Residential Tech Talks

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Phil Jones, director of global training for Sound United, the parent company of audio brands: Denon, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Boston Acoustics, Classe, and the recently acquired Bowers & Wilkins. Phil and Jeremy first connected during Sound United’s inaugural dealer conference a few years ago in New Orleans, where Jeremy gained appreciation for Phil’s enthusiasm for technology and the way...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Ari Supran, CEO of Sonance, iPort, and James Loudspeaker in San Clemente, CA. Jeremy and Ari have known each other for more than 15 years, going back to Ari’s days at Lutron. They’re both New York Yankees and Georgia Bulldogs fans, which is a pretty rare sports combination. Despite the temptation to do so, Jeremy doesn’t turn this into a sports podcast because he really wanted to discuss an impressive new...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with our first second-time guest, Alex Capecelatro, founder and CEO Josh.ai, the natural language voice control system catering to the custom integration channel. The reason for the rare return visit? On the day that this podcast drops, Alex and his team hosted a much ballyhooed virtual Keynote in Los Angeles, where the company’s executive team revealed a pair of new products designed to appeal not only to custom...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Heather Sidorowicz, owner of Southtown Audio Video in Hamburg, NY. Sidorowicz, who is also a former CEDIA board member and current contributing writer to Residential Tech Today, discusses the challenging early years of running her tech integration business after purchasing it from her father, where she acquired the proper business acumen to drive innovation within her company, and how those experiences opened...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Michael Heiss, a Los Angeles-based contributing editor to Residential Tech Today, former audio and video product and marketing executive, and this year’s CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award winner. As a product and marketing executive at Harman International, Michael was responsible for many breakthrough audio and video products. On the entertainment side of the business he was a promotion manager at NBC and was...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with 2020 CEDIA Fellow Dennis Erskine, founder of Erskine Group, a Colorado-based private cinema design/build firm. Dennis helped shape several significant aspects of the residential technology integration industry and CEDIA as a global organization, serving now as chairman of the CEDIA Certification Commission. He has been a dedicated volunteer and home theater design subject matter expert for years with the...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Sean Weiner, former owner of Starr Systems, a Baltimore-based custom integration company that is now part of the Bravas network of independent custom integration companies. Weiner has unique insight, having served as CTO of Bravas when it launched a year ago and now as head of the Baltimore branch after the departure of its former GM. Visit Bravas.com to check out the latest developments from Bravas. Today’s...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with legendary Leon Speakers Founder Noah Kaplan, who recalls his early artistic upbringing and shares the little-known fact that his dad is an infectious disease specialist who went to college with Dr. Anthony Fauci at Cornell and was one of the early pioneers in HIV research in New York City. Also, learn how Leon is adapting to the current COVID reality and what the company has in store for its new Leon Live...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Audio Advice CEO Scott Newnam about his company’s recently launched online home theater design tool, which is free for consumers and professionals anywhere to use. With a Harvard Business School, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley background, Newnam came to the home integration business later than most, but with no less passion or dedication. He has been instrumental in his company’s successful blend of...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Mike Phillips, CEO and co-founder of Sense Labs, a Cambridge, Massachusetts company whose Sense Home Energy Monitor provides real-time insights into home energy consumption. He was a researcher at MIT before going on to co-found two companies (SpeechWorks and Vlingo) that brought speech recognition capabilities to call centers and to mobile phones, including the technology that would go on to power virtual...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with one of his favorite custom home tech writers who, in his day job, is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Myrtle Beach, SC. In this especially candid conversation, Jeremy and his good friend John recall how they met while on a trip to Microsoft headquarters, how they ended up rooming together at trade shows and discovered a shared fandom for Taylor Swift and Disney World. Eventually, they discuss smart home...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Robbie Cabral, inventor, CEO, and founder of Los Angeles-based BenjiLock, a finger-print enabled padlock manufacturer that was introduced to the tech industry at CES 2017 and soon after was made famous on ABC’s SharkTank. Padlocks for gym lockers and bikes aren’t typically the focus of Residential TechTalks, but Cabral is expanding his focus into the smart home, so we’ll discuss that development and more in...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Joe Piccirilli, managing director of Rosewater Energy Group, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Joe is an accomplished consultant, strategist, and speaker with almost five decades of experience that spans across the consumer electronics, systems integration, and energy industries. In his current capacity at RoseWater, he oversees the manufacturing, sales, and distribution of new technology for residential power storage...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Mark Feinberg, president of Home Theater Advisors, a custom integration firm specializing in middle market projects in New York City. Unlike so many companies in the home tech install business that may scoff at more modest budgets, Mark embraces the idea of taking on projects in the $2,000-$30,000 range – even in the typically extreme high-end NYC market – noting in his marketing that “no project is too...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Brandon White, director of new product development at Vanco International, a U.S. manufacturer of premium audio/video products and electronic accessories. In this week’s episode, we learn more about an article Brandon wrote for the June/July 2020 issue of Residential Tech Today, where he shares how he has followed in his father’s footsteps in the AV business and how his own young son is already showing...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki chats with Sam Cavitt, owner of Paradise Theater, a company dedicated to delivering “excellence always” with their private home cinema designs. Find out how Sam evolved from custom integrator to theater designer, how he ended up living in Hawaii, and why he is on a mission to save the artform of film by embracing the concept of cinema connoisseurship. Visit: https://www.paradisetheater.tv/blog to learn more. Today’s...

Episode 18: Roomba Inventor Joe Jones Takes Robotics Into the Garden In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki is joined by Joe Jones, inventor of arguably the most successful robot ever made, iRobot’s Roomba robotic vacuum. These days, he is promoting his company Franklin Robotics’ newest invention, called Tertill, the world’s first residential weeding robot. Find out how Jones comes up with new ideas and brings his robotic creations to life (uh oh). Visit:...

Episode 17: Richard Millson Takes the Pain Out of Tech Integration In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki is joined by Richard Millson, CEO of Millson Technologies, a premiere residential electronic systems provider in Vancouver, Canada. Find out how Millson’s 1970s high school job as a teen disco DJ led to a learn-on-the-job business in commercial and residential technology integration. These days, Millson is renowned for his mastery of the multi-dwelling...

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki is joined by Todd Anthony Puma, a respected custom integrator, tech blogger, and owner of The Source Home Theater in New Jersey. Find out how Puma handled the very early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when he was turned away from a service call into New York City and how he been reaching out to his client base with great CARE, and even beginning to find installation and service opportunities picking up in New Jersey....

In this episode, Residential Tech Today Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki is joined by Mitchell Klein, Z-Wave Alliance executive director and 2019 CEDIA Lifetime Award winner, a lifelong Boston sports (and very recent Tampa Bay Bucs) fan with 25 years of custom integration industry knowledge and wisdom. Find out what insights Mitchell offers from his experience as an integrator, manufacturer executive, trade association president, and tech protocol alliance director, and how Z-Wave parent...