EDUCAUSE and HETMA: A Bigger Higher Ed IT Table for AV
Not every InfoComm conversation needs to be about a booth, a product, or a sponsor. The conversation with Dan Stone from EDUCAUSE was about something broader: where higher ed AV fits inside the larger higher ed IT community.
EDUCAUSE is not new to many campus CIOs, IT leaders, security teams, enterprise systems groups, and teaching and learning teams. But for some AV professionals, it may still feel like a neighboring organization rather than a room they already belong in. Dan described EDUCAUSE as serving anyone in higher ed IT, from AV and IT support roles up through CIOs, CFOs, and presidents, with the goal of elevating technology as a strategic institutional priority.
That matters because AV is already part of that same strategic technology conversation. Classrooms, lecture capture, collaboration spaces, digital signage, hybrid meetings, event production, support operations, and learning space planning are not separate from institutional IT anymore. They are part of how the university teaches, communicates, recruits, supports students, and operates.
Dan put the EDUCAUSE conference in simple terms:
“it’s a collection of all the top minds in higher ed IT.”
The 2026 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference will be held in person in Denver from September 29 to October 2, with an online event following October 14 to 15. EDUCAUSE describes the annual conference as a place for higher education technology professionals and providers to network, share ideas, grow professionally, and explore solutions to current challenges.
For AV tech managers, that may be the more important point. EDUCAUSE is not an AV trade show, and it should not be treated like one. The exhibit floor will not look like InfoComm. There will be fewer AV manufacturers and more of the broader higher ed IT ecosystem. But that is also the value. This is where AV professionals can get closer to the conversations shaping the technology agenda across the institution.
Dan said the conference can be a gateway to a longer career in higher ed technology.
“It’s your gateway to the rest of your career.”
That is worth sitting with. HETMA has helped create a stronger AV community inside higher ed. EDUCAUSE offers a way for that AV community to connect more directly with CIOs, enterprise IT leaders, cybersecurity peers, data and analytics teams, teaching and learning groups, vendors, and institutional decision-makers. EDUCAUSE also describes itself as a nonprofit association and the largest community of technology, academic, industry, and campus leaders advancing higher education through IT.
The practical reason to attend is not only sessions. It is proximity. Your CIO may already know EDUCAUSE. Your network team may already follow EDUCAUSE research. Your security colleagues may already attend EDUCAUSE events. Your institution may already use EDUCAUSE publications, research, and community conversations to validate decisions. Being in that same space helps AV stop being a downstream support group and become part of the larger planning conversation.
Atkins Fleming made that point from the campus side: if your boss comes back from EDUCAUSE with a new idea, it is better to have been there for the conversation than to hear about it later. Or, as Dan flipped it, the AV person can bring back the idea first and own the initiative.
That is the opportunity for HETMA’s deeper involvement this year. HETMA is planning to bring more of its community presence into EDUCAUSE, including the HETMA Golf Classic on the Monday before the conference begins. The idea is not to turn EDUCAUSE into InfoComm. It is to make sure higher ed AV professionals can find each other, connect with the broader IT community, and walk into the conference with a familiar green thread running through it.
Dan, a former student AV tech himself, recognized the value of that kind of bridge. He talked about seeing how HETMA filters, curates, and gives meaning to the show floor experience at InfoComm, and how something similar could help AV professionals feel more connected at EDUCAUSE.
That is the takeaway. EDUCAUSE is not replacing the AV community. It is another table where AV needs to be present.
For higher ed AV/IT teams, Denver is a chance to build relationships beyond the usual AV circle, understand what institutional technology leaders are prioritizing, and make sure learning spaces are part of the broader higher ed IT strategy. HETMA being there gives AV professionals a landing place. EDUCAUSE gives them a wider room.
Make sure to look for HETMA at EDUCAUSE 2026 in Denver, September 29 to October 2.
