AV SuperFriends

AV SuperFriends

The 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.

  1. AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails 139 - A little confidence is a lot of ignorance

    4d ago

    AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails 139 - A little confidence is a lot of ignorance

    Recorded June 5, 2026 This week on Off the Rails, we descend into the glamorous, finger-burning, cable-stretching world of Layer 1: the place where every brilliant AV system either starts working… or quietly dies behind a rack because someone trusted a discount connector. The regular panel is joined by Stacy Kaskon and Brant Mathiason from Neutrik to talk about why physical connectivity still matters, why proper termination is becoming a lost art, and how Neutrik's new FAST training initiative aims to teach students, techs, integrators, and higher ed AV teams how to build, test, and trust the cables and connections literally holding their systems together. Soldering, RJ45s, fiber, connector standards, classroom durability, InfoComm training, and the eternal truth that no amount of programming will fix a bad cable all make the cut. Then, because this is Off the Rails, the group swaps horror stories about cursed terminations, fiber polished in bucket trucks, cables pulled with pickup trucks, adapters stacked like archaeological layers, and all the other "temporary" fixes that somehow became load-bearing infrastructure.   Neutrik FAST Training contact: fast.training@neutrikgroup.com   Connect with our guests: Stacy Kaskon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-kaskon-4435ba2b/ Brant Mathiason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brant-mathiason-a19535b/   News story discussed: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/collaboration/microsoft-sunsets-its-covid-era-teams-together-mode-02-06-2026/   Alternate show titles: Singularity of bad ideas Glob and blob-level soldering You're not going to solve a Layer 1 problem with programming That happens until it can't any more One person wears a tutu   We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss   Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    1h 16m
  2. AV SuperFriends: On Topic - We won't do anything until that form is filled out

    Jun 1

    AV SuperFriends: On Topic - We won't do anything until that form is filled out

    Recorded May 15, 2026 This episode of On Topic gets into the glamorous, soul-polishing world of how AV projects actually begin, which is apparently somewhere between a formal intake form, a support ticket that got out of hand, a hallway ambush, and someone discovering the room needs power, asbestos abatement, and lots of opinions. The panel compares how different campuses define and initiate projects, from TeamDynamix and ServiceNow workflows to informal emails, consultation requests, facilities handoffs, and the dreaded "this was supposed to be a simple fix" scenario. A big theme is the messy boundary between support ticket, request, incident, problem, and project, especially when aging systems, construction needs, or money get involved. They also get into the joys and failures of project management platforms, Project, Planner, Smartsheet, TeamDynamix, ServiceNow, and the eternal higher-ed struggle of trying to force real work, real communication, and real accountability into software that was clearly designed by people who have never been asked do any of that. In short: projects should start with clear scope, timelines, goals, funding, stakeholders, and process. In reality, they start with an email that says, "quick question," and end with everyone arguing over whether it was ever a project in the first place.   Alternate show titles: Is this directed to me? Wow, that's big! I don't touch tickets What if I email you? Hey, we're going to do this thing We'll have the meeting eventually Facilities doesn't do power Requires a state employee to inspect the electrician We get requests every which way from Sunday We want to drive everybody to a ticket Rapid fire from wherever-the-hell-it-came-from That means it's approved and no one wants to do that sh*t I don't do projects, I do stories and epics   We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss   Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    44 min

  3. May 27

    AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 138 - Harness canvas fabric thing

    Recorded May 21, 2026 In this road-show episode of Off the Rails, the crew broadcasts live (from the same room, even) from NWMET in Salt Lake City, surrounded by too many laptops, too many cables, travel fatigue, and the kind of improvised conference setup that makes AV people both proud and deeply ashamed. The conversation starts with two cheerful reminders that everything is temporary: digital signage may be "dead," meeting room appliances may be next, and anything running on abandoned Android builds is probably just waiting to become tomorrow's security problem. From there, the group digs into the real higher-ed pain points behind cloud-managed signage, appliance lifecycles, accessibility requirements, captioning, and why "cheap and fast" usually leaves "good" bleeding out behind the rack. They also recap NWMET itself, including the executive summit, AI sessions, accessibility discussions, vendor floor discoveries, oversized displays, strange LED signage widgets, USB bridge boxes, and one especially baffling speaker deployment that may or may not have been designed during a bad trip. It's a conference recap, a product roast, and a warning label for anyone who thinks AV support can be handled entirely from a browser tab.   News articles: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/digital-signage-and-dooh/digital-signage-is-dead-its-totally-dead-as-we-know-it-20-05-2026/ https://www.avinteractive.com/news/android-end-of-life-alarm-sounded-at-the-av-user-group-13-05-2026/   Alternate episode titles: Converting it to Kentuckian What is this A-1 thing you keep talking about? Place water near your special area Higher Ed Festivus It doesn't work like that Is that because everyone lost their sh*t in the mail? It was an Austin Powers moment Tissues, Fabric, and Muscle A lot of speakers on the wall I know, it was sold out! We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss   Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    53 min

  4. May 15

    AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Chargeback Nation

    Recorded May 1, 2026 In this episode, the crew tackles the cursed middle ground of campus AV: spaces that are technically classrooms, sort of event venues, occasionally multipurpose rooms, and absolutely someone else's problem until the microphone dies five minutes before the dean walks in. The discussion starts with classrooms hiding inside dorms, performance venues moonlighting as lecture halls, performing arts spaces being asked to behave like standard teaching rooms, and the eternal mystery of "who exactly is moving the lectern back?" From there, the panel wanders into the even darker woods of off-campus support, county extension locations, pseudo-university spaces, rented venues, service agreements, chargebacks, lifecycle planning, and the dangerous phrase "just give us your standard classroom setup." Along the way, they discover that standards are not just a pile of boxes, support does not magically travel across counties, and transparent lecterns are only classy until the glue yellows and everyone can see the wires.    Alternate show titles: What do you do with your students? STD Aware How big is Oregon? Traveling snake oil salesman Which of the four food groups? Who may or may not be named the same as you… We get in our little vehicles…   We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    41 min

  5. May 13

    AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 137 - Markdown APIs

    Recorded May 8, 2026 This week on Off the Rails, the gang celebrates finals week the only way higher ed AV/IT knows how: by watching a major cloud platform wobble and quietly whispering sweet nothings to the on-prem rack. The Instructure Canvas mess kicks off a discussion about cloud dependency, LMS integrations, sketchy APIs, cyber insurance, and the comforting lie that "hosted" means "not our problem." Then it's on to upcoming NWMET and InfoComm sessions about building local AI tools for AV design, documentation, math, and workflows… because sometimes the best cloud strategy is "don't." The main topic tackles higher ed media production studios, virtual production spaces, visualization labs, esports rooms, and all the other shiny innovation boxes campuses love to build before remembering someone has to staff, fund, maintain, and explain them. The crew digs into automation, realistic expectations, revenue potential, student involvement, and why your $3,000 LED volume is adorable. Finally, a listener's question about HyFlex classroom audio leads to ceiling mics, Catchbox, lectern mics, Dante, and the timeless truth that microphones are happiest when they're disappointing someone.   News story: https://www.kcur.org/education/2026-05-07/hackers-hit-university-of-missouri-system-and-9-000-other-canvas-schools   AVSF Presentations: NWMET Conference: https://www.nwmet.org "Weaponizing AI for AV and IT Design" Weds May 20, 100p InfoComm: https://www.infocommshow.org "From Prompt to Project: Applying AI to Higher Ed AV Design" Thurs June 17, 1000a   RDL Dante Headphone Amplifier: https://rdlnet.com/product/av-nh1/   Alternate show titles: It's just text / and 9,000 other schools!  Find me every vulnerability This is real; it could happen It's a really cool concept There's so much leakage that can happen What is happening in North Carolina? There's a few variants of this strain that goes around We call that Bro-Jo We gotta fill this hole The secret word is… Public-Private Partnerships The bottom people get it shoved in their face We're not building these spaces for good enough Magic with a Pac-Man button Braggart…    We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss   Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    1h 8m

  6. May 1

    AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Why are you doing speechlift from the can?

    Recorded April 17, 2026 In this episode, the crew turns a simple question about classroom speakers into a full-blown AV theology fight. Should small classrooms use ceiling speakers, front-wall point-source speakers, voice lift, program audio, or whatever happens to be lying around in the warehouse? Naturally, the answer is "it depends," followed immediately by 35 minutes of everyone insisting their version of "depends" is the only sane one.  The discussion gets into the real-world mess of higher ed classroom audio: even coverage, voice lift thresholds, ceiling lay-in speakers versus cans, front-of-room program speakers, accessibility systems, bad acoustics, noisy HVAC, amplifier/speaker mismatches, and the eternal question of whether "good enough" is actually good enough. Along the way, the panel debates physics, budget, installer convenience, student experience, and how many speakers it takes before a room becomes less of a classroom and more of an ersatz municipal warning siren. In short: if you've ever looked at a classroom audio system and wondered, "Why did they do it that way?" then this episode provides several answers… all of them wrong, all of them defensible, and most of them louder than necessary.   Alternate show titles: It's diapers… it depends Do we still do speech just from the cans SAR method: sounds about right How many rooms do you have like this? Could they add a column in the middle? They can hear all the accounting numbers, they just can't see 'em Not the EASE software, but ease of install I had to throw them away   We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss   Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    38 min

  7. Apr 29

    AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 136: It's IT with cameras…

    Recorded May 24, 2026 This week, the AV SuperFriends rummage through the NAB grab bag without actually attending NAB, because nothing says "industry analysis" like judging announcements from press releases and email blasts. But first, the crew starts with Marc's field report from Biamp's 50th anniversary event, including factory tours, anechoic chamber weirdness, voice lift demos, ClearOne gear being reborn in Biamp boxes, and the very real threat of an electric Hummer rental becoming a police chase subplot. Then it's on to the blurred lines between production AV and presentation AV: Blackmagic going hard into SMPTE 2110 and software-based audio mixing, BirdDog adding Dante AV-H, NDI inching closer to classroom viability with HDCP support, Bitfocus Buttons making control systems nervous, and Rode trying to make podcast production less like a punishment for student media studios. Finally, Sony's camera-level content authenticity tools send everyone into the AI-content-verification weeds before the show ends with the obvious NAB Best in Show: a rolling mobile studio robot cart that looks like Johnny Five joined the AV department and got trapped in a furniture catalog. News and announcements discussed: Biamp's 50th  https://www.biamp.com/company/biamp-50 Blackmagic Fairlight Live https://www.mixonline.com/technology/news-products/blackmagic-design-launches-fairlight-live-mixing-system https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fairlightlive BirdDog Dante AV-H https://birddog.tv/whatson/ Ikan Studio Rover https://ikancorp.com/shop/mobile-studio-solutions/portable-broadcast-av-studio-cart-19-teleprompter-ndi-ptz-camera-motorized-lift-poe-led-panel/ Bitfocus Buttons ​​https://bitfocus.io/buttons https://ravepubs.com/bitfocus-buttons-wins-nab-show-product-of-the-year-award/ Sony content protection https://authenticity.sony.net/camera/en-us/ https://www.cined.com/sony-ap-test-in-camera-authenticity-technology-for-non-ai-images/ Rodecaster Studio https://studio.rode.com/ https://www.newsshooter.com/2026/04/20/rodecaster-studio-built-with-ai-for-editing-podcasts/ Alternate show titles: How I became an esteemed guest, I do not know It exposes itself It's OBS for audio Going deep into 2110 I'm not shipping you food I'm sitting on one right now Just to bust Justin's onion I was the only tech person Let me ask this stupid question It's IT with cameras Fool enough people to make them believe A Raspberry Pi and a Global Cache    We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com    ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    1h 13m

  8. Apr 22

    AVSF Perspectives - ETC AETM SCHOMS Global Higher Ed AV Tech Day 2026

    Recorded April 17, 2026 AV SuperFriends goes global! In this quick episode, the gang chats with Darryl Krall about the new Global Higher Education AV Technology Day, a joint event uniting ETC, AETM, and SCHOMS for a worldwide day of higher ed AV conversation.  There is talk of presenters, time zones, sessions, time zones, topics, time zones, and the hope that this turns into a long-running annual tradition, plus the usual AVSF nonsense about naps, calendars, and making the whole thing just a little worse in the best possible way. Also, time zones. Join the event on April 29: https://golive.on24.com/event/5294820/en/EF9316096C24E87EC35FC900DCED381A/registration Join your regional group (or join all of them!) ETC: https://www.etcollaborative.org/ AETM: https://www.aetm.org/ SCHOMS: https://www.schoms.ac.uk/ We stream live every Friday at about 315p Eastern/1215p Pacific and you can listen to everything we record over at AVSuperFriends.com  ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: https://www.avsuperfriends.com ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsuperfriends ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avsuperfriends ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@avsuperfriends ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/avsuperfriends.bsky.social ► Email: mailbag@avsuperfriends.com ► RSS: https://avsuperfriends.libsyn.com/rss Donate to AVSF: https://www.avsuperfriends.com/support

    13 min
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About

The 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.

Information

  • Creator
    AV SuperFriends
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    269
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    AV SuperFriends

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