Toronto’s Tech Summit, hosted by CEDIA, brought out the biggest names in distribution. The Sherpa Technology Group had two full rows of vendor participation representing 53 brands, while other notable distributors including the Watershed Group, Gemsen/Evolution, Trends, Lenbrook, Gentec and Kevro also showcased product and database management solutions to simplify the life of residential and commercial installers.

While the event emphasizes education with hourly seminars on hot topics such as integrating multi-room audio, light control and setting up stable mesh networks, the real fun was on the floor with hands-on demos with manufacturing representatives presenting to the regional installers and retailers who attended the day. 

Mike O’Connor, Sr. Vice President Gemsen Group of Companies with his well-behaved and show-stealer dog Blue
Philippe Rayes, President and CEO of Sherpa Technology Group with Cindy Beange from Aruba, demonstrate the importance of a stable mesh network in creating a reliable wireless home environment
Lenbrook’s David Dunn highlighted the company’s BluOS and Bluesound products and the options in creating a whole-home wireless sound system
Richard Glikes (L), President of Azione Buying Group was on-site with Patrick McCarthy (R) as they celebrated closing in on 50 Canadian dealers who have joined the group
Evolution Home Corp’s Alex Mahdessian demo-ing Bluestream and AudioControl as part of the distributor’s portfolio of technology offerings
Kevro International used the CEDIA Tech Summit to showcase the new Monitor Audio Creator Series and new 2G installation amplifiers. We were also introduced to a third-generation Ginn supporting the Kevro family business
Trends Electronics used the show to feature Stealth Acoustics who have expanded beyond invisible inwall speakers to also offer outdoor LED TV systems
Carlo D’Asciano poses next to the extended family’s Coastal Source outdoor speakers. Coastal Source was founded in Marathon, Florida in 2003 and is purpose built to combat the harsh salt air and humidity that can erode electronics quickly
Scott Newbrough from the Watershed Group poses next to the beautifully designed Lyngdorf Audio Cue-100 loudspeaker that we made Scott bring outside so we could take a photograph in better lighting!
John Ball representing Gentec International used the show to highlight Gentec’s recently released “Playbook” a tablet that places all pricing, product specs and inventory in the hands of Gentec’s sales team so information can be provided quickly and in realtime to CI dealers
Sherpa Technology Group’s two rows of vendor tables at the Toronto tech Summit
Edit Cantor, Gemsen’s National Sales manager for Home Audio showing Furrion outdoor audio and outdoor televisions at the CEDIA Tech Summit
Mark Lefler from the Watershed Group introduced two models of home theatre seating from the brand’s Summit Seating called the Tremblant and the Whistler. Both seats come with a refrigerated cup holder