Episodes
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Had you told Scott Stephenson at the start of his career that he’d someday know the know and understand the lighting qualities of different shade fabrics, he’d have told you to go pound sand. Today, as Senior Director of Product for Hunter Douglas, it’s his job to help custom integrators – and the team at Hunter Douglas – make sense of how the worlds of home automation and custom window treatments not only need to coexist, but work together to improve the lives of homeowners.
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Today's consumer cares more deeply than ever about their environmental impact – or, at the very least, the ways in which their energy consumption directly impacts the environment as well as their wallet. That's why we're hearing more about technologies like what Airzone brings to the table, allowing integrators to help their clients take control of their environmental impact through one of the most impactful areas in the home: their HVAC system. Victoria Garcia Massimo joins the podcast, right around Earth Day no less, to talk about how Airzone is helping our channel become more educated around the HVAC category and why it's something we need to start paying more attention to.
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Missing episodes?
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It took a few years, but the work is finally paying off for HTSA and Tom Doherty, director of technology initiatives for the group, when it comes to the major emphasis on the lighting category. During their recent Spring Conference, we sat down with Tom to talk about the results the group's dealers are seeing across the board because of their commitment to – and investment in – lighting.
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In his early days as an integrator and self-proclaimed networking nerd, Avi Rosenthal saw the potential in a fully connected and automated home. He took that passion and hobby and turned it into a career that now includes serving as the Chairman of the Board for the Z-Wave Alliance – among many other roles at highly impactful and important organizations. We tap into Avi’s networking knowledge to get a better lay of home automation landscape, see where the challenges exist, and spot potential gaps that integrators can help fill.
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Just a few short weeks ago, Residential Tech Today welcomed CI and communications industry veteran Rob Stott into the fold as our new Executive Editor. Before he steps behind the mic to take over the podcast, we’re putting Rob in a spot he’s slightly less familiar with – being the interviewee. In this episode, Charles Warner, CEO and Editor in Chief of IPW, the parent company of RTT, sits down with Rob to talk about his career, what brings him back to the editorial side of things, and where he sees RTT going in the months and years ahead.
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On this week’s podcast, Larry Dashiell joins us from Santa Rosa, CA, where he is owner and CEO of Summit Technology Group, a team of more than 60 professionals who provide smart home technology, electrical, and renewable energy solutions across California’s North Bay and the North Idaho area.
Back in 1986, our guest today was thrust into a leadership role in his father’s electrical company at the young age of 22. Since then, he has built a stellar reputation for bringing together a “total solution” of electrical contracting, lighting design, and integration of sophisticated audio, video, and renewable energy system management under the same roof.
In this episode, we discuss Larry’s unique perspective as a 38-year industry veteran of both the electrical and low-voltage electronics trades, in particular his insights into lighting and renewable energy management business opportunities for the custom integration channel.
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On this week’s podcast, John Palser joins us from Omaha, NE, where he is president of Denizen, a custom integration company with locations in Omaha, Kansas City, Dallas, and Austin. From a complete home that you can walk through in their HQ Experience Center in Omaha to regional domination across 14 states from north to south in the middle of the country, Denizen is re-defining what transformative technology can do in a home.
During the recent HTSA Fall Conference outside of Denver, John got stuck talking to Jeremy at the closing night dinner. John was very patient with Jeremy’s 50 questions about this business and career history, which proved to be an excellent pre-interview for this podcast, minus maybe a few celebrity athlete client anecdotes which we won’t be able to share here unfortunately.
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On this week’s podcast, Josh Willits joins us from Mechanicsburg, PA, where he is COO of Portal, the proposal software and product/pricing database for integrators. Although you’ve seen him wearing the Portal orange pants at trade shows going on 11 years now, Josh’s career has also included a tenure in the custom integration trade, as well as several years with a well-respected Crestron programming company. You may even remember his Covid-era side hustle as a gentleman coffee roaster.
Today we’ll touch on a bit of that career arc, but mostly we’ll focus on Portal’s latest innovation: the AI Proposal Builder. Released in beta to the industry on November 12, the new tool promises AV and security dealers the ability to create complete project proposals in just seconds, transforming often-tedious process and making it easier for integrators to sell projects and get paid.
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On this week’s podcast, Bert Herrero joins us from Pompano Beach, FL, to discuss his career in custom integration, including his new role as a franchise owner with Daisy, the national smart space installation and services company. Our guest today founded First Priority Audio in Pompano Beach back in 2001 and led that CI firm until a few months ago when it was acquired by Daisy. Then, just a few weeks ago, Daisy announced that Herrero would be launching the seventh Daisy franchise, choosing red-hot Ocala, FL, for its location. This is the second time in Daisy’s first year that an independent owner who was acquired has turned around and launched an entirely new Daisy franchise location. Building from his track record of running a best-in-class operation for more than 20 years at FPA, Herrero is looking to leverage Daisy’s robust branch support systems to establish a strong presence in Ocala.
Special thanks this week’s sponsor: the Sonos Era 100 Pro.
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On this week’s podcast, Modern Atomics co-founder Michael Braithwaite joins us from Austin, TX, to discuss his 30-plus-year career as an innovator and inventor of smart home and commercial AV technology. Mike and Jeremy recently re-connected, prior to his new company’s launch at CEDIA Expo last month in Denver, and that chat was so insightful, that Jeremy wished afterwards that he’d recorded it for this podcast. In this episode they re-capture some of that magic as they discuss Modern Atomics’ first product, called Reaktor, which is a power distribution unit designed specifically to save energy while powering motorized shades. We also learn how the company plans to use its innovations in other applications going forward and look back on Mike’s impressive career leading Crestron’s residential systems group in the early 2000s, co-founding NetStreams, and helping bring more innovation to Screen Innovations.
Special thanks this week’s sponsor: the Sonos Era 100 Pro.
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On this week’s podcast, our contributing editor Michael Heiss joins us from his home in Los Angeles to talk about his experience at last month’s CEDIA Expo, including the biggest trends, biggest surprises, and most over-hyped and most-under-the-radar introductions. This is our third podcast this month featuring a CEDIA Expo focus, but without the perspective of today’s guest (Jeremy’s fellow CEDIA Fellow who is also a CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient) do you really know the full story for our most important annual convention?
Special thanks this week’s sponsor: The Sonos Era 100 Pro
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On this week’s podcast, John Sciacca joins us from Myrtle Beach, SC, where he co-owner of Custom Theater and Audio. Whenever John is on the podcast, the conversation is sure to drift away from smart home tech topics toward he and Jeremy’s other favorite topics such as Taylor Swift, the latest movies, and pickleball. Our host and today’s guest connected in person last month at CEDIA Expo in Denver, where John organized and led the very successful, first-ever CEDIA Pickleball tournament, which was inspired by a much smaller John and Jeremy outing at CEDIA last year. On the podcast, John and Jeremy revisit their challenging Uber rides in Denver and discuss their respective CEDIA new product summaries, comparing notes on what they saw at the show and experienced in booth demos. Special thanks to 2N for sponsoring this episode.
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On this week’s podcast Kyle Steele joins us from Burbank, CA, where he is president of Global Wave Integration and founder and CEO of FutureCare Solutions Group. Kyle and Jeremy connected recently during John Sciacca’s pickleball tournament at CEDIA Expo 2024 in Denver. CEDIA was a busy time for Kyle, as he participated on a panel about his company FutureCare’s aging in place tech solution, toured Expo with Denver-area high school tech charter school kids, and even one a prestigious CEDIA award for best media room. We are excited to have him on the podcast to share his latest insights and to talk about how he got into this industry and some of his keys to success so far.
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On this week’s podcast Hagan Kappler joins us from Costa Mesa, CA, where she is co-founder and CEO of Daisy, the national smart home integration brand. With a career spanning service brands like Starbucks, Carrier, Trane, Club Car, Terminix, Merry Maids, and ServiceMaster, our guest today has navigated corporate life, solving, challenges, building teams, and seizing opportunities. Her goal since launching Daisy into the CEDIA channel this past January is to be the strongest national brand in technical support… offering clear, simple solutions. By partnering with the best home automation companies and top entrepreneurs, Daisy strives to provide “wildly simple solutions and unwavering support to our customers.”
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On this week’s podcast Richard Charschan joins us from Long Island, New York, where he is president of AcousticSmart Home Theater Interiors. Richard founded AcousticSmart for more than 25 years ago and has worked on some of the world's finest custom theaters and developed his own home theater seating and star ceiling products, as well. But just as interesting as that, he also helped create a new coffee table book called “Home Theater-ology” that will debut next month at CEDIA Expo in Denver. With insights from experts like Joel Silver on video calibration and Tony Grimani on acoustics, “Home Theaterology” provides valuable knowledge to inspire designers and architects to embrace the resurgent trend of home theaters.
The book is cosponsored by prominent industry-leading brands, such as Kaleidescape, Barco Residential, Screen Research, CEDIA, CEDIA Expo (Emerald), Storm Audio, Meridian, JBL Synthesis, D-Tools, TPI, 360 Power Quality, and MadVR, among others.
Visit hometheaterology.net to preorder.
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On this week’s podcast Arnaud Laborie joins us from Paris, France, where he is CEO of Trinnov Audio. Over the past 20 years, Trinnov has earned a reputation for developing advanced sound processing technologies, including proprietary loudspeaker and room optimization, four-element 3D mapping technology, and, most recently, WaveForming Technology. WaveForming promises to improve low-frequency reproduction in home theaters by actively shaping room acoustics rather than just treating them. This approach optimizes subwoofer interactions within any space, delivering consistent, detailed bass across all seating areas. Laborie tells us more about these innovations and other new developments from the company in the months leading up to CEDIA Expo in Denver.
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On this week’s podcast Mike Jordan joins us from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is chief product officer at RTI. With more than 12 years of industry experience, our guest today is known for leading productive, successful product teams. Prior to joining RTI this past December he spent the previous five years as senior VP of products at Snap One, which included leadership of the Control4 product line. Prior to Snap One he held a similar role at Core Brands, where he worked with current RTI CEO Joe Roberts, who was president of Core Brands at that time.
RTI has been busy building a new team with new products on a singular platform designed for success in any channel — resi, office, hospitality, and beyond. As we start looking toward CEDIA Expo in September, we thought it was a great time to catch up with one of the veteran control system brands in the custom integration channel and see how things are going for their new chief product officer so far.
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On this week’s podcast Ben Bard joins us from Coopersburg, PA, where he is VP of luxury residential business at Lutron. Ben was one of the presenters at an event that Jeremy attended last month at Lutron’s Ketra manufacturing facility in Austin, TX. That’s where Ben and his Lutron colleagues introduced the all-new Ketra and Rania D2 luxury architectural downlights to invited dealers, lighting designers, and press. Today, we’ll get to know a little bit about Ben’s experience at Lutron and find out everything you need to know about Lutron’s latest lighting fixture introduction.
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On this week’s podcast Mike Gleason joins us from Austin, TX, where he is director of sales for Skyworth USA, manufacturer of the Clarus S1 outdoor Google TV, Companion P100 Portable LED Display, and Canvas Art Display. Mike’s career in consumer electronics spans a list of companies that reads like a who’s who of the history of AV integration tech. From the early days of Mitsubishi Digital in the late 1990s to the first consumer plasma TV in the U.S. at Fujitsu General to stints with Sharp Elite, the distributor AVAD, and Noel Lee’s Monster. Today we’ll learn more about his recollections of some of the more historical stops in his career and find out how his first year at Skyworth USA has been going so far.
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On this week’s podcast, Jennifer Kirkpatrick joins us from Denver, Colorado, where she is director of sales for American Lighting and its custom integrator focused Proluxe division. Jennifer and Jeremy met a few months back at the Lightapalooza conference in Glendale, AZ, where she provided an overview of her company’s linear and tape light offerings. Today, we’ll learn more about Kirkpatrick’s background and career and discuss what the custom integration channel needs to know about Proluxe’s extensive lineup of products for their next lighting design and installation.
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