Ask the Programmer

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss topics relevant to AV programming, programmers, and those who work with audiovisual control systems. To join the conversation or ask a question to be featured on a show, reach out to @AV_JamesKing or @stevegreenblatt on Twitter.

Ask The Programmer Episode 241 - On-Prem or Cloud

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss on-premises vs. cloud solutions and provide insight regarding the value and challenges of each. 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.

11-23
21:01

Ask The Programmer Episode 240 - Guest Jeremy Gerick Discusses How AV & IT Can Learn from Each Other

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jeremy Gerick, Senior AV Project Engineer at University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, to discuss how AV and IT differ, what they can learn from each other, and what the future holds. Jeremy Gerick can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-gerick-45621197/ or via email jpger@umich.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.

11-16
23:01

Ask The Programmer Episode 239 - Guest Jeremy Gerick Shares His AV Journey and Approach to Projects

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Jeremy Gerick, Senior AV Project Engineer at University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, to share his AV journey and approach to projects. Jeremy Gerick can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-gerick-45621197/ or via email jpger@umich.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.

11-09
26:04

Ask The Programmer Episode 238 - Control Programming vs. Built-In Automation

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using control programming versus the built-in automation of products. 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.

11-02
23:13

Ask The Programmer Episode 237 - Dan Ferrisi Asks About The Impact of AI in the AV Programming World

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security with Emerald, to discuss his question about the impact of AI in the AV programming world, and how AV programmers and other professionals can leverage AI to benefit their organizations and clients. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, and Securitysales.com. He encourages you to attend the Total Tech Summit (https://totaltechsummit.com) in Orlando, FL, November 10-12, 2025. Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 236, 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125. 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 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.

10-26
19:11

Ask The Progammer Episode 236 - Dan Ferrisi Asks About Programmers' Similarities and Differences

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Dan Ferrisi, Group Editor, Commercial and Security with Emerald, to discuss his question about the similarities and differences between programmer roles within various organizations: external integrators, internal integrators, independent programming companies, and manufacturers. Dan Ferrisi can be reached on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ferrisi-55675a7/), CommercialIntegrator.com, and Securitysales.com. He encourages you to attend the Total Tech Summit (https://totaltechsummit.com) in Orlando, FL, November 10-12, 2025. Be sure to also check out Dan's previous appearances in episodes 212, 213, 200, 199, 182, 181, 173, 174, 124, and 125. 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 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.

10-19
20:16

Ask The Programmer Episode 235 - Guest Jason Martinez Discusses What Makes Plugins Effective

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jason Martinez, Q-SYS Ecosystem Developer, to discuss what goes into building a successful plugin for the Q-SYS ecosystem and how to ensure it meets quality requirements and is trusted by programmers. Jason Martinez can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-martinez-597660219/, via email jason.martinez@qsc.com, and on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. 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 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.

10-12
28:28

Ask The Programmer Episode 234 - Guest Jason Martinez Shares His AV Journey and Self-Taught Mindset

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Jason Martinez, Q-SYS Ecosystem Developer, to share his AV journey, transition from residential to commercial AV, and his self-taught mindset. Jason Martinez can be found on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-martinez-597660219/, via email jason.martinez@qsc.com, and on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. 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 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.

10-05
33:38

Ask The Programmer Episode 233 - Guest Patrick Gilligan Shares a Deeper Approach to AV Programming

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Patrick Gilligan, Principal A/V Infrastructure Engineer at Zillow Group, to discuss how his IT and software engineering approach to AV programming allows him to provide a deeper level of control in his solutions. Patrick can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@patrickgil_dev, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-gilligan-72583617/, or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. 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 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.

09-28
28:12

Ask The Programmer Episode 232 - Guest Patrick Gilligan Shares His Approach to Learning Programming

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome Patrick Gilligan, Principal A/V Infrastructure Engineer at Zillow Group, to discuss his AV journey and his approach to learning programming. Patrick can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@patrickgil_dev, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-gilligan-72583617/, or on the Q-SYS Communities for Developers https://developers.qsc.com/s/. 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 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.

09-21
25:57

Ask The Programmer Episode 231 - Technical Support

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss how to be effective in delivering technical support to different audiences. 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 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.

09-14
20:37

Ask The Programmer Episode 230 - Technical Literacy

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss how technical experts interact with users and how technology has caused the average person to become less technically literate. 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 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.

09-07
28:43

Ask The Programmer Episode 229 - Guest Jeff Perkins Discusses the Value of Varied Training Paths

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Jeff Perkins, Q-SYS Control Curriculum Developer and Trainer, to share his perspective on how varied training paths are the best way to serve AV programmers, designers, and software developers. Jeff Perkins previously appeared on episode 228 of Ask The Programmer. Jeff Perkins can be found on X/Twitter at perkins_jeff, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-perkins-cts-d-59659674/, and via email jeff.perkins@qsc.com. Here are links to the resources Jeff mentioned: Control Quick Starts: https://training.qsc.com/course/view.php?id=178 Q-SYS Communities for Developers: https://developers.qsc.com/s/ QSC Training: https://training.qsc.com/qsys.php 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 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.

08-31
27:32

Ask The Programmer Episode 228 - Guest Jeff Perkins shares his AV Journey and Approach to Training

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome guest Jeff Perkins, Q-SYS Control Curriculum Developer and Trainer, to share his AV journey and discuss his programmer-centric approach to training, as he has been in the shoes of a programmer for many years. Jeff Perkins can be found on X/Twitter at perkins_jeff, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-perkins-cts-d-59659674/, and via email jeff.perkins@qsc.com. Here are links to the resources Jeff mentioned: Control Quick Starts: https://training.qsc.com/course/view.php?id=178 Q-SYS Communities for Developers: https://developers.qsc.com/s/ QSC Training: https://training.qsc.com/qsys.php 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 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.

08-24
43:24

Ask The Programmer Episode 227 - Guest Leon Prather Discusses Soft Skills and Human Interaction

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Leon Prather, an industry veteran and co-host of the brAVe Skills podcast, to discuss the importance of soft skills and how to work and interact with people. Leon was previously on episode 226 of Ask The Programmer. Leon Prather can be found at his website, leonprather.com, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-prather-cts/, or on the brAVe Skills podcast at higheredav.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 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.

08-17
40:27

Ask The Programmer Episode 226 - Guest Leon Prather Shares His Journey and Discusses What is Simple

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome guest Leon Prather, an industry veteran and co-host of the brAVe Skills podcast, to share his AV journey and discuss what is simple. Leon Prather can be found at his website, leonprather.com, on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-prather-cts/, or on the brAVe Skills podcast at higheredav.com. Leaon's article What is 'simple', anyway? can be found at https://www.leonprather.com/blog-2-1/what-is-simple. 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 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.

08-10
33:32

Ask The Programmer Episode 225 - What do you wish more people understood about AV programming?

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss what we wish more people understood about AV programming. Here are some ideas that were discussed and debated: - Saying one system is just like the other except for a few things is does not mean it is easy to program - Programming involves much more than writing code - Scope creep and ongoing changes ead to unexpected problems - Programming is not as easy as good programmers make it look - Not all control platforms are equal – Just because you can master one, doesn’t mean you can master them all What do you think? 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 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.

08-03
16:41

Ask The Programmer Episode 224 - What's the Toughest Part of Being an AV Programmer?

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss our thoughts on the toughest part of being an AV programmer. Here were some ideas that were discussed and debated: - Dealing with vague or changing requirements - Getting blamed for things that aren’t code issues - Not being included in the design process - Explaining complex systems to non-technical clients - Helping everyone else do their job so that programming can be verified What are your thoughts? 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 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.

07-27
18:37

Ask The Programmer Episode 223 - Guest Mike Krejci Talks about Version and Source Control

James King and Steve Greenblatt welcome back Mike Krejci, Director of Programming for CTI, to discuss the importance of version control and source control for AV programming. Mike's previous episodes are 222, 111, 34, and 35. Here are some resources that Mike mentioned in the episode: https://git-scm.com https://github.com https://bitbucket.org 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 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.

07-20
38:39

Ask The Programmer Episode 221 - How to debug a system if it works most of the time?

James King and Steve Greenblatt discuss a question from the mailbag about the best way to debug a system when it works "most of the time." What tips can you share for other community members? What are some of your memorable stories? 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 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.

07-06
19:17

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