Explore every episode of the podcast Connected Design Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kim Parker is not only a known name in the custom integration business, he's also someone who's experienced success at just about every stop along his career journey. So, his decision to make the jump (personally and financially) to Keder Screens should speak volumes about his belief in their technology. Beyond learning about their patented system, we pick his brain on the challenges and opportunities integrators face getting into the outdoor shade business, and much more.

On the heels of the major news that AVIXA—the producers of InfoComm and a number of other AV industry show—had acquired Lightapalooza from HTSA, we sat down with Jenn Heinold, SVP of Expositions in the Americas, and HTSA's Tom Doherty. The two dove into the growth of the event and what's to come now that it'll co-locate with InfoComm starting next year.

Steve Weber's career arc is an incredibly interesting one, but, much like the growth plan at Liaison Technology Group, it's all been very intentional and well thought out. After visiting their new showroom in Fort Myers, we sat down with Steve to talk shop, learn more about him, and get him to share some of the secrets to his success.

Karthick Kanagalingam, the Architectural Specifications Manager at Somfy, has always been fascinated by the world of motorized shading, dating back to his first job as a post-grad, which sent him into a commercial building that just happened to have a series of motorized shades. Today, he leverages that passion to help tell the story of the category and help it make sense to the brand's partners and installers.

Following our visit to the Legrand booth at the 2026 Builders' Show in Orlando, we sat down with Sr. Product Manager Racheal Rich to dive deeper into the brand's positioning, how they balance conversations with integrators and builders, and how their portfolio perfectly blends the world of tech and design.

Following up on our conversation with Caster Communications' Founder Kimberly Lancaster, Connected Design sits down with the company's new owners, Alexandra Crabb and Peter Girard. The duo share a bit about the legacy of the company, their plans for the future, and how AI is impacting every aspect of the business.

Taking on a seemingly insurmountable challenge is nothing new to Kimberly Lancaster. Every step of her career journey has been marked by defying the odds. Now, the PR firm founder and decades-long leader of Caster Communications is taking on a new kind of challenge—her exit from the business she spent years building. The calculated, honest approach to transitioning into this next phase is a great lesson for any business owner.

A veteran of the consumer electronics industry, Joe Piccirilli has seen it all. Today, as a major proponent of precision power performance, he's set out to ensure integrators, builders, and consumers alike understand the importance of power in the context of the luxury smart home. When implemented properly, the right system can serve as the perfect power-driven painkiller for everyone involved.

To be clear, the experience center that's owned by LK & Associates in Southeast Florida may be theirs on paper. But, as Seth Kaplan told us, this space is intended to be a playground for the industry. Shortly after the official grand opening, we sat down with Seth to explore how they got to this point, plans for the space moving forward, and much more.

Though from different generations, our Editor in Chief Rob Stott and Strata-gee Founder and Chief Content Creator Ted Green have a lot more in common than you’d expect. Both discovered partway through their careers their entrepreneurial spirit, and both share a passion for improving the state of the trade media landscape. Here, the two journos commiserate on the current conditions impacting media and the custom integration channel, how their stories have intertwined, and much more.

Check out Ted's industry coverage at www.strata-gee.com.

Global Wave Integration Founder and CEO Kyle Steele has had quite the professional journey. From an aspiring rock star to a standout in the custom integration industry, he's learned how to remain adaptable in life, let alone his profession. Here, we dive into the many challenges facing CIs today, including new technologies, AI, business operations, and more.

Amanda Wildman's career arc is one she would've never predicted. Custom integration wasn't even a term she was familiar with before leaving the jewelry business and getting into the channel with her husband over two decades ago. Now, she's getting set to serve as the first-ever female Chair of CEDIA's Global Board of Directors.

It's officially official: Connected Design is back! What will this new version of the renowned platform look like? How has the mission and motivation changed? What kinds of content can you come to expect? Co-re-founders Maryellen Oswald and Rob Stott break all of that down and more in this premiere episode of the Connected Design Podcast.