Libsyn Directory

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 137 - Markdown APIs

Release Date: 05/13/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Obviously, I’m not doing any of this

AV SuperFriends

Recorded August 7, 2026 Freshly relocated, the AV SuperFriends dig into how classroom support actually works. Ring-down phones, intercoms, Teams channels, help buttons, student technicians, remote tools, and after-hours coverage all get put on the table. The panel also gets into the difference between a real AV failure and a perceived one, why good support is as much about communication as troubleshooting, and how student employees can become an incredibly effective first line of support when they’re trained and trusted. Then we turn to physical security and ask a simple question: why does...

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - He's got that people power

AV SuperFriends

Recorded July 17, 2026 In Part 2 of our conversation about building an internal AV integration team, the panel turns from the organizational obstacles to the practical question: how do you actually justify, staff, and scale the operation? We dig into translating outsourced labor costs into FTE requests, documenting hidden workloads, using dashboards and project data to make the case to leadership, and allowing a little strategic failure to expose where the existing team has reached its limits. The discussion also explores whether the next hire should be another technician or someone higher in...

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Some of this sounds like a spreadsheet problem

AV SuperFriends

Recorded July 17, 2026 Building an internal AV integration team sounds simple enough: hire a few people, buy some tools, and stop paying an outside integrator to discover that the display was unplugged. In reality, it means navigating staffing models, capital projects, facilities partnerships, student labor, service agreements, institutional funding, and the mysterious process by which everyone agrees an idea is excellent while still refusing to provide an FTE. Special guest Tim Dickson joins to discuss Clemson’s effort to expand its internal AV capabilities while supporting more than 300...

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Next year’s problem could be next week’s problem, bro

AV SuperFriends

Recorded July 24, 2026 How long should classroom AV systems actually last? The panel revisits refresh cycles and quickly discovers that the answer ranges from a carefully planned five or six or seven or eight years to “whenever the last surviving input card finally catches fire.” We compare full-room replacements with increasingly modular upgrades, debate which components can remain in service indefinitely, and examine what happens when departments treat technology as a one-time purchase rather than something that must eventually be funded again. We also check in on Auracast, the...

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - You're not allowed to tell this story

AV SuperFriends

Recorded June 26, 2026 Freshly returned from the show floor at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends gather for a full-length roundtable on trade show regrets: the booths they missed, the sessions they skipped, the demos they should have recorded, and the party they may never emotionally recover from missing. This episode wanders through the aftermath of a massive conference week, including arguments over who should really be explaining AI to the AV industry, what happens when AVIXA TV is more networked than expected, why show-floor “hidden gems” are still somehow hidden behind the wrong...

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Leftover money goes to you-know-who… the king

AV SuperFriends

Recorded July 10, 2026 Who owns the classroom, and who pays when the technology inside it breaks, ages out, or needs to be replaced? This week, the AV SuperFriends compare the very different ways their institutions classify, schedule, fund, refresh, and support academic spaces. What sounds like a simple split between general-purpose and departmental classrooms quickly turns into covered spaces, shared rooms, temporary surge spaces, competing service levels, one-time grants, and departments that may not even want the rooms they have been assigned. The panel explores how those ownership...

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - Vanco

AV SuperFriends

Jamie visits the Vanco booth at InfoComm 2026 to learn about the EVO-IP AV-over-IP lineup, from full-featured systems with Dante, USB, control, video walls, and digital signage to simpler plug-and-play options. The conversation also gets into Vanco’s Dante adapters, including USB-C and ARC tools that solve some very specific, very annoying higher-ed audio problems.

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2025 - Telycam

AV SuperFriends

In this Perspectives episode, Jamie stops by the Telycam booth to check out the new Explorer PTZ camera family, including larger Sony 4/3 sensors, better low-light performance, brushless motors, 12G-SDI, HDMI, NDI, and onboard recording. They also dig into the Mix One, Telycam’s all-in-one PTZ controller, switcher, and streaming device that might be doing just enough to make Jamie’s camera hunt finally end.

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - Inogeni

AV SuperFriends

In this Perspectives episode, we stop by the Inogeni booth at InfoComm 2026 to dig into the IP2USB and its ability to turn IP video streams, USB cameras, and Dante audio into a clean USB conferencing source. We also get a look at CamTrack, a tiny box doing big-room camera automation tricks without forcing everyone into a whole new camera ecosystem.

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - AV Pro

AV SuperFriends

In this short Perspectives episode, we stop by AVPro at InfoComm 2026 to learn about the ConferX AC-CX42 Pro, a compact conferencing switcher with dual USB-C DisplayPort alt mode inputs, KVM switching, bidirectional USB data, and power delivery. It’s a quick look at a device that may solve some very real classroom and conference room headaches, especially for higher ed spaces juggling resident PCs, BYOD laptops, USB peripherals, and “why doesn’t this just work?” workflows.

More Episodes

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