AV and IT are colliding, prepare for it dude.
I am at Infocomm this week. A show for audio and visual professionals. This is my third year attending. My first year was interesting as I came in as an "IT" person.
Traditional AV people apparently don't think highly of IT people because they think IT people don't think highly of AV people.
The general sentiment from the industry is that AV technologies are integrating more IT technologies. They're merging and there's really no stopping them. Today, IT folks are a little better accepted. And I'm a hybrid...an AV person with an IT background.
I took a 3-day course and the female to male ratio made it almost felt like I was back in my Fluid Mechanics course, except it was better. There were 3 females in my class of 26. There were only 2 of us IT people. My fluids class only had 1 female in it.
Anyway, at a vendor booth today there was a gentleman. Let's call him, "Mr. Sunshine," because he had to be the most pessimistic and cynical person one could meet. He gave the vendor a darn hard time. I took some opportunities to offer some support and assistance until I eventually gave up and asked, "Can I ask what it is you're looking to gain because it sounds like you're just basically going to defeat and put down any suggestions anyone has to offer."
He made a comment about something he learned at Comdex. I laughed, "Comdex, are they still around?" He sneared at me and snidely said, "YOU must be an AV person." I replied, "Actually, I'm the new hybrid, I worked in IT for 11 years." He then challenged me and said, "Well I worked in IT for 22 years. How many servers and blah-blah-blah applications have you installed and set-up?" I looked at him as he kept rattling on, "Look, you brought it up and assumed I was pure AV. I just made a factual statement with no intent to challenge you. Everyone here has tried to be helpful, but it's like you want a fight. But you're not going to get one from me. Either speak civil to me or don't speak to me at all."
Gotta admit, he sure helped make IT folks look bad. I was embarrassed.
Traditional AV people apparently don't think highly of IT people because they think IT people don't think highly of AV people.
The general sentiment from the industry is that AV technologies are integrating more IT technologies. They're merging and there's really no stopping them. Today, IT folks are a little better accepted. And I'm a hybrid...an AV person with an IT background.
I took a 3-day course and the female to male ratio made it almost felt like I was back in my Fluid Mechanics course, except it was better. There were 3 females in my class of 26. There were only 2 of us IT people. My fluids class only had 1 female in it.
Anyway, at a vendor booth today there was a gentleman. Let's call him, "Mr. Sunshine," because he had to be the most pessimistic and cynical person one could meet. He gave the vendor a darn hard time. I took some opportunities to offer some support and assistance until I eventually gave up and asked, "Can I ask what it is you're looking to gain because it sounds like you're just basically going to defeat and put down any suggestions anyone has to offer."
He made a comment about something he learned at Comdex. I laughed, "Comdex, are they still around?" He sneared at me and snidely said, "YOU must be an AV person." I replied, "Actually, I'm the new hybrid, I worked in IT for 11 years." He then challenged me and said, "Well I worked in IT for 22 years. How many servers and blah-blah-blah applications have you installed and set-up?" I looked at him as he kept rattling on, "Look, you brought it up and assumed I was pure AV. I just made a factual statement with no intent to challenge you. Everyone here has tried to be helpful, but it's like you want a fight. But you're not going to get one from me. Either speak civil to me or don't speak to me at all."
Gotta admit, he sure helped make IT folks look bad. I was embarrassed.