Automation Unplugged Podcast Ron Callis

Welcome to Episode #266 of Automation Unplugged. Today’s show features James Westbrook, President & CEO, Smart Spaces OKC.

James Westbrook began his career in the AV industry 32 years ago as a Regional Sales Manager for Apollo Presentation products, where he developed a passion for the industry. With a degree in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University, James shifted his focus from commercial a/v to the residential home automation arena in 2001, when he opened Home Theater Technologies, LLC. to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

James and his team successfully shepherded the company through many market fluctuations, and in 2019 HTT was one of the original companies involved in the merger that resulted in Bravas. From there, James found exciting opportunities for integrators in the Oklahoma City market and purchased what is now Smart Spaces of Oklahoma City, a Bravas affiliate.

We live-streamed this interview on social media on Wednesday, May 22nd, at 12:30 pm EDT.

Welcome to Episode 265 of Automation Unplugged. Today’s show features Kevin Nguyen (“Win”), President of Electronic Services & Concierge.

Kevin Nguyen started ESC in 2013, installing speakers and TVs. Previously, he worked for Best Buy for 7 years and a 2-channel audio company for 2 years.

For the first six years, it was just him, working out of his garage. He hired his first employee in 2019, and picked up his first office space just before COVID. Since then, they’ve expanded their team to 10 employees and added a showroom in Lakewood. They’ve taken on new categories, including lighting fixtures, landscape lighting, and they’ve started their first battery project, in Denver, with over 100kWH.

ESC’s clients include builders, designers, and trades around custom home building. Their primary clients are through custom high-end builders that service the Front Range to Summit County of Colorado. Their average system starts at $100,000-$150,000 and their larger systems have surpassed $500,000.

We live-streamed this interview on social media on Wednesday, May 1st, at 12:30 pm EDT.

Welcome to Episode 264 of Automation Unplugged. Today’s show features Dan Gundry, Director of Control Rooms - Americas of Barco Control Rooms.

Dan is an experienced technology professional and a well-respected voice in the critical command-and-control market. Dan currently manages North American sales for Barco’s control room group.

Dan regularly speaks at industry events, educating on command-and-control best practices, human factors engineering, and risk management for technology projects. He is also a strong advocate for the control room vertical market within AVIXA and the larger ProAV technology industry.

Dan hosts NOC Your SOCs Off!, a podcast focused on the critical control room marketplace. In 2023, Dan was named an “AV Living Legend” by Commercial Integrator magazine.

We live-streamed this interview on social media on Wednesday, April 17th, at 12:00 pm EDT.

Welcome to Episode #263 of Automation Unplugged. Today’s show features John Rudolph, President of PCD Audio & Video System Integration.

John started his career in consumer audio in 1976, working first at Shoreline Stereo managing the Santa Rosa store, then moving to Pacific Stereo from 1977-1979. He then moved into the professional audio world at Sound Genesis in 1979–1983, where he helped design and build radio stations, recording studios, broadcast TV and private production systems, as well as commercial audio video systems.

After that, John returned to the consumer AV industry to work for The Good Guys, where he started as a store manager and later headed the development of the company’s custom installation business. In 1999, he joined PCD as General Manager and Vice President, then President. Since then, John has continued to build and develop the company culture into a well-respected and thriving AV system integrator in the northern California market.

We live-streamed this interview on social media on Wednesday, April 3rd, at 12:30 pm EST.

Welcome to episode #262 of Automation Unplugged. Today, we’re switching things up to bring you a special Tech Women Takeover episode in celebration of International Women’s Day.

I’m passing over the mic to Kat Wheeler, long-time industry veteran and Account Executive here at One Firefly, to host today’s show. Kat is joined by a panel of accomplished professionals in our industry:

Amanda Wildman, Owner of TruMedia
Maryellen Oswald, Business Development Manager - Partnerships at Somfy
Jody Larsen, Director of Business Development and Sales at CEDIA, and
Erica Carroll, Director of Product Marketing & Training at Mersive Technologies

This is an amazing lineup of women who have helped propel our industry forward, and each of them serves as an inspiration for what women are accomplishing in the tech industry. We’re thrilled to have them all together here on AU to share their insights.

We live-streamed today’s interview on social media on Friday, March 8th at 12:30 pm EST.

Show #261 features Ryan Lee, Owner of Landscape Lighting Secrets.

Ryan Lee is an experienced landscape lighting designer and business owner with 16 years of experience in the industry. He started and grew a multi-million dollar landscape lighting company (Majestic Outdoor Lighting) in Fort Worth, TX.

In 2019, he sold his lighting business and is now focused full-time on coaching other landscape lighting businesses to help them go from business operator to business owner through his program Landscape Lighting Secrets. He is also the host of the #1 landscape lighting podcast in the world, Lighting For Profits.

Ryan holds a Bachelor degree in Marketing and an MBA from Utah State University. He has personally designed and sold millions of dollars of landscape lighting.