Residential Tech Talks

On this week’s podcast, Jason Knott joins us again from his home office in Sturbridge, MA, where he now serves as data solutions architect & evangelist, Data by D-Tools. It was only 10 episodes ago that Jason came on to discuss his newly created role at D-Tools, where he works with a special team to define and deliver industry analytics and insights. Well, some of those results are now include...

On this week’s podcast, Walt Zerbe joins us from Lancaster, PA, where he is senior director of technology and standards for CEDIA. Walt and Jeremy, like many of you in the audience were in Denver, CO, at this time last week attending a very energetic and inspiring CEDIA Expo event. Our guest today was not only checking out as many new products and technologies as he could on the show floor but was...

On this week’s podcast, Jeff Shaw joins us from Petaluma, CA, where he is vice president of product management for Nice North America. Jeremy and met a year ago at this time, when Nice welcomed members of the trade media to their U.S. headquarters in Carlsbad, CA, to meet the team and learn about their product direction. At that time, Nice announced its plan to sunset the ELAN, SpeakerCraft, and P...

On this week’s podcast, Michael Short joins us from London, where he is senior director of residential and hospitality marketing at Crestron. It’s been almost a year since Jeremy had dinner in Dallas during CEDIA Expo with Michael, along with several members of the Crestron executive team. At that time, they talked about all of the hullabaloo surrounding supply chain challenges and pricing inflati...

On this week’s podcast, we welcome two esteemed guests, AVPro Global Founder and CEO Jeff Murray and AudioControl VP of Sales and Marketing, Chris Kane, to discuss exciting business acquisition news for the residential and commercial AV integration industry. AVPro Global, the parent company of AVPro Edge, Murideo, and Bullet Train audio/video distribution products, recently acquired the Home Audio...

On this week’s podcast, John Sciacca joins us from Myrtle Beach, SC, where he co-owner of Custom Theater and Audio. When it comes to people that Jeremy has met through his job over the years, John is at the top of the list as one his favorites. So, following a short summer hiatus from podcast recording, Jeremy thought he should start with a fun one, inviting back one of his most entertaining guest...

On this week’s podcast, Craig Spinner joins us from Osterville, MA, where is general manager for Savant Power within Savant Systems Inc. Savant is a leader in both smart home and smart power solutions, as well as a provider of energy efficient smart LED fixtures and bulbs through its GE Lighting brand. Savant Power systems provide homeowners with visibility into their energy production and consump...

On this week’s podcast, James Garrett joins us from Battle Ground, WA, where he is CEO of Garrett Integrated Systems. Our guest today recently acquired the 10-person Boise, Idaho-based custom integration firm, The Loop Technologies, from former RTT podcast guest Eric Crawford. The buyout was an exit strategy for Crawford, so he can focus on his component company IFP Connect, which is a single-gang...

On this week’s podcast, John Heyman joins us from Atlanta, GA, where he is CEO of Snap One, a leading manufacturer and distributor of audio video, networking, surveillance, power, and wiring products. When our guest today last appeared on the podcast, back in December of 2020, his company was still called SnapAV, none of us had received our first Covid-19 vaccine, and the University of Georgia was...

On this week’s podcast, Franklin Karp joins us from Long Beach, NY, where, for the past year, he has been the principal of Franklin Karp & Co., a comprehensive consulting firm for the residential tech integration business. A 30-year veteran of AV retail and custom integration in New York City and New York suburbs, our guest today offers services in all phases of operations management, with a p...

On this week’s podcast, Jason Knott joins us from Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to discuss the surprising news last week that he will be leaving his long-time post as editor in chief of CE Pro magazine to join D-Tools, the provider of business management software for electronic systems integrators. In the newly created role of data solutions architect and evangelist, our guest today will work with a...

On this week’s podcast, Dave Chace joins us from the Philadelphia area, where he is president of Cogent360. Founded in 2007, Cogent360 is a media design firm that creates interactive and immersive digital resources for the consumer electronics and home integration industries. Our guest today is a 35-year veteran of the CE and CI industries and a former director of product training for a nationwide...

On this week’s podcast, Mitchell Klein joins us from Boston, where he is executive director of the Z-Wave Alliance, the standards development organization dedicated to advancing the smart home and Z-Wave technology. Deployed in more than 100 million products sold worldwide, the Z-Wave protocol is an interoperable, wireless, RF-based communications technology designed specifically for control, moni...

On this week’s podcast, David Thomas joins us joins us from Austin, TX, where he was on the road participating in the Rio Grande Dealer Event. Dave is a principal at Rio Grande, as well as executive director of its sister company, the Momentum Group, both based in Denver, CO. As if that were not enough titles for one man, he is also a partner at the PureTech Alliance, the national alliance of manu...

On this week’s podcast, Joe Borress joins us from Malibu, CA, where he is founder and president of Tri-Star Electric & Automation. Our guest today grew up immersed in high-end New York City construction projects, as a third-generation electrical contractor. He spent the early decades of his career navigating and troubleshooting complex job sites, working with clients and renowned architects in...

On this week’s podcast, Josh Christian joins us from Calabasas, CA, where he is CEO of the Home Technology Association. Back in 2017, the HTA created the first and only standard of excellence for home technology integration firms, giving the best-qualified technology integrators a prestigious certification and endorsement developed to differentiate exceptional firms. Since then, the HTA has fulfil...

On this week’s podcast, we welcome two guests to discuss lighting fixtures specification and installation opportunities for the custom integration channel. Joining us from Bethlehem, PA, is Charlie Derk, vice president of strategy for building control systems at Legrand. And joining us from San Diego, CA, is Mike Libman, the national sales director at DMF Lighting. Both of today’s guests are fully...

On this week’s podcast, Mandy Beckner joins us from Fairfax, VA, where she is vice president of education and training at CEDIA. Last week, in honor of International Women’s Day, CEDIA partnered with the Women in Consumer Technology group to provide educational opportunities to women throughout the smart home industry. In the partnership announcement, Mandy who in addition to her role at CEDIA is...

On this week’s podcast, Eric Joy joins us from Marietta, GA, where he is chief experience officer of the GHT Group. GHT (formerly known as Georgia Home Theater) is a full-service custom electronics design and integration company, serving homeowners and businesses in Buckhead, Alpharetta, Midtown, the greater Atlanta area, and the Florida Panhandle. The company features a diverse team of world-clas...

On this week’s podcast, Christopher Sterle joins us from Las Vegas, Nevada, where he is founder and CEO of Acoustic Design Systems. This month marks 20 years in business for ADS, as an integrator of commercial and residential home automation and security solutions. ADS has spent the past two decades perfecting a recipe for success, which includes evolving technology trends, developing home builder...

On this week’s podcast, Mark Ontiveros joins us from Tustin, California, where he is founder and CEO of Audio Images, the award-winning Orange County custom integration firm that he founded in 1991. Audio Images’s team is passionate about engineering audio/visual solutions that truly fit their clients’ needs. It’s a process that Mark’s company has trademarked as “Solutioneering” a system. It’s the...

On this week’s podcast, Troy Morgan joins us from North Richland Hills, TX, where he is founder and CEO of PanTech Design, a software development firm specializing in Crestron control systems for commercial and residential applications. Troy has 23 years of programming experience and has earned the distinction of Crestron Master Programmer. He founded PanTech Design in 2005 with the goal of elevat...

On this week’s podcast, Blake Richetta joins us from Santa Monica, CA, where he is chairman and CEO of sonnen, the global energy storage company. Sonnen was founded in 2010, in a small town in Southern Germany, its founders driven by the desire to create a clean and affordable energy future for everyone through their sonnenBatterie. At a time when solar energy was only fed into the grid, they crea...

On this week’s podcast, Keith Esterly joins us from his home office in Bucks County, PA, where he serves as chief learning architect for the Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), a leading North American trade consortium. Keith has a unique role within HTSA in that he was brought on board to help members learn fresh ideas, but specifically become better at selling and relationship science...

This week, our contributing editor Michael Heiss joins us from his home in Los Angeles to talk about the recent Consumer Electronics Show, and some of the latest TV technology developments and other smart home products that he thinks are worth knowing about. After attending CES virtually last year, Mike made it back in person to Las Vegas this year. He talks about broader TV technology trends, bre...