You know what I hate? The demise of the school “AV Guy.” I
noticed that the “AV Guy” no longer exists in the school setting while
attending my daughters’ chorus concert last night. How did I notice this?
Because the Audios and Visuals sucked. At one point, the organizers of this
event were trying to play a pre-recorded tune set to a PowerPoint presentation.
I quickly realized that amplified sound, projected images and two portly band teachers
do not make for AV success. How bad was it? Let’s just say that this botched
presentation left me wishing for the 6th grade beginning band to
return to the stage.
Back in my day, the AV guy was one of the coolest specimen
on campus. Rolling overhead projectors from room to room; changing bulbs; helping
short teachers pull their movie screens down. The “AV Guy” ruled. At my school,
we had special “AV Passes” which were privileges handed out to only the most
ass-kissy of students. If you were the recipient of the “AV Pass,” you got to go
retrieve an overhead projector from the “AV Guy” who had a special “AV room”
full of a bunch of crippled overhead projectors. Nobody messed with you if you
had the “AV Pass.”
Teacher: “Why are you not in class?”
AV Pass Holder: (flash of the pass) “I’m headed to AV.”
Teacher: “As you were.”
You could milk a good 20 minutes of out-of-class time with
the “AV Pass.” After all, rolling a cart with a top-heavy chunk of glass and
metal across cement cracks isn’t going to earn you your PR for speed. And if
that overhead projector dared topple from that cart, everyone knew that your “AV
Pass” days were over.
I find it odd that at a time when technology was hardly
existent, our schools employed a full-time staff to run the “Audio/Visual”
needs. Now that technology is booming, there is no “AV Guy.” Well, you might be saying, other than wheel overhead projectors around,
what exactly was the purpose of the “AV Guy?” To which I would respond: seriously?
You think those Commodore 64’s and ditto machines maintained themselves? The “AV
Guy” was a true jack-of-all-trades.
Now all we get is the “IT Guy.” And he’s way too busy with
visual basic and c++ and scary terms like that to mess with the fat band
teachers’ piddly audio-visual needs.
Rest in peace, “AV Guy.” You are missed.
2 comments:
the AV Guy did not die... he went where he was needed...we come and we go like ninjas. what was that??? i don't know but my AV system sounds amazing now...
Oh we're still around- Just under the updated names "Home Theater", "Computer", and "Integration" Guy now- I still like an go by the A/V if it helps customer or someone in need to remember me. Eric Bowsher, Bowsher Electronix. Chandler, Arizona. MyHiFiGuy.com
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