Happy holidays, everyone. To close out the year, I’m ending on a familiar note with one final AVNation podcast response. I’m responding to this episode, if you’d like to follow along. Today, we’re talking about hybrid-first collaboration.
As you may — or probably — know by now (but it’s OK if you don’t), rAVe [PUBS] has partnered with AVNation to help grow the AV industry. Through that partnership, AV Buyers Club — our publication arm specifically for technical end users, in-house integrators and similar roles — is working with AVNation to create more content for those often underrepresented voices in AV.
This videocast is part of that effort.
In this episode, Tim Albright and Brad Hintze of Crestron kick off the conversation by talking about what they call the culture of collaboration. But what does that actually mean?
“When you step back and think about it, culture is enabled by an ability to work together — to trust each other,” Hintze said. “The technology that we put into a space is such a critical component of it.”
And the last thing anyone wants is to feel like their voice doesn’t matter in a meeting. Who among us hasn’t been in that situation — when you’re in the meeting, but you’re not really in the meeting?
The obvious solution is to make your meeting room a space where everyone can be seen and heard. But the reality is a little more complicated than that. It’s not just about being visible or audible — it’s about quality audio and video for all participants. That’s something even IT directors are increasingly being asked to consider.
“As IT groups have increasingly taken more of a strategic position at the executive table, this is another area where IT leaders can contribute to the strategic growth of a business,” Hintze said.
So how does this fit into the future of work? When we talk about making sure everyone is seen and heard, is there a standard moving forward?
Hintze said there are a few essentials most people can agree on:
- Microphone
- Speaker
- Camera
- Interface
- Display
But beyond the basics, there’s a bigger question: How many meeting participants will actually be in the room versus remote?
Many organizations are pushing return-to-office initiatives. How will that affect collaboration long term? According to Albright and Hintze, hybrid-first collaboration isn’t going anywhere.
“There will always be a scenario where you need to collaborate with someone who is remote,” Hintze said. “Even if you have 100% of your employees in the office on any given day, you still have outside customers, partners and vendors. There will always be a need to communicate with people outside of the office. With that comes the requirement that you can do so with high quality.”
So where does Crestron come in? Great question.
The company has recently framed its approach around what it calls the three Cs:
- Collaboration: Videoconferencing and intelligent audio and video solutions, including BYOM technology.
- Content: AV-over-IP solutions for distributing content across a room or an entire building, as well as digital signage.
- Control: Tools that make spaces simple to use, including touch panels, wall-mounted interfaces and keypads.
According to Crestron, these are the three primary ways it supports hybrid meeting environments.
“Every space needs some form of the three Cs,” Hintze said. “Are we enabling people to share content? Are we enabling people to collaborate or communicate, whether they’re in person or remote? And are we enabling a space that’s simple to walk into and use?”
You can watch the full conversation below:
Check out my previous Crestron AVNation podcast response here.
