2023 Program
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Note: All regular sessions (you will have 24 to choose from) are 45 minutes long.
Lightning Sessions will be presented in the main area and are 15 minutes each. Conference Schedule is subject to changes.
Wednesday Morning Opening Welcome and Info – 8:15am – 8:45am Main Room
Information about the conference, evening socials, happy hours, sponsors, MET money and a special bonus!
Wednesday Morning 9:00am – 9:45am : Session 1
| Session 1 (A) | AV Project Management Experiences – Frank Alaimo, UNLV A discussion of responsibilities of the end user, AV consultant, AV integrator, and others during the planning, design and installation phases of an AV project. This session will feature past experiences including both wins and pitfalls as well as a discussion from the group of their experiences. |
| Session 1 (B) | Funding Technology in the Age of Billions – Kent Brooks, Casper College With unprecedented opportunities for grant dollars and other funding, organizations can be overwhelmed at the who, what, when, where, and why of securing external funding to support their programs and projects. Join us for an informative chat around identifying and securing funding in the age of billions! We will discuss sources of funding, types of funding, general funding best practices, key grant writing principals, and share some personal tips, tricks, and favorite resources. |
| Session 1 (C) | To Be Heard, or Not To Be Heard (3 AV technologies and their applications in modern campus environments) – Jeremy Krug – BIAMP Let’s take time together to look at three A/V technologies, specifically audio technologies, that every education campus should embrace. While there are many other technologies to consider, this is a glimpse into a handful of advancements in audio technology that address situations where it is critically important that voices be heard, or not be heard. |
Wednesday Morning Lightning Sessions – 10:00am – 10:30am Main Room
Two lightning Sessions will be happening in the Main Area – each 15 minutes long.
1. Reduce, Reuse, Remix: OER and LibreTexts – AJ Barse
2. Keep it Simple – Dan Case & Sean Courtney
Wednesday Morning 11:15am – Noon : Session 2
| Session 2 (A) | Leveraging Zoom Integrations – Lance Roe, Idaho State University Are you looking for ideas on how to best push Zoom to work for you? This presentation by Lance Roe from Idaho State University (ISU) will demonstrate a variety of solutions to leverage the ISU Zoom workflow as it relates to Temporary Zoom Licenses, Recording Management, Conference/Classroom management, and integrating Zoom Rooms and other classroom builds. |
| Session 2 (B) | So you want to host a podcast? – Chris Dechter, University of Wyoming It sure seems like everyone has a podcast these days and it’s time you do, too! Join the award-watching AV SuperFriends in this highly interactive session as they lead you through a high-level discussion of the not-so-straightforward process of creating your very own podcast. Anyone can put in their AirPods and click a “record” button, but is that really all there is to it? We’ll review the process of identifying a purpose, gathering content, finding your voice, hardware you need (and a lot you don’t), planning your shows, recording your episodes, publishing your files, and critical audience engagement. The AV SuperFriends churn out episode after episode of brutally honest AV industry analysis and technology evaluation, week after week, month after month, and we (usually) have fun doing it. What might seem like a casual conversation between friends requires a lot of effort before and after the show. If we can do it, so can you! |
| Session 2 (C) |
Balancing Innovation and Change Management – Jake Heimpel – D2L With the introduction of cloud technology, how do vendors and institutions work together to introduce new user interface improvements while balancing change management? In this session, you’ll learn about how D2L supports stable, non-disruptive product improvements to keep up with modern user expectations without causing chaos with end-users such as faculty and students. |
Wednesday Afternoon 1:00pm – 1:45pm : Session 3
| Session 3 (A) | Stepping up our Remote Monitoring Game without a budget – Jim Wellings, Utah State University Remote classroom monitoring and support can vastly reduce response time for trouble calls, increase system reliability, and improve faculty and student user experience. Crestron, QSC, and many others offer licensed cloud based monitoring and control for a monthly fee, but we’re in Higher Ed. We hate support contracts with monthly fees. How can we step up our remote monitoring game without blowing our next three years’ budget before the semester is over? A lot of the systems we use offer free monitoring or access tools, and remote panels for control systems offer status and help desk operator override for the cost of a little setup time. Remote monitoring of network connected devices is something IT has done for years. Partnering with IT can have benefits in sharing access tools that may already exist. The humble web page, as well, offers a flexible and useful tool for helpdesk staff. We will look at a selection of tools and methods we use, some of which are new, some shared with IT, some which are part of under-utilized systems we already had in place. Communicating with IT, helpdesk, and support staff can identify needs and priorities while providing a starting point for improving support. For the cost of a little personnel time and planning, we can markedly improve the user experience. |
| Session 3 (B) | We can do that with our LMS! – Randy Stamm – Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) has avoided the technology silos by absorbing the many layers of academic support services into its LMS. This presentation will review the various campus services (lecture capturing, testing/proctoring, course evaluations, accreditation reports, and student retention) that have been extended based on the flexibility of our LMS. |
| Session 3 (C) | Designing AV infrastructure for Hyflex Instruction – Joseph Frotton – Extron Educational institutions are discovering ways to advance student instruction through engaging online content delivery, to yield positive outcomes for both faculty and students. HyFlex learning is at the forefront of this shift – melding in-person instruction with synchronous live streaming for remote participants, while simultaneously recording lectures for on-demand learning. Explore methods to incorporate remote instruction through robust voice amplification, USB bridging for AV integration with software conferencing codecs, recording, streaming, and more. Learn how to leverage various AV tools to construct HyFlex-enabled spaces by adding capabilities over time. Dive into infrastructure requirements and future-ready techniques to accommodate all learning styles. |
Wednesday Afternoon Lightning Sessions – 2:00pm – 2:30pm Main Room
Two lightning Sessions will be happening in the Main Area – each 15 minutes long.
1. Accessibility Basics, 20 min a day – Ana Thompson
2. The AV takeover of IT – Ryan Gray
Wednesday Afternoon 3:15pm – 4:00pm : Session 4
| Session 4 (A) |
Smart Power with Smart Benefits – Wade Johnston, Legrand AV Learn about Power Solutions that are now IP Based that can take your power management to the next level! Learn about what features there are and how you can take advantage of creating a centralized workflow and generate analytical data to prevent power issues and be alerted before they happen. |
| Session 4 (B) | Implications of Ai in teaching and learning – AJ Barse, Western Washington University In recent months, mainstream media has been captivated by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-based learning modeling engines like ChatGPT and Dall-E 2. In the classroom, education has been attempting to find or combat its uses. It’s a Pandora’s box that’s already open, much like any new technology, we in EdTech need to find ways assess its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to teaching and learning. This session aims to spark a discussion about how it can be used as a teaching tool, where policies can help set expectations, and where it can be useful for learning. Additionally, a futurist perspective on how technology might be modified for use by digital educators will be presented. |
| Session 4 (C) | The impact of Classroom Technology on Student Learning – Jimmy Singleton – CDW This session will give attendees the tools to design classroom technology with a focus on improving the student experience. Learn how to collect feedback effectively from students and faculty to ensure the best solutions are being implemented in the classroom. When classrooms are designed with users in mind, everyone benefits. |
Thursday Morning 9:00am – 9:45am : Session 5
| Session 5 (A) | All Conference Rooms are NOT Equal – Cass Hall, University of Idaho One of the lessons we learned from the pandemic across IT is those who work from home felt more a part of the team during the pandemic. Suddenly we were all connecting from home or our office via Zoom, so it was an even playing field. University of Idaho OIT was tasked with preserving that feeling for all those who are still working from home. Collaboration and Classroom Technology Services explored how to do this through conference room technologies. This session will explore the technologies and meeting room configurations that we find useful to better support the inclusion of those working from home. |
| Session 5 (B) | Improving Community Outcomes with Online Mental Health Training – Ana Thompson, University of Washington Bothell Mental Health Matters Washington (mentalhealthmatterswa.com) is a grant-based initiative to promote mental health education and awareness in South Snohomish County. Our team put together online training using the LearnDash platform with a variety of content types including text, images, videos, flash cards, quick checks and assessments as well as weekly live sessions and other community events to train Peer Mental Health Navigators (PMHNs), agents to help and support community members. Two cohorts have been offered so far, one in English and the other in Spanish. In this session, we will cover our plan, team responsibilities, schedules, marketing/messaging, preview the interface and share participant feedback. |
| Session 5 (C) | USB-C the benefits – Wade Johnston- Legrand AV Learn about the benefits of using USB-C in your environment and see how it can be used to increase your productivity and streamline your workflow. USC-C is starting to become the standard for so many applications and you can learn how this technology impacts you! This session will also offer CTS credits. |
Thursday Morning Lightning Sessions – 10:00am – 10:30am Main Room
Two lightning Sessions will be happening in the Main Area – each 15 minutes long.
1. Achieving Quality in your Installed Audiovisual Systems – Gary Malick
2. Just You and Me Forever – Joe Way
Thursday Morning 11:15am – Noon : Session 6
| Session 6 (A) | Level Up Auditoriums for Improved Education and Drive Engagement – Josh Hamon, Stantec This interactive session will discuss how auditoriums in the higher education space can be upgraded to improve learning outcomes. We will review recent and in progress auditorium designs from across the country, and their strong resemblance to cinema and theater AV systems. These improvements drive learner engagement and give instructors new and improved ways to deliver content. Next, we will discuss lessons learned, especially around networked AV. Finally, we look to the future of auditoriums, how to respond to hybrid learning needs and the critical need for infrastructure that looks beyond 10Gbps. |
| Session 6 (B) | Attract and Retain Great People by Building Community – Ryan Gray, Yavapai College Every institution of higher education needs to attract and retain highly effective staff in technology management. This effort is often discussed in terms of salary, benefits, hybrid work etc. This tends to see employees as commodities, rather than people. We’ll take a quick dive into the concept of intentional community building and how a renewed focus on “the why” of our work rather than “the what” of our work may be a better way to go. |
| Session 6 (C) | USB in the Classroom – Jason Parson – Atlona How to make USB function over long distances in the new classrooms. Will review the Atlona Omega Line of products as well as other tips, tricks and solutions. |
Thursday Afternoon 1:00pm – 1:45pm : Session 7
| Session 7 (A) | AV Superfriends Live! – Chris Dechter, University of Wyoming Join the AV SuperFriends for a live broadcast of their newest (and aptly-named) show, AVSF: Live!, an interactive and spirited roundtable discussion streamed live, where we invite YOU to participate. We’ll go coast to coast with taters and toast to bring you the latest in AV industry news and expert analysis of common topics in higher education AV & IT. In addition, we’ll take your questions and live calls from the wider online audience, discuss the topics you want to discuss, celebrate your successes, and commiserate with you about your challenges. Have you ever wanted to get help on a project, ask for advice about a particular technology, suggest a pedagogical approach, or just tell us how wrong we are right to our face? This is your opportunity! |
| Session 7 (B) | Engage the Room, EdTech in Action – Dan Case, Carroll College With a focus on EdTech and engagement come prepared to be an active learner! We will look at a number of tools that can foster engagement and formative assessment for students in the classroom using free online tools to ramp up the experience. This is 45 minutes of fun, prizes and more. |
| Session 7 (C) |
What Type of Camera Shot to Use for the Best Remote Learning Experience? – Ty Goulding & Robert Durbin- Crestron |
Thursday Afternoon Lightning Sessions – 2:00pm – 2:30pm Main Room
Two lightning Sessions will be happening in the Main Area – each 15 minutes long.
1. Strategies of a Relational Technologist – Chris Powell
2. Remote Access vs. Physical Access: the State of Classroom Computer Labs – Cass Hall
Thursday Afternoon 3:15pm – 4:00pm : Session 8
| Session 8 (A) |
Everything is Hybrid! *And we have no idea what that means –Rachel Martin, Carroll College |
| Session 8 (B) |
What’s the next big thing? – Informal roundtable discussion |
| Session 8 (C) | Considerations for Adoption of a Learning Analytics Program – Amy Tessitore – Open LMS Adopting a learning analytics program can be a complex undertaking. With a bit of planning on the front end, institutions can ensure they have the resourcing to anticipate and overcome barriers to adoption while also establishing a purpose and goals for the LA program. |
Thursday night is the big MET money party at the Lower Brewhouse (right across from the conference hotel). With prizes, food, drinks and more.
FRIDAY Morning:
Quick regional Meetings in the Morning and then a walking campus AV Tech tour of Carroll College – including Active Learning Classrooms, Nursing Simulation Lab, Library Technology, Lightboard Studio, Podcasting and more.