Avid Learning at NAB 2026: Celebrating 25 years of ACSR and a breakout year for Avid
NAB 2026 was not just another industry event. It was a moment where you could feel the shift happening in real time, and Avid Learning was right at the center of it.
The week kicked off with a major milestone: the 25th Anniversary of the NAB ACSR Elite ReCert Summit. Held from April 14-19 in Las Vegas, the summit marked a significant moment for one of the most respected engineering communities in the industry. What began in 2001 as a focused certification event for Avid Certified Support Representatives (ACSRs) has evolved into a global network of elite broadcast engineers who help define and uphold the technical standards of modern media production.
This year’s summit brought together 16 participants from three countries, representing a mix of reseller and end-user professionals. These are the ACSR Elites: mid-to-senior level engineers from major broadcasters, system integrators, and enterprise media organizations. These are the people others rely on when systems are under pressure.
Led by Avid’s Principal Engineering Instructors Curtis Raymond and Crispin Black, the week focused on recertification across Media Composer, Avid NEXIS, MediaCentral | Production Management, and MediaCentral | Cloud UX. More importantly, it reflected a clear evolution in how Avid Learning approaches training.
The biggest shift was moving away from memorization and toward scenario-based learning that mirrors real-world workflows. Media Composer sessions emphasized role-based collaboration such as assistant editor handoffs and remote workflows. Avid NEXIS training expanded into remote caching and cloud-connected environments, while MediaCentral modules focused on managing distributed teams and large-scale asset workflows. Exams were redesigned as open-book and workflow-driven, placing the emphasis on decision-making and process rather than recalling menu paths.
“The content was better aligned to the needs of today’s engineers,” said Crispin Black. “We made significant updates to the exams, removing outdated material and introducing more relevant scenarios. Seeing the improvement in engagement and performance gives us a strong direction for where these courses need to go next.”
While the curriculum continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: the value of the community itself.
“As always, much of the value comes from students interacting with each other,” shared Curtis Raymond. “The conversations, the questions, and the shared experiences are what make this more than just a class.”
That sense of connection was evident throughout the week. Attendance remained strong from start to finish, with zero drop-off, and feedback consistently pointed to in-person access to Avid engineering expertise as the most valuable part of the experience. From the welcome mixer to group outings and the closing dinner, the event created space for meaningful relationships to form—reinforcing that in a technology-driven industry, people remain the true differentiator.
That momentum carried directly into the NAB show floor.
Many ACSR Elite participants stayed on after the summit, continuing conversations and exploring new innovations across the event. The transition from classroom to show floor felt seamless, underscoring the idea that learning does not stop when the session ends—it continues through collaboration, curiosity, and engagement with the broader industry.
And this year, there was a lot to engage with.
Avid had a standout presence at NAB 2026. Avid Content Core earned Best of Show, highlighting a major shift in how the industry is thinking about content management—not just as storage or organization, but as an intelligent, connected system that enables faster and more efficient workflows across the entire production pipeline.
Another defining moment was Avid’s partnership with Google. Seeing generative footage created using Gemini directly in the timeline and seamlessly reintegrated into the edit was a powerful demonstration of how AI is moving from concept to practical application. It was not theoretical. It was real, integrated, and already reshaping the creative process.
From the Avid Learning perspective, NAB was also an opportunity to look ahead.
Throughout the week, we began sharing our vision for more flexible and customizable courseware; content that can be adapted by partners and learners to meet specific workflow needs. We also introduced new courses that expand beyond Avid tools, reflecting the reality that modern production environments are multi-platform and constantly evolving. In parallel, we are building partnerships with external learning platforms to create a more connected and accessible ecosystem for training and certification.
All of this points to a larger shift: Learning is becoming more modular, more dynamic, and more closely aligned with real-world production environments.
As the week came to a close, one thing was clear: NAB 2026 was an incredible success for Avid and a defining moment for Avid Learning.
The 25th anniversary of the ACSR Elite ReCert Summit reinforced the strength and importance of the engineering community as well as the rapid evolution of technology driving the industry forward. Looking ahead, Avid Learning plans to expand the ACSR Elite ReCert Summit globally, bringing it to IBC and other international locations to continue growing this community.
At its core, it’s more than a certification program or a training event—it’s a platform for innovation, a network of expertise, and a reflection of 25 years of excellence that continues to shape the future of the industry.
And it is only getting stronger.