This week on the show, you’re going to ride along with me from the incredibly comfortable and stylish VW ID.Buzz, which served as the mobile podcast studio at CEDIA Expo / CIX this September in Denver, Colorado. This is part two of The Ride Along Series recorded live at CEDIA Expo/ CIX.

CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) is the global trade association for home technology professionals, specializing in smart home, automation, audio-visual, networking, and integrated systems. Its mission is to advance the home technology industry through education, certification, advocacy, and networking. Members include integrators, designers, manufacturers, and consultants who shape the connected environments we live and work in.

CEDIA Expo is the industry’s largest annual event for residential technology professionals. With hundreds of exhibitors, educational sessions, live demos, and global networking opportunities, it’s where new ideas and innovations in smart home and AV integration take center stage.

The Commercial Integrator Expo (CIX), co-located with CEDIA Expo, focuses on commercial integration technologies—from conferencing and IT infrastructure to building automation and emerging AV solutions—bringing together commercial integrators, IT pros, designers, and tech managers.

Designer Resources

Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.

Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!

TimberTech – Real wood beauty without the upkeep

LOME-AI.com, simple, inexpensive, text to video harnessing the power of AI to grow your firm, beautifully.

This road trip was a blast, and I’m excited to share these conversations with you.

Designing Sound: Caitlin Stewart on Leon Speakers’ Mission to Lead by Design

Caitlin Stewart of Leon Speakers joins Convo By Design to talk about design-first thinking in an audio-driven world. From Ann Arbor to the global design stage, Leon Speakers has carved out a unique identity—not as a technology company, but as a design company that happens to make exceptional audio and concealment solutions. Caitlin shares how Leon engages the architecture and design community, cultivates relevance in a shifting industry, and builds partnerships that challenge conventions of form, function, and beauty.

• Background & Role: Caitlin’s work as Director of Sales for residential at Leon Speakers, leading account managers and shaping residential market growth.


• Leon’s Identity: Founded in 1997, Leon is entering its 30th year as a design-first company—blending sound, aesthetics, and concealment with creativity.


• Design Integration: How Leon’s “Lead by Design, Leave Nothing Unfinished” philosophy drives the balance of form and function.


• Relevance in the Industry: Shifting influence from general contractors to architects and designers, and Leon’s effort to stay essential in conversations that shape environments.


• Inspiration & Missed Opportunities: Why designers need exposure to products at shows like CEDIA and ICFF, and the challenges of communicating AV in relevant, non-technical language.


• Partnership with A&D Community: Meeting designers where they are, co-designing products, and listening to their needs around fixtures, finishes, and materiality.


• Industry Challenges: Designers often photoshop out tech in portfolio images—highlighting the need for intentional, beautiful integration of AV.


• Educational Outreach: Designer visits to Leon’s Ann Arbor factory, engaging directly with materiality and finishes to bridge the language gap.


• Innovation at Leon: Hand-woven acoustic treatments, creative concealment solutions, evolving product frames for video walls, and form-function collaboration.


• Partnership Opportunities: Caitlin’s advice to designers—start casual, share ideas, reach out. Leon thrives on nimble, creative collaborations that spark innovation.

Lighting the Future: Tyler Hahn on Lutron, Designers, and the Evolving Spec Community

Tyler Hahn of Market Share, Pacific Northwest reps for Lutron, joins Convo By Design to share his perspective on CEDIA Expo, the shifting role of the specification community, and how Lutron continues to set the standard in lighting control and automated shading. As Lutron Concierge, Tyler educates and inspires architects, designers, and builders about intelligent lighting and shading solutions. From his unique role at CEDIA Expo—focusing on education, content, and networking—Tyler reflects on industry trends, the growing presence of women in tech and design, and how Lutron bridges aesthetic demands with uncompromising performance.

• Background & Role: Tyler Hahn’s position as Lutron Concierge with Market Share, focusing on education, inspiration, and building connections with the architecture and design community.


• Experience at CEDIA Expo: How Tyler approaches the show differently—capturing social content, attending classes, and networking to understand community conversations.


• Shifts in the Industry: Why more interior designers and specifiers need to be present at CEDIA, and how manufacturers must adapt booth design and product presentation for aesthetics and inclusivity.


• Women in the Industry: Record-breaking turnout at the Women in CEDIA Luncheon, signaling cultural and demographic changes in the channel.


• Catch-22 of Design Engagement: The challenge of attracting designers to CEDIA when booths and products still cater heavily to integrator and male-centric perspectives.


• Lutron’s Role: How Lutron recognizes the specification community as a critical link to homeowners, shaping why Tyler’s role exists.


• Communicating with Architects vs. Designers:
  
  
  
  • Architects: Focus on structural considerations, such as pockets for shades and keypad placement in plans.
  
  
  • Interior Designers: Start with aesthetics, then introduce education on zone vs. scene control, finishes, and stylistic options.
  
  
  
  


• Product Focus: Lutron’s leadership in automated window treatments, ultra-quiet shade technology, keypad design, and extensive finish options.


• Testing & Reliability: Military-grade product testing at Lutron headquarters in Coopersburg, PA—including sound chambers, stress tests, and automated button pressing machines.


• Design Aesthetics: Four primary keypad styles with an extensive range of finishes in metal, glass, engineered polymer, and beyond—providing universality across project types.


• Engaging Landscape Architects: Market Share’s expansion into representing Coastal Source and introducing lighting/shading solutions into landscape design.


• Universal Takeaway: The importance of bridging language gaps, presenting products aesthetically, and meeting design professionals where they are.

Designing with Light: Gina Colucci on Translating Technology for Designers

Gina Colucci of Market Share joins Convo By Design to discuss her role as a Lutron concierge, bridging the gap between high-performance technology and design-first thinking. From CEDIA Expo 2025, Gina shares insights on the growing role of lighting in the industry, how Lutron simplifies control for homeowners, and why being a “translator” between specifiers and integrators is the key to building trust. She explains how Lutron elevates both form and function while making advanced technology approachable for architects, designers, and builders alike.

• Background & Role: Gina’s position with Market Share as a Lutron concierge and specification specialist, focusing on direct engagement with architects, designers, custom builders, and lighting designers.


• Experience at CEDIA Expo 2025: Gina’s third year at the show, where she noticed a shift in emphasis from specs and hardware to aesthetic, experience, and lifestyle-driven solutions.


• Lighting’s Growing Role: The rise of intelligent lighting solutions and how Lutron is pushing beyond niche status toward mainstream adoption.


• Simplifying Lighting Control for Homeowners: Explaining benefits through experience rather than complexity—eliminating “wall acne,” offering one-touch keypads, zone vs. scene control, remote access, and intuitive app options.


• Breaking Through Objections: Why homeowners don’t need to program or “learn tech”—Lutron integrates seamlessly through the CI channel, with integrators tailoring solutions to client lifestyles.


• Specifiers vs. Integrators:
  
  
  
  • Integrators: Hands-on