Page 10 - Campus Technology, October/November 2018

AV SMARTS ryan engels
3 Good Reasons to Hire an AV Consultant
From system design, installation and support to project management, budgeting and procurement, a
technology manager’s to-do list is always growing. Here are three ways an independent AV consultant can help.
TECHNOLOGY MANAGERS in higher education are asked to do many things and expected to do all of them well. The list continues to grow, encompassing technology management, project management, system design, installation, support, event support, budgeting, procurement, networking and training. We are expected to have the breadth of knowledge of what some organizations might consider multiple job lines — yet frequently encounter users, staff and faculty who regard us as the people who bring in the overhead pro- jectors (those days are long gone).
My first 18 months in the AV field weren’t the best. I was inundated from all sides by capital projects, renovations, facilities project requests, digital sign requests, grant projects and our own needs for technology renewal and support. Many of you are probably in the same position. One moment you are doing project management or reviewing an invoice, and the next moment you are in a classroom in front of a hundred people fixing whatever is broken or perceived to be broken. Considering that here at Ithaca College (NY) our AV support department consists of two full-timers and a number of part-time student techs, we’re constantly on the run. 4
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | October/November 2018
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