Every AV professional knows the feeling - a project that looked flawless in design suddenly flatlines in the field. In this session, Frank Padikkala and Jason Jacoby step in as your Field Instructors, guiding you through the process of assembling your own AV First Aid Kit - a personalized toolkit of strategies, practices, and design habits to keep your projects alive and healthy.

Through a series of fictional yet frighteningly realistic AV Nightmares, Frank and Jason unpack what really causes system failures - from unmanaged network loops to security missteps and collaboration breakdowns. They’ll perform live “design forensics” to expose the technical and procedural gaps behind each failure and show how proper planning, documentation, and communication can stop the bleeding before it starts.

This isn’t a fundamentals lesson - it’s an interactive conversation for seasoned professionals who want to move beyond reactive troubleshooting into proactive design medicine. You’ll leave with your own AV First Aid Kit: a structured, repeatable framework for diagnosing issues, planning for resilience, and preventing your next AV nightmare before it ever takes shape.