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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.

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  • 23 episodes
  • Avg 42 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • S2026 · E1
    June 17 · 30 min

    AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - A little bit better than good

    Recorded January 1, 2017… or June 17, 2026 Live from InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends kick off the show floor with a morning check-in from the Computer Comforts booth and immediately discover that their mixer believes it is January 1, 2017. Naturally, this leads to time travel investment advice, questionable production decisions, and the introduction of their newest unpaid-but-fed intern, Jon, who may or may not survive a week of AV nonsense in Las Vegas. The crew previews a packed InfoComm schedule, including live shows, an AV-focused practical AI session, the now-infamous unofficial show floor tour, and a Friday appearance on AVIXA TV. They also dig into what they are actually looking for this year: interactive direct-view LED, reasonably priced soundbars, useful AI workflows, orchestration software tools, smaller disruptor companies, broadcast furniture, better PTZ camera sensors, and add-on systems that can make existing classrooms and conference rooms smarter without ripping everything out. Along the way, there is a surprisingly detailed review of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, an extended discussion of whether direct-view LED walls can be smuggled home from the show floor, and the eternal AV trade show question: what small booth has the weird little widget that might quietly solve a real problem? Follow along all week as the AV SuperFriends wander InfoComm 2026 looking for practical tools, hidden gems, and whatever else gets thrown at them. Alternate show titles: Smidge and a bit A decent sound bar that doesn't cost a ton The land of 1,000 soundbars I'll wait for Netflix I have my own Sphere Skeptical-ness Fisher-Price broadcast studio Emotional Support Broadcast Console Disruptor Camera Company A fool's errand Is Sony guts I need it gooder 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

    • Transcript
  • S6 · E17
    June 8 · 1 hr 16 min

    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

    • Transcript
  • S6 · E9
    June 1 · 43 min

    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

    • Transcript
Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes