The lineup of experts, panelists and moderators for CEDIA 2016 is ever expanding. One important recent addition is Friday keynote speaker Charlie Kindel of Amazon. If you’re familiar with Amazon’s voice-controlled cloud service, you know Kindel’s work: His official title is Director of Alexa Smart Home. Kindel — whose background includes stints at Microsoft and his own startups — will dig into the challenges of voice recognition interfaces (and the attendant consumer concerns about machines that can eavesdrop) in a speech entitled Creating Voice-First Experiences for the Smart Home at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16.
The opening keynote — happening Wednesday — is strategist/analyst/C-suite adviser Shelly Palmer. Palmer, who’s a cable-news regular and one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices of Technology, will speak about the explosive growth of the Internet of Things. By 2020, Planet Earth will see 50 billion devices humming away on the IoT — will that mean connectivity or chaos? One thing’s certain: the job of the integrator will have to adapt. Palmer notes: “In practice, there’s probably a job for a personal IT director, there’s probably a job for the CTO of a household that’s not the 14-year-old child and not Mom.” (There’s a pair of video previews and excerpts from a chat Palmer had with CEDIA CEO Vin Bruno at cedia.net/show.) Palmer will speak at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 14.
CEDIA Panels
Six hour-long panel discussions are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, all moderated by media stalwarts and populated with visionaries on everything from immersive entertainment to smart kitchens. One notable session, Building for the Future: Home Technology Professionals Lead the Way for Builders, Architects, and Designers, will dig into the growing need for everyone involved in the building process to communicate effectively, from the plumber to the home tech pro. The panel is moderated by Patrick O’Toole, the Owner and Editorial Director of Qualified Remodeler, and the list of panelists is pretty impressive: Jerry Howard, CEO, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB); Bill Darcy, CEO, National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA); Liza Hausman, VP, Marketing, Houzz; and David Siroty, VP, North American Communications, Coldwell Banker. The “Building” panel runs from 2:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 15, and a complete list of the panel discussions can be found online at cedia.net/show.
CEDIA Talks
Even if you’ve only got, say, 20 minutes to listen to a speaker, the show’s got you covered: CEDIA Talks are described as mini-“TED”-style presentations — dynamic and quick. The Talks — all conducted at the CEDIA Booth — will both help attendees learn how to keep their business models current and function as “idea starters,” built to spark inspiration as an integrator thinks about either expansion or specialization. These rapid-fire chats begin Thursday with Harvard Senior Research Fellow Kermit Baker, who will dig into how millennials will reshape the consumer landscape as they replace the Boomer generation as buyers over the next two decades. (How Millennials Will Reshape the Home Improvement Market, Sept. 15, 10:00 a.m.) From there, topics range from bio-adaptive lighting to aging-in-place products and services to security and surveillance. The complete list is available at cedia.net/show, and there’s still time to register for CEDIA 2016.
