AV/IT Amplifier

136: You Never Go Full Bald with Chris Kelly

Chris Kelly returns to The AV/IT Amplifier Podcast for week two with Ryan Gray, and the conversation picks up right where the first one left off: part Higher Ed AV Media strategy, part neurodivergent team therapy session, part comedy riff about baldness, gifts, and why some people should absolutely not be forced to sing an improvised jingle on command. Chris, Senior IT Support Specialist at Creighton University, HETMA Advisory Board Chair, and Managing Editor for Higher Ed AV Media, talks about his role supporting volunteer contributors, helping build consistency, and creating a structure that encourages people rather than making creative work feel like punishment. Ryan and Chris also get into the very real tension between spontaneity and planning, and why authentic collaboration often works best when people are not wired the same way. The conversation moves from HETMA and Higher Ed AV Media into broader reflections on workplace communication, neurodivergence, podcasting, and the vulnerability behind even simple questions like asking someone how they are doing. Along the way, Chris explains his state high point hiking project, Ryan tries to force a Higher Ed AV Media jingle into existence, and the two land on one of the great philosophical questions of our time: what separates someone who is authentically bald from someone who is merely playing bald? By the end, Chris revisits his previous sign off and updates it into something that fits both his own work and the larger HETMA community: “Stay curious and get connected.” Topics Discussed 1. Chris Kelly’s role as Managing Editor for Higher Ed AV Media 2. Supporting volunteer contributors without making deadlines feel punitive 3. Neurodivergence, procrastination, planning, and creative work 4. How Ryan and Chris’s different working styles complement each other 5. Building teams around difference rather than sameness 6. Camera gestures, Zoom delay, and the lived reality of using classroom technology 7. The possibility of a Higher Ed AV Media jingle 8. Chris’s state high point bucket list and upcoming Arizona visit 9. Gift giving, social expectations, and practical decision making 10. Baldness, authenticity, and Chris’s updated catchphrase: “Stay curious and get connected” Connect with Chris Kelly content@higheredav.com content@hetma.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-kelly-272155122/ Connect with Ryan @Ryan_A_Gray https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/ ryan@higheredav.com Show Links Higher Ed AV Media: https://www.higheredav.com HETMA: https://www.hetma.org HETMA Community: https://community.hetma.org HETMA Roadshow at Creighton: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/omaha-roadshow-at-creighton-university-tickets-1602948595399?aff=ebdssbdestsearch Voiceover by Chris Dechter Have feedback or guest ideas? Let us know! This show is a production of Higher Ed AV Media. Visit www.HigherEdAV.com for fresh content every day!

135: The Managing Editor with Chris Kelly

Chris Kelly returns to The AV/IT Amplifier Podcast for a conversation about media, volunteerism, accessibility, and what it means to help amplify voices across the higher education AV community. Chris, Senior IT Support Specialist at Creighton University, HETMA Advisory Board Chair, and newly announced Managing Editor for Higher Ed AV Media, talks with host Ryan Gray about how his deep engagement with higher ed AV content eventually turned into a larger role helping shape, edit, and support the platform itself. This episode is also a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to keep a volunteer-driven media ecosystem alive. Ryan and Chris talk about the difference between polished corporate media and authentic peer-to-peer storytelling, the importance of making content creation less intimidating, and the many ways people can contribute without needing to be a professional writer, podcaster, or media personality. From accessibility and DEI to event recaps, campus profiles, content intake forms, and the search for a clear Higher Ed AV Media tagline, the conversation is ultimately an invitation for more people to step in, share what they know, and help tell the stories of the community. Topics Discussed • Chris Kelly returning as a standalone guest on The AV/IT Amplifier Podcast • Chris’s role as Managing Editor for Higher Ed AV Media • His claim to having consumed nearly the full Higher Ed AV Media podcast catalog • The value of being a voracious listener and reader before helping shape content • Why accessibility helped pull Chris deeper into the media side of the work • How volunteer organizations create opportunities for people who step forward • Ways people can contribute without needing to be the face of a podcast or article • The difference between authentic peer content and polished corporate media • Why Higher Ed AV Media needs a clear slogan or tagline • Chris’s Empowered by Design column and the challenge of writing regularly Connect with Chris content@hetma.org content@higheredav.com Creighton University HETMA Advisory Board Chair Managing Editor, Higher Ed AV Media Connect with Ryan @Ryan_A_Gray https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/ ryan@higheredav.com Show Links Higher Ed AV Media: https://www.higheredav.com HETMA: https://www.hetma.org HETMA Community: https://community.hetma.org Voiceover by Chris Dechter Have feedback or guest ideas? Let us know! This show is a production of Higher Ed AV Media. Visit www.HigherEdAV.com for fresh content every day!

134: They Don't Sit in the Classroom Like I Do with Mike McHugh

Mike McHugh is back for Part 2, and this half of the conversation opens up into something bigger than a technical discussion. Ryan and Mike talk about what it really takes to stay current in a field that never stops moving, from relying on trusted partners and professional communities to making room, when possible, for demos, articles, and the constant work of learning. They also dig into AV over IP, not as a buzzword or blanket answer, but as one tool among many that has to be weighed against cost, scale, reliability, and the real needs of a particular space. From there, the episode shifts into another side of Mike’s work that says a lot about who he is. In addition to his role in ITS media at Goshen University, he has spent years teaching first year students in courses centered on identity, community, career, and calling. That teaching experience has given him a different kind of credibility when talking with faculty and administrators about learning spaces, and it also reveals the throughline in Mike’s approach to the job: thoughtful service, lived experience, and a willingness to keep growing. The conversation closes with a glimpse into an upcoming May term in Maui, where Mike will lead students in a recovery focused learning experience connected to rebuilding efforts in Lahaina. Topics Discussed * How Mike stays current as technology, standards, and expectations keep changing * The value of trusted integrators, dealers, webinars, forums, and professional organizations * Why carved out time for professional learning is hard to protect * How Goshen University is thinking about AV over IP on a room by room basis * Why “future proofing” often turns out to be more like “future delaying” * The difference between how spaces are imagined in design meetings and how they are actually used * Why relationships and institutional trust matter so much in design and renovation work * Mike’s role teaching first year students in Goshen’s required core curriculum * How teaching has strengthened his credibility with faculty and administrators * Mike’s upcoming May term in Maui tied to disaster recovery work in Lahaina Connect with Mike LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikecsm/ Connect with Ryan @Ryan_A_Gray https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/ ryan@higheredav.com Voiceover by Chris Dechter Have feedback or guest ideas? Let us know! This show is a production of Higher Ed AV Media. Visit www.HigherEdAV.com for fresh content every day!

133: It Might Just Be Future Mike with Mike McHugh

In Episode 133 of AV/IT Amplifier, Ryan Gray talks with Mike McHugh of Goshen College about what it means to build a career, and a legacy, at a small institution where everybody knows everybody and the work is always personal. Mike shares what it has been like to spend more than two decades at a 900 student college in northern Indiana, doing everything from classroom technology support and system design to campus events, athletic streaming, video, and recording. The conversation gets at something a lot of higher ed AV people will recognize right away: when the school is small, the team is small, and the mission is clear, the job becomes a constant balancing act between capacity, creativity, relationships, and service. What makes this episode especially strong is how naturally it moves between practical AV work and the deeper human side of the profession. Mike talks about revisiting systems he built decades earlier, realizing that the “future somebody” who has to deal with those decisions might just be him. He reflects on community, consistency, and stepping into new ways of contributing, from running for leadership in ETC to helping bring stability and follow through to The AV Life. This is a conversation about institutional memory, saying yes when students are at the center of the ask, and what it looks like to keep showing up for the long haul. Topics Discussed * Working in higher ed AV at a small private college * Wearing multiple hats across classrooms, events, athletics, and media * How small campus culture changes the way AV work gets done * The upside and pressure of being known across an institution * Revisiting and replacing systems you built years earlier * The difference between building for “future somebody” and building for “future Mike” * Finding professional community through ETC, HETMA, and Higher Ed AV Media * Moving from membership to leadership in professional organizations * What consistency and follow through mean in media and podcast production * How behind the scenes contributions create visible results Connect with Mike LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mikecsm/ Connect with Ryan @Ryan_A_Gray https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/ ryan@higheredav.com Voiceover by Chris Dechter Have feedback or guest ideas? Let us know! This show is a production of Higher Ed AV Media. Visit www.HigherEdAV.com for fresh content every day!

Special: HETMA Presents... Live Keynote from the HETMA Virtual Conference

Recorded live as the Friday keynote on Day 3 of the HETMA Virtual Conference, this AV/IT Amplifier crosspost pulls a fast moving hybrid conversation from sister show HETMA Presents, combining #Roadto10K and This Month in Higher Ed AV into one session. Host Ryan Gray is joined by Britt Yenser, Tim Van Woeart, and Gina Sansivero to unpack the month’s community theme, Time to Level Up, and get specific about what leveling up actually looks like in real careers, real teams, and real life.  The first half is personal and practical: leadership shifts, classroom design growth, mentoring, self awareness about learning styles, and the uncomfortable reality that documentation and continuity can feel emotional because it forces us to admit we will not be in the role forever. The second half pivots into a timely industry conversation sparked by a UK trade piece that framed education AV spend as wasteful and trend driven, followed by an AVWeek discussion and a HETMA board response op ed. The panel digs into why the framing landed as dismissive, why collapsing K 12 and higher ed into one story produces bad conclusions, and why higher ed AV decisions are shaped by governance, accessibility, security, procurement, and lifecycle realities, not shiny object chasing.      Articles Discussed: Original article: https://www.avinteractive.com/news/systems-design-integration/are-educational-institutions-wasting-their-money-on-av-14-01-2026/ Discussion on AVWeek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FLQnVhkwlA HETMA response op ed: https://www.avnation.tv/2026/02/04/oped-higher-ed-is-not-wasting-money-on-av-but-we-are-tired-of-being-talked-down-to/ Join the conversation at community.hetma.org Host: Ryan Gray LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/ Panel: Britt Yenser LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/britt-yenser/ Tim Van Woeart LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-van-woeart-cts-45416826/ Gina Sansivero LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-sansivero/ This show is a production of Higher Ed AV Media. Visit www.HigherEdAV.com for new content every day.