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.

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Obviously, I’m not doing any of this 08/13/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Obviously, I’m not doing any of this 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 seemingly everyone on campus have a key to the AV rack? Plus, Corsair takes a stake in Bitfocus, Companion may or may not be headed toward subscription hell, and Cameron fills in for Marc. News article: Connect with Cameron: Alternate show titles: What’s Marc’s mouth taste like? Just the tip jar Whenever we see this happen to a successful project, they ruin it Reach over and touch it / If it breaks, it’s on y’all I had my agent do a little bit of research on this I hope it just keeps getting bigger There’s a number to dial our students We don’t support tickets It’s a ring down! Night shift student group This may not happen with you all… but it may Hopefully the student on the phone is verbal enough That’s just an extended mouse and keyboard This is not going to go where you think it’s going to go A little bit of knowledge is a lot of ignorance That’s not supposed to work like that 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/42415835

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - He's got that people power 08/02/2026

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - He's got that people power 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 the stack, such as a project manager, field supervisor, designer, or other knowledge-focused role. Along the way, we consider how student employees can free up full-time staff, why “internship” may be a better recruiting pitch than “student worker,” how good integrators can complement rather than replace an internal team, and why every staffing plan needs to be ready before a stray FTE or pile of magical, mystical money suddenly appears. Connect with Tim: Alternate show titles: A design apprentice, so to speak Don’t bring up your dirty math! Support Plus I could save them $100,000 a year I’m going to tag onto Marc and then change I can take care of you and you can take care of me The AV consultant doesn’t know how we do it on campus Just like a consultant would… That’s not the way levers are pulled Which isn’t a service we actually offer… but it’s a service we offer This was actually a good show It’s not like math… 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/42210825

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Some of this sounds like a spreadsheet problem 08/01/2026

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Some of this sounds like a spreadsheet problem 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 classrooms with a very small team. The panel digs into which skills should remain in-house, where outside labor still makes sense, how to justify positions through savings and recurring service work, and how existing staff can grow into programming, design, field supervision, and other specialized roles. Note that this is Part 1 of 2 because the show is allegedly a 30-minute monthly roundtable, but no one involved appears capable of stopping at 30 minutes, or stopping at all. Part 2 will continue the conversation with no meaningful evidence that anyone learned from the experience. Connect with Tim: Alternate show titles: A design apprentice, so to speak Don’t bring up your dirty math! Support Plus I could save them $100,000 a year I’m going to tag onto Marc and then change I can take care of you and you can take care of me The AV consultant doesn’t know how we do it on campus Just like a consultant would… That’s not the way levers are pulled Which isn’t a service we actually offer… but it’s a service we offer This was actually a good show It’s not like math… 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/42210815

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Next year’s problem could be next week’s problem, bro 07/30/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Next year’s problem could be next week’s problem, bro 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 perpetually imminent technology of the future, following a real-world deployment at a UK train station. Then, because apparently this is something campuses must now consider, we discuss securing classroom computers against people opening them up and stealing the RAM and GPUs. Along the way, we encounter abandoned projection screens, emergency spare parts, classrooms held together by obsolete switchers, and the uncomfortable realization that sometimes the only sustainable refresh strategy is moving a still-working component from somewhere nobody will notice. News story: Alternate show titles: Let’s talk about the Apple thing real quick Are all of you still hot on this? This is the technology of the future and it always will be I’m not trying to convince you that this isn’t going to happen Laser stream quantum version Micro-pirate radio station Everything else is loosey goosey Covid 2: The Return Some years we ebb, some years we flow We just signed on to lease our computers I don’t get a choice Let’s go to the other side of this… Justin! So we said “Hey” (Hey!) Blow through a couple projectors Room Classic! Cells don’t make audio Plug this hole with an AV widget I keep trying to ignore your hand You need to be careful with that word: guarantee The first wave of technicians… 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/42266180

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - You're not allowed to tell this story 07/15/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Leftover money goes to you-know-who… the king 07/15/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - Leftover money goes to you-know-who… the king 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 models affect classroom standards, support response times, project planning, and long-term refresh cycles. Depending on the institution, technology may be centrally funded and maintained, or left to individual colleges and departments until something finally dies. That creates uneven classroom experiences, endless arguments over responsibility, and the recurring question of whether a problem is a support ticket, a project, or someone else’s headache. Then, the conversation turns to the lowly document camera. Are faculty still using them, are they quietly collecting dust, or have schools simply stopped replacing them to see whether anyone notices? Along the way, the group praises SynAudCon training, proposes an unauthorized CTS study guide, debates whether the math really matters, and takes the usual scenic route through commissioning, punch lists, bad terminations, and dramatic lectern advertising. News article: Alternate show titles: It’s like watching an old movie That’s a feature, not a bug There is math, but it doesn’t really matter What’s going on at your school? …and nobody has time for that I wish I was y’all Is this a pyramid scheme? That’s where I get a little cloudy We only upgrade when things die A DMPS with leather Good colleges who operate in an intelligent manner That’s a seminar room! We’re not allowed to ask about the budget How do you design around that? Everything’s going to die and you’re going to be hosed We had parts and we had whole rooms Just take ‘em 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/42096500

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - Vanco 07/07/2026

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2025 - Telycam 07/06/2026

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - Inogeni 07/03/2026

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - AV Pro 07/02/2026

On Topic Episode 73: It only 3/4s of the way plays nice together 07/01/2026

AV SuperFriends: Perspectives from InfoComm 2026 - OpenAVC 06/30/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails 140 - Super Unicorn Worm 06/29/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails 140 - Super Unicorn Worm Recorded June 19, 2026 After a full week at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends stagger onto the AVIXA TV set for one final wrap show: tired feet, fried brains, louder-than-necessary opinions, and just enough caffeine to mistake exhaustion for insight. This episode is the team’s end-of-show download after days of booth demos, hallway meetings, badge scans, lukewarm coffee, live shows, sketchy product pitches, and enough walking to qualify as either professional development or a cry for help. The crew talks through what actually stood out on the show floor, including the quiet rise of REST APIs, AV gear that’s finally opening up to outside control, middleware boxes that make existing systems smarter, and AI that might be useful when it isn’t just being sprinkled on brochures like tradeshow glitter. They also pick their favorite finds from the week, including Inogeni’s IP2USB tools, Ross Vertex’s “wait, it does what?” visualization platform, Nureva’s HDX audio approach, larger-chip PTZ cameras, decentralized DSP, and Epson’s beautifully boring direct-view LED display that does the one thing AV people keep begging for: display the image without trying to become a smart TV. It’s the InfoComm wrap show: part trend report, part group therapy, part warning label for anyone who thinks “quick booth visit” means anything under 45 minutes. News article: Alternate show titles: Acoustic chicken Rise of REST Just use these and put it in there This is my excited face Costco Down I might actually trust NDI now Down to one tchotchke and life is good There’s AI built in! Level 17 master guru ninja Known mistakes over unknown mistakes You messed with my code, man That horse ain’t pushing that cart You can’t defeat physics but you can try It might be possible today The future is now We’re going to buy all your stuff, blow it up, and re-do it I can't even explain what it is How many vertices do I need? More affordable; that’s what better meant I want to marinate on it Beyond the IO 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41834785

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - I need coffee 06/19/2026

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - The entirety of the customer journey 06/19/2026

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - You are my women's breakfast 06/18/2026

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - We are all God's SuperFriends 06/18/2026

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - We are all God's SuperFriends Recorded June 17, 2026 Live from the Q-SYS booth at InfoComm 2026, the AV SuperFriends sit down with Mike Brandes and David Maksa to talk through what’s new, what’s practical, and what might accidentally become a future entitlement. The big topic is Q-SYS NVM, the new network video distribution platform aimed at larger-scale deployments where ultra-low latency is less important than getting lots of video to lots of displays without melting the network… or the budget. The panel digs into bandwidth, latency, PTP timing, frame lock, USB bridging possibilities, sports books, cruise ships, theme parks, and why programming an entire demo system in under two minutes is either impressive or deeply suspicious. They also take a look at the new Q-SYS meeting room options, including the MTR-on-Windows conference bar, modular room kits, light-touch provisioning, QR-code onboarding, Cheetos mode, and the eternal danger of throwing away the box too soon. From there, the conversation wanders into performance audio, free design services, questionable speaker arrays, and the higher-ed pain of walking across campus just to plug HDMI back in. It’s part product discussion, part therapy session, and part live proof that “single pane of glass” remains both the dream and the punchline. Connect with our guests: Mike Brandes David Maksa Q-SYS products discussed NVM Room Suite Collaboration Bar Room Suite Modular System Performance Audio line Alternate show titles: Teach and preach spaces Get up on that mic 10-4, good buddy Try to do the entire thing with no mouse I’m sure there’s an entitlement involved Saddle up your horses Wizard-based configuration Take away scissors from people who are running We all love our science fair product line I had some chicken tenders 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41686375

AV SuperFriends: InfoComm 2026 - A little bit better than good 06/17/2026

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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41679845

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails 139 - A little confidence is a lot of ignorance 06/08/2026

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - We won’t do anything until that form is filled out 06/01/2026

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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41349240

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 138 - Harness canvas fabric thing 05/27/2026

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: 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41434705

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Chargeback Nation 05/15/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 137 - Markdown APIs 05/13/2026

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: AVSF Presentations: NWMET Conference: “Weaponizing AI for AV and IT Design” Weds May 20, 100p InfoComm: “From Prompt to Project: Applying AI to Higher Ed AV Design” Thurs June 17, 1000a RDL Dante Headphone Amplifier: 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41272845

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Why are you doing speechlift from the can? 05/01/2026

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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41056260

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 136: It’s IT with cameras… 04/29/2026

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 Blackmagic Fairlight Live BirdDog Dante AV-H Ikan Studio Rover Bitfocus Buttons Sony content protection Rodecaster Studio 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/41056795

AVSF Perspectives - ETC AETM SCHOMS Global Higher Ed AV Tech Day 2026 04/22/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - I don't vacuum my carpet 04/15/2026

AV SuperFriends: On Topic - It's functioning but not fully functional 04/01/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - AV Network Security (There's no such thing as an island) 03/26/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - AV Network Security (There's no such thing as an island) Recorded March 20, 2026 In this episode, the panel tackles one of the most overdue conversations in higher ed: AV network security. The regular panel is joined by the founding members of AV Trust, Doug Schaefer, Colin Birney, and Frank Padikkala. The news segment focuses on cybersecurity education pipelines, exploring how earlier hands-on exposure and employer partnerships could help build a more prepared workforce for technical fields. The main segment discusses the newly launched AV Trust initiative and the broader challenge of securing AV systems that increasingly live on shared enterprise networks. The conversation covers everything from outdated firmware practices, rebadged hardware, and weak manufacturer documentation, to IoT risk, cloud-connected devices, and the need for AV professionals to better understand the language of IT and cybersecurity. Rather than treating security as a niche or optional concern, the panel argues that AV must mature into a more transparent, standards-driven, and collaborative part of the larger technology ecosystem. By the end, the episode lands on a clear takeaway: AV is no longer separate from the network, and security can no longer be someone else’s problem. With AV Trust aiming to bridge gaps through education, standards work, and community participation, this episode is a candid, funny, and timely look at where the industry needs to go next. News article: Connect with our guests: Colin Birney: Doug Schaefer: Frank Padikkala: AV Trust: Educause HECVAT: ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC): Alternate show titles: You know what pays really well? Ransomware! Ain’t no mountain high enough You can’t stop me, but I’d love for you to participate A security-first mindset Security updates are tied to feature updates What’s a risk profile? I have no idea what it does I’m clueless as far as security is concerned Security by obscurity The most miserable, hateful devices you can put on your network We do this really well with everyone other than IT Manufacturer X Model Y We have no idea what’s on your switch The AV industry is way out over our skis I’m going to say something controversial A marketing company that will mail you a box I can probably tell if it’s alive No amount of remote monitoring tells me that It can get to something, but it’s not my network Security doesn’t have to be a taboo topic that we all avoid 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/40626840

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - BDubs Active Learning Room 03/12/2026

AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - BDubs Active Learning Room Recorded March 6, 2026 In this episode of Off the Rails, the panel opens with a conversation about AV Trust and what it means for cybersecurity, standards, and the growing expectation that AV systems have to be treated like serious networked technology, not mysterious boxes that somehow get a pass. Join us on March 20 when we’ll have the whole team from AV Trust on the show to talk network security. From there, the crew turns to a much deeper discussion on design drawings and schematics. Where different designers start, how they think through a system, what belongs on a drawing, and how documentation shifts from rough concept to something another person can actually build, wire, label, and support. The back half turns into a familiar higher ed therapy session about the campus departments that try to “help” by buying their own gear, setting things up themselves, and only calling AV once the whole thing has gone sideways. So you get cybersecurity, design philosophy, workflow nerdery, and just enough support-tragedy storytelling to make the whole thing feel painfully relatable in the best AVSF way. News story: Connect with AV Trust: Alternate show titles: This is a big deal Come on, do better! Almost as the mediator I told y’all Sports Bar Classroom I fill in the guts I kinda understand how this goes together It’s just a lot of one-offs You must have gobs of network ports in your classrooms Eh, I have what I need… Most of my drawing drawings are in AutoCAD No, I just hate people screwing sh*t up I want one channel of mono There are times where that is the answer Welcome to my entire campus They’re only calling because they want to be able to continue to call Your Layer 1 is solid as sh*t 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: ► Twitter: ► LinkedIn: ► YouTube: ► Bluesky: ► Email: ► RSS: Donate to AVSF: /episode/index/show/avsuperfriends/id/40407670

AV SuperFriends

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