Day 4 Synopsis

Spent the day on the InfoComm trade show floor. Highlights are below and are listed in random order.

1. Bought a Vera Bradley purse for half off at a nearby store. While not the most important part of the day, was still a fun "after the conference" purchase.

2. PolyCom - The ceiling mic array is recommended for a 20' diameter. Might want to consider a second mic array in Allen 255.

3. Wolfvision - The eye 12 was sweet! There are diagrams on the Wolfvision web site that provides information regarding halogen light placement that will optimize the image - if a light is needed.

4. Samsung LCD Display - I love, love, love the "thin bezel" display. The monitor doesn't look like a tv that's been stuck on the wall. The thin bezel looks like digital signage - elegent, refined, gets your attention.

5. Digital Signage stand - can't remember the company name, but the stands were way cool, free standing and budget friendly.

6. Outdoor Digital Signage - looked at several LED solutions which are optimal for outdoor solutions, but all of them had their own control systems and could not integrate with MSU's digital signage software. Vendors I talked to were Element Labs and Everbrighten.

7. Rescue Tape - just a cool product. Made of silicone and adheres to itself when stretched. After 60 seconds, you can't undo. Fun product -

8. Outdoor Reflective Digital Display - Magink; this was extremely way cool. This product actually is best used in full sunlight. It's very "green" and overall just neat. It's about $1,500 per square feet.

9. Outdoor LCD Turnkey Solution - SunBriteTV. This turnkey solution is intriguing and costs start at $2,000 for a 32" monitor and $5,000 for a 42" monitor. The only downfall of LCD is that direct sunlight will make "black spots" on any LCD monitor. Once the direct sunlight leaves, the spots will fade. Therefore, some installations place a shade on top of the monitor. Yet, still a cool solution because of the housing.

10. Screen/White Board in one - WallTalkers. I have forgotten about this product and may need to consider using it for some installations at MSU. The sales guy was prejudiced against southern states - which I didn't appreciate at all, but put up with (in retrospect, I should have asked for a different sales guy, but southern ladies always try to be nice to others). They also sell another product, TacWall. This product serves as a "corkboard" and is "green" and comes in a variety of colors.

11. Take a look at the photo below - see something familiar? I believe the company was an audio company.

12. I must see what a monitor like this would cost for my desk.

Day 3 Synopsis

I gave two presentations today. The classroom technology project presentation was well received and went very well. It's nice to share battle-scars and triumphs and have other institutions understand. One odd side note - I asked how many universities couldn't buy anything at the end of the year due to purchasing closing down for end of the year processing, and surprisingly about 20 people raised their hand. Seriously.

The second presentation about virtualized web servers was a learning lesson for me. I really did need a technical counterpart to answer questions.

The keynote by David Pogue was memorable. He's just a good presenter.

Day 2 Synopsis

Wow - a productive first day!

Long's Electronics in Birmingham is a vendor at the show. They will be able to provide quotes on classroom technology type equipment for us! Benny Bliss will be a good contact at Long's.

Attending a great session about eportforlios. The presenter had researched multiple eportfolio options - many of which were expensive, hosted off-site, a huge learning curve, and a history of multiple follow-up support needed. Therefore, the eportfolio system selected is Adobe Pro Extended (the Extended allows 3D rendering of cad drawings). Way cool. Totally think this is a super, cost effective model. They have the students upload their portfolio to Share - a hosting service not associated with the university. They also use Adobe Connect Pro for allowing students to upoad student teaching video files.

After the presentation, I met Ron Richard, National Sales Manager for Higher Education, from Adobe. I told him about MSU's Flash Media Server and our need to use Adobe products for solutions. However, I told him that there were way too many Adobe products with confusing names and we didn't know how all of this fit together. Ron totally agreed with me and recognizes this as a problem with the Adobe products. He indicated that the FMS and other products are not marketed and bundled effectively for higher ed. I requested a sales team come to MSU and pitch products to us. He was eager to comply with an engineering sales team based upon problems/solutions we described. He also said there would be a possibility to feature MSU as a case study since these types of questions are not unusual. Eeep - more presentations for MSU!!!

Went to a good session on going green. Got some good ideas to help with Class Tech initiative.
* show the energy impact so users will be more informed (we have a probem with users not turning lectern completely off)
* The thing that gets measured gets done. Measure usage.
* Messy edge (as opposed to the bleeding edge - I'm on the messy edge for so many projects).
* "Ready, Fire, Aim mentality - just liked this

School House Rocks was amazing - hearing one of the main composers perform was just the short of phenominal !!!

Digital Signage presentation - learned a lot about applications (communication, menu board, way finding, interactive donor wall, financial market analysis labs). Apparently the "financial market analysis labs" are very hot for College of Business schools.

Schools for Facebook - this product is 1.5 years old and has been piloted with 5 universities. This is an absolute genius product that is 100% no-brainer. Facebook app that is an "official" site of the university. The app interfaces with banner to assign classes, groups, etc. Product starts with potential students and continues with alumni groups. I talked with the President and the CEO-CoFounder.

Day 1 Synopsis

Traveling was uneventful - thank goodness. While waiting on the shuttle at the airport, I had a great conversation with Bill Collins from "Decision Point Media Insights". The company conducts research on effective digital signage content. Without good content, digital signage will not work. Hmmm - guess I need to be thinking about what makes good content for digital signage at a university. Deploying the technology isn't enough.

When I got on the shuttle bus, the lady next to me asked, "are you Kathleen". Oh my - she said she recognized me from my picture on the EduComm web site. We share a session slot on Wednesday. Amy Haston from Purdue - "Where AV and IT Meet". She gave me a brief run down of her presentation. They have 250+ classrooms with technology and a team of 50 people in her department. She asked how many people MSU had to work on the class tech project - I just laughed. The one aspect about her project that does hold interest for me is the planning - Purdue plans for classroom upgrades/installations and the classrooms are actually blocked off for the installation. Wow! I can't wait to hear her presentation.

I also met a nice lady from Spellman. She is the director of Academic Labs. The last person I met before checking in was Jim Jorstad at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. His presentation is "Lost in Space - Finding the Right Learning Space Design for Learners". He said that the presentation will be a play on the Lost in Space tv show. Cool - a fun presentation.

Oh - the suite at the Ritz is unbelievable. When I checked in I received cold bottled water. The lady who checked me in then walked me to the elevators. The hotel is way out of my league. And a can diet coke was $3.50. Luxury has a price.

EduComm - InfoComm

To view my handouts from EduComm 2008 - click here!