Spotlight on… Tony Pearson, Senior Associate Director, Enterprise Digital Media and Digital Media Support Services, Digital Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), NC State University
Connect with NC State and Tony Pearson:
Tony Pearson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willie-a-pearson-cts-75766412/
NC State Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncstate
NC State LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/north-carolina-state-university/mycompany/verification/
NC State Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ncstate/
About Me:
An accomplished, experienced, innovative IT professional with a demonstrated result-driven history of 40 years working in Broadcast, Information Technology, and Higher Education Learning Environments. My roots began in broadcast engineering where I spent 10 years in commercial television. I worked up the ranks from master control to live truck technician to transmitter maintenance and support engineer. I was able to quickly transition to higher education where I have remained for the past 30 years. I was hired to support the growing media production initiatives within the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University. My first cut your teeth project was to learn and master the operations of a dos based production scheduling system and devise a plan to upgrade it to Windows. Following that success, I designed and built the first Windows NT non-linear video editing system for the college to replace an aging Sony CMX editor. Immediately after that, I was promoted and became the primary technical lead and manager for multiple grant based distance learning satellite networks operating under various college departments. These networks included the APDLN Air Pollution Distance Learning Network for the EPA Environmental Protection Agency and ITRE The Institute for Transportation Research and Education. In this capacity, I also took over the management and supervision of all classroom support technicians consisting of three full time staff members, plus interns and student workers. In 2003, I was promoted to Director of Video Communication Services which is now known as Innovative Learning Spaces and Support. This included the management and oversight of both Media Production and Classroom Support for all Distance Education Classrooms and grant based programs.
On the personal side, I have been married to my lovely wife, Ujeana, for 35 years. We have two sons both Eagle Scouts and one a graduate of NC State University and the other, a Graduate of Greensboro College with a Masters from Tifton University. We also have two lovely grandchildren. I consider myself a very active person who loves to spend time with family. Also Boyscout, I grew up camping, hiking, and participating in all sorts of high adventure activities. I continued this passion for scouting as an adult and have volunteered in all the branches of Boy Scouts during my 14 years as a registered leader. My wife and I both earned our Wood Badges. I am also an avid and lifelong sports fan “GO COWBOYS”! I have had the pleasure of coaching my little league cowboys team for 17 years where I also had the pleasure to coach both my youngest son and my grandson. Prior to that, I coached little league baseball. My teams were very successful winning multiple titles in both footbal and basball. In addition, my entire family are big Wolfpack fans “GO PACK”! I have been a Wolfpack season ticket holder since 1993, when my oldest son and I started attending football and basketball games. Now, it is a family affair, the entire family tailgates and attends games for both football and basketball. I also served as a ministry chair for my church where I created the first media ministry. Under my leadership I trained and developed disciples on all aspects of broadcasting, producing, directing, graphics, and media distribution. As a member of the building committee, I designed, specified, and managed the audio visual integrations into the church’s new 3,000 seat sanctuary, fellowship hall, and office spaces.
Some other known facts about me, I am a state champion percussionist and recording artist. As a youth I performed in the following events:
– 1978 – Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans, Louisiana
– 1980 – Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Family Reunion Parade (1980)
– 1982 – World Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of performing live music with various bands of different music genres. I have also recorded under the gospel music genre.
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.
In my current role as Senior Associate Director of Enterprise Digital Media, I serve as the strategic and operational lead for Digital Media Support Services. Leading a team of IT professionals dedicated to supporting collaborative and digital learning at NC State University. My responsibilities include overseeing the support and maintenance of all systems at the core of DELTA’s collaborative learning environment and AV/IT infrastructure. My role is a critical role in following the University’s and DELTA’s strategic plans in planning, developing, maintaining, and supporting the current AV/IT infrastructure and enterprise applications for the campus. As the team’s visionary, I lead and direct road mapping efforts all while overseeing major transformation initiatives to continually improve services for faculty, staff, and students in support of NC State’s ascent as a leading institution of higher education.
Have you always worked in AV? What did the path look like for you to get to where you are now?
As mentioned in my profile, my roots began in broadcast engineering where I spent 10 years in commercial television where I worked up the ranks from master control to live truck technician to transmitter maintenance and support engineer. From there, I transitioned to higher education where I have remained for the past 30 years. I was hired at the University to support the growing media production initiatives within the College of Engineering. My first project was to learn and master the operations of the team’s video scheduling and resource management software and devise a plan to upgrade the system to a Windows based application. Following that, I designed and built the first Windows NT non-linear video editing system to replace an aging CMX editor. From there, I was promoted and became the primary producer and technical manager and lead for multiple distance learning satellite networks operating under various college programs. In that capacity, I was also responsible for all level one producers/directors and the supervision of all classroom support technicians consisting of full, part-time, and student workers. In 2003, I was promoted to Director of Video Communication Services, a revenue generating service center supporting the entire campus. This included the management and oversight of Media Production, Engineering, Classroom Support for all Distance Education Classrooms, and grant based programs.
What is your morning routine?
I am up and at ‘em around 5:00 am and out the door around 5:45am for a forty-to-forty-five-minute drive. I generally listen to one of my favorite playlists or tune into the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. Depending on traffic, I generally arrive at the office at around 6:30 am. I am generally the first person to enter the building. So the first thing I do is take a walk around the building for a general inspection. Next, I perform a quick check in on all systems in my direct area and particularly those that my team is responsible for. My next task involves checking the status of any unresolved tickets assigned to the administrative team and taking ownership or reassigning when necessary. Now, it’s time to review and respond to the latest postings in our slack channels. Once everything is clear, it’s now time for my morning coffee run to the dining hall. With my caffeine fix, I am pumped and prepared for the rest of my day.
What does an average weekday look like for you?
My workdays can be crazy from the start with my daily administrative tasks early in the day to meetings after meetings after meetings. Peers tell me all the time that my calendar is super crazy and they don’t know how I handle it. Trying to book time or a meeting with me is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. My ability to handle it all relies on my time management skills that I have developed over time. Oh, and paying attention to my calendar.
On the personal side, once my workday is over, I like to take it easy and wind down while spending the evening with my lovely wife and grandkids.
Occasionally we will have a nice surprise. There are days when my granddaughter calls me while she is on her way to school and says, “Papa pick me up”. So that’s my cue that my after-work hours will be filled with fun, joy, and laughter. I pick her up after work and we are off to her favorite restaurant of the day for a snack or dinner and then it’s playtime at Papa’s house or on the playground.
What does your busiest day look like? What are the challenges your role faces, and how do you overcome those?
As indicated earlier, my days can be pretty hectic due to my heavy meeting schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays are generally my worst days for meetings. These two days have the most regular occurring meetings. Most of my regular meetings involve meeting with my director, operational management teams and/or other meetings that occur weekly, monthly, or quarterly. I also sit on a good number of active committees and subcommittees, most of which are on the governance side facilitating a visible and inclusive governance structure that is responsible for the provision and maintenance of enterprise learning technologies for our University. My biggest challenge is upholding our no lost lecture record for the thousands of lectures that we have recorded/captured over my 30-year tenure. The team has an outstanding track record due to our redundancy and recovery plans. We are proud to say we can count on one hand the number of courses that we have lost to system failures. Even for the few we lost, the failures were out of our control due to complete power failures or evacuations of a building.
What do you enjoy doing on weekends? How do you spend your time outside of work?
My entire family are big NC State WolfPack fans, and we attend all home football and basketball games and occasional away games. We go all out tailgating, spending the entire day at the stadium.
The wife, granddaughter, and I also attend womens gymnastics and basketball, when possible. Also, we are big on the NFL, so my boys and I try to take in NFL games when our schedules allow. Otherwise, we gather to watch our favorite team on TV. Outside of being a sports fanatic, I enjoy spending a lot of time outdoors. I enjoy camping, hiking, and getting back to nature. Now due to my sons’ building their careers and families, the great outdoors is limited to me working in the yard and completing my honey do list in the off season (sports). Although occasionally, we may sneak in a baseball game.
What energizes you and inspires you?
Watching individuals grow, develop, and succeed in their careers. There is nothing like providing the tools for success to an individual and watching them take hold of and utilize what has been provided to build their foundation for success.
If another tech manager were to follow you around all day, what would they most be surprised by? What would they learn?
He/she would be surprised by my commitment, dedication, drive, and passion. He/she would also be surprised by the professional network, connections, and relationships that I have established with industry partners and peers. They would learn that I am a man of my word, and I am very passionate about every project I am responsible for and that I care about every person on my team. I genuinely enjoy doing what I do every day!
Tell us about the project(s) you are currently working on now?
Classroom Road Map Project
– Working with Waveguide LLC and other campus classroom entities on standardizations.
– Goal is to develop classroom standards that embrace the new hybrid learning paradigm.
Media Productions Services Reorganization
– Realignment of AV/IT, Engineering, and classroom support teams for Tiers I, II, and III.
Classroom Lighting and Controls
– Working in collaborations with University Facilities, Design and Construction, University’s Architects Office, and other campus classroom support entities on updating guidelines for classroom lighting and controls.
Zoom Room Implementation
– Working in collaborations with in-house teams, instructional designers, and trainers on best practices and use cases for implementation of Zoom Room into DELTA Classrooms, Support, and Meeting Spaces.
Current Construction Projects
– Ricks Hall Building Renovation: Complete renovations of four floors in the main building.
AV systems life cycle updates
– CTI Conference Room AV System upgrade.
– Central Control and Classrooms: Hardware upgrades to Network Processors, Routing, Controllers, Monitoring, and Multiviewer Servers.
Administrative projects
– NEAT Pad operations for departmental meeting spaces.
– Zoom Licensing and Administration.
– Scheduling and Resource Management System implementation into a cloud offering.
Comparing your career path over time, what are some of the moments, accomplishments, or projects that you’re most proud of?
In 2008, following a request from the university’s architect’s office to eliminate our dedicated classroom control rooms to provide more student seating in the classrooms. My brain went into crunch mode brainstorming and coming up creative ideas to pitch to our supporting cast of AV integrators at that time. This did not take long, as I came up with two concepts and designs to create a Centralized Control Room to remotely monitor and control all DELTA managed classrooms on campus. Once it was determined which concept was the right approach for the allocated budget. It became a reality, collaborations began with various manufacturers and system integrators. Months of product evaluations and onsite testing took place. All of this effort led to a final design, construction, and integration of the new operation center now known as the CCR located in the Ricks Hall Addition. In addition, collaborative office spaces, a mini studio and conference room, were included in the design creating a central location for all members of the team to reside on the main campus.
In 2009, I received the 2008 University Award for Excellence. I was one of five recipients from a pool of 57 nominees to garner a university Award for Excellence.
In 2010, I received the North Carolina Research and Educational Network (NCREN) Community Choice Award.
In the spring of 2012, the CCR entered into operation in a pilot phase with two support stations.
In the Spring of 2019, after a four year period of product testing and evaluations, my team and I deployed a first of its kind video over IP solution using SMPTE ST 2110 as the standard to upgrade our AV infrastructure. This specification enabled the team to break out video, audio and auxiliary data into separate, discrete streams while increasing efficiency and flexibility over SDI-based solutions. This upgrade also allowed for increased capacity and the creation of two new support stations bringing the number of support stations inside the CCR to a maximum capacity of 8 consoles.
2020 – As a member of the campus classroom capture team members of my team, our Class Tech support partners, and I were awarded the IT Community’s 2020 Extraordinary Team Impact Award.
Extraordinary Team Impact Award recognizes a high-functioning team that has facilitated, promoted or advanced the University’s mission, vision and values through its collaborative efforts. The recipient of this award was the ClassTech & DELTA Lecture Capture Team.
You’re involved with our higher ed AV-industry orgs. Talk about why you get involved in the way you do and how that is impacting both you and our vertical?
Networking has always been the key to my involvement in our industry. It was networking that afforded me my opportunity into Higher Education. I met my first AV Manager at NC State University at an International Television Association (ITVA) meeting. From there we remained in contact and that networking led to me joining the NC State team. I remained a member of ITVA throughout its transition to Media Communications Association International (MCAI) where I served on the board of directors. I have remained active in the following organizations NAB, AVIXA, formally InfoComm, HETMA, and ITC, formally CCUMC.
Where do you see your career trajectory going in the next five years? Where do you envision yourself?
Well, we just completed major unit reorganization that I played a critical role in. Ultimately, I want to ensure the reorganization is a rousing success for everyone impacted. Therefore, over the next five years, I see myself deeply involved in ensuring that our next level managers are prepared to step into critical roles to lead the team down a road map for success. Beyond that, I hope to be in the words of Otis Redding “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay”.
What is your life motto and how do you apply it to your daily routine?
Luke 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Simply put, “do unto others as you would like them to do to you”.