The University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ (UNLV) Department of Classroom Technology Services will be well-represented in-person at InfoComm 2021. The show will mark the 10th for UNLV’s Frank Alaimo, CTS-I, DMC-E-4K, senior audio visual systems specialist (acting manager of Classroom Technology Services), and Rohan Palmer, CTS, A+, Network+, ITIL, I.T. professional 2 of Classroom Technology Services, Office of Information Technology.
Alaimo and Palmer shared their reasons for attending in person this year.
Frank Alaimo
Frank Alaimo, CTS-I, DMC-E-4K
Senior A/V Systems Specialist
Classroom Technology Services
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
“The main reason I am going is simple, human interaction and networking. InfoComm is the one place where like-minded higher education end users can get together and talk about our challenges; we need each other now more than ever. I don’t want to attend a roadshow or see another virtual video about a magical unicorn of a product; I’m over that. I found it in my budget and schedule to attend, and I appreciate the manufactures that are as well. A requirement is walking the show floor and seeing all the new tech; whether I need it for a project or not, it is great to see what can and is being done. Talking to engineers and providing feedback is the only way they can make a better widget. In addition to the show floor, we are going for training to gain RUs and prepare for further certification testing.
Planning for projects has been put on the back burner due to our recent large RebelFlex (hybrid classroom) rollout. We don’t have anything specific that we are looking at, but we have a lot of engineers we want to talk with about existing hardware and changes/issues, etc.
Oh, and I can’t forget the HETMA awards show on Friday and hanging out with fellow HETMA members.
Rohan Palmer
Rohan Palmer, CTS, A+, Network+, ITIL
I.T. Professional 2, Classroom Technology Services
Office of Information Technology
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
For the last eight or ten years, the InfoComm show has been an integral part of my toolkit, so to speak, to provide the best solutions to our customers here on campus. My background is in Information Technology, so the InfoComm show has been a great resource to fill in the gaps, with their classes/seminars, on all things AV so that our customers can get the best solutions for their needs. Networking is another reason I like to attend as you are with like-minded individuals who may or may not share the same challenges as I do and thus spark up some interesting interactions. Putting your minds together with others who share the same passion can yield some great solutions. Having all the vendors under one roof and being able to touch and get a feel of their products is also another bonus to attendance. Going virtual was a necessity last year, but I am happy to attend in person to actually kick the tires of what manufacturers have to offer. The last thing would be networking. It will be great to see colleagues from other parts of the country, especially because of what 2020 brought, and share what we did to keep our organizations running and what the future holds.
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