As the end of the academic year approaches, Keene State College’s campus is inundated with events from various student organizations, campus offices and departments, but none of it would be possible without student involvement’s audiovisual operations staff, better known as the “tech team.”
The group of students all come from different majors and years, but work together behind the scenes to ensure every event is supported technologically.
Audiovisual Operations Coordinator Trinity Nay, who has been leading the team for over seven years, said the position seemed like a natural fit for her following a move from San Francisco to Keene, N.H.
“I have a background in audio engineering, and I didn’t really think I was going to get to use that in Keene,” Nay said. “So when this job opened up, it was a really lovely opportunity. I had loved being a TA in my studio, recording classes in college and I liked being in an academic environment.”
Nay said nearly every event on campus requires at least some technological support, whether it be speakers, a projector, or lights, but typically, audio is the most needed element for groups.
“As an audio person and as somebody who cares about accessibility, I’m always trying to push groups to add a PA system and a microphone just in case they need it,” Nay said. “From an event support perspective, our number one skill set that we use is audio support, whether that’s music or speech.”
Nay said there is no “typical week” for the team, as it operates on an as-needed basis depending on the number of events and the amount of tech support needed.
Additionally, Nay spoke about her experience leading the team of students.
“Usually about this time of year, we are hitting up against the level of stress where I feel overworked and underappreciated, and it’s also, thankfully, the time of year where students who are about to graduate will send me a little note and tell me, ‘Hey, I really appreciated the impact you’ve made in my life,’” Nay said. “I watch them throughout their whole college career and get to see them walk across that stage and it is so impactful for me to support students along that journey.”
Senior and Audiovisual Operations Staff Jasmine Jordan spoke about her experience on the team over the past four years of her college career.
“I think [joining the tech team] was probably one of the best decisions I made here in Keene State,” Jordan said. “I was definitely very nervous when I started, but I think it helped me grow a lot.”
Jordan said being on the team has also allowed her to attend many events, some of which she would not have known about or gone to otherwise.
“It’s also just good to collaborate with people, and I like being helpful,” Jordan said.
Within the team, there are also tech leads, typically more experienced staff members who can assist general staff with more technologically involved events.
Junior Patrick Garcia, who has been on the team for about two years and serves as a tech lead, spoke about Nay’s mentorship toward the team, particularly new hires.
“[Nay] is very good at training and making sure people know the bare minimum of what they need to know, and she’s also very gentle with that training,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the job can sometimes be high-pressure, given that everything is happening live, so the team has to confront challenges as they arise and fix them rapidly to ensure an event runs smoothly.
Additionally, Garcia said his favorite part of the position is the people.
“There’s a lot of very fun, unique characters, I guess is the best way to put it, that I never would have met had I not been working on the tech team,” Garcia said. “The sense of community that that’s given is really unique and special to me.”
Senior Sarah Grindrod, who also serves as a tech team lead, said the experience has been one of the highlights of her time at KSC.
Grindrod, a theatre major specializing in theater tech, spoke about how the hands-on experience of working on the tech team has prepared her for the professional field, citing a recent shadowing opportunity she had as an example.
“I recently got to shadow the tech team that comes for the Spring Concert … which was really rewarding, getting to see a professional in my field do that kind of work,” Grindrod said.
Grindrod also touched on her leadership role.
“I try to make it my priority to know everyone’s strengths,” Grindrod said. “[The tech team is] all very good at cooperating and sharing the responsibility and helping ease the load for everyone so that everyone is not feeling the weight of the stress that we’re going to be having to deal with [at an event],” Grindrod said.
With Grindrod and a couple of other Owls on the team preparing to graduate, incoming first-years and returning students will have an opportunity to apply and potentially join the team in the fall.
“If anyone at all is thinking about it, maybe if they did tech in high school, like in theater or otherwise, and they’re looking for a job on campus or they’re just curious about the subject, even if they don’t have prior experience, you don’t need prior experience to do the job, [Nay] will train you,” Grindrod said. “I would highly recommend applying and reaching out to [Nay].”
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
