HETMA Hosts Record Breaking #AVinTheAM Takeover
On Sunday, February 19, 2023, the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA) community hosted their fourth #AVinTheAM Twitter takeover event with six engaging questions posted to the AV industry as a preview to their annual Virtual Conference taking place February 22-24, 2023. The final engagement count saw the community create 2374 tweets, 7,293,347 impressions, and a record breaking 461 tweets per hour at 12pm EST. The hashtag #HETMA23 even trended throughout the morning on Twitter across the United States.
#AVinTheAM is a weekly Twitter event run by Chris Neto (@chris_neto). Five (and sometimes six) questions are posted to his account at 8am EST for the community to debate and learn from one another from. The six questions submitted by HETMA included:
Q1 @HETMA_org asks: Representation of women & people of color in the AV industry dropped over the pandemic despite DEI initiatives like #HETMA’s #PrismScholarship & #AVIXAWomen/#AVIXADiversity programs. “#NowWhat?” What steps can/should we take as an industry? #AVinTheAM #HETMA23
Q2 @HETMA_org asks: With tightened budgets, layoffs, supply chain, & recession planning, programs like #HETMAApproved help #techmanagers make product choices at scale. “#NowWhat?” What advantages/disadvantages exist in product vetting lists by 3rd-party orgs? #AVinTheAM #HETMA23
Q3 @HETMA_org asks: #HETMA was “virtual before it was cool,” holding its 1st #VirtualConference pre-pandemic. “#NowWhat?” What value lies in online #events vs. in-person? Is there a place for both? What about #hybrid? Is one better for learning? For community building? #AVinTheAM
Q4 @HETMA_org asks: #HigherEd institutions spent the past 3yrs focusing on #hybrid upgrades w/cams, ceiling mics, & UCC integrations. “#NowWhat?” What was forgotten? What stays? What goes? What products/services are next? New tech? Back to the old? #AVinTheAM #HETMA23 #HigherEd
Q5 @HETMA_org asks: #EndUsers (aka #InHouseIntegrators) rely on close relationships w/manuf. for product information and roadmaps. How has the industry change impacted traditional channel mgmt? “#NowWhat?” What can we do to strengthen relationships across the industry? #AVinTheAM
*BONUS* Q6 @HETMA_org asks: Community & relationship bldg are core aspects of vertical-specific orgs like #HETMA. Take a moment to tag and thank three #AVTweeps who inspire u or opened doors for u. And, “#NowWhat?” What can you/we do to open doors for others? #AVinTheAM #HETMA23
The conversation will continue at their annual Virtual Conference themed, “Now What?” Register for the annual conference here: https://events.zoom.us/e/view/0V1-u9F6RheneRb5YT0-zA?id=0V1-u9F6RheneRb5YT0-zA.
All AV professionals can also join the HETMA community for free at: https://community.hetma.org.