Q1 2021
SIX AWARDS, ONE PROJECT HOW SONA SWEPT THE 2020 CEDIA AWARDS VR AS A SALES TOOL A LOOK BACK AT 2020
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CONTENTS
Building 14 Brand Inside the CEDIA Leadership Series
CEDIA 18 IMeetAM the man behind the Colombian firm
I’S Have It 22 The How SONA won six first-place
as a Sales Tool 42 VR Help your clients envision your ideas
Meet the Board
Council Q&A 30 Tech Mike Maniscalco tells us what the CEDIA
HomeTech El Hogar Digital SAS
CEDIA Awards
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Here’s the CEDIA Board of Directors for 2021-2022
Technology Council is all about
Year in Review 10 The Despite the pandemic, there’s positive news
Integration 32 Marine It’s just like residential tech — only more so
You Experienced? 28 Are Inside Cinegration’s award-winning
Recap 34 CES What to know if you missed the virtual
showroom
show CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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CONTINUITY OF PURPOSE A NOTE FROM CEDIA’S INTERIM CO-CEOS
CONTACT 8475 Nightfall Lane, Fishers, Indiana 46037 USA Email: info@cedia.org Telephone: +1 800.669.5329 Unit 2, Phoenix Park, St Neots Cambridgeshire, PE19 8EP, UK Email: info@cedia.co.uk Telephone: +44 (0)1480 213744 www.cedia.net
SOCIAL
FRONT COVER SONA Taylor Business Park, 4/5 Greenwood Court, Warrington, WA3 6DD, United Kingdom +44 1625 541442 www.sona.technology
COPYRIGHT All material in Communicates is the copyright of CEDIA and any reproduction of said material would require written permission from the association. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of content published, CEDIA cannot accept responsibility for any factual errors that may occur. CEDIA cannot accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors.
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
There’s an old adage that change is the only constant in life. While change can create feelings of anxiety or a wariness of what’s to come, we’re choosing to leverage the changes we’ve faced in 2020 as a springboard for inspiration and innovation in 2021. Our industry is better equipped than others to pivot; we do it all the time. Whether installing an innovative product to solve a client’s problem or retrofitting technology into a space that needs to perform differently, we know how to adapt. In 2021, CEDIA’s leadership team will look different. Our board is currently searching for a new CEO, and we look forward to working with a leader who inspires us and helps us continue to address our industry’s unique needs. Additionally, we’ve hired a new vice president of marketing, communications, and research, Melissa Geitgey, APR, whose data-driven approach perfectly complements our strategic initiatives. Our efforts to further expand and refine our education and certification offerings across the globe will continue. We’ve released a new, updated textbook that goes hand-in-hand with our new CIT certification, and work continues apace on the IST certification. In a related area, our standards and practices efforts are surging forward, and CEDIA is now as an ANSI accredited Standards Development Organization. We’ll continue to advance our Propel affinity program to help CEDIA members grow their business by creating easy access to new products in emerging categories. Visit CEDIA.net/Propel for more info. Technology will change, too, and we’ll continue to create cuttingedge podcasts, white papers, webinars, and more to share what we’re seeing with you, in hopes that it enhances your membership experience. We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Reach out anytime — we’re here because of you, after all. Thanks so much for being part of CEDIA.
Kory Dickerson Giles Sutton CEDIA Interim Co-CEOs
NEWS IN BRIEF CEDIA Opens 2021 CEDIA Awards Entries By Dan McGowan CEDIA is now accepting entries for the 2021 CEDIA Awards program. The CEDIA Awards program is regarded as the premier global honor for residential technology integrators. Awards entries from projects in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific regions will be accepted now through April 2. Project categories include: Integrated Home; Media Room; Home Cinema; Innovative Solution or System; Showroom; Auto, Marine, or Aircraft; and Multiple Dwelling Unit Design. CEDIA members can submit projects in multiple categories, and judges will determine cost categories based on all completed entries. Entries will be categorized based on their region: Americas, EMEA, or Asia Pacific. CEDIA Award entries from integrators are reviewed by a panel of experienced industry experts, who select finalists and winners based on specific technical criteria. Additional sub-categories include Best Dressed
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Rack, Best Documentation, Best Lighting System, Innovative System or Solution, Life Lived Best at Home, and Technology Meets Design. Additionally, winners of Home Cinema, Integrated Home, and Media Room categories will be considered for Global Awards. Important Dates: • Regional finalists for installation categories will be announced the week of June 14, 2021. • Asia Pacific winners will be announced at the Integrate Show at a date to be determined. • Americas winners will be announced at the 2021 CEDIA Awards Event at a date to be determined. • EMEA winners and global winners will be announced at the EMEA Awards event at a date to be determined. Manufacturers interested in the CEDIA Awards are invited to submit
products for "Best New Product” and “Product Hall of Fame" as of February 8, 2021. To qualify for the 2021 program, entrants must be active CEDIA members and projects need to have been completed between March 2019 and March 2021. To apply for the 2020 CEDIA Awards, integrators should have documentation and project information on hand. More information on the program, the entry process, and its benefits is available at cedia.net/awards. Full rules and details are available through the CEDIA Awards Entry Platform.
CEDIA Board Seats Executive Committee, Elected Directors, and Names Governance Committee By Dan McGowan The CEDIA Board of Directors approved the 2021 Executive Committee, authorized the sevenperson Governance Committee, and welcomed three new, elected directors who will serve the 2021-2022 term: Shannon Bush, Eddie Shapiro, and Michael Sherman. Albert Mizrahi, whose appointed seat on the board expired in 2020, was voted by CEDIA membership for the 2021-2022 term as an elected member. "CEDIA's Board of Directors is well-positioned to continue driving our industry forward and helping integrators throughout the world navigate The 2021 CEDIA Executive Committee members include:
The following directors complete CEDIA's board:
Rob Sutherland, Chairperson Inspired Dwellings, Ltd. London, England
Jamie Briesemeister Integration Controls, USA
David Weinstein, Vice-Chairperson Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. Coopersburg, PA, USA Melanie Malcolm Bespoke Home Cinemas Leeds, Yorkshire, UK Alex Capecelatro, Treasurer Josh.ai Denver, Colorado, USA David Humphries, Immediate Past Chairman Atlantic Integrated Rockleigh, NJ, USA challenges and support learning, business, and workforce development opportunities that help deliver tremendous value to our members and the industry," says CEDIA Chairperson Rob Sutherland. "We commend our new board members, Shannon, Eddie, and Michael, our new Executive Committee, as well as Albert and our returning directors, as we roll up our sleeves and work to support member success."
CEDIA has also announced the approval of the 2021 Governance Committee, which includes the board vice chairperson, two members of the board, and four additional individuals elected to the Governance Committee by the board. The Governance Committee includes: Committee Chairperson and Board Vice Chairperson David Weinstein, Board Member Jamie Briesemeister, Board Member Alex
John Buchanan Meridian Audio, UK Shannon Bush AVDG, USA Albert Mizrahi Smart Lab, Mexico Eddie Shapiro SmartTouchUSA, USA Michael Sherman Henri, France Bill Skaer Bill Skaer and Associates, USA Amanda Wildman TruMedia, USA Capecelatro, Committee Member Hagai Feiner, Committee Member Steve Martin, Committee Member Hamish Neale, and Committee Member Matt Scott. The Governance Committee's tasks include preparing and presenting new board member orientation, nominating potential board candidates, and overseeing the board election and appointment process.
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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MEET THE BOARD
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
After this year’s global elections, here’s your new-look CEDIA Board for 2021-2022.
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Rob Sutherland Chairperson Inspired Dwellings, Ltd. London, UK As managing director and cofounder of Inspired Dwellings, Rob Sutherland has built his company and reputation through the smooth and transparent delivery of projects. With more than 20 years’ experience managing in the private sector and a comprehensive background in corporate IT, Sutherland has personal experience project managing extensive global infrastructure projects for large corporations (BP, BT, and M&S).
David Weinstein Vice-Chairperson Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. Coopersburg, PA, USA David Weinstein is Lutron’s vice president of residential sales, responsible for leading sales across the company’s consumerfacing channels. His work with Lutron included roles as senior sales manager, sales director, and sales vice president. Prior to Lutron, he was employed at Yusen Associates, where he rose from salesperson to president.
Melanie Malcolm Secretary Bespoke Home Cinemas Leeds, Yorkshire, UK In 2016, Melanie Malcolm was elected to the CEDIA EMEA Board, and she helped with CEDIA's global alignment process. An active volunteer, she has served in roles including Strategy Advisory Council (SAC) chair for global accessibility, chair of the Smart Home Apprenticeship Trailblazer Committee in the UK, and CEDIA Awards judge for the EMEA region. Outside the industry, Malcolm directs two event management companies: Yorkshire Ladies Links and the Yorkshire Choice Awards.
David Humphries Immediate Past Chairman Alex Capecelatro Treasurer Josh.ai Denver, Colorado, USA Alex Capecelatro is the founder and CEO of Josh.ai, a voicecontrolled home automation system with a focus on artificial intelligence. Capecelatro started his career as a research scientist for NASA, the Naval Research Lab, and later Sandia National Laboratory. He then ventured into consumer technology, first with electric car manufacturer Fisker Automotive, then through founding two social software products "At the Pool" and "Yeti" with members in more than 120 countries.
Atlantic Integrated Rockleigh, NJ, USA Dave Humphries founded Atlantic Integrated in May 2003. His prior experience was with Lutron Electronics over a 15-year career. Humphries has served as CEDIA Chairman-Elect and Board Treasurer, is the past president of IPRO, and is a veteran of the United States Air Force.
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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THE CEDIA BOARD Jamie Briesemeister
John Buchanan
Integration Controls St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Meridian Audio Limited Huntingdon, UK
An avid speaker, Jamie Briesemeister often participates in panel discussions, presenting informative sessions, or offering Continuing Education Units to architects and designers. She serves as an advocate for collaboration in the design/build process and has written for Connected Design and Residential Tech Today. Briesemeister is a CEDIA Outreach Instructor (COI), avid volunteer, member of the Industry Relations Advisory Council, and previous chair of the Professional Development Advisory Council.
Shannon Bush
Albert Mizrahi
AVDG San Jose, California, USA
Smart Lab Naucalpan, Mexico
Shannon Bush has over a decade of experience in the audio/ visual industry and carries more than 15 professional certifications and licenses. Bush has been highlighted in multiple industry publications and served as vice president of an integration firm in Texas, where her accomplishments include contributing to 30% growth, developing new software, managing large integration projects, and leading a team of 60 professionals. She volunteers for CEDIA and served on Integrator Owner Working Group. She has to step down now she is on the Board. Bush has also worked in the private defense industry, running multi-million-dollar projects worldwide.
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Appointed CEO of Meridian Audio in 2014, Buchanan is an honors graduate of the University of Strathclyde and has 20-plus years of international business experience working with market-leading professional audio and consumer electronics companies. Buchanan is married with two daughters. His interests away from work include rugby union, cycling, and golf.
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Albert Mizrahi started his career in the industry as the director for Control4 Mexico. During his time with Control4, he opened the first Control4 experience center in Mexico, and the center has since been replicated worldwide. Six years ago, Mizrahi opened Smart Lab, an integration company that specializes in residential, commercial, and hospitality projects. His work has won multiple awards including CEDIA Awards. A year ago, Mizrahi opened his own distribution company. He is a Dealerscope 40 under 40 honoree and has won the Control4 international distributor of the year award five times.
Eddie Shapiro
Michael Sherman
SmartTouchUSA Washington D.C., USA
Henri Paris, France
Eddie Shaprio has worked in audio/visual and low voltage for more than 30 years in areas such as installation, system design, programming, marketing, sales, and executive leadership. Shapiro began his career on the security side where he installed systems for customers including PriceWaterHouse Coopers, IBM, Nordstrom, Nestle, and Verizon. A CEDIA volunteer for more than a decade, Shapiro is part of the CEDIA Technology Council, which focuses on emerging trends and key industry topics.
Michael Sherman has been with Henri for 11 years, previously serving in management, development, and operations roles, and as project manager and technical director; and has managed the team as it has grown from 15 to 45 employees. The 2019 CEDIA Young Professional of the Year, Sherman has volunteered for CEDIA for 10 years and was on the CEDIA EMEA board of directors from 2011-2013. He currently serves on Design and Build Resources Working Group, was part of the CEDIA Membership Advisory Council, and received the French Chamber of Artisans’ Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2018.
Bill Skaer
Amanda Wildman
Bill Skaer and Associates LLC Mesquite, Texas, USA.
TruMedia Ada, Michigan, USA
Bill Skaer, a former U.S. Air Force management analyst, has served as a CEDIA volunteer and a seven-term previous board member. In 2006, he received the CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award. Skaer has also been named CEDIA Volunteer of the Year, CEDIA Fellow, and spent nearly two decades as CEDIA Ethics Committee chairman. He co-founded Eric Grundelman's Cool AV, an electronic systems contracting company, and is a CEDIA Founding Member. In 2014, Skaer sold his interest in the company, pursuing a career in consulting and manufacturing, as he founded his own technology integration company.
The former chair of the CEDIA Professional Development Advisory Council, Amanda Wildman has also served as a member of the CEDIA Workforce Development Working Group and the Business Working Group and has assessed, assisted, and taught courses at CEDIA Expo. Wildman earned her CEDIA Outreach Instructor certification (COI) in 2014. She is on the board of the Home Builders Association of Greater Grand Rapids and has been secretary and associate member vice president. The Calvin College graduate founded a Finished Trades Group in her city that develops relationships among local trade contractors and builders, designers, and architects.
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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CEDIA's Strategic Initiatives
In 2018, CEDIA finalized the strategic plan that prioritized the work of the association over the following three years. The three key areas of the plan include: education; increasing professionalism through standards, guidelines, and best practices; and deeper engagement and partnership with the design and build community. Here are some highlights of the progress we’ve made in 2020, despite the onslaught of a global pandemic.
EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION IN-PERSON AT ISE 41 sessions | 71 hours of training IN-PERSON WORLDWIDE 548 unique attendees from 63 countries 25 new courses (of 84 modules) rolled out in 2020 DEBUT OF NEW CEDIA ACADEMY 16,750 course registrations 2,100 unique learners 545 companies CERTIFICATION
Total Certifications Held: 1,231 Certifications Exams Taken: 255
NEW Certifications Earned: 185
Two New Certifications Introduced: CIT and IST 10
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALISM
CEDIA designated as ANSI-accredited Standards Developer
Podcast: 80,000+ unique downloads in 2020
Five new white papers in 2020
DESIGN AND BUILD PROS OUTREACH $1,040,528 Earned Media Value Media Impressions: 2,528,276 Design and build pros reached by Outreach Instructors: 2,067 NEW CEDIA Outreach Instructors in 2020: 93 CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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GLOBAL CONNECTION
Virtual Awards Shows: Members in 77 countries
5300+ views (EMEA, Asia Pacific, Americas) 203 entries from 18 countries 130 entrants incl. 37 unique first-time 10.5K Instagram followers worldwide
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
AV Career Awareness Day (with Avixa) at ISE: 170 students from 6 countries
Launched new online Career Center
Continued development on the CEDIA Authorized Education Partner Program (CAEP) — elements already incorporated by partners in Detroit and Orlando, more to come Continued development on the UK Smart Home Apprenticeship Program
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
MEMBER BENEFITS CEDIA PROPEL New Affinity Program rolled out for CEDIA Members
GOVERNMENT ISSUES Tracked 640+ bills in all 50 states and Canada Tracked 80 regulations in 28 states Tracked federal legislation on PPP loans Tracked state legislation related Covid-19 small business funding Updated CEDIA’s licensing and regulatory reference directory
PROPRIETARY RESEARCH Members have access to CEDIA's research, including the annual Size and Scope report, free of charge.
For more details on our strategies please visit our website at cediaar.com CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
The CEDIA Leadership Series: A Recap A recap of the three-part series on navigating your business through challenges CEDIA’s Leadership Series events featured two guests that association members have come to know pretty well over the past months: Linzi Boyd and Darren Shirlaw, the team behind “BoB,” short for “Business of Branding.” The pair delivered keynotes at the 2020 virtual Expo Experience, and Boyd’s appeared on a pair of CEDIA podcasts as well. Boyd and Shirlaw gave a tandem presentation out of the gate called “Unlearn to Relearn,” noting that the recession we’re currently in wasn’t a V-shape at all — Shirlaw, an economist, sees the pandemic economy as an “L.” We’ve fallen off a cliff. “When recessions bite, and bite hard, fear is the first reaction,” he notes. As we slowly begin recovery (which will accelerate as vaccines are approved and distributed), Boyd notes that the adrenaline rush of coping — dealing with the shock of a financial/health crisis and all its attendant traumas — will wane. And when that happens, as people begin to levelset, that’s when it’s time to really think about where your business is headed. “The recovery won’t be so much financial as societal,” she says. “After a trauma, you have to adjust.” Boyd also notes that this is a time when employees could drift away. “There’s often a yearning for change; and that’s a time when people might be looking for new challenges.” One of her tips for staying connected to those employees: “More — and smaller — communications. Reach out to your people often, but keep the big picture, grand communications on hold for a bit.”
Brand DNA
That comms advice is one tidbit among many that leads into Boyd’s second presentation of the day, which addresses what she calls “Brand DNA,” the absolute stuff of which your brand is created. When a CEO or principal zooms out to really look at what their “brand” is built around, and what it can become, the end result is nothing short of startling. A concrete example of this is Jamie Oliver. “If you’re a restaurant owner, and you say, ‘We need to grow the business,’ what do you do? Increase sales? Get more butts in seats? Once you’ve got them in their CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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The Coming Boom
David Brown, Zonda
seats, how do you sell them more stuff and improve your margins?” But there’s another way to look at all of this: Oliver isn’t in the restaurant business anymore. He figured out that HE was the brand, and now is in the television production business. “He still has restaurants — they’re one of his products — but he’s figured out that he himself is the actual ‘brand.’” It’s an example of what Boyd calls “B2P” — not B2C or B2B, but a Business-to-People model that connects with purpose and authenticity.
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Boyd’s presentations bookended an overview on the housing market by David Brown and Kimberly Byrum of the firm Zonda. Darren Shirlaw had already outlined his recovery timeline — roughly 10 years of solid growth likely beginning in September of 2021 — and that long-term optimism seemed to be borne out by the raw data the Zonda team has generated. “What’s surprising is how even the housing market has been,” notes Brown. The reasons: low interest rates, a shift in spending away from things such as travel and meals out (which means more disposable income that can be funneled into the home), and the desire to improve one’s surroundings in a workfrom-home universe. “Buyers are moving away from places that are more expensive, and are more densely populated,” notes Brown, cautioning that there’s no singular housing market, but a vast patchwork of mini- and micro-economies. But while Sacramento’s gains are San Francisco’s losses, for example, demand remains high. “Builders are going into 2021 with some of the biggest backlogs they’ve ever seen,” says Brown.
Part Two
The opening session of day two, “Trend Lines — On and Offline, A
21st Century Mindset,” focused on just that; the three types of trends that have a direct impact on a business: societal, economic, and consumer. “These are macro trends,” notes Shirlaw. Staring with societal trends, Shirlaw noted that he’s looked back 100-plus years and distilled the four big booms that gave rise to economic growth. There was a pattern: They were all coupled with broad adoptions of technological advancements. “Around the turn of the last century, the early 1900s, rail became the dominant mode of transport,” says Shirlaw. “In the ‘20s, cars and radio fueled growth.” The crash, Great Depression, and World War II put a damper on things until what’s (now quaintly) called “the Space Age” took hold and sped the development of everything from rocket science to Velcro. “In the 1990s, the age of the internet drove the disruptions that still ripple through our lives right now,” says Shirlaw.
The Next Big Thing
Shirlaw’s predicted that we’ll see the next break in the coming decade. “We’re due sometime between ’21 and ’31,” say Shirlaw, and while we might have some predictions as to what might truly trigger something revolutionary (AI? XR?), it’s a tough call to truly put
THREE TYPES OF TRENDS HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON A BUSINESS: SOCIETAL, ECONOMIC, AND CONSUMER. one’s finger on The Next Big Thing. One thing to definitely keep an eye out for, however, is the manner in which a societal change can directly affect an economic shift (which leads us to the impact of the next category of trends). “The whaling industry nearly shut down overnight,” notes Shirlaw. “As a society, once we had alternatives to whale products, it didn’t take long to understand how cruel and dangerous whaling was. The fur trade saw a similar fate. Paper — that industry’s been clobbered by the digital age.” (Sorry, Dunder Miflin.) The pandemic is changing everything as well. “Habits are changing,” says Linzi Boyd. “And once that happens, the ‘old way of doings’ is likely gone.” That leads the discussion into consumer trends. A prime example? “So many manufacturers in the fashion industry shifted to masks and gowns over the past months,” says Boyd. Getting dressed up hasn’t been a thing for a while, but the need for PPE has supplanted that demand.
“We’re moving back to ‘local.’” Linzi Boyd
From “Type” to “Swipe”
This dovetails into a concept that’s at the heart of Boyd’s message: What’s your business model really about? Are you building off a need? Creating a need? Or are you responsible for the disruption that actually changes peoples’ habits?
“That last one is the most expensive to bring to market, but can give you the biggest market share,” says Boyd. “Think about Apple — from ‘type’ to ‘swipe.’” The notions that you need to sit at a computer to open your email or go grab your Nikon camera to take that candid family photo have been wiped away with a single invention: the smartphone. Boyd sees three upcoming changes linked to consumer trends: “People will want to go back to nature. There will be tech, but it’ll be fused into our lives in different ways. There’ll be a revolt against screens, and a need to reconnect with others after these long months of disconnection. “Number two: we’re moving back to ‘local.’ People don’t want cheap things shipped in unsustainable ways.” There’s brand cache in words like “MADE IN USA” or “MADE IN ITALY.” Shirlaw also notes that local manufacturing must return — supply chain disruptions during the pandemic demonstrated that quite clearly. The last springs from the second: “Conscious consumption is on the uptick,” says Boyd. “Fast fashion and food and disposable items are on the way out. People yearn to up-, down-, and recycle whenever they can.” The entire series has been recorded, and is available at cedia.net/leadershipseries CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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“Without education, you're just going to be a small, average business. CEDIA is the perfect, perfect way to be educated, to receive education in our business.” MAURICIO MEJÍA
I AM C 18
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Mauricio Mejía A conversation with Mauricio Mejía, HomeTech El Hogar Digital SAS, based in Medellín, Colombia How did you become interested in residential technology?
What should we know about the Colombian market that might be unique?
I began when I was very young, when I was in my university studies 17 years ago. At that moment, I was involved in a project of home automation with a microcontroller. The iPhone didn't exist, the iPad didn't exist, so it was a totally, totally different world. I was working with this microcontroller and with my computer I programmed the microcontroller to control the curtains, to control some vents, to control the lighting. That was my first contact with residential technology. I had to do a lot of troubleshooting — but I really enjoyed it.
People think of Bogotá when they think of Colombia. We have so many more cities: We have Barranquilla in the north, we have Medellin, we have Cali, we have Bucaramanga. I think that you have to put your focus in all the big cities of Colombia, not only Bogota. This is very, very important. Also, for some reason, all of our clients just love bass. I hear my colleagues says: "Man, people in Europe, they buy two towers, and that's it. Two towers is perfect." Here? It’s two towers and two subwoofers. Yeah, it's freaky.
You have multiple companies — how has your business grown?
You volunteer at CEDIA as an instructor. Why do you volunteer at CEDIA?
Yeah. When I began my first company, it was only three people. Today, at Home Tech, we have 47 people. I have another company that is a lighting company, Alpa Comercial-Ecotech. We work on commercial lighting projects and we have about 27 people. I also have a construction company with my brother, Projectos Urbanos. We began that company six years ago. In that company, we have 150 people.
I think that it's important that you share everything that you learn and grow — I think that CEDIA is the perfect way, and if you are a volunteer this is the perfect way to do that. Also, I offer CEDIA my training location to present courses throughout the year.
CEDIA CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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You encouraged your employee Lina Bentancour to also volunteer, and she’s done quite a bit for the association. Why her, and why did you encourage her to get involved, too? That's really easy: She's a technology geek. She was in charge of our technical team. And she loves to teach. At the company we get trained in networking, programming, smart homes; she got trained in all these areas, and also she loves audio. I think that she is just perfect as a volunteer. At the moment two other engineers at the company are getting trained to get the CEDIA certifications and eventually be instructors.
Do you guys have a mission statement or a guiding principle, something that hangs on the wall that you follow every day?
Yeah, of course. It's very easy and clear: It's “generate richness.” I explain to my team all the time that we have to generate richness for our employees. We have to generate richness to our providers. We have to generate richness to our country, to our partners, and also of course to our clients. But richness for our employees is first. You have to help your employees, and how you can create richness in your employees, training, offering opportunities, and providing a great salary.
Did you have mentors along the way, and what was the best piece of advice that those mentors provided you?
@HomeTechCol hometechcol facebook.com/ HomeTechColombia hometechcolombia.com
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CEDIA COMMUNICATES
Yeah. I have a mentor. He's my partner with the lighting company that I have. His name is Juan Alberto Antonio. I met him when I was in the university; he began a company for smart homes — he owns the biggest electrical company in Colombia. I went to his company
and I installed the computers, the Wi-Fi, the access points. We wound up becoming great friends. One day, early on in the partnership, he said, “Hey, Mauricio, it's very important you are an engineer, of course, but you have to continue to study, man. To maintain your company. You have to study administration, running a business.” That’s why I got an MBA.
You mentioned your older brother. It is a family business. That seems to be really important to you.
They are totally, totally important, and my mom and everybody. I’m kind of a workaholic, so family time, like barbecues and such, is really good for me.
How else do you relax?
Tennis! I'm going to the U.S. Open in Miami. I really love tennis. My brother, my family, we all play tennis.
What’s one piece of advice that you would give to somebody who is just starting out in the CEDIA industry?
If you have a hamburger restaurant, how much about that business really changes? How often has the recipe evolved over the time you’ve been in business? Technology, on the other hand, is moving so much faster, so you have to constantly be educated. Without education, you're just going to be a small, average business. CEDIA is the perfect, perfect way to be educated, to receive education in our business. It’s the difference between being just a mediocre firm and a thriving, growing company. What do you want to do? Just install some things and that's it? No. You want to be a professional, you want to be an expert, you want to be the trusted voice for your clients.
PROJECT PROFILE
HOW SONA PICKED UP SIX CEDIA FIRST-PLACE TROPHIES (AND ONE FINALIST NOD) FOR THEIR PROJECT “THE I’S HAVE IT” 22
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
SIX A ONE P
AWARDS PROJECT
I
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
t’s quite an accomplishment to win more than one CEDIA Award for a single project. It’s something else entirely to win six. That’s precisely what the UK firm SONA managed to do with their project called “The I’s Have It,” which won Best Integrated Home, Level III (EMEA), and Best Integrated Home (Global); as well as trophies for Best Lighting, Best Dressed Racks, Best Documentation, and Life Lived Best at Home in the EMEA region. (The home was also a finalist in the Technology Meets Design category.) SONA founder Simon Fulstow explains that one attribute of the project’s success was the fact that the client was a repeat customer. It made the discovery process smooth: “They come to that meeting with a very clear idea of what it is they're trying to achieve, which makes our life actually a whole lot easier.”
Lights and Shades
The final result includes an integrated lighting system with over 250 circuits. Fulstow says, “This client was keen to push each of the individual technologies as far as he could. So the lighting control system in this project was huge, and a lot of that came from our discussions. He’d respond to a suggestion: ‘If you're telling me it's possible, just what can we do with it?’ And as a result, we've got hundreds of actions happening off a single touch of a button in some cases.” There’s a lot of work in the shades and blinds, here, too, says Fulstow. “I think every window in his property has motorized blinds and/or curtains. Although this was a new build project, we were brought in after the main structure was put up and a lot of the steel was in place, so we then had to work quite closely with the main contractors to try and integrate lines into window headers and window reveals.”
AV Solutions
The property is full of sound, says Fulstow. “I think there's 78 in-ceiling speakers — something in that region.” Audio was a challenge in the spacious rooms in the home. “Regardless of the size or the quantity, we tried to take an approach of having a greater number of smaller speakers generally to give us a more consistent sound coverage across a room. It’s not a great space, acoustically, lots of glass, lots of hard floors, so it was important we had some control over the DSPs so that we were able to adjust those almost room by room.” A Crestron Sonic System was a big part of that solution. The home also features a set of “statement” speakers: a pair of top-of-the-line Meridian DSP8000s. CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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Audio was a challenge in the spacious rooms in the home. As for video, the heart of the system is “a modular 16x16 chassis with fiber output cards, so every TV has a fiber receiver behind it,” says Fulstow. “We actually used the PoE of the switches to power the fiber video receiver, so behind each TV there’s basically a PoE splitter that then powers the receiver, and that then gives us the ability should we need it to remotely reboot that receiver.” There’s no dedicated home cinema here, but several media rooms with 5.1 systems.
Dancing Water
The project won a CEDIA Award for Best Dressed Racks.
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Adding more visual delights, an amazing “dancing water” feature on the main patio area is controlled via 16
The final result includes an integrated lighting system with over 250 circuits. Every space in the residence is thoughtfully developed — hence the CEDIA Life Lived Best at Home Award that SONA received. An artificial skylight is just one of the many unique solutions at work here.
outlets with custom programming, so the client can select feature sequences. There’s also a stunning artificial skylight with a massive infrastructure. “The box that powers it is three meters wide by four meters long by, I think, over a meter tall; it weighs a half a ton or a third of a ton, this thing,” says Fulstow. The entire property features underfloor heating control, with towel radiator circuits in the en-suite bathrooms. To maintain the desired aesthetic throughout, SONA provided a system using in-floor and discreet, flush, inwall temperature sensors, all of which report back to central thermostats and manifold controllers. While Fulstow knew that this project was special as the integration unfolded, the recognition it’s received — particularly that Global, “best-of-thebest award” — clearly had a profound impact on the entire company. “I can't really put it into words, but it’s amazing, and I’m very, very proud of our team.” CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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Integrated Home Level III
Best Dressed Rack
Best Documentation
Best Lighting
Life Lived Best at Home
Technology Meets Design
EQUIPMENT LIST
The intricate lighting solutions here garnered SONA yet another CEDIA trophy.
ABB Amazon Echo Anthem AV APC Apple Artcoustic Autonomic Belden Cleerline Coelux Crestron CYP Danlers Domotz DrayTek Future Automation Heatmiser Hikvision ICE Cable iPort James Loudspeaker Legrand Lutron Luxul Mean Well Meridian Audio Middle Atlantic Oppo Origin Acoustics Orluna RTI Ruckus Sky Sonos Sony Triax Vision Wyrestorm
SONA sona.technology @ThinkSona CEDIA Member Since 2013
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DESIGN AT THE SPEED OF THOUGHT.
Every project begins with an idea. With The CEDIA Designer, transform your media room and home theater projects from idea to rendering in a matter of minutes. Developed by renowned designer Guy Singleton, The CEDIA Designer begins with your specifications, and then perfectly calculates every inch of your design, including the top technology brands for seamless integration. 3D CAD model, complete scale rendering, full documentation, technically perfect math—weeks of design work finished as soon as you can imagine it.
Visit TheCEDIADesigner.org for more information. CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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PROJECT PROFILE
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
EXPERIENCE IS
EVERYTHING INSIDE CINEGRATION’S CEDIA-AWARD-WINNING ARVADA EXPERIENCE CENTER
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CEDIA’s judging panel called the space “the perfect example of a true custom integration experience center.”
Cinegration’s Control4-driven space gives one an immediate, intuitive experience — it’s really set up like a high-tech home, not a retail store. That’s why the words “Experience Center” are right in the name of this 2020 CEDIA Award winner for Best Showroom (Americas). The firm went into the project with several very clear goals in mind, among them: • First and foremost, to educate clients (and close sales effectively), • To increase the segment of their business involved in lighting and shading, and • To educate builders and interior designers on new technologies and the importance of working with custom integrators early in the process. The team from Colorado’s Cinegration walks us through this award-winning space: “The showroom is divided into several well-lit experience zones, with darkness in between to create a sense of direction and movement. At the beginning of the demo, all zones of audio are playing at a level just above the noise floor. During the demonstration, the design consultant will use a local keypad button to ‘focus’ the audio into the zone they are demonstrating — in other words, mute all other zones and turn the current zone up. Pressing the button again will revert to the default demo state. “Most experience zones have a plaque that introduces a special idea and a call to action inviting the client to initiate a command to the system. We want the client to begin touching and feeling the system as soon as possible to get over initial trepidation. The plaques have the added benefit of creating a self-guided tour during the era of social distancing.” To the left of the entrance is the front hallway, with the experience plaque,
“Complete Lighting.” The purpose of this area is to inspire the prospect to begin mentally painting their home with light. To the right of the entrance and facing parallel to the cafe is the area called “Disguise and Hide.” This experience is based around extending the illusion of a 55-inch Samsung Frame TV in art mode. Full range audio is reproduced with Sonance Invisible Series speakers and subwoofers. The largest zone of the experience center is typically referred to as the “Family Room,” however, the accompanying experience plaque reads “Immersive Entertainment.” This room represents a living-area entertainment system, and the technology from dedicated theaters that can be used to improve experiences in great rooms, rec rooms, and common areas. Along the wing-wall of the cafe is an experience plaque called “The Power of Control,” and is mounted next to a Control4 touch screen. The experience plaque reads: “One Interface is all you need to access your entire smart home system” — and then the technology proves the point. Cinegration worked hand-in-hand with manufacturers to create this 1400-squarefoot center — for example, Fortress Seating built the sectional sofa to their specs. The firm explains the design work here: “Cinegration generated a 3D layout of the suite, while finish materials, custom cabinets, and furniture were curated by a local interior design firm.” Cinegration’s Arvada Experience Center drew a LOT of praise from CEDIA’s judging panel. They called it “stunning,” “the perfect example of a true custom integration experience center,” and “just a great presentation.”
EQUIPMENT LIST Apple Audioquest Cinematech Colorbeam Control4 Fortress Seating Future Automation Green Glue Hunter Douglas ICE Cable KEF Lutron Marantz Middle Atlantic NYCE Pakedge Roku Salamander Samsung Seeless Sonance Sony Strong SurgeX Triad Ubiquiti Ultratouch Wirepath Wisdom Audio
CINEGRATION cinegration.com CEDIA Member Since 2013
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HOW NEW LAND SOLUTIONS TRANSFORMED THEIR BUSINESS WITH KNX Luke Newland, owner of CEDIA member company New Land Solutions, explains how training in KNX building technology opened the door to a realm of exciting residential projects and stunning AV integrations for his company.
T
en years ago, New Land Solutions was a B2B infrastructure specialist. A large percentage of their work was installing cabling and supporting containment materials. It was a steady and profitable business which saw them became established as the voice and data experts. This reputation resulted in a demand for residential AV installations, bespoke connections, and building automation projects. We caught up with Luke to talk KNX, training, and how it has transformed his business.
How did your journey with KNX Start?
We were involved in a large project on a listed building that needed a solution to make use of the existing wiring. The design specification also included antique bronze push button switches. After researching and testing many products, we discovered and installed KNX. The project was a huge success and grew to over 400 lighting circuits, alongside the heating and AV elements. We knew this was only the tip of the iceberg though and that this was a solution which could open doors. It was complementing the work we did in AV perfectly, but we were inexperienced Smart home and building solutions. with the vast product Global. Secure. Connected. range at the time.
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What has KNX meant for your business and the projects you complete?
I’ve always been upfront about my appreciation of great designs and solving problems. I love working in the custom install environment. KNX ensures we can work with high-end products and create unique solutions. The most commonly-referenced project is our hidden cinema. This is one of those projects that proves if you can think it, there is a way you can execute it with KNX. The craziest ideas become reality. Your world opens up. I’ve lost count of how many KNX jobs we have out there now. The list of manufacturers and devices is constantly growing. It’s not a solution you can get burnt with.
Why did you train in KNX rather than other systems?
KNX has many benefits, making it very hard to recommend any other systems. Coming from a background in infrastructure and AV, some of the benefits that stood out include: • The fact it is established with 25 years of consistency, meaning considerable peace of mind for clients. • An unlimited combination of options and styles to match any environment. We’ve been able to build some show stopping cinema rooms because of this; KNX is compatible with over 500 different manufacturers. • A bus cable system, which can be installed next to the power cabling. • Advanced heating and BMS controls. • Completely transparent feedback from KNX devices, allowing for fast and logical fault finding. AV products can be notoriously hard to troubleshoot but KNX can eliminate that.
New Land Solutions' most commonly referenced project, the hidden cinema, runs on KNX.
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Nine years later, our installs continue to grow and we are taking further control of the buildings, including window treatments, energy monitors, and replacing large trend platforms. Each emerging building technology trend expands our business, and KNX has been a great success story for us.
What advice would you give to readers who are new to KNX?
My first tip would be to get yourself and your team trained. CEDIA works with experts to provide a range of courses to suit different levels of knowledge and roles within your business. You should also purchase a small system or starter kit to practice on. Then it’s just a case of trusting KNX and it will grow your business. We use it now for anything mission critical. It has also changed the way we manage AV with control solutions. Don’t be scared. There is so much help and training available. Every project we do now is better than the last. The guys at Ivory Egg are always on hand to support you as well. You’ll never be alone on your KNX journey. Finally, research all the KNX products — they have more than one use!
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KNX IN THE HOME
17th March (AM USA/PM Europe) CEDIA is running an online learning event called “KNX in the Home” that will provide a great introduction to KNX, a peek at the product range, and a dive into the integration possibilities. You can register for this free event now at cedia.net/knx-in-the-home
SPOTLIGHT Q&A
A CHAT WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COUNCIL
A FEW MINUTES WITH MIKE MANISCALCO, CHAIR OF CEDIA’S TECH COUNCIL Before we get to Mike, a note from the first Chairperson of the CEDIA Tech Council, Rich Green (Rich Green Design):
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
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The Technology Council was first proposed to the Board in March 2006 by Mike Heiss with the following purpose: “The same technologies that have enabled us to do business could as easily end up changing our business with harmful results. Through a CEDIA Technology Council we will be able to keep ahead of the curve, manage the changing technology scene and take appropriate actions to keep our businesses and our Association on a growth curve.“ The defining document for the Technology Council was a mind map created by Mario Leone and myself on October 6, 2006 in a dingy Indy hotel. It describes a CEDIA-wide effort to harness grass roots discoveries into a “digital scrapbook”, which became our first collaborative Wiki designed and managed by Michael Stein. The Wiki gave us insight to trends, opportunities, and threats. The Technology Council harvested the deep tribal knowledge of CEDIA members and made it actionable.
How often do you meet, and what working groups report to you? We have two annual meetings a year — full day events — but we've got the Discovery Working Group underneath us, which meets monthly. We also keep in touch constantly via Twist. The idea is to keep track of current trends and see where there may be issues or opportunities. We also work with the CEDIA standards and best-practices staff.
How often do you meet, and what working groups report to you? We typically interview people for the Working Group; that's how people typically get up to the Tech Council. They put in some time in the Discovery Working Group so we understand where their area of expertise lies. We have brought in outsiders to the Tech Council if there's a world-class thought leader on a certain hot topic that wants to participate.
Do you have examples of the gains the Council’s made? Publishing white papers is incredibly important, and the podcasts have been huge. We used to be in a situation where
we’d meet behind closed doors and the information would trickle out to the membership. But with the help of the marketing team, the white papers, the Two-Minute Tech Reads, and the techdriven podcasts, we’re reaching a lot more people.
What are the big predictions the Tech Council’s gotten right since its inception? Well, networking. We sounded the alarm on networking back in the mid-2000s. We told the Board that networking is going to change the game — homes are going to be digital and connected, and our membership is not equipped for that disruption. The Tech Council played a big role in the introduction of new classes and certifications to address that — it’s been huge.
engineered spaces — all these things that were on the five- to 10-year horizon are now here today. That’s really amazing.
You're the first volunteer that I ever interviewed when I came aboard. So why have you been doing this for so long? It's two things. It's the friends and relationships and the respect you gain and how much you learn from others. The other piece is that the Tech Council has always been near and dear to me is because the ideas behind Ihiji were in a lot of ways validated by some of the work I was doing at the time on the Discovery Working Group. It was a CEDIA event that cemented the idea — and it was immediately after what we used to call the “Business Exchange” that we founded Ihiji.
Have there been surprises? The pandemic has been the biggest surprise. And within that disruption, I think there’s a change afoot that can offer some really interesting opportunities for the future. Wellness and health, telework and e-learning with
Mike Maniscalco is the founder of the strategic consulting firm Pytheas, and was one of the original founders of the remote monitoring firm Ihiji.
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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CHALLENGE & SOLUTION
Marine Integration
THE SAME BUT MORE SO
A
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
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ndrew Royall, whose UK firm Eclectic Home Technology has handled a good bit of work on yacht integration, sums up the marine segment thusly: “This world is completely different, but it's exactly the same.” “It has its own language,” Royall explains. “It has its own support network. It has its own requirements. It has its own foibles, but fundamentally it's a television on a wall, a CCTV camera, it's a music system. So it's everything that everything that a integrator does, but turned up to 11 and done on a different planet.” If an integrator is interested in tackling seafaring projects, there’s a few things to know out of the gate. Some are pretty obvious: You’ll need to be familiar with marine-grade gear, and you’ll need to be comfortable working in extraordinarily tight quarters. Space is nearly always at a premium in these projects. “You’ve got to use racks that can pull
out for service,” notes Stephan Goodhue of New Zealand’s Liquid Automation. “You’ve got to understand how much heat is going to be generated and how it can be dissipated.” And don’t forget that the structure you’re integrating is going to be moving, says Goodhue: “When you finish a house, it doesn’t sail offsite and go bashing into waves.” Additionally, these vessels are often chartered: That means that any kind of user interface has to have the same level of flexibility and simplicity that one might find in solutions similar to those in the hospitality industry.
Remote Challenges
Beyond terrific UI design, remote access to troubleshoot a moving target is key – and that presents another universe of issues, not the least of which is internet speeds that can vary from place to place. “It’s a matter of factoring the lowest common denominator,” says Royall. “The people who are chartering these vessels are spending a fortune, and they have no patience for any failure of any kind.”
Images: Liquid Automation
This means that a great working relationship with the crew is critical. And among those who man these yachts, there’s often a key point of contact. “A key differentiator between a yacht and a house is that you've got somebody that's actually on board as the chief engineer, who's actually pretty good at what we do anyway,” says Royall. “They're a jack-of-all-trades, but they are a fairly safe pair of hands to get in and roll up their sleeves and do some of the more simple patches. And they're willing to do it because it's in their interests to keep their yacht rolling at one hundred percent.”
A great working relationship with the crew is critical. Power Shifts
Another consideration: While power stored aboard in batteries is fairly easily controlled, and while firms like Liquid Automation can separate power supplies for the audio-visual systems from, say, navigation or security systems, a vessel in port will be plugged in locally. Bruce Cox of Liquid Automation explains: “Europe is fairly standard. But then if they're heading off to America or the Caribbean, then you get some other sort of interesting funky anomalies along the way.” These are discussions that involve the tradespeople who are either building or retro-fitting the vessel: The folks at the shipyard. “If you're planning on leaving your yacht in Europe the whole time, great,” Cox continues. “If you're going to take it to different voltage countries, maybe we need to have a, a bigger, better conversation with the shipyard as about how we manage that.” Goodhue adds that the conversation about different ports of call extends to entertainment solutions: “We are we certainly going to need to have to have a conversation about how we manage your television signals as you move from place to place as well.” CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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A look back at the annual Consumer Electronic Show as it moved from Vegas to a virtual platform
CES Tak
T
here’s a quote from British economist Christopher Freeman that serves as nice a touchstone for this year’s (online-only) CES: “Innovation accelerates and bunches up during economic downturns only to be unleashed as the economy begins to recover, ushering in powerful new waves of technological change.” In fact, Steve Koenig (vice president of research) and Lesley Rohrbaugh (director of research) for CTA used the quote to open and frame their “Tech Trends to Watch” presentation, along with a batch of eye-opening stats. “Global tech adoption is in fast forward,” says Koenig, noting that at the start of the pandemic, virtual health appointments increased 15-fold in just eight days, and 10 years’ worth of e-commerce was compressed into eight weeks. Rohrbaugh picks up on the theme, splitting those aforementioned trends into these buckets: • Digital health • Digital transformation • Robotics and drones • Vehicle technology • 5G connectivity • Smart cities
Wellness Takes Top Billing
Some of these blend with one another, obviously; Rohrbaugh notes that robots are handling everything from sanitizing everything from
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airplanes to hospital halls, and even helping as triage assistants. Drones can deliver meds. “Healthcare is at the vanguard of this,” says Koenig. “Sales of connected health monitoring devices have grown 73% from 2019 to 2020 ($365 million to $632 million year-over-year), and we project they’ll grow another 34% in '21.” Koenig also notes that wearable devices have gone beyond the wrist, mentioning that the Oura ring (which resembles a wedding band) was used by the NBA to monitor the health of their players as they worked through the pandemic’s “bubble” season. The notion of “digital transformation” was apparent across the board, as fitness centers offered not just online classes but other products such as nutrition seminars, and schools and even courts went virtual. Back to robotics, customers became more and more comfortable with the idea of autonomous vehicles or drones for delivery, while more and more warehouses adopted mechanical assistants. In the area of vehicle tech, GM has begun planning an all-electric future while they work on trucks that can “crab-walk” — literally, drive diagonally. When it comes to 5G, Koenig notes that deployment of these networks has been inconsistent, but, “We’ll see widespread adoption by the middle of the decade.” Rohrbaugh outlines the future of the smart city accelerated by the pandemic: “Both civic leaders and residents want to know if there’s a hotspot, and things like dashboards and kiosks can help.”
Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
eaways
Wellness, AI, and All Things Residential
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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CES
Takeaways The Manufacturers A number of the big players in the CEDIA space (and at its fringes) offered concrete examples at their Day One press conferences. Some examples: LG, interestingly enough, led by speaking first about safety in the home — “with appliances for personal and environmental care,” as they put it; notably introducing a line of air purification products that ranged from the commercial to a high-tech personal mask. As far as convenience goes, LG’s laundry tower features a washer that tells the dryer the right cycle to use for a load, and their appliances issue reports to the owner on data from resource usage to potential maintenance issues. Samsung called its recorded presentation “Better Normal For All,” with a Samsung Health Trainer built into their televisions — it’s part of another trend not mentioned by the CTA team, companies keeping you in their particular ecosystems with bespoke content. The firm also stressed their focus on more intuitive control features and introduced a 110-inch micro-LED. Kohler weighed in with a voicecontrolled faucet system that poured a perfect single cup of water with a command from Alexa, and then turned their attention to spa-like experiences in the bathroom. Sony is matching a trend we’ve seen with other companies such as LG and Samsung: They make gadgets, and they create content to use on those gadgets. They’re still touting their next-gen console (perhaps you heard they released the PS5 in November?), but they’re also stressing their work on devices that help content creators.
For Cornelius, “AI is better than people” when it comes to identifying malicious code — it’s a fantastic cybersecurity tool. “We can amass huge, curated data sets with billions of training files. It really shines when it comes across an unknown threat — malware we hadn’t seen before. It picks up those patterns and identifies it.” Karlin notes that the sci-fi concepts of AI are rapidly becoming overturned. “It’s not magic, not mystical,” she says. “It’s a very effective way to improve predictions, improve automation, and improve optimization.” (Think of AI upscaling a display image, for example.) “It’s been used to accelerate clinical trials, fix supply chains, curate
learning content — we are just now leveraging the huge amounts of data and the increased power of computing to our benefit.” Karlin also sees great opportunity for AI to monitor infrastructures that can then be completely “self-healing.” For Guo, we’re now in something of the second-generation of artificial intelligence. “With old school AI, back in the early 2000s, the technology was just about ‘prediction math’ — now we’re into deep learning: Understanding what’s in a photo, powering self-driving cars, and more under-the-hood stuff (like what his colleagues had noted) that consumers don’t see. “It’s now thinking more like a human.”
Wellness was big at CES, and LG offered a range of products for the home in this segment.
Panels Aplenty A fascinating panel discussion (and there are hours upon hours of these available on-demand) was titled “The Power of AI,” hosted by Jeremy Kaplan (editor-in-chief of Digital Trends) and featured Eric Cornelius (chief product architect, Blackberry), Kevin Guo (CEO, Hive), and Bridget Karlin (global managing director, CTO, and VP, IBM).
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Samsung sells you the display — and then the content for an exhaustive workout.
An Integrator-Only Brand Promoting Experiences of Light Designed with custom integration in mind to elevate the human experience of light while connecting on a deeper level in the space.
AISPIRE.COM
SALES@AISPIRE.COM
Catering to the needs of the modern technologist and integrator.
David Meyer CEDIA Technical Research Consultant
Standards Update Jan 2021: CEDIA Leads Recommended Practice Efforts
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2
021 marks a significant elevation for CEDIA in the world of industry standards. Back in August 2020 it was announced that CEDIA had become an ANSIrecognized Accredited Standards Developer. The next goal was for CEDIA to take responsibility for the administration of the joint CEDIA/ Consumer Technology Association (CTA) R10 working groups, as the CTA had been responsible for running them to date. We’re pleased to report that this has taken effect as of January 2021, with CEDIA now leading the way. In case you’re not familiar, R10 is the codename given to the Residential Systems Committee. Its purpose is to establish standards and recommended practices for the design and installation of residential technology systems. This supports manufacturers, systems designers, and integrators to ensure the highest levels of professionalism and technical excellence are promoted and implemented. R10 is composed of working groups (WGs) of expert volunteers, such as WG1 for Audio, and WG3 for Video. Other groups are assembled as needs arise. Resulting recommended practices were titled by the CTA as Consumer Electronics Bulletins (CEB). For example: • CTA/CEDIA-CEB22 Home Theater Recommended Practice: Audio Design, and • CTA/CEDIA-CEB23-B Home Theater Video Design (the “B” on the end indicates a revision). With the change in management comes a more intuitive naming convention, changing from Bulletin to Recommended Practice. As such, each new title prefix will change from CEB to RP. Also, as standards and recommended practices are typically reputed as rather gruelling documents, a new layout is designed to encourage readability and navigation. After all, the power of such a document lies with it actually being used — and regularly.
New publications
The first publication under CEDIA’s leadership is CEDIA/CTARP28 HDMI System Design and Verification Recommended Practice. You may have heard this spoken about on CEDIA podcasts and webinars over several months, referring to it as CEB28. This is the very same document, simply changed from CEB28 to RP28, debuting in the new, fresh format. Its
development has been a huge effort from R10 WG3 for some two-and-ahalf years, and we’re confident it will prove to be an invaluable resource for integrators globally. Also on the go is the revision of CEB22 by R10 WG1. This is progressing very well with an aweinspiring group of some of the industry’s greatest minds in audio. If you haven’t listened already, check out the CEDIA Podcast “Best Practices Update (2020_25b)” from 2020 to learn more. When the working group wraps, instead of the document being named CEB22-A to denote the update, it will launch instead as CEDIA/CTARP22 Multi-Channel Audio Room Design Recommended Practice. Watch this space. Lastly, following the release of RP28 there’s no rest for WG3 as they launch straight into the revision of CEB23-B (last updated 2017). Most notably, this will need to add provisions for HDR video, as well as a plethora of other advancements including increasing resolutions and frame rates. Following the same pattern, expect this to develop in due course as CEDIA/CTA-RP23.
Why Do Standards Matter?
Throughout 2020 CEDIA has consolidated the relationships between education, certification (also now with independent ANSI accreditation), and workforce development.
With all this talk of recommended practices, standards have hardly gotten a mention. Remember, the primary difference between a standard and a recommended practice is encapsulated in “shall” versus “should.” That is, a standard defines rules whereas a recommended practice is just that: a recommendation. Both are equally important. Throughout 2020 CEDIA has consolidated the relationships between education, certification (also now with independent ANSI accreditation), and workforce development. Standards and recommended practices weave through all of these. Walt Zerbe, CEDIA’s senior director of technology and standards, describes it as “the base of the pyramid.” It’s important to note that R10 will still remain a valued collaboration between CEDIA and the CTA. We’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the CTA for their years of leadership in these efforts, and we look forward to continuing to work together to the benefit of the industry. Anyone interesting in contributing to R10 should contact the CEDIA Technology and Standards department at standards@cedia.org.
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2 MINUTE TECH READ
Ian Bryant CEDIA Senior Director Strategic Partnerships
Preparing for an
Internet Invasion
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I
f you haven’t heard, SpaceX and the innovative mind of Elon Musk have created a new satellite internet company called Starlink. (Not to be confused with Skynet, the software that became self-aware and took over the world on August 29, 1997 – wait, sorry, that was a movie.) Starlink is a satellite internet service that places thousands of satellites in LEO (Low Earth Orbit), 550 kilometers up. Starlink is staged to be a game changer not just for the satellite internet market but for internet providers as a whole. The venture’s claiming starting data speeds of 50 to 150mb/s with 20-40ms latency, and as more satellites come into orbit, 16-19ms and a whopping 1Gbps of download speeds. Additionally, the dish is only 19 inches in diameter, which is significantly smaller from competitors, most of which are around 36 inches. Current satellite internet providers are offering 12-100mb/s but at latency speeds of 594-624ms. These provider programs range from $30 to $150 per month depending on speed options. Starlink is currently only $99 (flat rate), with speeds dependent on location. Currently there are no data caps. Like all satellite internet service providers, Stralink has limitations. Most have to do with obstructions (like trees or clouds) that can slow down or disconnect your internet. One interesting claim: Starlink says that it will detect snow and melt it, so it does not build up on a dish. However, the firm says it cannot do anything about accumulation around the dish that could then cause an obstruction.
Beta’s Better Than Nothing
Starlink is currently in beta, taking applications and shipping to consumers as we speak. With this soft launch, which they call their “Better Than Nothing Beta” program, the company is actively trying to lower consumer expectations at first.
You may recall that the recent SpaceX launch on January 24 included 10 Starlink satellites, which is slowly increasing their footprint in space and allowing for faster speeds and more coverage for the internet provider. There are a few other items of interest here: There are concerns regarding “space clutter” or “space junk,” which includes nearly 6,000 satellites and 500,000 pieces of junk, with Starlink only adding to the total. Some are genuinely concerned that in the not-so-near future humans will struggle to leave orbit due to the sheer number of items circling the earth. Additionally, it’s been reported that the FCC will be giving $886 million in subsidies to Starlink to help in its extremely ambitious goal to get broadband internet to rural areas around the U.S. The program is said to be $9.2 billion in total. This push to create new high-speed internet options and to get them to rural areas has sparked the interest of some other big names in the technology world. Amazon is already working on what they call “Project Keiper” with claims of a 12-inch dish, a commitment of $10 billon in R&D, and approval from the FCC to launch 3,236 Satellites in orbit to support it. What does all this mean? For starters: High speed internet service for billions who live in rural areas who have never had an option. Serious competition in the internet service provider (ISP) market will challenge the traditional cable and phone companies. More connected devices, more streaming services, more of everything that requires high speed internet connections in the home — that also means more work for integrators in the custom market. If you want to participate in the “Better Than Nothing Beta” program you can sign up on the Starlink website here: www.starlink.com
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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INDUSTRY Q&A
Using
VR as a
Sales Tool
speaking to Tony Edwards of Jooced Custom Sound and Vision 46
CEDIA COMMUNICATES
CEDIA: First, how are you using VR in your business?
advanced in the time you’ve been using it and how?
Tony Edwards: We use VR for mockups of our cinema rooms to help engage the client and give an accurate representation of the design and space. This allows our clients to make informed design decisions before moving forward.
Edwards: I have found the speed a VR render can now be created is far quicker than it was when we first adopted the technology.
We also used VR for the design and implementation of our showroom in Rugby. This ensured the various trades involved could see our vision and execute it without any guesswork. It was a massive help.
CEDIA: How successful has this strategy been? Edwards: We have won several six-figure projects with the aid of the VR showroom. It just helps people imagine themselves in the space. Once people have experienced the tech at our showroom and then seen their room firsthand, it’s much easier to close the deal. CEDIA: What advances would you like to see next?
“We have won several six-figure projects with the aid of the VR showroom.” Tony Edwards, Jooced Custom Sound and Vision CEDIA: Are you planning on sticking with this process? Edwards: Yes. Going back to just overhead drawings at this stage feels like a step back into the Stone Age. CEDIA: What problems, if any, have you encountered with the technology? Edwards: We have found, if you are too heavily reliant on the virtual reality system, it can mean the guesswork on the project can translate to the dimensions. This is why we ensure we have detailed plan and elevation drawings to supplement the VR representation. Additionally, some people find it difficult to accept the technology — it makes them feel unbalanced. CEDIA: That leads to the next question: Are clients ever reticent to use the technology? Edwards: I do find sometimes people are a little shy when it comes to putting on the headgear but once they are immersed in the environment, they almost forget the wider world around them and fully focus on the decisions which need to be made. CEDIA: How has the tech developed or
Edwards: Live alterations in real time. For instance, we could change room colors and equipment to meet the client’s request then and there. This likely exists — or is in development — I just haven’t come across it yet. CEDIA: Let’s zoom out a little. What other applications can this tech be used for — gaming and entertainment, obviously, but what about education/training, for example? You mentioned how helpful it was in sharing the vision for your showroom with other tradespeople. Edwards: I think this technology will become far more prevalent in manual and risk-based professions for training in a safe environment prior to real world experience. Take my background in the electrical industry, for instance. Live work training could be performed in VR or AR. It has the potential to save lives and cut down on work-based injuries during the training process. CEDIA: How important will audio be in any of these other applications? Edwards: Audio is massively important to complete the immersive experience. CEDIA: And how important will haptics be as this tech develops? Edwards: As with audio haptics help immerse the user in the experience. With training, for instance, it will vastly help the user feel the connections being made in the experience. CEDIA: What are the dangers inherent in this technology? Edwards: Addiction, especially in gaming, is a real concern, but I think the positives vastly override the dangers. CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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Ed Wenck Content Director, CEDIA
THE CEDIA PODCAST:
Project Management: The 30,000-Foot View
S
imon Buddle is a wellknown figure at CEDIA — he’s involved in standards development with CEDIA, the IET, and others, and has taught many, many courses during his tenure with the association. One of his specialties: teaching the nuts and bolts of project management. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), in order to define “project management,”
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one first needs to define a “project.” The PMI website breaks it down: [A project is] a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. …
Want to learn more? Check out the CEDIA podcast “Project Management,” episode 197 at CEDIA.net.
If you’re a small (or even tiny) business, you’ve got to be able to wear multiple hats. So who becomes the “project manager?”
Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. The trouble a great many integration firms run into — especially the smaller ones — is that “project management” becomes a catch-as-catch-can kind of exercise. Buddle explains, “You get an engineer going, ‘Oh, I need to get this onto the site today, because I spoke to the builder last week and he told me that the ceilings are closing up.’ And so actually what that person's doing is a bit of project management.” The problems become obvious: Is that individual communicating what’s happening to the rest of the team? Is what he or she is doing fitting into an agreed-upon timeline? Is the inventory there for whatever’s needed for that aspect? Is there another aspect of the job that the engineer should be paying attention to that may fall by the wayside as the employee is
focused on this particular aspect? “Project management is a job in and of itself,” says Buddle. “You can be trained as a project manager. You can get a degree as a project manager. You don't need to know necessarily about the technicalities of what you're delivering. You need to know how to deliver a project. So the key is putting that mindset into our business, understand as well, project management takes a lot of time.”
Too Many Cooks
Without an overarching supervisor, someone who’s keeping both the final goal in mind as well as checking off the boxes of daily minutia, everybody's then doing a little portion of the project management and people aren't necessarily communicating with one another properly. The question becomes: If you’re a small (or even tiny) business, you’ve got to be able to wear got to wear multiple hats. So
who becomes the “project manager?” “I think you have to decide fairly early on who within the business is going to be closest to the project for the duration of it,” says Buddle. “It may be a difficult call, but for example, if you are the senior engineer, the company’s going to make you the project manager.” The issue then becomes proper time apportionment — but what technicians and engineers who are “in the thick of it” often don’t realize is that spending an allotment of time on project management will likely result in fewer man-hours than an uncoordinated, scattershot approach. “It's very easy for jobs to get away from you if you don't manage them, plan them,” says Buddle. “If you’ve been planning properly, sure you'll have some problems, but there'll be fewer. But if you don't start designing until you're sitting on the customer's floor on a Friday night, you're going to have a lot of problems.” CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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THE
WE LESSONS LEARNED Reflecting on how the CEDIA Education team navigated one of the toughest years in recent memory
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Samantha Ventura Senior Vice President of Education and Training, CEDIA
We stayed the course, but also recognized the uncharted territory we were having to navigate.
2020 is behind us. The pandemic isn’t yet, but we managed as best we could. I am proud to say that as an organization CEDIA did its best to support the various needs of our members, our partner organizations, and our global industry. That meant being flexible, remaining open to suggestions, and supporting strong collaboration with our volunteers, who have done more than we could have ever hoped for to help support their friends and industry partners during this critical time. At CEDIA we immediately mobilized our global team to first recognize the struggles our members were having within their organizations. We surveyed, launched the CEDIASTRONG campaign, provided free educational opportunities, wrote articles, hosted global webinars and podcasts, and attempted to do what we could to support some semblance of normality for our members. We also forged ahead to launch the CEDIA Academy, completed our two new career pathways and corresponding certifications, hosted our 2020 Expo virtual conference, and persevered to finish up the remaining pieces of ANSI accreditation for our Standards and our Certifications. We stayed the course, but also recognized the uncharted territory we were having to navigate. In fact, there was no “absolute trend” that dominated during this past year with regard to people losing or gaining business, downsizing or hiring, pivoting or doubling down on tried-and-true business strategies — most everyone was pushed into a survival mode mentality that became very specific to all of our members and their individual challenges. The education we provided was shared virtually through our own channels and through events hosted by many of our industry partners. We featured topics on leading through change, best practices for virtual presentations, how to use digital marketing for economic reach — just to name a few. We changed our CEDIA Outreach Instructor program to a fully virtual model, providing better reach into the credentialing class and allowing for more relationships to be built by our COIs with their design and build communities. We strived
to localize all our online content and worked to create education that is more diversified and inclusive, committing to educate a holistically trained workforce. Every step of the way, CEDIA’s education team continued to brush up on our own professional development and tried to bring topics to the forefront that would be both practical and aspirational for our members. We kept in close contact with our volunteers, we tried to keep to some of what we had scheduled for this year, and in some instances we asked for grace for the things we just could not see to completion. Throughout the entire year we were unwavering in our commitment to live up to our own catch phrase, “we are strongest when we are stronger together.” Now, as we finish out 2020 and look ahead to all that we have planned in 2021, we are hopeful, and we are grateful. We have listened to our members this year and have developed our 2021 plans and goals with their needs in mind. We are energized by all that we have laid out for completion: higher level tracks of learning, new in-person workshops, topics that are explored in a variety of ways and offered through different avenues to meet the needs and the global regions of all our learners. We are proud of our two new certifications, the Cabling and Infrastructure (CIT) and the Integrated Systems Technician (IST) certifications, and the pathways of learning that accompany them. We are committed to providing the best foundational knowledge for a technician in our industry, as well as working to offer the hands-on training that helps take that knowledge to practice, with some of our best industry experts and trainers. We have come to 2021 with an arsenal of knowledge, and we are thrilled to be able to share it with our members and our industry. If this year has taught us anything, it is that there is no “normal” and no way to ever fully predict and prepare for what may come. Yet to see the dedication, commitment, and resilience of our members, our volunteers, our teams, and our industry, we feel inspired to challenge adversity together, continuing to push the boundaries on what we have done in the past, to make way for collaborative innovation in the future. CEDIA COMMUNICATES
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THE LAST 5% WISDOM FROM OUR MEMBERS (AND SOME OTHERS, TOO) “The toughest part of a job? Sometimes it’s the last 5%.” – Anon.
Median revenue for a custom installation company is up well over 10% from 2019. Jason Knott (CE Pro) on a surprising stat that his research uncovered on the CEDIA podcast “Review and Preview – 2020 and 2021”
Volunteer! Take a chance, meet more people, get involved. As an African-American woman in this industry, it was essential that I had connections with other people who were experts in integration. Janeen Gaskins (G.A.S.K.I.N.S. Charity, CEDIA Education Volunteer of the Year Award 2020 recipient) on the importance of volunteering from CEDIA’s Annual Report Webinar
You know what’s it like when you come out of a great movie — you’re in an alternate universe, and it takes a while to shake it off? You’re in the car, you’re driving home, and you’re still affected by it. That’s nothing compared to what is about to happen to us. Rich Green (Rich Green Design) on the psychological impacts of extended reality from the CEDIA Podcast “XR Update”
I am a CEDIA member because that’s the only platform available to integrators like us to build a community with colleagues, raise our standards, and transform ourselves from being merely businessmen into experts – it’s the perfect place to get your personal perspective out of the way and get the right perspective in place. Maulik Unadkat (Beyond Alliance) on the importance of CEDIA membership, from CEDIA’s Annual Report Webinar
Our standard response when asked what our favorite TV is to reply with a simple question: “What is your favorite screwdriver? Philips or bladed or Torx or hex or Robertson?” Old, sage techs simply say, “Use the right tool for the job.” Joel Silver (ISE) in a conversation with CEDIA’s Walt Zerbe about the fundamental differences between various displays
As a rep firm, we though it was really important to get the information out there, not just to our integrators, but the design community. Jason Sayen (LK & Associates) on why he’s a CEDIA Outreach Instructor, from CEDIA’s Annual Report Webinar
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