Industry buying group HTSA made a huge splash a few years ago by launching Lightapalooza (which recently concluded its 2024 outing) and then opening it to the entire custom channel. So, no stranger to propelling industry education, the organization has teamed with leading architectural loudspeaker manufacturer Sonance on its latest initiative in this area.
The program and events have been happening and growing at Sonance for 4-5 years, with several being staged each year and will now be an annual co-sponsored tradition, according to the groups.
For ease and efficiency for integrators to attend and participate in this education opportunity, HTSA and Sonance will co-locate the events.
“Sonance is an ideal study of what HTSA does to elevate vendors, members and our entire industry. We constantly challenge ourselves to do better for the members and the industry,” says HTSA Executive Director Jon Robbins.
“The unique work HTSA does with vendors like Sonance and others and dealers elevates us all in entirely new ways and advances what we do in the eyes of the public.”
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Partners Put Culture, Connections & Education Classes in Spotlight
According to HTSA and Sonance, the events will address a range of valuable business lessons and strategies.
For starters, the organizations will offer a special, hands-on Sonance Tour with far more than product, but a focus on company culture, relationships, and advancement.
That will be augmented by real-world, firsthand practices with HTSA Chief Learning Architect Keith Esterly and his unique Relationship Science Classes that dovetail with the Sonance mindset, views, and tour.
“HTSA’s even deeper relationship with the Sonance team goes back to my very first weeks at HTSA in 2019,” Esterly notes.
“From that very first visit, we realized how perfectly aligned we are in our ultra-unique approach to client experiences, and I’ve led an open-enrollment Relationship Science event there every year in December ever since.”
He adds that attendees are never the same and emphasizes that the in-person classes are very interactive, dynamic, and progressive.
Plus, HTSA states the Relationship Science classes are constantly evolving since they began in 2019 and now offer live sessions, webinars, and interactive training.
He says the annual Winter Relationship Science event at the Sonance Studio has already become a traditional, year-end “family reunion”-like atmosphere and an ideal way to end the year that the groups and dealers look forward to for making business connections and more.
“In terms of live events, the open-enrollment Relationship Science sessions we do at Sonance are always among the best because my three days following on the heels of their awesome studio tour, allows our folks to experience, first-hand, what if feels like be treated like a guest — and what it means to start with WHY when it comes to running your integration business — before diving in deep with me,” Esterly enthuses.
Attendees to Experience Evolving Sonance Studio at HTSA-Sonance Events
The Sonance Studio, at Sonance headquarters in San Clemente, Calif., is considered “a living lab” and a place where they’ve been bringing in 2,500+ builders, architects, designers, integrators, and even homeowners per year.
Sonance has also been focusing on relationship building as a priority that it says comes before products. Last year the company celebrated 40 years in business.
“HTSA already had a great thing going, then Keith put a focused lens on the way we both approach things,” says Sonance Chief Sales Officer Jason Sloan.
“During the pandemic, he uncovered a massive opportunity over Zoom, citing there are things they teach that Sonance was also teaching relative to relationships and how to reimagine discussions with customers.”
Sonance is in the process of renovating their Studio to further optimize it. The space will be mostly done by mid-year, according to the company, and they are leaning even further into design and aesthetics.
The audio company’s partners involved include DMF and Lutron plus luxury appliance makers such as a Monogram GE. This is not to sell appliances, Sonance notes, but to create a complete, world-class environment so visitors can see how music can fit into these spaces and not detract from overall aesthetics.
“We realized that product is not the first place to start the conversation,” Sloan asserts.
“We make everyone who comes to our facility feel like a guest, like someone you have into your home. This is the most special, close relationship we can create.”
Integrators have come to appreciate and look forward to HTSA’s education efforts, and the Sonance partnership provides another powerful tool in their business toolbelts.
“I’ve had the great pleasure of attending this one-of-a-kind, collaborative event hosted by Sonance and HTSA, and it sets the benchmark,” reports Shalom Ilouz, president of Powerfull Systems in Los Angeles.
“The gathering not only allowed my team to get hands on with both companies, but see how vital culture, relationships and our approach to customers truly are. We left with some fresh ideas to layer on to what we already do and take our customer interaction to a new level. We’ll definitely be back for more as it continues to grow and evolve.”
HTSA’s Spring Conference is around the corner, taking place March 25-27, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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