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Connected Design Podcast

Connected Design

From smart technology and creative process to business insights and emerging trends, the Connected Design Podcast explores the ideas, projects, and people pushing design forward—across residential, commercial, and everything in between.

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24 episodes
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Avg 34 min
English

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#33
Yesterday · 50 min
The Role of Digital Signage in Modern Spaces
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 large-scale experiential installations. The conversation explores the balance between attention and distraction, the importance of infrastructure planning, how content strategy changes by location, and why communication between owners, designers, architects, integrators, and technology partners is essential to a successful deployment.
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#32
September 21 · 50 min
How Architechne Continues to Scale Without Losing Sight of the Client Experience
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 footprint. The conversation also digs into culture, hiring, compensation, project management, client fit, and Architechne's unique "life of the client" process, including why the company interviews prospective clients before drafting a single proposal. It is a practical look at what it takes to scale a custom integration business while protecting the client experience and keeping the people closest to the work at the center of the everything they do.
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September 14 · 21 min
An Early Exit Interview with CEDIA Global President Daryl Friedman
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 capacity, we wanted to catch up with him, give him a chance to reflect on his time in the industry, and discuss what's next for the organization.
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#30
September 7 · 26 min
Forge CEO Talks Future of CEDIA Expo and More
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 plans for CEDIA Expo, how trade shows have evolved, and much more.
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August 31 · 39 min
Kinetics Noise Control on Making Rooms Sound as Good as They Look
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 theater, listening room, podcast space, or commercial environment. The conversation also touches on CEDIA’s RP32 and RP22 guidelines, the limits of room correction software, why “just adding panels” can sometimes make a room worse, and how integrators can better communicate the value of acoustics to clients, designers, architects, and builders.
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#28
August 24 · 29 min
Phoenix Marketing Group is Bringing Technology Further Upstream in Design Discussions
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 Design Build Services. The conversation explores why integrators need to be brought into projects earlier, how builders and designers can better understand technology’s role in luxury homes, and the tools Phoenix is building to support those relationships, from co-branded marketing assets to project spotlights and design-center resources. Bret also discusses his work reviving the NAHB Custom Builder Technology Working Group and why educating builders on the right technology questions is essential to moving the industry forward.
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#27
August 17 · 40 min
Why Builder-Integrator Relationships Matter in the Modern Custom Home
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 relationship with Brad’s Home Entertainment, the value of bringing an integrator into the process early, and how builders can use technology to improve security, convenience, aesthetics, and the overall client experience. Bourg’s perspective offers a practical look at what collaboration can make possible when technology is treated as part of the home from the beginning.
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#26
August 10 · 37 min
Mitch Klein Looks Back on CEDIA, Design-Build Progress and the Channel's Next Chapter
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 for the channel, from AI and cybersecurity education to standards, government affairs, and the continued importance of industry advocacy. Klein offers a candid perspective on where the industry has been, how far it has come, and what integrators need to keep in focus as the connected home continues to evolve.
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#25
August 3 · 35 min
The Death of the Touch Panel is Highly Overstated
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 Connected Design Podcast, Sutton and Short join Editor in Chief Rob Stott to discuss why the touchscreen remains an important part of the professional smart home, where tactile controls are the better answer, and why design-build conversations should focus less on screen count and more on the user experience each interface is meant to support.
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#24
July 27 · 39 min
Jeremy Rasti on Building Crescendo, Evolving as a Business, and Protecting Client Trust
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, expanding from AV into lighting design, shades, and networking, and using peer groups and training to keep the business moving forward. The conversation also turns to a recent viral delivery incident that underscored a more durable business lesson: the client experience depends on the integrator's willingness to protect the trust that exists between a business and its clients.
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July 20 · 31 min
SureBright Explores How Whole-System Coverage Improves the Integrator's Offering
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 SureBright's new offering comes in. VP of Strategic Partnerships Keith Kranepool joins the Connected Design Podcast to discuss whole-system warranty protection, recurring revenue opportunities, AI-powered proposal workflows, and why project-level coverage can help integrators strengthen client relationships.
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July 13 · 29 min
Loewe Brings Its Luxury Electronics Vision to the North American Market
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 premium clients.
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July 6 · 29 min
Chris Oram Leads Audio Advice Expansion Into Las Vegas
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 planning and executing the build-out, while also introducing the brand to a new crop of clients.
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#20
June 29 · 18 min
AVPro Crafts a Complete Story for Commercial and Residential Dealers
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 their dealers. In addition, Tom previews how the brand is preparing itself for a new experience at next year's event, which will see InfoComm co-locate with Lightapalooza and the new RESIDE show.
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June 22 · 17 min
Design-Centric Technology is the Prevailing Philosophy for Origin Acoustics
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 redefined how they approach just about everything as a company.
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#18
June 15 · 42 min
Designing Before Digging: Boca Tech’s Innovative Smart Home Pitch
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, experience-driven design process, including how 3D scanning, LiDAR-adjacent tools, high-resolution imaging, and rendering software help the team capture accurate site data, build client-facing visualizations, and plan projects with far more precision before work begins. Jeff and Marcio also discuss how the same digital twin workflow supports everything from outdoor lighting layouts and prewire planning to theater design, camera placement, project management, and marketing storytelling. For integrators, designers, and anyone trying to communicate the value of technology inside the home, Boca Tech's story offers a practical look at how visualization can move the conversation beyond line items and into the finished experience.
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June 8 · 40 min
TheCoTeam's Chris Smith Wants Integrators to Stop Unicorn Hunting
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, and how a more intentional hiring process can help businesses grow stronger teams. The conversation covers talent gaps, adjacent industries worth watching, onboarding plans, pay scale realities, and why hiring should be treated with the same care and process as any client project.
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June 1 · 32 min
How Southtown AV Turned Relationships Into a Stadium-Sized Opportunity
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 takes to make bold business pivots without losing sight of your core strengths. We also explore Southtown AV’s move away from residential work, the importance of knowing your company’s “why,” and how integrators can better communicate the value they bring to clients, builders, contractors and the broader design-build community.
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May 25 · 38 min
Force AV is Building Luxury Experiences All Over South Florida (and Beyond)
David Rosenberg has helped turn Force AV into one of South Florida’s premier luxury integration firms — but as he explains on this episode of the Connected Design Podcast, the company’s work goes far beyond TVs and soundbars. From luxury estates in Palm Beach to custom projects across the country, Rosenberg shares how Force AV approaches technology integration as a full-service experience centered on problem-solving, storytelling, and client trust.
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#14
May 18 · 42 min
Putting AI to Use in Floor Plan Generation with Drafted
Drafted, an AI-based platform that launched earlier this year, is a free-to-use tool that lets users dream up their ideal house plan with just a few simple prompts. Founder Nick Donahue sat down with us to talk about how the tool works, where he plans to expand its capabilities, and the role of AI in all areas of the homebuilding process.
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Showing 1–20 of 24 episodes