It was double trouble in Indianapolis last week as Azione Unlimited and Oasys both convened for their summits in Indiana. While my colleague and Executive Editor here at CE Pro, Zachary Comeau, attended the Azione event, I had the opportunity to join the team over at Oasys for their own fun little adventure.
And my, what a difference a few years make.
For context, I attended the first-ever Oasys Summit back in 2023, right after they had reformed from HTSN, and it was a much smaller—and quieter—group at the time. So, heading into this year’s summit, I was deeply interested to see how the group had evolved.
The answer, from my assessment, seems to be: splendidly.
Summit Delivers Message of Self-Leadership and Collaboration
Ryan McCarthy delivers they keynote at Oasys Summit 2025. Photo/Nick Boever
Settling into the first day, the keynoter, Ryan McCarty, delivered a meditative talk on the importance of self-leadership in business. At its core, it was a talk on self-reflection, but it hinged on the idea that one cannot lead others if they do not know how to properly direct their own emotions and actions first. It’s as they always said, you can’t love anyone if you don’t already love yourself. Rather than be a prescriptive lecture, however, McCarty sought to give everyone in the room a taste of what all that preaching was about, using his time to also provide activities of self-reflection and introspection to attendees, which was then followed by a bit of a relationship workshop after the keynote proper concluded.
It’s one of those subjects you don’t even really need to be a business leader in order to benefit from it. Of course, learning how to lead is what all of this is about, but just from the standpoint of sitting down and learning more about yourself and how you tick, it’s a very meditative process, and one that was most certainly welcome amidst all the chaos and confusion of the modern business landscape.
Past that, there were also joint workshop and educational sessions led by Jason Sayen of iamsayen and Matt Bernath of VITAL that gave attendees a chance to work with one another on prompts and problems regarding modern business, as well as a lighting workshop put on by Bruce Clarke of the recently formed Illuminated Lighting Design that gave attendees an opportunity to get hands on with some lighting practices.
Inside the anechoic chamber at Premium Audio Company’s headquarters. Photo/Nick Boever
It wasn’t all business while at the show, however, as the group got to tour the Premium Audio Company (PAC) facility right outside of the city before hitting up Top Golf the second evening of the event. Ever sit in an anechoic chamber? I won’t say it’s life-changing but after spending a few hours of listening to some audiophile-grade home theater systems and audio demos, the literally deafening silence that followed thereafter held its own kind of magic for visitors, myself included.
Industry Continues to Digest Tariff Impacts
Unsurprisingly, a big topic at this year’s summit was that of tariffs. Honestly, I’m still amazed that I can go to these talks still and pull out some new bit of information, and it’s not just because the subject is a seething mass of chaos with new developments cropping up every other day at this point. There is uncertainty, yes, but I think people have also begun to poke their heads up above the waves and see what different scenarios look like on the distant horizons.
Already price increases and tariff surcharges have begun to roll in from a variety of manufacturers, but the big move that is currently affecting markets is the stalling of shipments out of many of the tariff-affected countries, especially China.
From left to right: Jeff Costello of Nice, Dennis Holzer of Powerhouse Alliance, Mitch Klein of CEDIA, and Greg Simmons of ADI/SnapOne speak on tariffs at Oasys Summit. Photo/Nick Boever
Jeff Costello of Nice, Dennis Holzer of Powerhouse Alliance, Mitch Klein of CEDIA, and Greg Simmons of ADI/SnapOne all had their own perspectives to tell on the matter, equating the current situation to the stalling of global shipping routes that happened post-COVID, and like the aftermath of COVID, where shipping costs skyrocketed and supply became backed up in ports as everyone tried to start shipping at once, they foresee a similar situation hitting the market once the 90-day pause is up.
Actually, given the recent 90-day window given to Chinese tariffs, that surge in shipments might happen sooner than expected. See? Big ‘ole ball of chaos this topic.
Related News: U.S., China Pause Tariffs for 90 Days in Major Trade Shift
A few major takeaways for integrators, however, was to keep the language in their contracts straightforward and fluid to make sure both the client and the integrator don’t get blindsided by price increases and to make sure they’re managing their inventories appropriately.
Additionally, perhaps a silver lining to all this, was the discussion of a recent study put out that sees tariff-increased home prices once again driving people out of the homebuying market and into the home renovating market. Interesting if true.
Oasys Summit 2025: What a Difference a Few Years Make
I spoke to Jason Magdic and Hank Alexander while at the summit to get a gauge on just how the group had been able to change so drastically over such a short time, and, according to the duo, a lot of it has been through Magdic’s efforts in finding new members that would fit into the group, not just from a numbers perspective, but from a culture perspective as well.
“A lot of people I reach out to—It’s the first time they’ve ever heard of a buying group,” Magdic says. These aren’t newbies to the industry, however. According to Alexander, some of these members have the revenue streams to land them in the CE Pro 100. They’ve just been off the grid, so-to-speak.
Even if they’re not a good fit, Magdic will usually leave them in a good position to be there next year, provided they’re interested.
“It sucks when I have to deny people, but I always tell the guys I call to keep us in mind. I’ll even give them recommendations on how they can trim some things up. One guy I asked what his credit card swipe rate was and that got him thinking.”
And vetting process is absolutely paying dividends for group culture.
“It’s finally really starting to click with our group, you know, and that’s just because four years ago [speaking on HTSN], there wasn’t really that dynamic of pure CI,” Magdic says. “It wasn’t those guys coming into these conferences originally, so it’s cool to see it happening right now. I come out to these things and there’s just a bunch of friendly little groups forming and talking throughout the year.”
Keep Reading:
Check out our companion piece covering what went down at Azione’s Spring Conference
Read up on how the incoming tariffs may affect the custom integration business
Or see what’s going on over at HTSA this spring
