Volume 13, Issue 18 — September 15, 2020

rAVe ED [Education] — Volume 13, Issue 18

September 15, 2020 | Volume: 13 | Issue: 18

We’re well into the second half of 2020, but it still feels like we’ve got a lot to unpack this year.

To start unpacking it, I’ve got two columns for you this week: the first, a story of personal experience from Scott Tiner related to one EdTech technology in particular. The second, Gary Kayye’s rallying cry for UCC to step it up in .EDU. No holds barred — go read it. You’ll also see quite a few recap articles from our early September LAVNCH EMEA event — plus, of course, the curated product news we give you each and every week.

Finally, check the story where we share details on why ISE (whose show earlier this year was the last great AV event of 2020), moved its 2021 event from February to June. ISE noted an ongoing effort to “balance health and safety concerns with the need for commerce and F2F interaction.” That’s “face-to-face” interaction, if you were wondering. Thoughts on the move? I, for one, think it was a safe bet. (If you’ve ever read my intros around Q1, you’ll know i go to Mardi Gras every year. So, January through March, I’m usually writing something about Mardi Gras, whether anyone cares or not. Sadly, I’m already planning to NOT attend Mardi Gras in February 2021 next year, unless something drastically changes. But that’s just me.) I also appreciate that ISE made the call and decision earlier rather than later. Cause, ya know, planning and what not.

Calendar Check: Don’t forget — a lot coming up in the virtual-event world: NSCA’s P2Pv (Sept. 22-23), the SYNNEX LAVNCH Days (next up, a COLLABSolv Day on Oct. 8), Futuresource Consulting’s Audio Collaborative 2020 (Nov. 4-5) and more.

All this talk of packing and unpacking makes me think about vacation. Who else?

— Leah McCann

COLUMNS

+ Simple Can Be Elegant [Scott Tiner]

As technology people, we in the AV world are not immune to being drawn to new, fancy, shiny objects. We know we need to ask the right questions, make sure it fits our needs (or our customers’ needs), but wow, that new tech can be exciting. On occasion, we are also drawn in the opposite direction. For me, it has always been digital whiteboards; I just have never liked them. They are too confusing to use and have never caught on, even with the most willing faculty to try new things. So, my solution has always been to have people use the plain whiteboard at the front of the room.

+ UCC Does .EDU — Terribly! [Gary Kayye]

Way, way, before COVID-19, UCC saw explosive growth. Because of it, “collaboration” was not only the buzzword of InfoComm 2019 but also completely dominated ISE 2020 — the last great AV event of 2020. But, UCC doesn’t mean meeting room or huddle room, by the way. If you read the spec sheets of the plethora of “collaboration” products from companies like Logitech, Poly, QSC, Biamp, Sennheiser, Shure and the half-dozen or so display companies targeting UCC with collaboration boards and projectors, you’d think that the term was exclusively interchangeable only with a meeting space/room. Enter COVID.