So it’s my first time ever at InfoComm, and I’ve already seen some pretty exciting things. For one, the transformation of the show floor. How two story, blinking, interactive, spinning booths get set up from scratch in two days is beyond me! I’ve also been blown away at the sheer size of the show. On day one I was scratching my head at the businessmen speeding around at 20 mph on Segways, but after two days of walked to and from our office and around the show floor, I’m green with envy. Prize to anyone who wants to lend me one! (Just kidding…sort of).

Some of the most interesting products to me have been those targeted at distance education. Today more than ever it seems like students are opting to take online courses, be it to save money, time, or just to experiment outside the realm of traditional classroom learning. This morning, we stopped at XXXX’s booth sort of by accident. There was a panel of four TVs with what I thought was a recorded video of 5 employees to exhibit what a digital conference call might look like. Then one of the women said “hello” and started waving at me, and we realized it was live from Houston, Texas!  Typical experience for a first time AV tradeshow attendee (I hope!). Even though this product is aimed at businesses, it got me thinking about how technologies in that arena could transform education. I started thinking beyond the scope of interactive distance classrooms to how students might use it for other things, like online committee meetings with students at other schools, job interviews, and even

In the past 5 years, it seems like there’s more buzz than ever circulating about how technology is to blame for the lack of personal, interactive communication. Even for me, it’s pretty rare that I make a phone call if I can text instead. Speed and simplicity seem to be in high demand, especially for today’s youth, many of whom haven’t known life without phones or computers. But maybe that’s where video technology can help bridge the gap, at least for students.  What if universities across the globe adopted this kind of thing? Student groups and organizations could use it to connect with businesses and other students across the country. It could open doors for smaller schools to participate more easily in movements going on at larger universities. The possibilities seem endless. Like one employee on the XXXX’s call said, “There’s no substitute for live face time!”