The Integration Conversation

This episode highlights some key takeaways from two business classes at the CEDIA Tech Summit in Irvine, CA. Susan Sipe (Salez Toolz) covers "Job-Costing for Contractors Who Don't Like Accounting" and long-time CEDIA instructor Frank White covered "5 Ways to Get What You're Worth." (Both will be offered at CEDIA Expo 2019 in Denver; register at www.cediaexpo.com .) www.saleztoolz.com For more on C...

Michael Heiss (M Heiss Consulting) attended the annual NAB (formerly called the "National Association of Broadcasters") Show in Vegas earlier this month. Besides the usual suspects — as in 5G and 8K — there was a lot of chatter about IP. https://michaelheiss.com/ Fore more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

David Hunt is with a wealth management firm called Bernstein, and he speaks with high-net-worth individuals every day — which means he has vast insights at to what makes them tick. Learn about the three different types of rich folks, what they're worried about, and the fact-finding technique called "deep discovery." https://www.bernstein.com/ For more on CEDIA, head to cedia.net.

You've heard the term "human-centric" in regard to lighting, right? What if we took that notion and applied it to literally everything we do? Rich Green of Rich Green Ink and Peter Aylett of Archimedia talk about designing custom systems for clients with a technique that requires you to think more like an anthropologist and less like an engineer. www.archimedia-me.com For more on CEDIA, check out...

Mike Maniscalco ( Better Living Technologies ) surveyed the tech offerings — mainly in the health and wellness space — at South By Southwest 2019, and reports on what he saw and its potential impact on integrators. betterlivingtech.net For more on CEDIA, check out CEDIA.net.

There's an "experience center" demonstrating residential multiple systems (and interfaces) from kitchen to living room to bed and bath, a state-of-the-art training facility, and much more in CEDIA's new Indiana headquarters. Guest Ian Bryant, who oversaw a lot of the integration, takes us on a tour of the building. Want to know more about CEDIA? Check out cedia.net.

John Penney, EVP of Consumer Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for 20th Century Fox, attended the Mobile World Congress in Spain in late February, and brought back a ton of info on what's happening in the connected worlds of 5G and edge computing. Want more info on CEDIA? Check out cedia.net.

Today's keynote from a VERY hectic CEDIA Tech Summit covered everything from service contracts to concerns about 5G to the benefits of 8K displays. Guests include Eric Bodley from Future Ready Solutions, CEDIA's Giles Sutton, and Legrand's Chris Kovacek. (Also on the panel, but not on the 'cast: Access Networks' Bryce Nordstrand, and IC Realtime's Dean Morgan.)

We had a chance to talk to several CEDIA award-winning firms and manufacturers on the Main Stage at ISE 2019, and here's a pair of deep dives into projects by SONA (with help from Artcoustic) and The Next Level (with an assist from Crestron). We'll have more of these profiles on future episodes. You can find SONA's project on page 76 of the 2018 CEDIA Awards Yearbook, and The Next Level's winner i...

We've got a two-parter this episode: CEDIA's Darren Reaman (Director of Government Affairs) tells us about the legislation that can impact member firms (and what he's doing about it), and our Samantha Ventura (Senior Director of Education) and Derick Abshire (Director of Curriculum) fill us in on the new classes coming to CEDIA Expo 2019 in Denver. Need more info? Check out cedia.net.

Call it the Spatial Web, Web 3.0, or Mirrorworld (as it was dubbed by Wired magazine) it will be "the single most important development in the history of technology, and will change human evolution" -- not to mention your CEDIA business, says Rich Green of Rich Green Design. And it's just three years away. Here's the article Green references in the podcast: https://www.wired.com/story/mirrorworld-...

CEDIA's new headquarters in Indy features a cool training tool -- a reference grade "home" cinema designed by Dennis Erskine. Erskine tells us about what went into the theater, the challenges it presented, and how it'll be used to help trainees understand the concepts behind high-end projects like this one. http://erskine-group.com/ For more on CEDIA, go to cedia.net.

What does AI really mean? How big is the "wellness" segment going to get? Is speaker technology ready to revolutionize built-in TV sound? How does commercial integration cross-pollinate the residential side -- and vice versa? Those questions are tackled in a lightning-quick podcast featuring nearly every member of the CEDIA Technology Council at ISE 2019. For more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

  Day Three from ISE includes a recap of a presentation on mass sensorization, a look at incredibly tiny (and effective) speakers, and an answer to the question: "Does light affect sound quality?" Guests include: Eddie Shapiro, https://smarttouchusa.com/ Michael Heiss, https://michaelheiss.com/ Rich Green, Rich Green Design Christiaan Beukes, http://spherecustom.com/ Sam Woodward, http://www.lutro...

The panel recaps CEDIA Talks, updated cinema standards, business and tech education, and some highlights from a packed show floor at ISE 2019 in Amsterdam (including a really terrific soundbar). Guests include: Eddie Shapiro, https://smarttouchusa.com/ Peter Aylett, https://www.archimedia-me.com/ Sam Woodward, http://www.lutron.com/europe/Pages/default.aspx Geoff Meads, https://www.prestoav.com/ I...

Day One from Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2019 at the Amsterdam RAI recaps CEDIA Talks and education on home cinema design, 5G, and the "spatial web." Guests include: Geoff Meads, https://www.prestoav.com/ Sam Woodward, http://www.lutron.com/europe/Pages/default.aspx Michael Heiss, https://michaelheiss.com/ And Rich Green, Rich Green Design, Inc. For more on CEDIA: https://cedia.net/    

Thomas Marino (Advanced Technologies) is a recent CEDIA Award winner (and soon to be judge). Geoff Meads of Presto Web Design and Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation have judged the Awards for years. Here they tell you what the judges are looking for when it comes to winning a trophy (Spoiler Alert: Big budgets have nothing to do with it). www.advancedtechnologiesbr.com https://imagingsc...

There's a great CEDIA class offered at ISE this year: The Home Cinema Masterclass. As noted in the course description, "It will feature three 'deep dive' sessions focused on video performance, advanced audio techniques, and the cinema environment." The three instructors involved are video expert Joel Silver (of the Imaging Science Foundation), audio expert Anthony Grimani (Performance Media Indust...

After a few days of review and reflection, our panel joins Ed Wenck and Walt Zerbe to review their big takeaways. Guests include Peter Aylett (Archimedia), Rich Green (Rich Green Design), Michael Heiss (M. Heiss Consulting), John Penney (20th Century Fox), and Gordon van Zuiden (cyberManor). https://www.archimedia-me.com/ https://michaelheiss.com/ https://cybermanor.com/ For more info on CEDIA: ce...

Retro designs, the ubiquity of voice interfaces, tele-medicine -- all that and more gets covered in this report from Friday at CES in Las Vegas. Walt Zerbe is joined by CEDIA's David Meyer, Mike Maniscalco, and Geoff Meads (Presto Web Design). https://www.ces.tech/ https://www.prestoav.com/ For more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

Walt Zerbe and company report from Eureka Park, where the startups show their wares. Guests include Rich Green (Rich Green Design), Geoff Meads (Presto Web Design), Mike Maniscalco (one of the founders of Ihiji), and CEDIA's David Meyer. https://www.ces.tech/ https://www.prestoav.com/ For more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

Lots of impressive stuff here: robotics, brain/machine interfaces, and the best video our panel has even seen. Our third report from CES, hosted by Walt Zerbe, includes thoughts from CEDIA's David Meyer, Peter Aylett (Archimedia), Rich Green (Rich Green Design), Kris Hogg (Samsung), and Mike Maniscalco. https://www.ces.tech/ https://www.archimedia-me.com/ https://www.samsung.com/us/ For more on CE...

All this week, Walt Zerbe wil be sending us daily podcasts from CES 2019 in Las Vegas. "Day One" (yesterday was "Day Zero") features reports on what Walt and company saw at the Sahara (smart-home stuff) and the Venetian (what's happened to high-end audio at CES?). Guests include CEDIA's David Meyer, Peter Aylett (Archimedia), and Geoff Meads (Presto Web Design). https://www.ces.tech/ https://www.a...

All this week, Walt Zerbe wil be sending us daily podcasts from CES 2019 in Las Vegas. Day "Zero" is all about opening keynotes and presentations, as seen by Peter Aylett (Archimedia), Rich Green (Rich Green Design), Geoff Meads (Presto Web Design) and Gordon van Zuiden (cyberManor). https://www.ces.tech/ https://www.archimedia-me.com/ https://www.prestoav.com/ https://cybermanor.com/ For more on...

What should one do to prepare for — and react to — the darkening economic clouds that may be on the horizon? That's the question we posed to three guests, two integrators who made through the Great Recession (Gordon van Zuiden and Ed Gilmore), and a financial adviser by the name of Peter Dunn (aka "Pete the Planner"). cybermanor.com/ gilmoressoundadvice.com/ petetheplanner.com/