Share The Love
Steve Gibbs Jr
Love can be fleeting, or so they say, but I wonder how much those of us in higher ed really do love AV? So many of us have spent years in the industry with many of us at the same schools helping the AV support on campus grow from overhead and slide projectors to now AV over IP and laser projectors. What causes us to be endeared by AV? I hope to at least share some of my personal thoughts and memories as we celebrate what keeps us ticking this month.
This might not be the case for all of us but at least for me, I was drawn to AV by the tech. The fancy gadgets and gizmos that I wish I could have at home but get to play with at work. We love to see what is possible and look to find that one product that solves all the nagging Helpdesk requests that we get. The tech becomes very personal because after selecting something to use and adding it to your design, you then have to support it. Very soon you find out how much you love this piece of tech depending on how easy it is to configure and install and depending on how reliable and dependable it is. As soon as you get disillusioned with one product, there is always a new one on the horizon. That is what makes the challenge of being a tech manager so exciting. Getting to discover what works for your school and users is a fun challenge. You get to bring everyone the tools that will help them do their job better. This love of new products is what helps keep people like myself going. We believe in tech and see what it can do if used properly, so this allows us to keep trying to find what is needed.
The second thing that makes me love AV is the community of those that work in this vertical. The passion that everyone has for their job is amazing. It is inspiring and this has never been more evident. The pandemic has made us realize and see how seriously we take our jobs and how connected our AV family is. We care for each other when we need help. We realize that all of us hit a wall at different times as we go about our jobs. We can lend suggestions, mentor others, and give each other something to smile about as we share our joys and failures.
My users also keep me going. Helping others to use AV to communicate their message and vision better is energizing and allows us to be part of the greater mission for our school. These relationships are crucial anywhere, but especially at a small school. It is important to work together with the people that need AV. We don’t want to install something just because it is flashy or cool. We want to give users something that will help them do their job better. This can hopefully allow us to pass along our love for the tools to others to help them teach or go about their day more easily.
One nagging question that I have is how do we grow this love for AV? I think everyone in our vertical and in higher ed is sick and tired that the voices we have in AV are mostly middle-aged white males. How can we change this? How do we get younger, more diverse groups of people to love and be interested in what we do? We need to hear from them, we need to give them a chance and an opportunity. Their perspective is key as we plan for what we do with our designs and as we listen for what is important at our schools. We need to commit to doing better. We need to find daily reminders that help keep us thinking about this important topic!
As I close, I am left with one thought, the feeling of a job well done is what will keep me coming back. This is what makes it all worthwhile especially when you can share it with others. The rewarding feeling is even sweeter when you can share this with teammates and pass along what you know. That is how we will grow AV and that is what will allow us to spread the love!

Steve gibbs jr
author
Stephen Gibbs, Jr. is a Senior Educational Technology Engineer at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. He enjoys spending time with his three young kids and interests outside of AV include disc golf and soccer.