This Tech Manager Spotlight profiles Lisle Waldron, who leads Multimedia and Audio-Visual Services at the University of Trinidad and Tobago and serves as HETMA's Scholarship Chair while pursuing a Ph.D. in Education. Waldron traces an unconventional path into the field, from answering phones and moving equipment under mentor Chris at the University of the West Indies to running UTT's AV operations, and describes a leadership philosophy built on succession planning, staff development, and putting the right people in the right places.

James King, a higher ed IT professional since 2008 and co-host of the Ask The Programmer podcast, argues that IT teams are still routinely left out of early planning conversations even though AV and IT have fully converged. Using Apple TV's Silo as a framing device, he traces the problem to IT quietly absorbing chaos behind the scenes and to vendors who oversimplify requirements without flagging compliance or configuration needs.

In this episode of The AV Life Podcast, host Tim Van Woeart (Rutgers University, HETMA Programs Chair) leads a discussion on private equity's expanding footprint in the AV industry, using the reported $2.6 billion investment tied to the New York Yankees as a lens for what happens when outside capital acquires AV firms. The episode also recaps the HETMA Buffalo Roadshow and previews a new vendor-expo format planned for the upcoming HETMA Golf Classic.

This Prism Spotlight profiles Edin Newton, an Audiovisual Systems Integration Engineer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who has spent 11 years in higher ed AV after starting out in high school theater tech. Newton applied to the 2026-2027 Prism Scholar cohort after budget cuts eliminated his department's professional development funding and is now working toward becoming the first CTS holder on his team.