Rob Stott: All right. We are back on the Connected Design podcast and real excited today to be joined by a man who is certainly not counting down the days as they get close to the end of the year here. But Mr. Dave Labuskes, the CEO of AVIXA, I appreciate you taking the time and joining us here for a podcast. As the days wind down on 2026 and your time there, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of important things to prepare as you get ready to ride off into that Naples sunset that we just talked about, moving down there to Florida. But thank you for taking the time and spending it with us here on the podcast.
David Labuskes: No, it’s my pleasure. Thank you for taking your time. I don’t have anything important to do. They’ve pretty much put me out to pasture at this point. We’ve got a couple of days we can sit here and talk. There we go. What are you doing tomorrow at ten o’clock?
Rob Stott: There we go. Well, good to know. We could plan a whole series then on nothing. I’m talking to you. That’s what we’re doing. No, I really do appreciate it. But what’s crazy to me, and maybe crazy is not the right word, but it’s so fascinating right now. We talk about you retiring.
It feels like, and I wrote about this not too long ago, you could look at some of your counterparts in the industry, whether it’s CEDIA and Daryl Friedman retiring. We’ve got Jon Robbins, who I know he’s not retiring, but stepping out from HTSA. A lot of just knowledge in this channel, in this industry, and you think about the transition period.
From your perspective, obviously you’re on the other side of it, right? So from your perspective, though, talk about what that means for these organizations, the integration channel, whether it’s commercial or residential. A lot of just transition happening right now.
David Labuskes: Yeah. I think some of that is probably sort of based on the technology and the expansion of technology. If you work back twenty, twenty-five, thirty years to really some of the emergence of technologies that allowed for the implementation of experiences, we really were moving into, on the commercial side, the controls world. And on the residential side, I’m trying to think quickly, probably what, about early nineties, late eighties was the first VHS and/or Betamax that started giving the ability to do more than just watch TV, and then large rear-projection screens.
If you just look through it, if you were twenty-something and wanted to start a business in that marketplace, you’re probably sixty-something now and making some sort of succession.
We’ve seen a lot of succession on the commercial side within the integration channel. A lot of founders shifting. Sometimes it’s to second-generation family, sometimes it’s to a buyer. On the commercial side, we’ve got a ton of consolidation going on, and the emergence of five or six mega global firms.
I think if you had said to me in 2013 that there’d be multiple billion-dollar integrators, that would have raised my eyebrows a little bit. But I think what this is, is it portends well for the future. If an organization like AVIXA can finally get a CEO that knows what he’s or she’s doing.
The passing of a baton. I was just talking to Ann, who’s going to be the incoming chairperson for HTSA. Earlier this week, I was at their fall gathering in Denver. Ann was alluding to Jon Robbins’ transition, and she said it brilliantly. Part of it is because I like metaphors, I guess. But when you’re running a relay race, not only do you need to pass the baton smoothly and effectively, but you have to pass it within the zone of passing, right? Otherwise, it’s a fail. And so in my case, I’m hopeful I evaluated the passing zone effectively.
I went to my board and said, “I think this is the appropriate timing. Would you be okay with that?”
Rob Stott: Not to cut you off, but I like that self-reflection of understanding it’s the time. That, to me, from an outsider’s perspective, has to be one of the most challenging for the person in that seat, right? To understand, hey, now’s the time. Maybe it makes sense, and coming to the realization or just coming to accept that.
There’s so many things we can dive into around this, and I want to, timing, understanding timing and all. But talk about that process for you personally. What was that like?
David Labuskes: Yeah, from when I interviewed for the job, I really spent a lot of time reflecting on whether or not I truly believed I could be effective, and not only effective, but the most effective at the job.
We were chatting before, sort of how the year slows down. You get to the end of December, and there’s holidays. I use that time. I’ve transitioned my board every year at that point in early December. I have new board members, new officer, new chair of the board. I’ve said goodbye to the previous chair. We approved the budget for the next year. So there’s this period of time where there’s an ending and a beginning, and that week or two sits in the middle.
I have used that time probably my whole career, but most rigorously as CEO of AVIXA, to reflect on, am I the right person for next year? Am I the best person for yesterday? What did I do this year that I nailed, and what did I do that I totally screwed up? And how do I pull a learning from that?
I think we all need to do that. It’s hard. It’s very hard to do it objectively. Oftentimes, I’m blessed to have a brilliant wife that I can talk to about that. But I also have lots of colleagues and friends that I will ask those same questions. What did you see me do that I nailed? What did you see me do that you thought was just a cluster from the outset?
A couple of years ago, I was like, mm-hmm. I’m waking up, and instead of hearing that the tariffs are coming and seeing what are the opportunities there, I’m hearing that the tariffs are coming, and I’m like, ugh. This is shifting and changing the landscape, and I’m like, I’ve got to learn that. And you should not have a CEO that sees turmoils, challenges, and disruptions as work. They should see them as opportunities and challenges.
And so I made the decision. It was time, and I think I did it right. I think we’ve got an amazingly strong association. I’ve got an incredibly talented team of individuals. Our board of directors is global, world-class, billion-dollar CEO members of our board. Couldn’t ask for a stronger platform to hand off to somebody else. And I intentionally excluded myself from the search process, other than a brief interview with the recruiting firm, and then, of course, helping the search committee identify the recruiting firms to talk to and obtain RFPs from.
But from that point forward, I could have influence over who was in the room making the decision, but I didn’t want to have any influence over the decision. Because this is hopefully a once-in-a-decade-ish opportunity to drive forward for the next lap of the race, to beat that metaphor to death.
And to take advantage of new insights, new thoughts, new vision, almost demanded that I not be a part of it, right? Because if I thought we should be heading off in a different direction, we would be, right? I’d already have us in that direction. So by definition, you need new perspective. And any new person would be evaluated through my bias if I was in that room.
Rob Stott: Right. No, I appreciate that insight and you sharing that. One thing I know, and I find it a funny, just personally, situation for myself, because I talk about it a little bit on this podcast, but I come from a background where, an organization you may be familiar with, my career started at the American Society of Association Executives. I was on their magazine staff, covered the association world. Associations Now was—
David Labuskes: ASAE, yeah.
Rob Stott: —I think it’s still a publication. So a cool, sort of early career opportunity for me. I got to look at a wide swath of organizations. My favorite to talk about is the Algae Association, which, funny enough, the reason we interviewed them back in 2012 was because of the reflecting pool. Everything going on there is still an issue.
David Labuskes: Digital, yeah.
Rob Stott: The interesting thing, though, was I know succession planning was always a topic of conversation in the association world. So looking at the businesses we get to cover today, when they’re self-starters, or you think of the business owner that got this thing off the ground by themselves, succession planning is never really top of mind, and it should be.
So I want to give you a chance. I’m sure you guys, AVIXA, had a plan in place of what it would look like when the time came. But creating that and then following through on it is something that I feel like, whether you’re an association or a business in this channel, lots to learn from that process. So talk about what it’s like. You had one in—
David Labuskes: Yeah, actually, when I started, I felt like it was my responsibility to help the board transition CEOs, even though I’m going to exclude myself from the actual interviewing process, that type of thing. They have day jobs, right? And by definition, they’ve got big day jobs.
So already I was sort of dropping a bomb in the middle of the room to say, I think that, these are conversations that took place in the fourth quarter of last year, saying I think it would be good for me to finish out ’26 and then move on.
Actually, ASAE has some good resources on succession planning. In the end, it’s about passing information from myself to the new person and making sure you have an effective set of qualifications for what the CEO is going to do, and then hiring a good recruitment firm to find them.
You also, as an association, need to have the succession plan of, in case the bus hits me on the way home. So all of that unintended succession, we would always communicate. That was always part of, actually, it’s part of the December board meeting. I would excuse all of the other staff that were attending the meeting, and we would go into an executive session. It’d be like, here’s what, if I die tomorrow, here’s what you should do. Here’s who you should probably put into place as an interim. Here’s the structures that are in place. Basically walk them through that.
AVIXA’s a hundred-million-dollar global company. We’ve got the infrastructure and structure there to absorb that type of hit. It’s not a small organization.
But the real succession will happen after the CEO starts, right? There’s only so much information they’re going to want from me. We’re already in conversation. No announcements have been made, but we’re in conversations and planning through all of that.
When you hire somebody into this role, they probably have a general sense of what they’re going to do. You don’t need to teach Management 101, right? They know how to run an organization.
Rob Stott: Yeah. That was always one of the fascinating conversations to me. We see it in other associations in the channel, and funny to see CEDIA going through it themselves, but the conversation around association management versus industry expertise, and whether you hire from within the channel or the association space. Everyone has a take on it. I’m kind of curious yours.
The ideal situation is obviously finding someone with both. This is not asking for insight or information on where you guys are heading, but from your perspective, what’s ideal in finding that next leader? Is it someone that has the association experience, the industry experience, or the combination of both?
David Labuskes: Well, right. So there’s no such thing as a perfect hire. You’re always making a compromise. That’s rule number one to answering that question.
When I talked to the recruiters, and the recruiting firm actually that we used, I’ll give them the name plug, Korn Ferry, is the same actual recruiter that hired me. The woman that ran this search is the woman that ran the search that hired me. So at least I’m somewhat biased to think that she makes good recommendations. Your question is, from the industry or from the association profession, right?
You have to really be broad-minded in even defining industry, right? Because I sit at the nexus of three industries. There’s a Venn diagram where I’m active in the association industry. I’m an association professional. So ASAE is a professional society for me.
But eighty-ish percent of our revenue is from trade shows. So I’m also a member of IAEE and UFI and SISO and all of those associations. I’m networking through all the trade show operators. And then I’m obviously part of the AV industry. It’s our industry.
But then what is the AV industry? Now I’m sort of part of the broadcast AV industry. I’m part of live events and venue management and building and construction. So there’s really a wide variety. I think ultimately, understanding the business model and understanding or committing to the mission are the keys to a successful CEO hire.
I don’t know if you can commit to the mission if you don’t know anything about the industry. But I don’t know that you can understand the business model of an association because you were the CEO of a custom integration company either, right? I think anybody that comes into the position is going to be learning.
Ultimately, I’ve moved to the point where most of the executive hires that I’ve done are based on experience, but also curiosity. Before I took this job, I was in the industry. I was a consultant. I was a technology consultant. So I was in the industry, but I also had become an uber-volunteer at BICSI, had done tons and tons of that.
So I sort of had both, but only from the side of the volunteer, not from the side of the business of an association. I had no idea what it was like running an association until I got here.
Rob Stott: Yeah. It’s proof to your point that no matter what side you come from, at the end of the day, you’re going to be stepping into a role where you’re going to have to learn something along the way as you continue to grow in that role, and take steps to perfect yourself to the best you can to achieve what it is you’re looking to in that role.
I think back in your time here, and you’ve achieved quite a lot. Is there anything, as you reflect in these final days of the term, the thing you’re most proud of over the last thirteen years, is that right, that you’ve been in the role? Fourteen. We’re done. Yep. Yep.
David Labuskes: Yeah, it’ll be fourteen by the time we’re checking off the box. It’ll be fourteen. I started at the very end of 2012. Officially took over as January 1, but overlapped with my predecessor.
One, I didn’t accomplish a whole lot. Actually, it was my team that accomplished an enormous amount. It’s the board that has accomplished a whole lot. I happened to be in the room. One thing I’m relatively good at is getting really smart people to like hanging out with me, and then giving them a room full of really smart, talented people.
My core philosophy of organizational management is talent attracts talent. And so I’ve always been focused on creating an environment that attracts talent.
It’s actually pretty easy to do with a not-for-profit association because, especially in our industry with AV, it’s just such a cool, magical intersection between science and art, and it’s all about people.
My son is a software engineer working at machine-level coding. He’s not necessarily interested in working for an association, but he still thinks that the visuals are cool and the experiences that are created are amazing.
I’m really proud of the team that we have. I think we have an extraordinary management team and support team. I’m really interested to see what the new CEO thinks about the structure because it’s a very nontraditional organizational structure, hierarchy. Pretty much made it impossible for anybody to get anything done without working with somebody else, which is incredibly inefficient, but also drives so much creativity and innovation.
Yeah, because you can’t build a silo if you can’t get your job done inside the silo. And so it’s impossible for—
Rob Stott: Yeah. Breaks down those silos, right?
David Labuskes: —our show manager to be able to put on a trade show without working with our content development team, and our content development team is separate from our content delivery team. They’re all served through different other organs that sit there.
So if you look at it on paper, it looks insane. And it is incredibly inefficient. But in delivery, it’s eliminated all of that interpolitic garbage stuff that I can’t stand. I just made it systemically difficult to do that. So I’m proud of that. I’m really proud of the board that we’ve been able to attract and develop.
We’ve got the CEO of Shure, we’ve got the CEO of Q-SYS, we’ve got the CTO of AVI-SPL. If I were to take a two-hour board meeting and look at the hourly rate that was being volunteered to us by these twelve people from around the world it would have to be in the tens of thousands of dollars an hour. I’m proud of the global nature of the organization. I don’t think anybody, well, no, it’s not true. I think when I started, I saw an opportunity for us to serve outside of North America more effectively. And others saw that as well. Again, I wasn’t the brilliant visionary that discovered new land. But we were seen as a U.S. association that was doing stuff outside of the U.S. I don’t think we’re seen that way anymore. I was in a meeting in Bangkok a couple months ago. We’re at this VVIP dinner that every association has at some point during their show, and all the board members are there, and our key partners are there. I looked around, and I was making a toast, because that’s what CEOs do for a living, is make toasts at VVIP dinners.
And I highlighted the fact that I was the only person from the U.S. in that room. It was full of officers of the board, board members, volunteers, staff. But of twenty people at a dinner, I was the only one that was from the U.S. I think that’s good. I think it’s important for the organization to be able to be relevant. And I think the world through whatever stumbles and speed bumps we’re getting hit with, will continue to become a smaller and smaller place. And our commerce will absolutely continue to demand that you be able to serve a customer base outside of one country. So that globalization, and then the diversity, the leaning in that we’ve made into creating a welcoming platform of demonstrating that the audiovisual industry is open for all and interested in all.
Rob Stott: Yeah. I love that, in terms of both the geographical globalization, but also to your point there about welcoming for all. I know traditionally maybe thought of as commercially heavy, which it certainly is, but in terms of what’s in the U.S., but also abroad as well.
But I want to ask, too, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about the opportunity you’re kind of presenting for the incoming CEO as well to take the reins of an organization that will host its first ever, since the acquisition of Lightapalooza and the announcement about RESIDE and what that’s going to be. I kind of want to ask, too, you bring all these together, and you bring in Lightapalooza, you launch RESIDE, and you’re retiring? Don’t you want to be there for it?
David Labuskes: I know. Seriously, Rob. Well, yes, I do. I do, right? That was another thing I always told myself, actually. If it was easy for me to retire, that means I stayed too late. That means I missed that zone. It had to be hard. Otherwise, I had way gone past that ugh kind of phase and had already retired in place.
And I never wanted it to be that RIP. The timing was, that was a move that was offered to or introduced to us about a month after I had worked through with the board that I was going to retire.
I do remember talking to my wife and saying, “I want a do-over.” I would love to, and we can’t wait to see the future of this opportunity.
Everybody’s always talked about Integrated Systems America, or why aren’t we all working together on these different types of events? Part of it is because of the legacy and the history, right? Some of these associations were started, well, AVIXA’s 1939. CEDIA’s what, the late eighties, I think it was.
There’s an infrastructure there, there’s an organization there, there’s a reality there of separation that maybe wouldn’t be there if you started over today. But it doesn’t really matter. What the secret sauce of an association event is, is the community that powers that event. That’s what the for-profit people can’t get.
They try, and I respect that. They can get a loyal subscription base. They can get a recurring revenue lifetime value customer. But they’re not going to get somebody, nobody’s going to volunteer for Google or Amazon, right? But I have, I just walked through, I have these billion-dollar company CEOs volunteering a hundred, two hundred, three hundred hours a year, right? That’s community.
And that, at any scale, whether it’s the board member at the highest engagement, or it’s the young professional that just got handed their first tool set and are working on a rack and trying to figure out how to make a career of that, they all own our shows. They own that gathering.
I never wanted to, and still don’t want to, compete with CEDIA.org. The thing is that CEDIA.org at some point sold their show to a for-profit organizer. And so now, instead of owning your home, you’re renting.
Right? And now you’re at the mercy of a landlord. And if your home is neglected by its new owner, you have to either decide you’re going to live with that neglect or move. I didn’t see that community having anywhere to move.
The introduction that was made to us was by influential parts of that community, the customer base, the manufacturers that are funding it, saying, “We want to serve this community, but we want to serve them in a home that we’re proud of and that is of value to us. Will you help us create that? Let us introduce you to Jon and Tom over at HTSA with Lightapalooza.”
That happened really like the week or two before Thanksgiving. What makes this different than any other opportunity is the fact that it brings community with it. With Lightapalooza already being a successful, growing, small boutique show focused in on probably the most opportunity within the custom integration marketplace right now for growth, for new growth, for that entire channel it was a great opportunity for us to get involved in that. But more importantly, the fact that we were going to be able to create this venture with ProSource, with HTSA, and with other buying groups within the association, or within the CI world as we continue to build this, it allowed us to basically say, we’re going to create a new home, and we’re going to create a home with you that you’re proud of.
It’s going to be a little weird right now, just like any time you move, right? Sometimes you’ve got half your stuff in one house and the other half in the other house, or it’s all sitting on a truck or in storage somewhere until you can get over there. We’ve all done that type of thing, and everybody loves a new house. They just hate moving from the old one to the new one. So there’s a time frame there that’s just disruption and reality.
The reason I’m excited about it is because it serves the mission of the association and because it’s community-powered. It’s not commercially driven. It’s commercially logical. It’s not a stupid move. There’s a reason to make this move from a commercial perspective, but it’s so much deeper than that. And that’s been the magic of this job, is that everything is about helping that person develop their career, which means that they can help their kids go to school, and they can take care of their family. Being a catalyst for market growth, and ultimately, AV is about connecting people to people and doing that with technology. It’s been a great opportunity.
Rob Stott: No, it’s absolutely exciting. I wouldn’t be talking about it as much as we have in this channel if it didn’t garner that level of anticipation, just excitement around it. I want to build on your home-moving analogy because I love that, for multiple reasons, because it’s a residential-based community that we’re talking about, but also the fact that there’s moving to the new home, but also the neighbors that you get to meet along the way.
I think it’s a fascinating part of the conversation to me because there’s the commercial integrator that is already in that neighborhood, if you will, and they’re welcoming in this new residential community. How do you see the neighbors getting along? Because they are very different communities, right? I’ll run with it. I’ll run with it.
David Labuskes: Yeah, that’s good. You’re worse than me. Give you a metaphor, you’ll beat this thing to death for days, huh?
I think that there’s enormous opportunity in that. What we knew from the outset, and I’m not sure Jen knew that I knew, but what we’re not doing is letting you in and giving you a place in the guest room or in the basement with a mattress on the floor, kind of thing. In that case, we’ll beat this analogy to death. You need to move out because the house that you’re in is falling apart, so you can come and stay in my basement until you build a new house, right? That’s not what we wanted to do. And that means we had to have more resources dedicated to it. We had to actually commit to this. So in the last ninety days, we’ve built a larger team for RESIDE and Lightapalooza than Emerald has ever had. Emerald doesn’t even have a committed show director to their show. They split their time. I’ve made multiple hires directly around this event, not to mention putting 175 of the other people in the organization’s resources behind developing content and calling for papers and building the marketing machine and serving the industry through it.
So they haven’t moved in yet. I don’t know if they’re going to be happy. What I can tell you is we’re not doing it on our own. We’ve got an exhibitor advisory committee, we’ve got a rep firm advisory committee, we’ve got an integration advisory committee or council. None of this makes sense, again, if we abandon that community.
So we might be the architect, design-build firm, but we’re meeting with the new owner every day to see where they want the bedroom, and how big do they want the kitchen, and do they want a dining room or not.
I think what’ll happen, a trade show is a physical manifestation of an artificial marketplace that’s created for a period of time, right? But it’s so much more. So first, we’ll say that that’s the booths. That’s the real estate of a trade show. The community part lives on, right? It does not get torn down on Friday. The community lives on.
And that’s one of my messages to my team, is don’t think what you do is temporary. Realize that what you’re doing is a temporary manifestation of something that is eternal, which is community and peer-to-peer knowledge and learning.
In this representation, Lightapalooza will have its own space. RESIDE will have its own space, and InfoComm will have its own space.
My dream is that it’s sort of like this community I’ve got here, where we could pretty much walk over to our neighbors’ backyard if they’re outside and hang out with them. Probably wouldn’t walk into their house without them inviting us, but pretty darn close. But that doesn’t mean they live with us or we live with them. We’re just close. We share values together and interests together.
I think that’s probably what’s most important for us as AVIXA to do, is to contribute to the building of that neighborhood.
Rob Stott: Well, to hear you say that is reassuring, for one. That’s a word I’ll use, but also, again, exciting because it means that we’ve heard so much about the physical manifestation, to your point, of the shows and what they’re going to be, and the work being done there to build out whether it’s the team or just what’s going to happen in Orlando next June.
But then also to know, too, the idea of that community, so it will exist beyond that, and what does that look like? I can only imagine the work going on behind the scenes to make that happen. But it presents an opportunity, a unique one, to stand up that community and create value beyond just the several days of that show.
David Labuskes: And listen, let’s acknowledge that that community already exists. So I’m not creating that community, right? I’m actually the usurper. I’m invading that community, in some ways. I acknowledge that and respect that and want to learn. I say I, but I mean AVIXA, wants to learn the cultural norms. We want to know what’s important, what’s valuable. We don’t enter into this with the arrogance to think that we already understand everything we need to know. We enter into this with, you are clearly kin, and we want to serve you well, and we want to create a place you want to be at.
Whenever you do something like this, there’s going to be a segment of the population that dives in a hundred percent. I’m all in, right? And there’s going to be a segment of the population that’s going to be like, how dare they, and oppose it directly. And then there’s going to be a segment of the population that kicks the tires and watches. There, I gave you a new metaphor. We can move to cars now.
I don’t feel it’s AVIXA’s place to make decisions for the exhibitors on how to spend their marketing dollars. I think that’s theirs. I think it’s my responsibility to paint the alternative and the option. If there is a way moving forward, when you start to talk about the other 360 days, this is what sent me down this path. That’s where CEDIA.org is doing a great job. And so hopefully someday there’s a way that that all can work without being so complicated.
But that was something we never wanted to do. I’m happy to compete with Forge. I never wanted to compete with CEDIA.org.
Rob Stott: Yeah, no, that’s, again, I think it’s something that is important for the community to hear, right? You talk about, obviously, there’s multiple homes, multiple car options for them, if you will. But I think it’s important for them to understand the position that you guys are taking and the reason why behind the approach that they’re seeing and hearing so much about. Because on the global side, they see it. That relationship exists overseas in February. So there’s plenty of example out there of the communities and organizations coexisting or even supporting one another, right?
David Labuskes: Yeah, and listen, there’s neighbors we don’t get along with here. We don’t go to their backyard, right? But if you build on the ISE example, there’s people that go to that show exclusively to see residential. There are people that go to that show exclusively to see lighting and sound for pro events. There are people that go to that event exclusively for commercial, and there are people that go to that event for everything.
What’s available is everything to whomever wants it. That’s what I think is a value proposition that we’re creating. Now, it raises a whole series of new questions. I know I’m probably babbling on with you too long, but imagine yourself as an exhibitor that has both residential and commercial lines, right? So now what do I do?
Do I take a booth in InfoComm? Do I take a booth in RESIDE? Do I have to do two booths? Do I do one big booth somewhere? How do I represent myself? And those are all great questions, and my team’s ready to work through ensuring that we can help you figure out the first answer to that question, right? And then there’ll be 2028.
Rob Stott: Yeah. It’s a question we’re hearing a lot.
David Labuskes: And we’ll figure out another answer to that question. I don’t think any of us are going to get this perfectly right the first year. I think we’re committed to getting it as right as we can.
If you’re hearing that question, my answer to those people personally is that you don’t have to have a booth to be present. There’s other ways of being present at RESIDE while having a booth at InfoComm, or being present in InfoComm while having a booth at RESIDE, through content, through other methods of showing up and supporting and being a part of the community.
So you don’t have to put a booth in both places to serve both audiences. And actually, ideally, that will create a greater movement of crossover. And I think this crossover is the untested potential miracle value of this thing, is this serendipity of the crossover. We have to serve each community effectively as its own community. This is not going to be the basement type thing, throw a couple booths in the middle of cacophony and say, now we’re a residential show. That is not going to happen.
But the people that would never go to CEDIA that go over to RESIDE are going to find something they didn’t know existed. And they’re going to meet somebody they didn’t know, who someday they may hire or get hired by, and create a whole new possible future for them that wouldn’t have existed if we didn’t do this. I know that sounds arrogant, but I think it’s true.
Rob Stott: Right. Well, yes and no, right? It’s that opportunity. It’s uncharted water, right? And if you don’t at least put a, man, we’re really getting into the metaphors here, but if you don’t sail a boat out into those open seas and figure out what’s going on. You don’t know what you don’t know, and being able to at least test the waters and see what’s going on. Be open to it and give it a chance.
And that’s all, you guys are presenting that opportunity.
David Labuskes: And we’re presenting it with one plane ticket, one hotel room, one suitcase, one period of time. And each of those, in probably progressive order, becoming more and more expensive and valuable, the most being our time. The difference between deciding to head over to RESIDE from the InfoComm hall for the last two hours on Thursday versus book a flight and fly out to Vegas to go to CEDIA Expo. There’s going to be a lot of people that do that in both directions, and they’re going to get something out of it.
Rob Stott: Yeah. To the point of time and being respectful of it, I know we could keep going. Certainly, as much as I want to, I want to be respectful of that. So this was incredible, though, and truly I do appreciate it. You taking the time and the candidness, and all the metaphors, too. I appreciate those more than we realized at the start of this, but it was a lot of fun to be able to do this with you.
All I can say, best of luck, too. I know you’ll be keeping an eye on the channel and the industry and the events as they continue to grow. So we appreciate it and wish nothing but the best for you as you settle in down there in Naples. So thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Looking forward to moving in. All right.
David Labuskes: Thanks, Rob. Thank you, sir, and congratulations to you on the relaunch of Connected Design, and welcome to the neighborhood.
