Connected Design Podcast

Five stories on how connected spaces come together, from the design conversations that shape a home to the controls coordinating a resort. We close with AVIXA’s CEO handoff and David Labuskes’s take on what residential and commercial integrators could gain from being neighbors at RESIDE, Lightapalooza, and InfoComm. Stories and sources: 1. Technology Design Collective at Design Edge Midwest — http...

As he prepares to retire at the end of 2026, AVIXA CEO David Labuskes joins Rob Stott for a candid conversation about knowing when to step aside, planning for succession, and building a team that can carry an organization forward. Labuskes reflects on AVIXA's global reach, its collaborative culture, and the role curiosity plays in leadership. The conversation also explores RESIDE and Lightapalooza...

A new, weekly series takes five stories that custom integrators need to know about and shares the details in five minutes or less. This week's five-story recap covers adaptable commercial spaces, audio planned around a Denver home's architecture, practical AI opportunities in lighting controls, Mitch Klein and Michael Braithwaite taking on new roles, and CEDIA's upcoming Smart Home Day. Each story...

The Connected Design Podcast heads to L-Acoustics' Americas headquarters in Nashville for a conversation with Nick Fichte, global business development lead for hospitality, home, and yacht. Fresh from experiencing the company's HYRISS showroom, Rob Stott talks with Nick about the thinking behind the space, L-Acoustics' roots in live sound, and how its technology can help one room support everythin...

On this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, Rob Stott talks with Dave Malekpour and John Songdahl, president and vice president of sales and marketing, respectively, of Pro Audio Design. They explore the thinking behind PAD's approach to equipment, acoustics, integration, and studio design, along with the evolution of Augspurger monitors from custom builds to systems used by some of music's b...

On this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Rob Stott sits down with Shawn Hansson, founder and CEO of Logic Integration, to continue the conversation that started during a CEDIA Expo education session. Hansson shares the early story of launching Logic Integration, the customer moment that pushed him to build a company rooted in honesty, and the hard lessons that came from lea...

We sit down with Jason Turner, VP and co-founder of PowerShades, to recap CEDIA Expo and discuss the company's first full year as part of Springs Window Fashions. Turner shares how the acquisition has strengthened PowerShades' supply chain, fabric development, manufacturing resources, and dealer support while opening the door to broader product categories. The conversation also covers PowerShades'...

In this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, host Rob Stott speaks with Todd Katcher, Chief Product Officer for Zoney Digital Signage and Digital Dealership System, about how digital signage can do much more than put content on a screen. Todd explains how signage should be designed around the customer journey, from car dealership service lanes and lounges to restaurants, casinos, lobbies, and...

On this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, Rob Stott sits down with Architechne Founder and CFO Jeff Cole for a candid conversation about the company's rapid growth, operator-led expansion model, and people-first approach to custom integration. Cole traces his early love of technology, the career path that led to Architechne, and the operating principles behind the company's growing footprin...

To be fair, there's still time left on the clock for Daryl Friedman's run as Global President and CEO of CEDIA, the association that works on behalf of the custom integration and smart home industry. With plans to stay on through the selection of his successor, he could still be a few months away from actual retirement. Still, with this being his final CEDIA Expo while serving the industry in this...

Forge – the new name for the combined Emerald Expo-Questex venture – is barely a few weeks old, but CEO Paul Miller is already doing the rounds to check out portions of the new and much-expanded portfolio. That included a stop at CEDIA Expo in Denver, where we had the chance to sit down with Miller. The conversation gave us the opportunity to learn about his approach to the event space, the future...

Jason Ehrlich, business development manager of room acoustics in the home market at Kinetics Noise Control, sits down with us for a conversation about why acoustics deserve a much earlier place in the design process. Ehrlich breaks down how room shape, materials, seating, speaker placement, reflections, and noise control all influence the final listening experience, whether in a dedicated home the...

In this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, we sit down with Bret Jacob, senior business development manager at Phoenix Marketing Group, to discuss how the company is helping bridge the gap between integrators and the design-build community. Bret shares his path through retail audio, military service, integration, manufacturing, and now business development at Phoenix, where he leads Phoenix...

Jason Bourg, owner of Bourg Builders + Design in North Central Arkansas, sits down to discuss how technology has become a natural part of his custom homebuilding process. Bourg shares his path from medicine to construction, how his lifelong interest in building shaped his company, and why home automation has become central to the way he thinks about custom homes. The conversation also explores his...

Mitch Klein joins the Connected Design Podcast to reflect on more than three decades in the custom integration industry and his long-running work with CEDIA. He shares stories from the association’s early days, the evolution of smart home technology, and the effort to build stronger bridges between integrators, architects, builders, and designers. The conversation also looks ahead at what’s next f...

The touchscreen has taken a few shots lately, as design and technology conversations swing back toward buttons, switches, and voice control. But for Crestron's Giles Sutton and Michael Short, the question is not whether one interface wins. The real story is how the right mix of touch, tactile control, voice, sensing, and automation makes a connected home easier to live in. On this episode of the C...

For Jeremy Rasti, the path into custom integration started long before Crescendo Automation Audio Video opened its doors in Baton Rouge. It began with music always playing at home and the simple wonder of distributing video from one room to another. On this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, Rasti talks about building Crescendo from a two-person startup into a maturing integration firm, expa...

Warranty programs have their own connotations that they carry. But, traditionally, they're seen as single-product programs that are there in the event of a product failure to protect the consumer. For custom integrators, who install products in myriad rooms and across a variety of categories and price points, the idea of attaching a warranty to all those products would be impossible. That's where...

German luxury brand Loewe has big plans for their expansion here in the U.S. North America General Manager Jeff Costello joins the Connected Design Podcast to discuss the brand's methodical launch, which starts with their design-forward lineup TV lineup. We also get into Loewe's Cabasse acquisition and how that'll impact their home entertainment story, and the opportunity for integrators serving p...

From a chance meeting in Las Vegas to a podcast together just a few short days later—Chris Oram and our Editor-in-Chief Rob Stott had a great deal to dive into on this episode. Chris is in the midst of a unique journey helping the Audio Advice team open its sixth showroom, and first this far West as the brand enters Las Vegas. As the General Manager of the location, he's got his hands full plannin...

Amid construction of the InfoComm trade show floor, we sat down with Tom Devine, VP of Marketing for AVPro Global, to talk about their presence here, as well as the new narrative the brand gets to tell to commercial and residential dealers alike. From their complete package of system solutions, to their ability to support a range of applications, AVPro Global's entire suite simplifies things for t...

During our recent trip out to Las Vegas, we stopped by the Origin Acoustics headquarters to catch up with their team. And they certainly had a lot to show off, including a completely re-outfitted showroom that features their full line in a variety of applications. Beyond the physical updates, Origin's Marc Fisher and Todd Anderson talk through the company's design-centric philosophy that has redef...

We sit down with Boca Tech and Automation Founder and CEO Jeff Galea and Marketing Director Marcio Gomes to explore how the company is using what it calls 'digital twin technology' to transform the way it designs, sells, and installs high-end automation systems and other luxury technology. The conversation covers Boca Tech’s evolution from traditional integration work into a more visual, experienc...

Chris Smith, principal of TheCoTeam, joins the Connected Design Podcast to talk about one of the most persistent challenges, regardless of industry: hiring. Drawing on more than two decades in the CI channel and hundreds of successful placements through TheCoTeam, Smith breaks down why “unicorn hunting” is holding companies back, where integrators can find talent beyond the obvious candidate pool,...

In this episode of the Connected Design Podcast we sit down with Heather Sidorowicz, president of Southtown AV, to talk about the company’s evolution from a local hi-fi shop into one of Buffalo’s leading commercial AV firms. Sidorowicz shares how Southtown AV became involved in the new Buffalo Bills stadium project, why relationship-building has been central to the company’s growth, and what it ta...