Spotlight on… Ryan Gray, Assistant Director of Information Technology Services, Yavapai College
Connect with Ryan:
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ryan_a_gray
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray
Thank you for joining me for this month’s edition of the “Tech Manager Spotlight.” Start by telling us a little about what you do and a little about your background.
My name is Ryan Gray. Aside from a brief time in LA, I’ve been in Arizona my whole life. Born in Flagstaff, grew up in Tucson, currently live in beautiful Yavapai County in Northern Arizona. It’s higher elevation, think pine trees, not desert.
I have Bachelors in Political Science and Media Arts from Arizona State and a M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Northern Arizona University. I’m a board member of HETMA and a contributor to HigherEdAV. For the past 5 and a half years I have served as a Governing Board Member of the Humboldt Unified School District, but after getting totally worked in the election in November that will end in December.
I have an amazing wife Molly who is HR Manager in the Business and Finance Division at Arizona State University. She was a remote worker before being a remote worker was cool. I couldn’t be more proud of my daughter Madison. She’s a senior at Bradshaw Mountain High School (Go Bears!) She’s a great student and will graduate with more than a year’s worth of college credit. College acceptances are flowing in from places as prestigious as Cal Berkley and as lowly as USC.
I’ve been at Yavapai College for almost 10 years now. I currently serve as Assistant Director of Information Technology Services. I oversee 4 IT departments in this role:
Service and Support – This department is the owner of deployed user technology including preventative maintenance, staff and student support, event support and a unified college wide technology helpdesk.
Technology Integration – This department is responsible for the planning, design, procurement and deployment of user facing technology. That includes all AV systems, PCs, Macs, iPads and more. We operate as an in-house integrator. Right now every AV system in the district was designed, programmed and installed in-house.
IT Operations – This group handles all inventory management and hardware disposal as well as ensuring our adherence to college policy. They are the leaders for employee safety and many other key areas.
IT Relationship Management – The Relationship Manager is responsible for the development of pedagogy based technology plans for our different academic areas and takes the lead in academic interfacing and training.
Have you always worked in AV? What did the path look like for you to get to where you are now?
I’ve always been an AV nerd. Did AV club kinda stuff at my church in high school. Shooting and editing on analog 8 tape! My real AV career began in live-event. I worked for Swank Audio Visuals and American Audio Visual Center providing in-house AV departments for conference hotels in Arizona and Southern California. I learned a ton of tech, but even more about people management. The lifestyle of live event is tough and as a regional manager I spent a lot of time on the road. My wife and I knew it wasn’t sustainable and we decided to find a way to move closer to family in Northern Arizona before our daughter got too old. That opportunity came from Yavapai College, based in Prescott. I came in as Senior Specialist, Presentation Technology, then Integrated Technology Engineer, then Technology Integration Manager and now Assistant Director of Information Technology Services.
What is your morning routine?
This is actually a loaded question… when I’m at my best, I get up and I run. I’ve done 2 half-marathons and was up to over 20 mile long runs at my peak. Right now however we’re not in that mode. I am an early riser, usually before 5. I have 15 or so google alerts that i’ll skim through and read what seems relevant. Coffee is an important part of every morning. I always take a little time to read or watch something enjoyable, I hate the feeling of waking up and just heading to work. I do work on campus almost every day. I could arrive by 7 or as late as 830, just depending on what’s on the calendar and if I need extra time to catch up on anything.
What does an average weekday look like for you?
I work on campus most days, just occasional work from home. I try to limit zoom meetings to no more than half of my day, but that doesn’t always happen. In my role as Assistant Director an increasing amount of my time is spent in 1 on 1 meetings with members of my team and answering email from across the institution. For the next few months I’ll be spending a fair amount of my time in the development, approval and recruiting for 5 new positions we are getting to add into my areas. There are 3 things I make sure to do everyday: 1- take time to wander campus with nowhere to go, you never know who you’ll run into and what conversations will take place; 2 – wander my departments’ work spaces, same thing, get in casual conversations and be purposeful about getting to know everyone and hearing what’s on their mind; 3 – take time to unplug, I will take breaks where I close my door, put down work and put my attention onto something personal.
If I’m not at work on a weekday it usually means my wife and I have something planned. Travel, visiting family or working on a home project. As a School Board member I have taken quite a few vacation days to do school site visits and do board member training and conferences.
What does your busiest day look like? What are the challenges your role faces, and how do you overcome those?
My busiest days almost always involve being over-scheduled with meetings, so I don’t have time for my own follow ups. When this happens, I will sometimes spend some early morning hours getting things checked off before the day starts, so that people aren’t waiting on me for answers. If there’s another member of my team who could/should be in one of my meetings I will make sure to delegate. And of course we do have rare days where a technical issue is having a large impact on our users, when this happens I jump in to help, but let my subject matter expert take the lead. I’m there to support and to consider out-of-the-box troubleshooting possibilities.
What do you enjoy doing on weekends? How do you spend your time outside of work?
Well… I’m a pretty predictable middle aged white guy… I’m a sports fan (Lets Go Mets and Bear Down Arizona), I like to play golf and can do it year round here, I like to smoke meats on my Camp Chef pellet grill, I like to fly my DJI drone and I’m always interested in finding some tasty microbrews to try. For a lot of the past few years, Sunday mornings meant long runs, I’m out of that habit right now… but its coming back in 2023! You heard it here first!
During the pandemic my extended family started a weekly zoom call on Sundays and it has stuck, it’s been a great way to keep up with family from across the country.
One thing my wife and I started before the pandemic and have continued is making sure we have all our chores and tasks done by early afternoon on Sunday. We then go out for a few drinks and a long lunch somewhere, which gives us time with nothing else on the agenda but to really talk. Its been a really valuable thing in our relationship. We usually catch a movie afterward.
What energizes you and inspires you?
People showing kindness to others. Finally finding the root cause of a persistent problem. Taking time to carefully design a system, build it as designed and have it work the first time. Recognizing that I’ve grown in my thinking, seeing others grow in their thinking. Colleagues demonstrating reciprocal commitment to each other. Caring for and investing in the future of children, especially in their education. Embracing complexity and nuance and being suspicious of quick answers, especially if they have an emotional appeal. … and I can’t deny, I’m energized by positive reinforcement and recognition of my successes.
If another tech manager were to follow you around all day, what would they most be surprised by? What would they learn?
Well first I hope they would be surprised by the technology they see in our classrooms. We’re not doing anything onthe bleeding edge, but they would recognize space designs, hyflex rooms and user interfaces that wouldn’t be out of place at an R1 university at Yavapai College in Northern Arizona. We’re proud of our tech profile and work hard to punch above our weight class in classroom AV. We believe that a YC student should get the same experience as any college student across the country.
I hope they might also be surprised at how ingrained we are in lots of areas of the college. ITS is represented in academic leadership meetings, strategic planning, the President’s advisory College Council, facilities planning, capital project management and lots of other areas. We’ve worked hard to be partners across the institution and expand our circle of influence on larger areas of policy and decision making.
Finally I hope they would be surprised with how many non-technical conversations I have. I hope someone following me for a day would learn alot about the people in my departments because they would hear conversations that are about building community and culture, that are about visioning and planning, that are about understanding each other as people and that are about where we want to go together as a team.
Tell us about the project you are currently working on now?
We have a bunch of projects going on now and through the end of this fiscal year. Classroom upgrades at 2 satellite campuses. Evaluation of new tech for our culinary environments. Standardization of all digital signage to Daktronics. Updating a ton of student computers at our vocational campus. Designing of a new digital learning commons at our Verde campus. Beginning planning for a ground up new medical sciences building. Adding hyflex capability to our networking and cybersecurity program facilities. Training and implementation of ITIL starting with ITIL Foundations certification for all full-time IT staff. Creating a program where our disposal equipment is made available to local K-12 schools before going to disposal. And of course… budget building for next FY.
The current biggest project on my plate right now is all about our people. We’re getting the opportunity to add full time positions in my areas so I am deep in the process of the creation and approval of these positions and the re-organization of teams to reflect those changes. I’m super excited for the future of my area and what we will be creating over the next 2-3 years.
Shameless plug… I will be hiring 2 manager level positions this winter. If you would like to consider working for an institution that values technology, that gives tech managers a lot of autonomy and to work for someone who prioritizes community and culture in the workplace and is super enthusiastic about AV in higher ed… Reach out! Northern Arizona is a great place to live and I’ll have some great opportunities for up and coming as well as established AV pros.
Comparing your career path over time, what are some of the moments, accomplishments, or projects that you’re most proud of?
This is actually a hard question. I’ve felt pride for tons of successful live events and completed AV projects in my career, but that pride always seems to come from the reactions of the clients involved. That is, I love a well designed and installed system that works flawlessly, but I’m not really the one using it… it’s sitting in the audience as I watch someone use the system to deliver a great piece of communication that makes me feel the sense of pride of work.
But when I think of the things in my career that I’m most proud of… it’s the people that come to mind. Earlier in my career I was able to mentor young people just entering the industry. Many are now leaders and executives with successful lives and families. That is really what I’m most proud of. I also take pride in the fact that there may be people in our vertical from around the country that would now recognize the name Yavapai College. That is due to the work that my team puts in to deliver great technology systems for our students and I’m proud to try and build that well-deserved reputation wherever I can.
You’ve been involved with many higher ed and AV-industry orgs. Talk about why you get involved in the way you do and how that is impacting our vertical?
First, the great strength of the Higher Ed AV vertical is collaboration. We are all technically competitors for students, but in practice it just doesn’t work that way. We’re all colleagues serving the same mission, that is, enhancing the educational success and experience of students through our deployment and support of technology. What an awesome calling! I’m a proud AVIXA Member and CTS holder. It’s important to be connected to the industry as a whole, to make sure you’re up-to-date and informed. I appreciate the collaboration and networking opportunities through the Educational Technology Collaborative (etcollaborative.org).
I’m very proud to advance the initiatives of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA.org) by serving on the board of directors. HETMA works to advance the business influence of the higher ed vertical in the AV industry as well as work on DEI initiatives, offer scholarships and runs a program for evaluating products for use in higher ed. The higher ed market is a huge segment AV and working together to leverage that value for our students is an important initiative. We’ve already seen manufacturers bending their development more towards higher ed, including developing many products in direct partnership with universities. Higher ed deserves a full seat at the Pro AV table commensurate with our market share.
This is especially true for smaller institutions like mine, being able to work in an alliance with larger institutions we’re able to have larger influence over manufacturers that we would on our own. We also benefit from the information shared by those on the cutting edge as we work to implement quality technology on our campuses.
But perhaps the main reason I’m so enthusiastic about working in these groups is because of the acceptance into the community that I have felt. This article shares more of what the higher ed AV community has meant to me: http://higheredav.com/feeling-grateful-community-connections-with-ryan/
Where do you see your career trajectory going in the next five years? Where do you envision yourself?
It’s a great question, one that my wife and I have been talking about for a little while now. My daughter will head off to college, which opens up the possibility of relocating for the right opportunity. I just began the role of Assistant Director of IT and am really excited about working through our plan for increased service levels here at YC. I also get a lot of support here for growth opportunities and travel which I value a ton.
However my true interest is in the AV sphere and I will always keep tabs on opportunities around the country. If the right one came along, in an area that we would want to live, then I would consider a move to an institution with the scale for me to work at a Director level or higher with a focus on AV, classroom and learning technology.
I have no plans to leave the Higher Ed vertical, I love being directly involved with the educational process of students.
What is your life motto and how do you apply it to your daily routine?
There are a couple of sayings that I will repeat to myself or to others from time to time. All of them were stolen from other places. But the hope is these simple maxims can help bring simplicity to complex problems or decisions.
- The main thing is to make the main thing the main thing.
- Culture eats process for breakfast.
- Put the big rocks in first.
- They may not remember what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel.
- I’ve done the math, it’s always better to have 8 dudes with 1 beer each than 1 dude with 8 beers.