My Unofficial Job: The A/V Guy at Your Service

My real title is Director of IT Development & Operations. That sounds pretty cool, right? Well, I have another job too. It’s pretty unofficial, but it’s real. I’m the company’s A/V (Audio/Video) guy. Here’s what happens nearly every single day:

1. I show up to a meeting as an attendee.
2. The presenter starts getting setup.
3. The presenter starts struggling with WiFi, the display, Skype, WebEx, the speakerphone, cables, adapters, or something.
4. The presenter starts to sweat.
5. Other attendees start casually gazing in my direction.
6. The presenter starts to panic.
7. Other attendees give me “the look.”
8. The presenter is about to pass-out.
9. I rescue the presenter.
10. The meeting commences. Everyone lives.

I can’t help it. I instinctively know how all of this stuff works. I don’t know how I know, I just know. People look at me like I’m some sort of magician, but I’m not. I’m just the company’s A/V guy.

Nowadays, conference rooms are pretty techie. We have digital whiteboards, telepresence for remote attendees, and bi-directional video, but this problem isn’t new. Back in school, I was one of the nerds pushing a TV/VCR combo strapped to cart down the hallway. Once an A/V guy, always an A/V guy. (There are A/V gals out there too!)

It’s been 17 years since I left the help desk, but in some ways, you never really leave. I learned the skill of helping end users with computer problems and developed an intrinsic burden to help. In most cases, I don’t let people struggle beyond step 3 above, before I jump-in.

One of my coworkers recently jested that he invites me to all of his meetings just so I can work the smartboard. All along, I just thought he wanted my insightful input on strategic decisions. Nope. Just A/V support.

On second thought, perhaps I’m onto something… Us IT folks are always trying to get a seat at the decision-making table, right? Get invited for the projector-skills. Stay for the strategic business decisions. Brilliant!

Ideally, conference room A/V systems will one day be 100% intuitive for everyone to use. When that happens I’ll gladly give up my honorary post as the company’s A/V guy. Doing my part, I recently posted a video on LinkedIn entitled: Four ways to share your PowerPoint presentation on a Surface Hub

Any other A/V guys or gals out there? What’s your unofficial job at your company? Share your stories in the comments below.

Read this article on my blog site: https://zachonleadership.com/my-unofficial-job-the-a-v-guy-at-your-service/