CE Pro November 2023 - 4

From the Editor
by Arlen Schweiger
Come Join the Industry's
Brightest Think Tank
Total Tech
Summit is an
elite-level event
that unites elitelevel
companies
and combines
enticing
education, frank
discussions,
networking
opportunities,
vendor exhibits,
and lots of fun.
HAVING ATTENDED the Total Tech Summit
for several years, I like to refer to it as a big
think tank. The Summit brings together the
audiences of Emerald's CE Pro, Commercial
Integrator, and Security Sales & Integration
brands to create one enormous mindshare.
This year, it's taking place Nov. 13-15 at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
What elevates it is that we invite the
cream of the crop from all three technology
sectors. Total Tech Summit is an elite-level
event that unites elite-level companies and
combines enticing education, frank discussions,
networking opportunities, vendor
exhibits, and lots of fun (TopGolf, cornhole,
and some adult beverages, anyone?) - it's
why we foot the bill for airfare and accommodations
to attract guests.
On the CE Summit side, many attendees'
names can also be found on our annual CE
Pro 100 list. Ninety-nine out of those 100
integration companies exceeded $3 million
in revenues in 2022, and the one that did
not still brought in $2.95 million. That number
has steadily climbed over the 15+ years
the CE Summit has been staged, to give an
idea of how successful these businesses are.
But of course, there's always room for
improvement, no matter if companies are
among the CE Pro 100 or the thousands of
others that comprise the industry.
Consider a recent CE Pro VIP2P (peer to
Arlen Schweiger is
Editor-in-Chief of
CE Pro. He can
be reached at
arlen.schweiger@
emeraldx.com and
@ArlenSchweiger
on LinkedIn.
peer) group discussion in which more than
a dozen integrators joined me on Zoom
to talk project management. These VIP2P
calls take place monthly and reflect that
think-tank mentality, only on a smaller and
more intimate scale. The shared smarts and
candid conversations enable these dealers
to learn from one another, mention specific
brands they're using, and even share contact
info to chat further offline.
Here are just a few highlights of that project
management virtual roundtable:
4 | CE Pro November 2023
Tom Redhead, SuRe Innovations, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan: " Project management
is actually something that I'm going through
right now, changing who my project manager
is. I think my biggest challenge right now
is not getting too far into the weeds with
all the fancy project management terms -
you open up the big book and it's 600-700
pages of stuff - and trying to stay on point
with just good old customer satisfaction. "
Dylan Cassagnol, Logic Integration, Lone
Tree, Colo.: " A big challenge for us is just
trying to figure out how much time do we
allocate for either field supervisors or a project
manager to get them out on site? I know
some companies have individual project coordinators
who help do the office work and
they get that project manager out into the
field. Often, right now our project managers
are kind of doing both... and when they get
out in the field it's great because it's billable
time and they're expensive employees.
Something we've found really beneficial is
just keeping track of people's time. "
Michael Oh, TSP Smart Spaces, Boston:
" We have a project manager who works internally,
who's really doing all of the scheduling
coordination and communications to
clients. She never goes out into the field,
she's not technical, but that's actually really
beneficial, because she is really there - air
traffic control, right. If a technical question
comes in, a lot of the engineers like to dive
in, and then they forget about the regular
job. So, it's good to have that separation. "
And that's just a few points to the topic
generated by the group. Now imagine 200+
residential, commercial, and security dealers
convening to address vital business operations
matters. If that excites you, mark your
calendars now for next year's Total Tech
Summit, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, at the JW Marriott
San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa -
as they say, everything's bigger in Texas!
cepro.com
http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro November 2023
