFriends vehemently agree with each other about Dell LCDs, the history of aspect ratios and the one aspect ratio to rule them all, and hot dogs as a metaphor for hybrid learning.

With 8K displays sneaking into the market, it’s time to talk about 4K! Are we deploying 4K (no), do we have 4K content (no), and do we have the bandwidth for 4K (yes!)?. Also, where are all the 4K projectors? Seriously!