On the road in Bristol, we're joined by Matt Zachrisson-Smith, Managing Director of Total Solutions and Owen Maddock, Principal of Connected Works and co-founder of the HomeTechGallery hashtag. As £1 million plus properties surge in Bristol and elsewhere around the country, we examine what the integrator's life is like outside of London. We also take a look at the recent media obsession with smart home security and ask if this is a problem for professional home technology integrators. Then, we talk in-depth about media rooms and how the industry can achieve a great customer experience in these increasingly popular spaces. Hear what Owen and Matt have to say and how they think integrators can collaborate to create media rooms that offer more. Recorded on location in Owen's house in Bristol (thanks Owen!), The Integrated Home is sponsored by Meridian Audio and is a Wildwood PR and Alfi Media production. ...
Whatever Earth Wind & Fire might say, we all know that September is a busy, back to work month. The holidays are a dim and distant memory, the kids are heading off to school and it’s time to gear up for show season - a time that's full of innovations, new ideas and education opportunities. From the 15th until the 23rd September, London is taken over by the London Design Festival, so there's no better time to talk about interior design and home technology. We welcome two special guests to look at how designers and integrators collaborate, sometimes collide, but, ultimately, can work better together for the mutual benefit of clients. From the world of interior design, we're joined by Susie Rumbold of Tessuto Interiors, former President of the British Institute of Interior Design, and from award-winning, London integration business, ClearSphere, we have Director, Alistair Ingram. Our home for this episode is the Crestron showroom, located on the second floor of the sourcing mecca for savvy interior designers, the Design Centre in Chelsea Harbour. Later in the show, Phil Pini and Kate Fauset from Crestron are our guests. They will explain the showroom experience, how it works and give their insights into how this facility helps bring home technology to life for the benefit of interior designers, developers and integrators. ...
Smart home integration is an attractive sector for many business owners and entrepreneurs who may already be active in a related sector, such as, electrical, security or IT contracting. In this episode, we explore how you can make a successful transition into the professional home integration industry. We look at what research and training is right for you, which events to attend, the skills you’ll need and what support is available if you decide that this is the sector for you. We’re joined by Mike Ranpura from Smart Life AV and Louise Tarling from Louise Tarling Electrical Services to hear about their own experieinces and find out what advice they have for newcomers. Before getting into this discussion, we also find out how they see the current economic situation and are preparing their businesses for what lies ahead. Then, Mike takes the Hot Seat to reveal both the Hollywood actor who would play him in a movie and his dream job would be if he weren’t in home integration. This episode is recorded in the Performance Cinema at AWE’s Alexander House HQ. Thanks to pod partners Meridian, AWE and Sony for their support in making this show possible. We support Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk. ...