8:30am - 3:00pm

Ignite Golf Outing

6:00pm - 8:00pm

Charity Team-Building Event

Calling all integrators! Donate your old computers at the Compudopt Charity Event.

At the 2023 Pivot to Profit event, NSCA and alliantgroup are asking ALL members to help us at our Compudopt Charity Event. This event, which will be held Monday, October 2nd, will help fulfill Compudopt‘s mission to provide technology access and education to under-resourced youth and their communities.

Compudopt’s programs serve to eliminate limited access to computers.  They also help facilitate growth in technical and digital literacy skills and support the future of youth and their communities.

Time (CST)

Sessions

8:00am-9:00am

Opening Keynote

An Industry-Specific Look at Artificial Intelligence Mania  

Presenter: Kasia Hanson, Intel

Co-Presenter: Lisa Thee, AMP Solutions LLC

Let’s go all in on artificial intelligence (AI). Featuring the perspective of an AI thought leader from Intel who understands the integration market—and the impact of this groundbreaking technology on our industry—this session focuses on the big-picture possibilities and opportunities of AI. You’ll learn how embracing AI mania in the right ways may benefit you, as well as your customers. This session lays the groundwork for other sessions that discuss AI from practical and tactical perspectives throughout the event.  

9:15am-10:15am

Breakout 1

How AI Will Shape Your Integrated Solutions  

Moderator: J.B. Fowler, Domotz

Panelists: Aakash Ravi, Spaceti; Ashish Maru, Red Thread; Quang Trinh, Axis Communications

Get ready to nerd out or freak out, depending on your perception. In this session, we take an industry-specific look at real examples of how AI will shape the technology solutions integrators provide to customers across every vertical market—from healthcare and corporate to education and beyond. Uncover the role that data plays in developing systems, machine learning, the future of IoT devices, and much more.  

Breakout 2

Straight from the Finance Folks  

Moderator: Dan Schmidtendorff, Communication Company

Panelists: Laurie MacKeigan, Backman Vidcom; Dawna Payne, Texadia Systems; John Skayne, SIGNET

Even though the supply chain has improved, and demand is high, profitability remains tenuous. Integrators need to add control measures and business rules to keep margins in check. In this session, you’ll learn how to make sure you have the right financial leaders in place, empower them to install the right policies, and make team members listen. This frank conversation will make you sit up and take note of what leading integrators and their financial leaders focus on, including 24 metrics to improve your profitability.    

10:30am – 1:15pm

1:30pm-2:30pm

Breakout 3

Legislative Issues to Watch in 2024  

Moderator: Chuck Wilson, NSCA

Panelists: Mike Garcia, HID Global & PASS; Jason Potterf, Cisco; NSCA Codes and Compliance Committee Members  

NSCA and the Connected Technologies Consortium are expecting to stay very busy through 2024 as they monitor proposed laws that impact your business. For example: Did you know that your ability to legally install Power over Ethernet systems is at risk? It’s vital that you be aware of these laws and how they may limit your ability to compete at the local level and beyond. This session provides the baseline knowledge you need to stand up for your employees, your company, and the industry.   

Breakout 4

Emerging Technologies to Watch  

Moderator: Tom LeBlanc, NSCA

Panelists: Emerging Technologies Committee Members; Julian Fernandez, Epiphan Video; John Garmendi, Sony;  Joe Perez, ClearTech

This interactive presentation shares insight and predictions from members of the NSCA Emerging Technologies Committee on what new technologies will have an increasing impact. Some of their analysis will touch on emerging technologies that will be on display during the Tool Kit Talks.

2:45pm-3:45pm

Breakout 5

The Managed Services Customers Can’t Live Without   

Moderator: Kyle Habben, ECC

Panelist: Kim Lehrman, CEC; Don Mastro, AVI Systems; Tina Peters, SVT

Virtually all systems installed by integrators are shifting to the network—which means that everything has the potential to become a service. Simply installing systems no longer solves customers’ biggest problems. You need to find a way to provide the mission-critical managed services that deliver what customers need—and address the ongoing maintenance, software updates, and regular tests and inspections that devices and solutions need to make sure they remain reliable. This is an obvious way that integrators can provide lasting value. 

Breakout 6

What Integrators Need to Know About New Class 4 Systems 

Presenter: Ron Tellas, Belden

Class 4 circuits provide the convenience and safety of low-voltage power, just like PoE; however, Class 4 also offers close to 20 times the power of PoE across hundreds of meters, presenting a safe alternative to AC power. This session covers everything you need to know about how Class 4 will change what you do—and how you do it. 

4:00pm-5:00pm

Cocktail Hour

Enjoy a drink on sponsor, Solutions 360

Cocktail hour will be held in the foyer of the Sheraton DFW outside of the toolkit room.

5:00pm

Individual Sponsor Dinners with Integrator Attendees

These dinners are independent of Pivot to Profit, but NSCA is happy to play matchmaker for integrators that haven’t been contacted by a sponsor for dinner plans. For assistance with this, email Emma at eroby@nsca.org.

Time (CST)

Sessions

8:00am-9:00am

Are You Ready for Inevitable Change?   

Presenters: Tom LeBlanc & Chuck Wilson, NSCA

The train has left the station, and you need to be on board. Integrators are well-positioned to be at the epicenter of explosive growth in IoT connected devices. Almost everything you install has an IP endpoint. Ready or not, customers in every market expect ongoing managed services as a solution to their problems. It doesn’t matter if your company is ready for these changes or has the in-house skills to succeed in this IP endpoint environment—change is coming (in fact, it’s nearly here). The industry is moving in this direction whether you’re ready or not. This session is a gut check: How well-positioned are you for the immediate future?   

9:15am-10:15am

Breakout 7

Analyzing the Business Ramifications of AI  

Moderator: Tim Albright, AVNation

Panelist: Mike Boettcher, Edge; Sid Bose, Ice Miller; John Mitton, Red Thread

Integration company leaders need to see beyond the AI mania. What does AI really mean for your integration company? There’s so much speculation about how AI technologies like ChatGPT will redefine the work of integrators. It will change engineering and system design, how proposals and contracts are generated, customers’ needs and expectations, and talent requirements. But what does this mean from a business standpoint? Will your company own the content you create with AI? How will AI impact what you can bill in terms of labor—and what you can’t? Just as importantly, how much of this AI speculation is hype vs. reality? This session takes an industry-specific look at how AI will impact integration businesses so you can prepare.   

Breakout 8

The Real Impact of PoE on IP Networks  

Presenter: Amir Sekhav, Superior Essex

There is a lot of talk about the growth of Power over Ethernet (PoE) impacting the systems that integrators provide to customers. It’s time for integrators to zero in on how PoE truly impacts customers’ networks. In this session, attendees will connect growing demand for smart and healthy buildings to explosive demand for PoE. They’ll learn about network benefits of deploying PoE and what high-power PoE is; as well as network impacts such as power efficiency, cable requirements, heat dissipation, connectivity, and more. The goal of this session is for attendees to better understand how PoE factors into their solutions going forward.

10:30am – 1:15pm

1:30pm-2:30pm

Closing Session

Closing Session: Redefining ‘Mission Critical’: Digital Transformation’s Impact on Your Business   

Presenters: John Nemerofsky, SAGE Integration & Dale Bottcher, AVI-SPL

The role of an integrator is changing – and NSCA hopes that you’re ready to optimize your impact on customers. It’s no longer about individual systems; it’s about the platform. Meanwhile, it used to be that mission-critical tasks of integrators were limited – command and control spaces, emergency systems, etc. That has evolved as the role of critical workers has changed. NSCA integrators are equipped to improve security and life safety so these individuals are confident and comfortable doing their work on premise. This session helps you to re-learn the mission critical solutions you provide to customers across every vertical market we serve.