Ask the Programmer

Ask The Programmer Episode 271- M/U/D Future of Control, Useful User Interface, Control Architecture

James King and Steve Greenblatt debut a creative episode format called Maintain/Update/Deprecate. Questions are posed with three answers, which James and Steve each rank from best to worst and explain why.

The theme of this episode is the selection and design of AV control systems.

 

What is the future of AV control?

a. Traditional dedicated control systems

b. Software-based homegrown with off-the-shelf hardware control systems

c. Control built into other products

 

What user interface is most effective?

a. Touchpanels

b. Button panels

c. Web pages

 

What control architecture is most effective?

a. Local control

b. Centralized control

c. Cloud control

 

This podcast is supported by Control Concepts, the industry leader in AV software development and API integration. Control Concepts develops the building blocks programmers use to seamlessly integrate products or add functionality to their systems. To learn more, visit controlconcepts.net and ccisupported.net.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 270 - Dan Ferrisi Asks What Changed About AV Programming in Last 10 Years

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back guest moderator Dan Ferrisi, Group Director of Content + Editorial, Industrial + Tech at Emerald, to share his commitment to and investment in the AV industry and pose the question: How has AV programming or a programmer’s job become easier or harder over the last 10 years?

Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, Securitysales.com, CEPro.com, and the Demand Gen report.

Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 269, 253, 254, 237, 236, 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125.

This podcast is supported by Control Concepts, the industry leader in AV software development and API integration. Control Concepts develops the building blocks programmers use to seamlessly integrate products or add functionality to their systems. To learn more, visit controlconcepts.net and ccisupported.net.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 269 - Dan Ferrisi Asks About Misconceptions of AV Programmers/Programming

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back guest moderator Dan Ferrisi, Group Director of Content + Editorial, Industrial + Tech at Emerald, to share his personal AV journey and pose the question: What is the most common bad assumption people make about AV programmers or AV programming?

Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, Securitysales.com, CEPro.com, and the Demand Gen report.

Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 253, 254, 237, 236, 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125.

This podcast is supported by Control Concepts, the industry leader in AV software development and API integration. Control Concepts develops the building blocks programmers use to seamlessly integrate products or add functionality to their systems. To learn more, visit controlconcepts.net and ccisupported.net.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 268 - Guest Eugene Dunn Discusses Standards & Advocacy for AV Programmers

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Eugene Dunn, Ecosystem Project Support Engineer at Q-SYS, to share about his role in establishing standards and providing resources and support for AV programmers.

Eugene Dunn can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenedunn3/ or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 267 -Guest Eugene Dunn Shares His AV Journey Dedicated to Problem Solving

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Eugene Dunn, Ecosystem Project Support Engineer at Q-SYS, to share how he has applied his affinity for problem-solving throughout his AV journey and programming focus.

Eugene Dunn can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenedunn3/ or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 266 - Guest Mark Franklin Shares How OpenAV Works and Solves Pain Points

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mark Franklin, Senior Director of Computing Services at Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, to go deeper into the technology of OpenAV, discuss its evolution to meet the needs of users and support staff, and share how it addresses many of the common needs of maintaining AV systems.

OpenAV can be found at https://github.com/Dartmouth-OpenAV/.

Mark Franklin can be emailed at mark.j.franklin@dartmouth.edu.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 265 - Guest Mark Franklin Shares OpenAV: AV from an IT Perspective

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Mark Franklin, Senior Director of Computing Services at Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, to discuss how the common approach to AV system design, programming, deployment, and management was not working for him and his team, leading to the creation and development of the "OpenAV" solution, an IT approach to AV systems.

OpenAV can be found at https://github.com/Dartmouth-OpenAV/.

Mark Franklin can be emailed at mark.j.franklin@dartmouth.edu.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 264 - Guest Fred Loucks Shares the Keys to Successful AV Monitoring

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Fred Loucks, Founder of Hyperscale AV, to elaborate on the need, business case, challenges, and successful approach to AV monitoring.

Fred previously appeared on episode 263.

Fred Loucks can be reached via email, fred@hyperscaleav.com, or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-loucks/. Hyperscale AV can be found at hyperscaleav.com.

Fred's article Monitoring A/V Sucks can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/monitoring-av-sucks-what-you-can-do-hyperscaleav-fc6ec/

Fred is teaching a three-day class on AV monitoring at InfoComm26 called Applied Monitoring for AV Systems TD05 https://www.infocommshow.org/2026-sessions/applied-monitoring-for-av-systems?&filters.stream=design-and-integration-1&searchgroup=libraryentry-2026-sessions.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 263 - Guest Fred Loucks Shares His AV Journey and Advocacy for Monitoring

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Fred Loucks, Founder of Hyperscale AV, to discuss his AV journey, background in theater and show control, and his passion for effective monitoring solutions for the AV industry.

Fred Loucks can be reached via email, fred@hyperscaleav.com, or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-loucks/. Hyperscale AV can be found at hyperscaleav.com.

Fred's article Monitoring A/V Sucks can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/monitoring-av-sucks-what-you-can-do-hyperscaleav-fc6ec/

Fred is teaching a three-day class on AV monitoring at InfoComm26 called Applied Monitoring for AV Systems TD05 https://www.infocommshow.org/2026-sessions/applied-monitoring-for-av-systems?&filters.stream=design-and-integration-1&searchgroup=libraryentry-2026-sessions.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.

Ask The Programmer Episode 262 - Guest Mike Krejci Shares Why He's Active in the AV Community Online

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss the value of being active and sharing his knowledge and experiences in online AV communities.

Mike Krejci was previously on episodes 261, 222, 111, 34, and 35. Mike can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikekrejci/, and CTI can be found at cti.com.

To join the conversation or have your question answered on a future episode, join the Ask The Programmer group on LinkedIn and post a message, leave a comment, or reach out to us @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or Bluesky, and be sure to include #AskTheProgrammer.

The Ask The Programmer podcast can be found at @AVProgrammerPod on X/Twitter or on Bluesky as @asktheprogrammer.