The Story Behind this New Chapter of Connected Design

It’s officially official: Connected Design is back! What will this new version of the renowned platform look like? How has the mission and motivation changed? What kinds of content can you come to expect? Co-re-founders Maryellen Oswald and Rob Stott break all of that down and more in this premiere episode of the Connected Design Podcast.

Rob:  All right. We are, I could say we are back, but really this is, we are here. are here first ever, of the new iteration. We’ll call it. cause there’s been, there was a podcast before, I believe, right? I don’t think I did one, but was there a podcast before there was so

MEO: Hmm. Yeah, there was. There was. Towards the tail end.

Rob:  All right. So, see not, not entirely original, but excited to be back. And this is like, this is our coming out party. So welcome to the, long story short, Connected Design Podcast, here. I know, woo, round of applause, round of applause to us. And hopefully everyone listening, you’re clapping along with us. This is an incredibly exciting time. I’m excited to be sitting here with my co-founder and contributor, Ms. Maryellen Oswald. I am Rob Stott, co-founder, editor and chief of, we said it: Connected Design. It’s back, baby. We are back. So excited to be able to say that. And, you know, we got a lot to dive into as we sit here to kind of bring you up to speed. I feel like we, it’s been, it’s been a while. It’s been a minute. Yeah. Right. So,

MEO: Hahaha. That’s right, we’re back. It’s been a long minute. Mm-hmm.

Rob:  But just first and foremost, like I said, excited to be here and Maryellen excited to be able to do this.

MEO: Well, thanks Rob. As you know, I’m super excited when we even toyed with the idea of what if, you know, what if we brought the brand back? What could it look like? You know, where could we go? And obviously we just had like this giant whiteboard of multiple possibilities. So anyway, with that said, I’m Mary Ellen Oswald and I am the co-founder of Connected Design magazine and I’m happy to be involved and contribute and relaunch this magazine with you, Rob. So here we are.

Rob:  Heck yeah. You mentioned that whiteboard. I’m going to put it out there. I think the number one thing at the top of that list was, kill the Roomba. Is that right? Can we talk about it? Let’s talk about it. We, listen, we loved the brand. We had so many ideas back in the day. that Roomba wasn’t one of them, but it stuck and I think it became infamous.

MEO: That’s right, the logo. my God. Let’s talk about it. my God. So, for those of you who are completely unaware of what we’re talking about, the Connected Design logo, the previous one, if you have a magazine laying around or whatever, it looks like a Roomba. It looks like a vacuum cleaner moving around your house. And when it was presented to me, when we were first putting together the magazine and the concept and the layout, we needed a logo and I got vetoed. Everybody else thought it was the coolest thing in the world. And I’m like, all I see is a Roomba and I could not stop. So, the first thing that had to go was the Roomba.

Rob:  Yeah, it was the Roomba. It was like a running joke. I, you know, we, co-worked on this, this new logo. And I, mean, I think it’s safe to say we’re both pretty big baseball fans and you know, I, the inspiration here, right? We won’t talk about who, if you know us, you know who, but for reasons that we want to keep this a friendly podcast, we’re not going to talk about it. But the idea, the concept of like you think of baseball logos and I like to wear hats. think if anyone knows me, they see me in hats all the time, quite frequently out at events. you know, one, it’s something that looked cool on a hat. And I think it, I think we accomplished that. So I look forward to, you know, Branded Bills. We’re going to give them a shout out right here. I don’t know if we’ll get it to work. I’m going to get to work on making some hats for us. So, you know, next time we’re out there, you’ll see us rocking some connected design swag.

MEO: And as you know, I mean, I travel a lot, obviously, but I always travel with a hat because let’s be honest, like the last thing I want to do is have big, beautiful hair on an airplane. So I like to travel with my sports hats, but yeah, I’ll definitely wear a Connected Design hat.

Rob:  Heck yeah. We’ll get them out there. You know, we’ll see it and it’s going to be fun. But, you know, we didn’t do this to make hats. We didn’t do this to, to change logos or anything like that. So I, I’m excited to talk about the, you know, the why and everything about this. you know, like we said, it’s been a long time. We we’ve kind of, you know, start from where it was right. Like back in the day, how, why it came to be.

I think it’s got a unique origin story because anyone that knows where we were, you know, part of the NAPCO Media brand, I think we’re okay talking about them. They’re, still around. So I still, you know, it’s cool. see, Mr. Leskuski, had his kids run through my high school. So it’s neat to be able to stay in touch with them and, kind of see what they’ve done as a company. 

MEO: Absolutely. I would even go in to say that they were incredible mentors. They knew how to do it right. They always came up with innovative ideas and so, know. Yeah, absolutely.

Rob:  Right. They allowed us to have the freedom to do it to an experiment, right? Like that’s, that’s a big part of that. you know, so cool to have been a part of that. And again, I, you talk about experience or, experiment and that’s truly what this was, you know, it was an experiment at the time. And, you know, we had the Dealerscope brand, we had the Technology Integrator brand, that was, you know, due for a refresh and, instead of just refreshing, we were like, why don’t we just take the hammer to the Berlin wall? No pun intended as we get to further on in our story. but you know, take the hammer to the wall, knock it down and start fresh. And, you know, I kind of let you, you know, without stealing all your thunder, cause this was, you know, a concept that born out of you back, back then. So, you know, really cool opportunity.

MEO: Well, I would say we, because you and I were in it together when the concept was dumped in front of us and abandoned. And I think the first iteration of what Connected Design was supposed to be just didn’t feel right. I don’t even think it had a name. It might have had acronyms or something back in the day. Yeah.

Rob:  Cembly… you remember that? We could throw, think I have the concept magazine cover that we could probably splash on here just to show people. Right. It’s a, it’s a bad memory. Yeah.

MEO: Yeah, let’s not. But anyway, just after really thinking about what it is, what it’s supposed to be, I think it was really missing that huge outreach, design build outreach. And so, from there, I think that’s when we just started thinking about ways we could connect with other audiences. And obviously, you know, as a female and always being, you know, the stigma of, it’s so big and ugly and technology is just disgusting and tired of like everything being so blocky and not beautiful. you know, even 10, 15 years ago, things were not always that way. There was beautiful products out there and beautifully designed.

Smart homes, and I don’t even think we called them smart homes then I mean we might have called them home theaters or media rooms or what have you but That’s what kind of jumped or catapulted the idea of Connected design and of course I had you You know as editor and a couple other editors that we had at the time to you know put it together.

So really when we launched in 2017 Connected Design, our first issue was like, it looked beautiful. It looked beautiful, but let’s just say there were some mistakes and lessons learned. And you know, when you’re the publisher and there’s mistakes, you have to take the bullets, and you have to take the responsibility. And I did, and I did that. I took the bullets. had the hard conversations and was like, you know what though, this is, this is a growing moment, this is the moment to pivot and do it right. And yeah, from there on out, you know, I think we even decided to change the size when it first came out, it was a big giant square, beautiful coffee table, but I never really, I loved it, but I was like, no, this is something we wanna like put in a magazine or take with you or do all kinds of different things with. Let’s have it look like a standard magazine size if you will. So anyway, it’s evolved.

Rob:  It certainly did even just in those first couple of issues, right? Like it was, from a, we always had the concept of like what we wanted the content to be centered around. it truly was like, if you think about the covers of them, it was the big images. you know, that, that showcased more than just technology. Like it was, it’s, I think that’s why we decided to even just drop the name that that word from the name.

You had Technology Integrator kind of morph to this Connected Design and like connected, obviously having sort of that double entendre of like things are connected. Like they, they just seamlessly work together, but also connected in the sense of two, the network, if you will, or being a tech piece of technology, in just sort of that, that sly ish way of saying it, but like those installs were the big thing. We wanted to feature those big images.

But then, like, truly, was a piece to… It almost felt like a love letter… This is to get very poetic, wax poetic here. Like a love letter to the industry, right? Of like, this is, you know, think more highly of yourself, right? 

MEO: Here are our people. Yeah, here are our people. Here’s what our people do. And when I say our people, I mean, our industry, our integrators, the teams and all the other people that are involved in creating these spaces. Here’s a beautiful example of what it’s supposed to look like when we all get together.

Rob:  Yeah. And it, and you did it like it’s, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s an ode to their accomplishments and you know, how they’re able to, you know, aspire to do better, you know, as a, as an industry. and I think too, it was like the timing, the timing of it. And this, this is where I think we can kind of talk about maybe some of the, you know, what, what was a challenge, right? Like the, I think it was ahead of its time. Like it had so much fanfare, and support.

And, you know, I think the conversations were even had, like I remember going to some of the buying group shows back then to cover them and there were like Richard Glex love them. Like he had the similar mindset, right? Like he was probably a little ahead of his time. All right. Like very, you know, saw where the industry was heading and invited architects and designers to their show. I believe it was in Bonita Springs. One of the ones down there where he had it right. He had a, you know,

Unfortunately, almost felt like a firing squad the way it ended up, but like he had designers and architects at the front of the room and they were surrounded in a U shape by all these integrators who wanted to ask them questions. But like his in his mind and sort of what he was looking to accomplish was that same goal of collaboration and getting the integrators and architects to talk sooner. Like what can we do to work together better? And that those conversations were happening at the same time. We’re looking at launching this magazine and it just felt right. I said, ahead of its time a little bit because it was so early in those conversations that I don’t think we as an industry knew how to have them constructively. But, you know, seven years on, eight years on.

MEO: Well, I think they were being had, but they needed to be highlighted why these conversations were so important, right? And it needed a platform and really it needed something tangible that they can ultimately take with them when they move on to their next project. yeah, I think one of the things I loved most about the magazine was

The amount of projects we got to walk on, work with integrators, even some who had never been published before and really didn’t want to go through the, you know, what needed to be done to be published, you know, get the great photography, you know, have, you know, reach out to their partners to get some testimonials or what have you. But once they did it, it was just the most gratifying feeling in the world even to get like little notes afterwards like thanks for pushing me to do this like this is awesome and then you know to see some of their projects in other you know gorgeous magazines you know in their local areas so that was the best but do you remember when we went to that house in Vegas when it was just when it was just a foundation and we followed that project from start to finish that what did it take like

Rob:  Eagle century, baby. Yeah, I do. That took a long time, you know, from, you know, from start to finish.  And like the cool, that to me was sort of the essence, I think, of what we were trying to do, right. Is, showcase how, I mean, that was every angle, every possible aspect of the industry being highlighted from the integrator that was involved. had Eagle century and Corey and, you know, what he was doing with that company, Colorbeam was a big part of it. I remember, because the entire house was CAT-5 lighting. And, I think that’s where I, or how I met, Joaquin, right? Is that right? Was he a big part of that? Right. you know, so the rep side of it was involved. We got to talk into, I believe if I remember right, I know we talked about blue heron homes, but that was like the home builder that was involved. you know, so they’re all this is coming back to me. It’s crazy. 

But like, literally the from the builder side to the designers, the manufacturers that were involved, the integrator, the reps like this. That home was a just a microcosm of what connected design was of collaboration, you know, resulting in something that was truly impressive. I mean, that home, man, it was massive. Like if I remember right, nine home theaters or something like that, like home theater zones in there, like the thing that’ll forever just be stuck in my mind is the car lift from the garage up to the master bedroom. right. And like they had a basketball court in the garage as well. And just the, the infinity pool over the, it was just incredible. man. The rock wall. Yeah. Right. I got to find all those, but yeah, like to follow it from, I mean, we walked through concrete slabs when they were specking some things in and like looking for where all the wiring was going to go to.

I mean, going through that home when it was close to finish and seeing just the progress that was made and being able to, to spotlight that again from, you know, an issue two years prior. think one of our first issues had like the, you know, the early, early conversations of that home to then when it was done, like that, that was just, that was awesome.

MEO: Yeah, no, that was really great. And there’s been tons since and, you know, even now, you know, talking to the integrators and yeah, I think we should talk. So, you know, that was inception. And then, you know, it kind of morphed when things got a little hairy and our division got acquired and the directions changed and so did the management. Management changed several times and we still published and we still went out there and did our jobs. Even till the very end, when it did finally close down, there were a lot of contributors that came on board, post, that still carried the mission of what the magazine was. So to all those people, Aaron, Joe Whitaker, there was a couple other editors too that really stepped in, and Tony taking over and making sure, doing it justice. It never really abandoned what it was supposed to be.

Rob:  For better and for worse, I think, from like the way things were going, right? You know, I know we were, we both technically weren’t there to see it through to its end, which for better, again, for better and for worse, you know? Yeah, yeah. Attached to it. Always. Yeah, absolutely.

MEO: I was kind of in still. still, you know, would contribute here and there and yeah, you know, it was very personal for me, passion. You know, do I dare call it a baby? Well, it’s not a baby anymore.

Rob:  No, it’s a it’s in its, like, you know, not teenage years. It’s almost it’s almost 10 years old. It’s like nine years old this year. you know, so it’s it’s getting there. Right. Yeah, would be. I have a kid that’s turning nine this year, so like, you know, it’s as old as my oldest son, which is crazy, right?

You know, again, it’s sticking to its guns and remaining tight to that mission. you know, when we were acquired, by the Mesa, Berlin and Germany and, you know, it, they, they obviously like, they didn’t get it. And I think they would, they’d admitted that to us in, in many, you know, a meeting and time and, you know, their expertise, they were an event company. So, they were very aware and familiar with running events.

They put on the largest consumer tech show in Europe. And, you know, successfully so, I’d say. you know, had lots of just good things going on there. And the obvious interest, think, into what we were doing with our event side and the retail side. But, you know, they kind of like didn’t like I said, they admitted to it, didn’t understand the integration world and how it sort of meshed with, or didn’t mesh really with what the rest of the portfolio was. So, you know, it was again, yeah, yeah, it was. And, like for, you know, maybe from that side, like a little neglected by them. so, you know, it just sort of floated along, but like, again, similar to how NAPCO allowed us to experiment and do things and, and, know, test be a test bed for like what we wanted to be.

MEO: It was its own. It was unique. It stood out on its own.

Rob:  They kind of allowed that to happen too. it, like, it didn’t get the, maybe the backing it deserved on the one side internally, but like externally, like it allowed it to sort of gain the reputation it did and, know, serve the industry in a way that I don’t like without that experience and it having gone through that, I don’t think this would be possible.

MEO: Yes, they did. Yeah, I think you’re right. You nailed it. They had our trust. They trusted our experience, our network, in the industry and what we were doing. And it was obviously being well received. It made money. It wasn’t like it was tanking. yeah, no, it was good. It was a good run. But.

Rob:  But, yes, there was COVID, obviously, we’re six years removed from that time period, but like still you can’t deny the impact that had, especially on, you talk about the event space and, you know, where attention was and kind of where it was going. you know, never as a, not as a, a publication or platform, but as a company, had a lot of its own struggles and I think that’s why we both made the decisions we made at the time. I moved on and, know, moved, yeah, moved on to, you know, spend some time at nationwide marketing group, doing PR and comms and, growing that platform kind of just continued again, you know, another place that allowed me to, experiment, right. And, and create things and, continue to do what I did, but like from a corporate communications perspective. So, a slightly different angle, but still covered the industry, stayed in touch with the industry. you know, had a, a lot of leeway and a long runway to try to do things and launch a podcast, you know, launch a blog, grow a magazine and an audience. and you know, it just, another unique opportunity that allowed me to grow my skillset. And I know it was a similar experience for you.

MEO: Yeah, definitely. You know, I took a year to try being a manufacturers rep. I’d say I did. I was a manufacturers rep. And that was interesting. And I think the biggest takeaway I had from that, because I only did that for a year before I joined Somfy. And the biggest takeaway I had was, you know, when you’re a rep, you’re the feet on the ground, you’re the boots on the ground. You’re in front of all the dealers. They’re looking for more, you know, more people to buy your stuff. And it’s a very oversaturated market. You know, there’s so many products to choose from. I did not realize how many integrators there were in Southern California. You know, I’ve lived here my whole life, been in the industry very long time, met a lot of people and I would meet all of these new integrators, and I would ask them, know, how long have you been in business? Are you part of CEDIA? You know, nope, nope, nope. And it was just amazing to me. And they too were doing such incredible projects, beautiful projects. So that was really eye opening. And I was like, you know what? There’s just so much, so many stories to tell, so many projects to share, so many people to highlight. Hence why we’re doing this. 

But then, you know, jumping over to Somfy, been with Somfy three and a half years now. I manage their partnerships, or I manage our partnerships on partnership business development manager. So, anybody, shouldn’t say anybody, but a company who wants to integrate with our motors or control our motors, third party systems, know, that’s where we start. Make sure all the third-party drivers are up to date. The one thing about Somfy that I have to say. This isn’t like a Somfy plug. This is like about the people. It’s the people. This is my first time working for a manufacturer. And you know, when I first came into this industry, I thought, you know, one day I’ll work for a manufacturer, but I’d be very selective, right, about who it would be. I always thought it was going be Leon Speakers. Always thought I was going to go over there and just be Miss Leon. But you know, that didn’t happen. But I loved them. I loved them. We all know how much I love them and their products.

But the people at Somfy are just the culture and how helpful they were and supportive. Somfy has so many products, there’s just so many layers to it and it’s a global company. And my first year, I literally felt like completely lost, like, I’m never gonna get this. I’m never gonna get this. I get integration.

I understand third parties. I understand control systems. I understand shades. I understand this. I understand that. But really the inside of it. So, learning Somfy from the inside out takes some time. And I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the people that I work with. So, and then of course, you know, the patients, a lot of people don’t have time for people to like to understand, but everybody who worked there and there’s people who have been there for like years, like 10 years, 15 years, 18 years, 25 years, 30 years.

One of their sales guys that they had forever just retired 40 years. It’s something like that. Like it’s amazing how long you know, some of these people have been there But they all said, you know, it takes 18 months Takes about 18 months to really kind of understand and get the big picture. So Yeah, so, you know aside from that. I also mean it just media channels that puts me right back with working with everybody I worked with when I was at connected design magazine you know, and just here I am again, so.

Rob:  Well, one question I want to hit it since we’re talking about Somfy, kind of opens that door. Um, one question I know that we we’ve been asked and I give you a chance to answer it here in this venue is obviously day to day I’m here and doing it. I got, we could talk about it maybe on another podcast, all the stuff that’s going on on the parent company side, but, um, you know, for you, what’s this role, your involvement, give you a chance to kind of talk about that and what it means for you.

MEO: With Connected Design, you know, it’s always been a piece of my heart and, you know, having the opportunity to support, bring it back and relaunch it. no, I am still going to be at Somfy and I will contribute for Connected Design. Obviously I’m gonna be its biggest cheerleader, its biggest fan. Maybe, I don’t wanna give away too much, find some really cool projects, talk with some really amazing people, get back into that design build community, which, you know, we are there, you know, from a Somfy level, we work a lot with architects, especially on the commercial side.

It’s just, it’s, it’s joy to see. Guess the only way I could explain is just joy. Like I’m so happy, you know, that you’re taking this risk, right? To put it back out there as an independent brand, which I think is very important to add that it’s an independent brand. And, you know, anything I can do to help and support, you know, you and, and connected design I’m here.

Rob:  No, that’s, that’s perfect. Thank you. I appreciate it. Awesome to hear you say it. Now it’s recorded and encapsulated in a podcast. So, it’s that it’s there. we know, but you brought it up and I’m glad you did the independent side of this. you know, everywhere connected design has been, whether it was NAPCO, whether it was, you know, Messe Berlin and IFA or CT Lab. it’s had sort of a conglomerate behind it. 

That is one of the things that makes this unique. Scary? Yes. You mentioned that kind of putting ourselves, myself out on a limb, you know, and, and wanting to do this and do it right. But it’s also, I think, unique and distinct advantage for us, in sort of how we’re approaching this and, why we’re approaching it the way that we are.

To put it bluntly, we don’t answer to no one. Connected Design stops and ends with us. I think if anyone has seen sort of the way we’ve talked, the way, you know, I’ve kind of covered this space over the past couple of months, in different venues, you know, nothing but the truth. So, so help me Connected Design. It gives us the chance to be that voice. And I know there’s, there’s other voices out there, you know, and, and love them and excited to work with them too. Like that’s, that’s a big part of this again, collaboration. Yes, it, it’s the, it’s the integrators, it’s the manufacturers, it’s the builders and designers. It’s also the trade media people. you know, we need to work together and help each other and, you know, ensure that we’ve got a future. 

I think one of the biggest things I’ve heard, you know, time and again, in talking to people about this relaunch is there’s a need for this channel, this, this independent retail or independent, you know, trade media platform, because without it, you know, we could get into a whole journalistic discussion on, the importance of journalism and what people feel about it. You know, I’m not out there. We are not CNN. We’re not like, you know, these other, you know, whatever you want to call them but like keeping the industry honest and putting the spotlight on people that need to have the spotlight put on them. It’s a service, you know that we’re here to do for the space and we can’t do it without the support of the channel and the support of the community.

MEO: Exactly. And the community. I mean, it’s a community. We’re helping the community, building the community, and making sure the community is going in the right direction. And while people don’t want to come out and say what that direction is, we can help them. We can help them, you know, start having those conversations, which we’ve been having those conversations, you know, since CEDIA, you know, what what’s going on? What can we do better? You know, how’s everybody feeling? What’s the temperature out there? So yeah, no, I think you’re going to do it justice, and I look forward to seeing how this, how it plays out. I want to thank those who want to support us, who are supporting us, who want to support the magazine. It’s not even a magazine. So, the platform, the brand, the brand, I’m going to be very specific because we’re not a magazine.

Rob:  Your segues are great because that brought exactly where I was going to go next is that magazine word and being a platform and what that means. We mentioned being independent, and that being a differentiator for us. What, how we’re going to go about it, too, is also a differentiator, I think. And, you know, it’s 2026 as we sit here, I think. Right. Like, you know, media landscape has changed. I know that you could talk about the reasons for the struggle of the channel. I know, financially, some people might call us crazy for wanting to try to do this, but, you know, when you do it right and you take the approach that I think we’re going to take and that we are taking, this is a big part of like, literally, if you’re watching this, if you’re listening to this, it’s a big part of what we’re going to be and why it’s going to be different. There’s the conversations. I love a written piece as much as the next person. I love putting my—I’ve got so many keyboards that are clicky clacky. If you remember from the NAPCO offices, they still they’re still here. They still exist. Don’t you worry. I’m all except I’m just clicking and clacking for myself now instead of everyone else around me disrupting them that my dog might hate me. But that’s you know, that’s we can have those conversations here. 

I love that exercise of writing. But, you know, truly, it’s the conversations and being able to feature them in this type of format and medium that I think is going to be the big difference and, you know, being more visual and more video forward and social media. it’s again, it’s 2026. We’re going to take a different approach to this, not only in how we cover the channel, but like we partner with our partners and work with them to provide them a platform that is equally as beneficial. And it’s two way street here, y’all.

MEO: Exactly. Connect. Yep, we’re connecting all the dots. Yes.

Rob:  Yeah, it’s like one of those. If you ever been to Jersey and I know you have the junctions, right? The circles, right? The traffic circles, right? The turnpikes. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re making sure that traffic, despite how, how confusing they may seem, they really help the flow of traffic if you enter them properly. Right. And that’s what we’re trying to do is enter this channel properly and provide it with a way, right? Provide it with a way to make traffic flow efficiently here. So.

MEO: Yeah, it’s a good analogy. One that I can relate to. Yes, absolutely. yeah, I have a couple questions for you. I know we’re, we, you know, clearly we’re back. What type of, I know what, I know why you got the bug. We don’t need to talk about why you got the bug to bring, you know, to come back and give it another go. What plans do you have? You know, can you give us a little sneak peek of what’s to come and what we can look forward to and how people can get involved.

Rob:  Absolutely. So, I mean, we kind of are, like I said, are previewing it here in terms of what you can expect, right? We’ll have a digital forward platform, connecteddesign.tech, for those that haven’t visited it already. You know, we’ll have the things you expect, right? So, you know, some regular coverage, some regular newsletters that go out, you know, the podcasts, the articles, the industry coverage, being at shows, being, you know, a trade media partner that’s out there doing the things again that you expect. You know, where it starts to become different, I think, is in everything that I just mentioned, right? The newsletter will not look like the newsletter that you, newsletters that you’ve come to expect from, you know, other trade partners in the space. I don’t want the, you know, the headline image, a little bit of body copy just to drive you to a website. Um, you know, eyeballs are important, but I’d rather see engagement and that—if there’s a word that I like, if I had a one word mission statement for what I think connected design is going to be it’s engagement. Um, you know, that’s, that’s what is healthy for this channel and healthy for any channel, um, is to have an engaged audience as well as an engaged platform.

You know, so you’re going to see ways to engage with us, whether that’s through our newsletters, whether that’s through eventually, you know, anyone that knows me knows I love numbers and data and surveys. I think you’ll see us get back to that eventually. And, know, surveying this channel in different ways that kind of allow us to figure out some of the things that, you know, we could work on as a channel, as an industry, as a space. You know, so I look forward to doing more of that, the, don’t want to call them the tough questions, but like the thought provoking questions, you know, when I, again, I talk about being engaging. I want to write. Like exactly like asking things I, you know, we’re coming up on it. So I actually, and I got to give a credit where to do, I had a conversation with Bruce Clark, around kind of what we’re doing and you know, he had some cool ideas, one of which will result in an actual tool that we’ll use or, or, or some sort of, you know, fun little, again, another engaging piece of content for us where I don’t know what the cadence will be, but like giving people a space to reply to a single question, whether that’s like a monthly question in the newsletter, again, evolving platform here, we’re going to figure some things out.

I don’t want to give it all away, but I want people to understand like, like, you know, they need to, this is a platform that yeah, I’m going to be, it can’t be a one way street again, to use that term, right? Like I, I’m going to be publishing things. We’re going to be publishing things as a channel. We’ll have other voices on the platform, but we need the feedback. We need to hear from you. And you know, we want, we want your input, whether that’s about what we’re doing about the channel. So you’ll, you’ll see some sort of way to do that. And answer some trick, again, not tricky questions, but just like thought, those thought provoking questions that may have multiple answers to them. Just wanting to kind of pick your brain around, Hey, here’s this big industry event that’s been going on for awhile. Name it, whatever you want to name it. You pick a name. you know, are they doing enough to actually move the needle for the channel and leaving that open ended to feedback and, then using that feedback to share your voice, whether that’s, whether you want to remain anonymous or whether you want to put your name, attach your name to whatever your response is. Like that feedback, I think is. I mean, not only cool to read, you dive into the comment section of any Facebook post you want today and it gets awkward, right? But like being constructive about it and giving connected design a way to share those thoughts and opinions of the channel, not just mine or not just ours. Like that’s the kind of stuff that excites me and the type of content that I look forward to sharing over the weeks, months, and years ahead.

MEO: It’s exciting. It’s exciting. I know that there’s some conversations that are in the pipeline and it’s gonna, we’re gonna hit it out of the park. We’re off to a good start. You’re off to a good start. So all the blood, and tears that you put into the background.

Rob:  We’re trying right? Couldn’t do like a lot of support you mentioned it right I mean obviously you are a big part of this and you know, there’s some people that have You done a lot for me from a mental stability standpoint to give me the confidence to be able to do this, but obviously the partners again that are out there that have supported us and that, you know, we’re engaged with and talking to, you know, about future support and things like that. So. I just, a lot of it’s like, I feel like the weights off, but at the same time, cause it’s out there now. Right. but at the same time it’s, you know, it’s, it’s really just, it should be getting heavier. Like now it’s live. Now we’ve got to go do the thing that we’ve been setting up for so long. So, you know, excited to have this be official and have it be out there and start doing the work and like you said, sharing those stories that need to be shared. Cause that, that at the end of the day, I think is what just makes this the most fun is, is finding those stories and telling them.

MEO: Yes, yep. And having some really important conversations with people who are ready to talk. that’ll be good. So I’m gonna be a diligent reader, a diligent supporter. Obviously, I wanna have a few recommendations and contribute some of my contributions as well. So, yeah. Here we are. Here it is.

Rob:  The timing’s right. I think we finally have it right. And, we’re excited about the, again, the feedback we’ve already had around what we’re doing, the input and, you know, again, one, one long podcast in, but you know, this is just the beginning and I look forward to, right. I look forward to, yeah, right. I look forward to so much more of this, you know, with you, and other interviews and guests that we have lined up and, you know, just really, really getting back to work on behalf of this channel in a way more meaningful way than we’ve ever done. So, looking forward to it. Let’s have those conversations.

MEO: Maybe I think we should do a happy hour one next, a happy hour podcast so we can do a cheers.

Rob:  Love that idea! But hey, to those that made it, appreciate you to those that are supporting and want to support, know, we, we appreciate you. and again, let’s, let’s go have fun. Let’s, let’s get back to covering this channel and having a good time.

MEO: Let’s do it. Thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it. First of many. Stay tuned.