Higher ed is on the move. From education technology managers’ ubiquity at InfoComm 2023 to the HETMA roadshow crisscrossing the country, higher education is flexing its muscles and staking its claim as our most vibrant vertical. But it’s also a unique market, which presents distinctive needs and is prone to common integrator misconceptions. Few industry members understand this vertical better than Jennifer Weaver, business development manager – education, with Starin. She was, after all, named Best Higher Ed Ally at the inaugural Higher Ed AV Awards this year.
Weaver is a former high-school math teacher who later worked on the integration and manufacturing sides before then moving to distribution. Commercial Integrator turned to her to highlight the ripe opportunity in higher ed, as well as how Starin and she are working to help integration businesses leverage it.
Embracing Education Technology Managers
Weaver believes the integration channel should embrace education leaders’ increasing prevalence in our circles because in education, perhaps more than in any other market, resellers and tech managers really need one another to achieve outstanding outcomes. As a former teacher, Weaver knows how difficult it is for a non-pedagogue to tap into the instructional mindset required to understand students’ learning needs.
“We understand what that widget does,” Weaver says of resellers/integrators. “But we’re not understanding how it’s going to be applicable in the space.” Meanwhile, higher-ed tech managers have an intimate understanding of what’s required to foster learning, make professors more comfortable and keep environments operational. But, although many colleges have highly robust in-house technology teams, almost all of them seek to partner with integrators for large, ambitious deployments.
To be effective partners, integrators must recognize that education end users are quite different from, say, corporate clients. It’s paramount for each collaborator to acknowledge and respect the other’s abilities. “They’re getting their CTS, they’re attending InfoComm [and] they’re attending all of these other trade shows,” Weaver says of higher-ed tech managers. “They’re really making it a point to say, ‘We know it. Just help us do it better.’”
A Consultative Role
In her role at Starin, Weaver sees a desire to “do it better” put into action every day. She spends countless hours visiting college campuses, touring facilities with tech directors or directors of media services. Her role is as consultant and advisor, asking questions and empowering those learning institutions to enhance their education outcomes. While on campus, she explores each space, evaluating everything from room naming to technology standardization. During the tours, Weaver examines whether the education institution has standardized products like projectors and interactive displays. If not, then she might convey some of the benefits of doing so — everything from efficiencies in purchasing to professor ease of use.
Starin offers excellent options for projectors (e.g., Barco, Vivitek) and interactive displays (e.g., SMART Technologies, Vivitek, LG), but Weaver’s ultimate goal is to foster understanding and build a relationship with that education institution. “I just want them to feel comfortable knowing that I’m going to understand what their standard is, regardless of if it’s a Starin manufacturer,” she declares. Weaver also takes the opportunity to elevate the technology manager’s consciousness about emerging technology needs. One example would be mass-notification systems, which have seen tremendous investment in the K-12 market but whose uptake has been slower in higher ed. Ultimately, if the college chooses to invest in fresh technology, Weaver emphasizes Starin’s readiness to work with any integrator/reseller the client selects.
The Truth about Higher Ed
Weaver’s deep ties to the higher-ed world give her insight into a few misconceptions that the reseller channel has. Too often, the word “education” calls to mind textbooks and blackboards, she says, rather than the media-rich environments that students occupy today. “They want the technology,” Weaver says of colleges, speaking emphatically. “It’s so different [from K-12].” She also underscores that, unlike K-12, colleges often bring ambitious projects to life. “They may not have the budget to do it today,” Weaver begins, “but there’s grants that they’re writing — they find the funding.” And given ongoing competition among institutions of higher learning, any one campus’ successful deployment is likely to inspire other colleges to seek to top it.
When Weaver joined Starin, she, along with Bill Reimer, vice president of sales, was prescient in seeing immense potential to grow the education part of the business. And that’s exactly what the distribution leader did. Meanwhile, Weaver, in her role as consultative advisor, has become a genuine higher-education subject matter expert. “I’m having these conversations with higher-ed institutions and gaining all this knowledge,” she says. “And it’s only turning around and helping [the reseller channel].” Indeed, Weaver says she hopes to make the integrators themselves education subject-matter experts — to dramatically expand their own knowledge base. “I’m a teacher by heart, so it gets me,” she smiles. “I love getting information out.”
Asked for closing thoughts, Weaver expresses her earnest connection to the education community — the tapestry she emerged from and still remains a part of. “It’s a passion,” she declares, saying that winning the sale is secondary. “Higher ed is a community — a very, very strong community,” Weaver concludes. “They’ve set the bar pretty high.”
