The Integration Conversation

How do you talk to your clients? Manage your business and your employees' morale during this? How do you keep everyone safe? Jason Knott (CE Pro) shares the stories he's collecting, and we talk to several firms, too: The Premier Group, Nirvana Home Entertainment, and Inspired Dwellings (the latter led by CEDIA's Board Chairman, Rob Sutherland).

https://www.nirvanahomeentertainment.com/

https://premier-group.com/

https://inspireddwellings.com/

https://www.cepro.com/

A lot of what an integrator installs can become obsolete -- to the point of failure -- at some point in the future. So how do you prepare a client for this obsolescence, and how do you design systems that can adapt? Peter Aylett (HTE), Rich Green (Rich Green Design), and Hamish Neale (Hero Labs) join Ed Wenck and Walt Zerbe to discuss the inevitable.

https://www.hero-labs.com/

https://www.hte.design/

CEDIA's Director of Technical Training Steve Rissi has developed a class on client care programs that's he'll be teaching at CEDIA Expo in Denver. (Meanwhile, a recent conference call among 35 CEDIA members was set up to discuss this very topic and compare notes.) Rissi shares his expertise -- which includes years as the head of an integration firm's service department -- in this podcast with hosts Ed Wenck and Walt Zerbe.

As COVID-19 disrupts lives and business, Pete the Planner (Peter Dunn) has advice on handling your finances (business AND personal) in an emergency, and Susan Kline from the law firm Faegre Drinker has legal info for employers and employees of CEDIA firms during the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.faegredrinker.com/en/

https://petetheplanner.com/

Employees working remotely, spikes in absenteeism, supply chain issues -- the current state of a world coping with a virus can profoundly affect your livelihood as an integrator. Craig Caldwell, Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Programs at the Lacy School of Business at Butler University is here to offer his expertise on those disruptions in this special edition of the CEDIA Podcast.

For more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

We've got highlights of two CEDIA talks from ISE 2020. In one, CEDIA's David Meyer gives us everything we ever wanted to know about video compression, and in the other, Michael Heiss (M Heiss Consulting) talks about the unique issue of selling to Baby Boomers as the population ages.

For more on CEDIA, check out cedia.net.

In this two-parter, we sit down with CEDIA's new Board Chairman, Rob Sutherland, and give you an update on a challenge we've all identified: workforce development. We stopped by the integration firm TRIPhase to talk with the owner, Robert Haecker, about a recent hire -- Brett Jagger -- who graduated from the inaugural 12-week CEDIA Electronic Systems Integration Technician Training program.

Just about a year ago, we covered the development and deployment of 5G with industry expert John Penney. We revisited the topic with an update on where we are now in this podcast recorded with Mr. Penney on the Mainstage at ISE 2020 in Amsterdam. (A lot of myths and misunderstandings have popped up over the past 12 months, it turns out.)

Interior designer and renowned well-being expert Cinzia Moretti (Moretti Interior Design) and Jeff Hayward (Director of Wildwood PR) share their insights into Wellness and Biophilia, and the opportunities this offers to integrators. Along with hosts Walt Zerbe and Ed Wenck, the panel unpacks the solutions that can make for a better, more "human" indoor experience.

Our last show show from ISE 2020 (and the last ISE hosted by the city of Amsterdam) includes Peter Aylett (Archimedia/HTE), Rich Green (Rich Green Design), Kris Hogg (Samsung) , and Eddie Shapiro (SmartTouchUSA). CEDIA's David Meyer also chimes in with your hosts Ed Wenck, and Walt Zerbe in a podcast recorded Friday night.