Conferencing and Collaboration Power Hour: Scaling Strategies for Growth

Chris Bischoff is an accomplished Senior Manager for Core Engineering at Republic Services, bringing over nine years of dedicated service to the role. With a robust background in IT infrastructure management and engineering, Chris is responsible for overseeing the seamless daily operations and delivery of enterprise-class data centers, storage solutions, networking, computing systems, and Teams Collaboration services encompassing voice, video, and mobile device management (MDM). 

Through strategic leadership and a commitment to excellence, Chris ensures that Republic Services remains at the forefront of technological innovation, driving efficiency and productivity across the organization.

They have successfully driven the enterprise-wide implementation of Microsoft Teams Collaboration rooms, making a significant transition away from Cisco Telepresence to an integrated MS Teams environment that has included voice.  This multi-year strategy has modernized our enterprise collaboration platform and has transformed how their company communicates.

Uniquely, in their approach, they have blended technical skillsets across IT, Facilities, and AV integrators to develop a committed Collaboration Team.  With this approach, we have created a strategic vision to drive operational excellence, combining emerging technologies with customer expectations to enhance collaboration capabilities across their organization.

They have developed a deployment standard for AV and Team Collaboration that works at scale.  Their success in delivering Team Collaboration, while meeting customer expectations has been vital to their success and underscores the value of delivering collaboration that needs of the organization. 

Joel Carroll is a sales and training leader, who helps people understand the technology that is best suited to meet the needs. His ability to communicate and consult allows the community he works with to become empowered problem solvers. Much of his 20-year career has been dedicated to providing education and support as a knowledgeable resource with experience gained from his time working for AV integrators and manufactures. As a leading member of multiple award-winning training teams, Joel has built programs that have helped grow the AV industry and has been given the honor of being recognized as an InfoComm University Adjunct Faculty member.

Shannon Dowling, MA, AIA, LEEDAP, is a Principal at Ayers Saint Gross who focuses on creating research-driven, student-centered learning environments. Passionate about education, Shannon was an adjunct professor for VCU’s School of the Arts from 2008-2019. She is involved with the Learning Spaces Collaboratory, a national think tank of architects, planners, and academics focused on studying best practices for learning spaces. In 2021, she completed a yearlong fellowship with the Society of College and University Planning (SCUP), in which she studied the role campus spaces can play in helping colleges and universities become more equitable and inclusive. Shannon published a playbook, The Planning and Design of Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Campus Environments. Since its publication, Shannon has spoken and written on the topic of inclusive learning environments for over 50 outlets worldwide, including the International Learning Spaces Summit, Educause, the Mosaic Initiative at Indiana University, Learning by Design Magazine, Planning for Higher Education Journal, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Alongside her role at Ayers Saint Gross, Shannon is serving on a 2-year research cohort at Elon University to facilitate multi-institutional research on systems, supports, pathways, and pipelines for neurodivergent students to facilitate access to and participation in high-quality engaged learning experiences. Shannon is the 2023 recipient of the Award for Distinguished Achievement from the Virginia AIA for her research and work on belonging and inclusion.