Podcast
AV SuperFriends
Hosted by AV SuperFriends · ENGLISH
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.
269episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
AV SuperFriends: On Topic - We won't do anything until that form is filled out
4d ago00:43:52Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 138 - Harness canvas fabric thing
1w ago00:52:33Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Chargeback Nation
3w ago00:41:00Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 137 - Markdown APIs
3w ago01:07:46Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: On Topic - Why are you doing speechlift from the can?
May 100:38:24Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails Episode 136: It's IT with cameras…
Apr 2901:13:02Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AVSF Perspectives - ETC AETM SCHOMS Global Higher Ed AV Tech Day 2026
Apr 2200:12:33Tap to summarizeRecorded 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
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AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - I don't vacuum my carpet
Apr 1501:09:22Tap to summarizeRecorded April 10, 2026 In this episode, the goon squad takes a swing at the AI gold rush, the made-up drama of "AV-over-IP 2.0," and the growing industry tradition of rebranding the same old nonsense with shinier buzzwords. If you've ever wondered whether cloud creep, interoperability promises, and subscription pricing are solving real problems or just creating newer, dumber ones, this one's for you. Then the panel gets into one of higher ed AV's favorite recurring fights: why everyone thinks classroom tech should cost about $600, why "just throw a TV on the wall" is never the simple solution people think it is, and how furniture somehow always gets approved before the technology that makes the room actually work. Along the way, they also wander into lecterns, teaching stations, and the usual AV nerd arguing over boxes, desks, and support standards like civilization depends on it. News: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/avoip-news/there-is-no-av-over-ip-2-0-the-label-does-not-match-reality-09-04-2026/ Alternate Show Titles: HDBaseMrT Mis-interpreted from the AI bot I don't see a problem with this Shopping for a Buick, like I do There's been a bit of a culture change The new leadership regime Justifying your costs by others failing I didn't hope that this would happen You have to fail to go forward You guys just make this too complicated The math is sound 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
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AV SuperFriends: On Topic - It's functioning but not fully functional
Apr 100:42:27Tap to summarizeRecorded March 13, 2026 This episode of On Topic tackles "Spring cleaning" by focusing less on tidy closets and more on the grime higher ed AV teams create for themselves. The panel trades stories about delayed refreshes, inherited programming messes, legacy systems that refuse to die, rushed project deadlines, and the temporary fixes that somehow become permanent. Before you get clean, revel in the filth… It's a funny, brutally honest look at technical debt, bad design choices, and the institutional rot that keeps old problems hanging around far longer than they should. If your campus has mystery cables, aging systems, and one room everyone's afraid to touch, this episode will feel painfully familiar. Let's get filthy! Alternate show titles: Budgets are optional Those are sticky weird situations Normally I'm shady and gross I wasn't a pro, so I used two plusses Good luck, I'm sorry Museum of AV decisions It did what it did Be here when the tree falls on the house I feel like the whole university is guilty of this Just everybody calm down! It's gonna be… not bad If y'all didn't take an entire month off for Christmas… 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
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AV SuperFriends: Off the Rails - AV Network Security (There's no such thing as an island)
Mar 2601:24:08Tap to summarizeRecorded 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: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2026-03-18-what-happens-when-employers-co-design-the-cybersecurity-classroom Connect with our guests: Colin Birney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-birney/ Doug Schaefer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-schaefer/ Frank Padikkala: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankpadikkala/ AV Trust: https://www.avtrust.org https://www.linkedin.com/company/av-trust Educause HECVAT: https://www.educause.edu/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC): https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/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: 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
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