This week, Frank Sterns joins us from Southern California, where he is president of the Polk Audio and Definitive Technology brands for Sound United. Frank is back to discuss why recent product launches have been significant in the evolution of these highly respected loudspeaker brands, and he also shares some early industry predictions for 2022. Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Shelly WiFi Relays by Alterco | Smart home devices designed and developed to provide solutions tailored to your needs.  Go to shelly.cloud and make IoT simple!

Residential Tech Talks

Episode 70: Frank Sterns and the Latest from Polk and Definitive Tech

This week, Chris Lehnen joins us from Portland, Oregon to talk about iRoom IO, the Apple-certified manufacturer of premium in-wall, on-wall, and table-top docking stations and smart control solutions for iPads. Founded in Salzburg, Austria by Mark Hoffer back in 2010, iRoom products now offer features like motorized opening and closing and control functionality independent of the iPad, as well as a locking anti-theft function to enable iPads to be integrated safely into conference rooms and hotel rooms. This week’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Kaleidescape, the ultimate movie player. Elevate your home cinema now by going to kaleidescape.com!

Episode 69: iPad Docking Stations with iRoom’s Chris Lehnen

This week, Samantha Ventura joins us from Indianapolis, where she is senior vice president of education and training at CEDIA, the global association for the home technology industry. Though she has had a profound impact on the CEDIA community for the past three and a half years, Samantha will soon be taking a step back from the industry and corporate life to focus on writing and lecturing. Before her CEDIA tenure ends officially on October 8, we wanted to have her back on the podcast to discuss the current state of industry training, her impressions from her time at CEDIA, and what she hopes the future holds for her and the industry. Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Leon Speakers | Picture Perfect Sound Go to leonspeakers.com to deliver sound and style to your space today!

Episode 68: Samantha Ventura’s CEDIA Education Legacy

This week, Nick Berry joins the podcast from Las Vegas, where he is CEO of Origin Acoustics. Origin is the loudspeaker company co-founded back in 2014 by Jeremy Burkhardt, the former CEO of the beloved audio brand SpeakerCraft. Nick might be best described as the Yin to Jeremy’s Yang, but they’re both equally savvy businesspeople and motivational leaders who are highly respected for what they bring to the industry. Origin recently announced its acquisition of high-performance audio brand Ambisonic Systems and a new agreement to serve as co-distributor of Amina Sound, a leading manufacturer of invisible loudspeakers out of the UK. Visit www.originacoustics.com This week's episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Kaleidescape, the ultimate movie player. Elevate your home cinema now by going to kaleidescape.com!

Episode 67: Nick Berry on Origin’s Ambisonic Acquisition

This week, Bill Skaer joins us from Dallas, Texas, where he is CEO of Bill Skaer Home Theater and Technology. Bill is one of the pioneers of the CEDIA, custom integration community, and he currently serves on the trade association’s global board of directors. Bill’s dedication to the industry has earned him both a CEDIA Fellow and CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award and he’s one of the friendliest people in the residential tech business. In this discussion, he and Jeremy Glowacki share their positive experiences at CEDIA Expo 2021 and thoughts on the future of in-person events. Bill also recalls how working in his dad’s TV store at the age of 11 influenced his future in home tech. Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Wet Sounds | Loud and Clear is NOT good enough Go to wetsounds.com for more!

Episode 66: Bill Skaer on the Advantages of In-Person Industry Events

On this week’s podcast is Aaron Emigh joins us from San Mateo, California, where he is CEO of Brilliant, the company he co-founded in 2015 as a mass-market solution for home control and home automation. You may know Brilliant as the company with the sleek all-in-one on-wall user interface, with side-by-side touchscreen and touch slider lighting dimmers that can be installed anywhere that there’s a standard light switch. Brilliant recently earned $40-million-dollar Series B financing that will allow the company to expand its product offerings and double down on its sales strategy for single-family home builders, multifamily developers, property managers, and professional integrators. Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Leon Speakers | Picture Perfect Sound Go to leonspeakers.com to deliver sound and style to your space today!

Episode 65: Aaron Emigh on Brilliant Home Control

On this week’s podcast is Jeremy Glowacki’s very good friend John Sciacca, co-owner of Custom Theater and Audio in Myrtle Beach, SC, returns to the podcast for a lengthy chat. This time, the two pals talk less about their mutual Taylor Swift and Disney parks fandom and more about Kaleidescape, Sony’s soundbars, and CEDIA Expo 2021 cancellation drama. Find out how John took matters into his own hands to celebrate his membership in RTT’s Two-Timers Club. Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Wet Sounds | Loud and Clear is NOT good enough Go to wetsounds.com for more!

Episode 64: Making the Best Out of CEDIA Expo with John Sciacca

On this week’s podcast is Jeremy Glowacki’s long-time friend Pete Baker, managing director of the Baker International Group. The BIG Corp. is a global sales rep and business development agency, providing support to some of the finest brands in consumer electronics. Prior to his current gig, Pete was a custom integration business owner and then VP of sales and marketing at Remote Technologies Inc., where he spent 12 years building the RTI brand globally – positioning the company as a world-class leader for control, automation and distributed audio solutions. To learn more, visit thebigcorp.com Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Parks Associates!  If you are interested in research & analysis for IoT, smart home, and connected entertainment technologies, please visit www.parksassociates.com    

Episode 63: Consumer Electronics Sales Development with Pete Baker

On this week’s podcast is Kat Wheeler, a regional sales manager for Snap One, based in Columbus, OH, who also self-published what she calls a “tech mystery novel” titled, There is No Cloud. It’s a book that centers around people and products that will probably be familiar to anyone who has worked in the residential tech industry for a while. On the podcast, we learn what led her into writing her first novel and also to get to know more about her career and experiences in the male-dominated residential tech business. Get more from Kat and buy her book at katwheeler.com! Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Wet Sounds | Loud and Clear is NOT good enough Go to wetsounds.com for more!

Episode 62: Kat Wheeler Writes Murder Mysteries and Reps Home Tech

On this week’s podcast is Jorey Ramer, the CEO of a company called Super, that provides subscription care of home appliances and home systems. It’s in a category of services called insurtech that takes the more familiar home warranty to the next level with the addition of preventative care capabilities and the use of a consumer-friendly app and web interface. A service provider like Super isn’t the typical guest on this podcast, but Jorey wrote a really good guest article for the RTT website on how smart home owners expect more from their service providers, and we wanted to learn more about his company and how they find service technicians to fix various products and systems in the home. Learn more about Super at hellosuper.com Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Leon Speakers | Picture Perfect Sound Go to leonspeakers.com to deliver sound and style to your space today!

Episode 61: Super CEO Jorey Ramer

On this week’s podcast, Anna Demeo discusses the recent news that her company, Racepoint Energy, has been acquired by smart home innovator, Savant, and renamed Savant Power. Racepoint Energy was founded in 2015 by Savant’s current chairman and CEO Bob Madonna during a time when he had stepped away from running Savant’s day-to-day operations, turning his attention toward innovating smart electrical panels, and automated power and storage solutions. With both companies now running fully under the same umbrella, with Demeo now serving as president of Savant Power, Savant now has a fully integrated and scalable software platform to manage distributed energy resources. Learn more about Savant Power at savantpower.com Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Wet Sounds | Loud and Clear is NOT good enough Go to wetsounds.com for more!

Episode 60: Savant Power’s Anna Demeo on Solar Power Storage and Microgrids

On this week’s podcast, Silicon Labs’ and Z-Wave Alliance’s Mitchell Klein and Building 36’s Mariusz Malkowski on help unpack everything you need to know about Matter, the new name for the interoperable, secure connectivity standard for the future of the smart home. The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance, recently announced the name change. This new technology and royalty-free connectivity standard enables communications among a wide range of smart devices. Matter is also a seal of approval, assuring that any object built on this standard is reliable by nature, secure by design, and compatible at scale. What does this rollout of Matter mean for other popular smart home protocols like Z-Wave? How does Matter differ from Z-Wave? How is it similar? What about the existing Z-Wave devices on the market? How will Matter impact them? Learn more about Matter at www.silabs.com/wireless/matter and Z-Wave at z-wavealliance.org Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Leon Speakers | Picture Perfect Sound Go to leonspeakers.com to deliver sound and style to your space today!

Episode 59: Klein and Malkowski on Matter Connectivity Standard

On this week’s podcast, Peter Aylett joins us from his home in England to talk about his work on industry standards and recommended best practices, his career as a custom integrator in the UK and Middle East, and his current role as partner with Maurizio Conti at HTE, an Italy-based turnkey room design company for home cinemas and mastering studios. Peter is a 30-year veteran of the residential tech industry and is well-known and respected among his peers as a mentor, teacher, and lecturer on home technology. He has been teaching on behalf of CEDIA for more than 20 years and has served a term on CEDIA’s global board of directors. Peter is currently chair of the CEDIA/CTA R10 Standards Committee and a passionate advocate for creating standards and best practices for home tech installation. Learn more about HTE at hte.design Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Wet Sounds | Loud and Clear is NOT good enough Go to wetsounds.com for more!

Episode 58: Peter Aylett on Home Tech Install Standards

On this week’s podcast, we are joined by two very important members of the CEDIA Expo 2021 planning team. Jason McGraw, vice president of CEDIA Expo at the show’s management and ownership company, Emerald, gives us a more high-level view of the return of the in-person event September 1-3, 2021. Samantha Ventura, senior VP of education and training at CEDIA, provides some guidance about what we should know regarding classes and training that is planned for this fall at the Indiana Convention Center. Breaking news: No masks required for fully vaccinated attendees to the show! Register for CEDIA Expo 2021 www.cediaexpo.com Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Leon Speakers | Picture Perfect Sound Go to leonspeakers.com to deliver sound and style to your space today!

Episode 57: Jason McGraw and Samantha Ventura on the Return of In-Person CEDIA Expo

On this week’s podcast, Tony Liebel joins us from New York City where he is CEO of tech startup Buzr. The company’s product, called Buzr Pro, was designed to replace outdated apartment access systems by only requiring the user to install the Buzr Pro smart device hardware into the individual apartment or condo wall unit. Tony and his co-founder Jeremy Walker met at Cornell Tech, where they began their collaboration. In May 2020, Buzr was one of four student companies that won the highly competitive Cornell Tech Startup Awards and received $100,000 in pre-seed funding to pursue their startups after graduation. Along with the funds, the company was provided a co-working space at Cornell’s Roosevelt Island, NY campus and access to a support team of industry leaders and executives in computer science and engineering. Buzr Pro’s anticipated shipping date is Winter 2022. The company is currently running a preorder special for 20 percent off. Learn more about Buzr by visiting www.getbuzr.com Today’s episode of Residential Tech Talks is brought to you by Shelly WiFi Relays by Alterco | Smart home devices designed and developed to provide solutions tailored to your needs.  Go to shelly.cloud and make IoT simple!

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Residential Tech Talks

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