When you hear an excellent new podcast show, maybe you wonder about all that took place in terms of how it came to be in the first place? “The Floating Point” on rAVe Pubs Radio is that show which is hosted by Hope Roth, one which I also have the great pleasure of producing.

Here’s the story – what I’ll also refer to as “The Making of…”

Hope, a Crestron Certified Programmer, has been a podcasting partner and good friend of mine since early 2015. What I noticed in Hope when I asked her to join our original podcast show (previous to AV Power Up) as a regular member, after she appeared as a guest in an episode, was a great mix of tech knowledge, savvy and snark, for me an absolutely terrific combination. We also found out that she was a singer/musician, where the Twitter handle @BeerAndPie comes from as it’s an album that Hope made (with title song) which you can find on iTunes.

Hope (pictured here bottom right) went on to become a key original Crew member of our AV Power Up podcast which began in March of last year along with the others (Chuck Espinoza – upper left, Christa Bender – upper right, Johnny Mota – bottom left, and myself upper middle) where she brought great technology insights and the humor. I called her “The Programmer” and our Chief Nerding Officer.

Rich Prevete (middle right) joined us as a Crew member later on. Guests on this episode were Michael Shinn (middle left) and Greg Brown (middle).

To go along with her tech knowledge and more, for those who may not be aware Hope is also a key member of the Women of InfoComm Network promoting CTS (along with Christa Bender, who now has her own show “Tech Chaos”), and one thing to mention here is Hope’s presentation at InfoComm 2015 which carried the theme “Take Your Lane,” where she discussed her career, industry certifications and more. Hope was invited to speak as a result of Erin Bolton’s guest appearance (Erin was the Women of InfoComm Network Committee Chair at the time) on our AV Power Up Episode 6: We’re Talking a WIN for the AV Industry, as Erin during the podcast asked Hope if she would present. Hope accepted Erin’s invite – it’s a presentation you must see (click here).

Hope’s involvement as a Crew member with AV Power Up continued and in October, on one of our episodes titled “Hey, Get With the Program!” we focused discussion on AV programming. I asked Hope if she would take the lead on that one which she gladly accepted. One of her good friends Chris Tatton, Sr. Systems Programmer at HB Communications was invited as a guest on that show, along with former AV Power Up Crew member Jeremy Caldera, Lead AudioVisual Designer at ZDI and Billy Silar, Control System Programmer at Visual Sound.

Here’s how this show description began:

OK, let’s get serious for a second. The audio visual industry has for some time faced the need for quality programmers. We know that there are very good ones that currently exist in the industry and while that’s all great, there is still room for improvement. The solutions themselves are still top notch and the certifications speak volumes, however bringing more top flight individuals to the industry in programming, as well as project management and more, has reached a somewhat critical point. We know there are people out there who can get this job done and we’re going to reveal in this show what we’re talking about – or at least what we Hope to get across…

After what turned out to be an excellent show posted on rAVe Radio, I told Hope that I thought she was ready to have her own podcast (which would also be on rAVe Radio). Hope agreed and asked if I would produce the show, which I of course agreed to do for her as well. I produce AV Power Up which presents its own interesting challenges as we can have upwards of eight people on, however I figured this show on it’s scale would be one that would present a less challenging situation. Think again.

This is the part of the story which became the “months in the making,” with three (or four, I lost count) scheduled recordings since December having to be cancelled – one or two at the last minute – due to work schedules and even the elements. Yes, a podcast show hosted by a road warrior AV programmer (the Carmen San Diego of programming?) whose industry guests had issues causing postponement that ranged from illness to firmware upgrade projects. And the elements cancellation was hers. I’m sure Hope will talk more about in her memoirs…

We recently set recording for the morning of Saturday Feb. 27th (with fingers crossed) where two of the three invited guests, as well as Hope, did finally make it. I was there sitting behind the scenes in the recorded videoconference on mic mute (though type chatting with Hope) – silent for possibly the first time ever on a podcast. You can read about that in the write up.

And yes – after months in the making and those small challenges, here it is: The Floating Point: Episode One: There’s an (Insecure) App for That – with guests Toine Leerentveld, Technology Manager at Crestron Electronics and Chris Tatton, Sr. Systems Programmer at HB Communications.

And more great ones to come.

(Note: You will still hear Hope occasionally on AV Power Up so look out for her appearances on that show as well).

You can also listen to AV Power Up! – Episode 27: Hey, Get With the Program! here.