A Day of Discovery™ 2023
September 7, 2023
9 a.m. Registration/Networking Breakfast
Opening session begins at 10 a.m.
Four Seasons Ballroom, Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
You must pre-register to attend. No on-site registration.
Free to qualified design-build professionals, please join us for the inaugaral year of Technology Designer Magazine’s A Day of Discovery where we’ll explore the intersection where technology meets design. Our special roster of distinguished speakers will explore the latest design trends in today’s modern performance homes and take a look at some of the underlying technologies that support and enhance design. Additionally, this will be a fantastic networking event for architects, builders, designers, property developers and realtors who cater to the luxury market.
Our event is co-located in the Colorado Convention Center at the same time as the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Integration Association) Expo annual trade show where residential and commericial design and technology manufacturers demonstrate the very latest in performance home products.
Highlights include:
- Free parking for people driving to the event and a hotel room block for out of town guests, mere blocks from the event
- Free admission – just come to the Four Seasons Ballroom to get your badge and enter – no standing in lines to register!
- Your Free admission is also good for the CEDIA Trade show if you plan to stay an extra day
- All day coffee bar and our famous Bellini and Bloody Mary bar at the luncheon networking event
- Goody bags
- Special curated tours of the CEDIA Expo technology trade show floor
Event itinerary:
Come directly to the Four Seasons Ballroom when you enter the convention center.
- 9:00 – 9:50 am | Pick up badge and enter the Ballroom 1; light breakfast and networking, event kick-off
- 10:00 – 10:40 am | Session One | Intelligent Lighting and Automated Window Treatments
- 10:45 – 11:15 am | Session Two | Clutter-free Walls and Ceilings, the Intuitive Smart Home
- 11:20 – 12:00 pm | Session Three | Indoor/Outdoor Entertainment
- 12:05 – 12:45 pm | Session Four | Healthy Indoor Environments and Wellness Strategies
- 12:50 – 1:00 pm | Conference Recap
- 1:00 – 2:10 pm | Networking Luncheon
- 2:15 – 5:00 pm | Curated CEDIA Trade Show Booth Tours
- 5:00 | Special Marantz event at Le Méridien, 2nd Floor (up the staircase)
- 6:00 – 8:00 | Private Cocktail Networking Reception | Le Méridien Bar AC
Event Emcee | David Santiago
David is an award-winning designer and Owner of Casa Santi Interior Design established in 2011. His signature trademark “Strictly Santi” brand was created to be as diverse as his repertoire of talents. David has lighting and wallcovering collections catering to hospitality and residential markets and is also a home furnishings industry ambassador. He is a guest designer on the NBC hit television series “George To The Rescue” and design and lifestyle correspondent for “The Donna Drake Show” on CBS NY. Most recently, he joined the TiedIn Media team after designing their studio and now in public relations, directing and producing. He is the Artistic Director for MyFace Celebrates at MyFace.Org, dedicated to transforming the lives of children and adults with facial differences, as well as a Board Trustee. David is also the performing arts contributing editor for Metropolitan Magazine.
Session One
Intelligent Lighting and Automated Window Treatments. Our panel will describe how design is the key element when discussing lighting (natural and artificial), window treatments and scene-setting control. You’ll come away with a better understanding of the need to incorporate healthy lighting into your projects, and how architects, builders, lighting designers and interior designers work together to deliver an amazing experience.
Session Two
Clutter-Free Walls, Ceilings, and the Homeowner Experience. Why would you allow an electrician to pick the wall switches? And why are we letting them clutter up our ceilings with hideous 6-inch lighting fixtures? They might as well pick the countertops, cabinets and furnishings if you’re trusting them to make decisions about one of the most important areas of design – our walls and ceilings. In this session we’ll talk about how to de-clutter the house with today’s latest designer keypads and lighting fixtures. It’s not only a gigantic leap forward in the beauty of the space, but it also lends elegance in how the homeowner interacts with their home.
Session Three
Indoor/Outdoor Entertainment. There is so much to unpack in this critical element that homeowners are interested in around the country. Our panel will explore how to pre-plan, design and integrate all of the components that ensure a great homeowner experience. We’ll talk about resiliency and mother nature, building perspectives and infrastructure design, and how to design a space that’s conducive to entertaining and interacting with your guests.
Session Four
Healthy Indoor Environments and Wellness Strategies. Wellness is another super-hot trend in the design-build community. And consumers are asking for it! Whether it’s clean air so you don’t have to smell the fires that rage across the country to whole-house water filtration to remove contaminants, the market is seeing the trend towards reducing overall indoor pollution within the modern performance home. In this session we’ll talk about clean air and water, UV light blockage, acoustics, climate control and how to create an indoor environment that aids in getting a full night’s deep sleep and the joy of living in a healthy space.
Presenters
Ryan La Haie
Ryan is a Principal at Architecture firm 42 North and has won numerous national awards including best house and best kitchen several times. His firm pursues these awards as validation that they are designing authentic styles that the market finds relevant. Ryan will continue to push the envelope and challenge himself to evolve. Is philosophy is, “I truly believe the next project I do will be the best project I design.”
As part of his standard practice, Ryan spends at least four hours with a prospective client before he even puts pen to paper. He make every effort to meet with you in your existing home as this offers him a deep dive into how you live: what works and doesn’t work, and what you seek. This in-depth, detailed evaluation becomes a bonding experience which naturally evolves into friendships as he learns so much about his clients.
Toni Sabatino
Toni is an award-winning interior designer, cabinetry specialist, furniture designer and spatial planner serving the renovation and new construction markets throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, Vermont and other resort locations. Toni believes in a kitchen-centric building and remodeling philosophy, championing open floor plans that honor the foodie, the entertainer and most simply, the family. Toni believes that good design should have a user experience to equal the aesthetic. NKBA AKBD and CLIPP certified, Toni believes all homes should be safe, accessible and comfortable. Toni is past-President of the NKBA Manhattan Chapter, currently serves on the Chapter Leadership Committee and is the proud recipient of the NKBA Chapter Star Award for Best President 2019. Toni is a member of the Kitchen and Bath Business Editorial Advisory Board and she is the designer of the Retro Collection of bath furniture for Baden Haus, SPA.
Michael Don Ham
Michael is the Co-Founder and President of RePure, a leading supplier of best-in-class wellness technology solutions for residential applications available through professional installers. His vision is to make managing Indoor Environmental Quality (air, water, light, acoustics, scents) in homes and buildings as simple as how a thermostat manages temperature so that everyone can spend time in environments that are elevating health and well-being from behind the scenes while also providing access to the status of their air and water quality in real-time.
Michael, as part of the International WELL Building Institute as an Accredited Professional and Faculty member, strives to increase awareness of how the spaces where we live, work, study and play can impact our health and to share his passion for continuous improvement through people and planet-centric design and technology.
Rusty Conway
Rusty is the President and CEO of Cadre General Contractors and has been fascinated with construction since he was a kid growing up in Boulder. As new homes went up around him, he and his friends would sneak onto job sites to climb on foundation walls and examine how the structures were put together. After college and exploring a music career, Rusty went back to his first love and landed a job as a construction laborer. That first break led to his next role as a trim carpenter, for the company that is now Cadre. Now the President and CEO, he brings more than 30 years (and counting) of hands-on experience to every job both in the field and in the corporate office. Working with the finest artisans, he and his team deliver homes with masterful attention to detail and stunning artistry-luxury homes of unparalleled originality.
Amanda Wildman
Amanda and her husband have owned TruMedia, a Technology Design Firm, since 2003. She has been breaking stereotypes as a female business owner and technician in the technology industry. She has a passion to educate others on how technology can be fun and truly enhance their lives. She is a CEDIA member and is currently a Director on the CEDIA Board of Directors and serves as a member of the CEDIA Certification Commission. She has helped with developing the new ANSI Accredited Cabling and Infrastructure Technician (CIT) and Integrated Systems Technician (IST) Certifications. She is the past (and first female) Chair of the CEDIA Professional Development Advisory Council, past member of the CEDIA Business Working Group and a past member of the Workforce Development Working Group. She also served as the Associate Vice President of her local Home Builder’s Association Board of Directors.
Gregg Mackell
Gregg is principal at HLB Lighting Design. Prior to the merger, he was a founder and principal owner of the 186 Lighting Design Group. Gregg is a University of Colorado graduate with a degree in Architectural Engineering where he specialized in illumination. Gregg began his career working primarily in the commercial world and was part of design teams for high profile projects such as the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Minute Maid Park in Houston. In the late 90s, Gregg shifted his focus to his passion of designing lighting for high-end residential projects. Gregg is an active member of the lighting community as a member of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD). Gregg is a certified CEDIA instructor and has taught classes and given seminars on lighting design to architects, interior designers, audio visual contractors, landscape architects and electrical contractors throughout the United States.
David Thomas
David is the Founder of Denver-based Momentum Group, an award-winning manufactuers’ representative firm in the residential and commercial A/V and automation channels, President of the Rio Grande Rep firm in the TOLA market (Texas, Oklahoma, Lousiana, Arkansas) and a partner in the national PureTech Alliance rep firm.
Doug Cuneo
For 14 years, Doug served in the U.S. Marine Corps, with much of that time overseas. In 2008, he returned to the U.S. and started calling on contractors and system integration firms. For the past 15 years, Doug has worked tirelessly to help form a positive team among Lighting Designers, Builders, Interior Designers and Technology Design firms. With a territory that covers the Rocky Mountains, and even parts of California, CET and Associates is a 22 person strong Rep firm that represents Lighting, AV and Energy Management lines
With years of experience in the design industry, David founded Artistic Design Works, a multi-faceted company that provides custom art, artistic products and product licensing. The company creates visibility for unique artists in hospitality projects and facilitates collaborations between designers and manufacturers to create new designer product lines, marketing opportunities, and distribution channels. With expertise in brand building, product development, customer interaction and market channel distribution, he has an uncanny ability to connect with people in the industry to forge meaningful relationships geared towards mutual business growth. David has extensive experience with interior designers in both hospitality and residential design, overseeing projects ranging from luxury homes to the Palms Casino.
Franco D’Ascanio Jr.
Born in Marathon, Florida Keys, Franco is drawn to the oceanfront and tries to make everything in his work a passion for his respect for the elements. His early life was spent learning the trades from his family members in the design and construction industries, alongside enjoying life outdoors and on out the ocean. Franco continued on to graduate with degrees from the University of Florida in both engineering and architecture.
He now works as a licensed architect and vice president of construction at his family’s firm, D’Asign Source, constructing luxury coastal estates and environments throughout the Keys. He is also a designer, product developer, and integration specialist at Coastal Source, an elite outdoor living manufacturer.
Tara Marshall
Tara is a respected architect, interior designer, and co-owner of Mera Studio Architects. Tara’s expertise shines particularly in the realms of hospitality and residential design, where she and her firm’s creative vision strives to transform spaces into unforgettable experiences. A standout among her accomplishments is the architectural design of Sarah Sherman Samuel’s recent Show House – a testament to her and her partners’ ability to merge forward-thinking aesthetics with functionality.
Additionally, Mera Studio’s recent collaboration with Leon Speakers underscores a knack for seamlessly integrating thoughtful design into every project. It also represents their first foray into product design, collaborating on Leon’s all-new Mera Sound Sconce (currently launching at CEDIA).There is no denying that the Calgary hospitality landscape has been significantly shaped by Mera Studio’s innovative designs, especially through Tara and her team’s contributions to numerous noteworthy restaurants.