🚚 On the Road with Tech25
Over the past year, I had the opportunity to roll out with Tech25 to some of the biggest industry events in the country — LDI, NAMM, and USITT.
Each one offered something different:
⚙️ New gear.
🎙️ Important conversations.
🎓 And a lot of time talking to people about where education, performance, and technology are headed.
🔦 LDI: Lighting Up the Future of Gear
LDI (Live Design International) is a lighting, staging, and projection showcase unlike anything else. With Tech25, we hit the floor to film quick interviews, explore next-gen gear, and talk with manufacturers about the crossover between tech and education.
We released several short-form videos with real-time demos, interviews and more. I won’t post them all here, but you can find them on Tech25’s Instagram and YouTube channels.
🎶 NAMM: Music, Education, and Future Collabs
NAMM — the National Association of Music Merchants — leans more toward the music side of production, but it opened up some key conversations around arts education, regional hubs, and access.
Our goal was simple:
Encourage manufacturers and educators to look at Pittsburgh as a future location for community-driven innovation and collaboration through Tech25‘s workforce development programs.
We connected with:
• Instrument manufacturers
• Audio interface developers
• Software engineers
• Educators interested in bridging music and media art
We’re already planting seeds for future partnerships and hands-on training opportunities in the city.
🎭 USITT: Fast Teaching, Real Talk, and the Power of SoundGirls
USITT — the United States Institute for Theatre Technology — landed just a few hours from home in Columbus, OH, and gave us a unique opportunity to link up with educators, students, and production leaders from around the country.
I joined up with SoundGirls, an organization whose mission is to inspire and empower women in audio. Their presence was powerful — creating space for mentorship, storytelling, and professional visibility in a still heavily male-dominated field.
I also had the chance to teach a fast-track VDMX6 + ISF shader demo on the showroom floor — a compressed version of a three-day workshop into about 30 minutes.
Needless to say, we moved fast, but it landed. There were real-time questions about:
• Audio-reactive shader effects
• Media server alternatives
• Creative coding for live performance
• Integrating VDMX with TouchDesigner and other AV workflows
💬 Why It Matters
All of these events reaffirmed something we already believe at Tech25:
Technology should be accessible, teachable, and creative — not gatekept.
There’s a new generation of performers, engineers, artists, and thinkers out there. They’re hungry for tools, knowledge, and representation. Our job is to keep building bridges — not just between disciplines, but between people and possibility.
Meta Title: LDI, NAMM & USITT 2024–2025: Connecting Tech, Education & Equity with Tech25
Meta Description: A recap of industry events with Tech25, including LDI, NAMM, and USITT. From gear showcases to education advocacy, here’s what we learned and why it matters.
Keywords: LDI 2024, NAMM 2025, USITT recap, Tech25 Pittsburgh, audiovisual education, women in audio, SoundGirls partnership, VDMX workshop, ISF shaders, live performance tech
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