Azione Unlimted emphasizes emerging categories such as lighting fixtures in 2019, allowing members to work more closely with designers and architects, as well as new educational meetings and factory tours
Chester Springs, PA – (December 20, 2018) – In today’s highly competitive home technology industry, delivering solutions that excite the customer while retaining margins is crucial. That’s why Azione Unlimited, in its ‘Lucky 7th’ year, is announcing a lineup of unique educational experiences, with an emphasis on key categories like lighting fixtures, providing dealer members the resources they need to deliver results and garner profits. These include:
Savant-USAI Lighting Training for Azione Unlimited Members
Savant and USAI Lighting will host Azione members at the “NYC Lighting Experience & Training,” January 9-10, 2019 at the Savant Experience Center in Soho, New York. The two-day event gives Azione members exclusive access to education on the energy industry as an emerging product category, fixtures, Savant control, system architecture and design, and the competitive landscape, as well as offers hands-on demos, products intros, and extensive networking opportunities for industry experts.
“We are committed to the lighting fixture category for 2019 and beyond because it’s important for the homeowner and it’s also profitable for our members,” says Richard Glikes, President of Azione Unlimited, the only buying group in which vendor and dealer members are equal. “We have exclusive training and programs for 2019 that will help our members capitalize on this emerging home tech category.”
More than 20 Azione dealer members have signed up for the January training thus far. As a result, a second training has been added for March 6-7, 2019.
Azione Insights Help Members Differentiate in Lighting
Azione’s 2019 Lighting Initiative builds upon momentum the group initiated in 2018. Ann Schiffer’s Inspiring Insights talk at Azione’s fall conference, the Donnée in Denver, for example, focused on Circadian lighting and how it relates to wellness. Azione Unlimited members are likewise embracing the category and enhancing their offerings with lighting fixtures and related services and support.
“I can’t speak enough about how successful and easy it has been for us to add lighting control and design to our menu of services,” said Luke Germain, President of Tune Street. “If you are on the fence as a technology company, jump in with both feet. It will bring you closer to your architect and designer friends and help you become an intelligent voice on all projects.”
Azione Unlimited member, Kasted and its sister company DPDG understand that the interaction between light and architecture is a fundamental aspect of any design and that a good lighting design helps to communicate the identity of a space and shapes an individual’s perception of the environment. In fact, Kasted by DPDG is not only an integration firm but an architectural lighting firm and wholesale lighting fixture distributor.
Azione 2019 Events, Tours, and Education
Events like Azione’s upcoming “Fulgent Fling” Spring 2019 Conference in Florida, April 3–5, 2019, and contests like the upcoming 2019 Brand Adoption, Growth & Engagement Contest are encouraging Azione members to grow and move into new categories like lighting fixtures, and rewarding members that do.
In 2019, Azione is expanding on the success of its complimentary Key Leaders meeting by offering three separate Key Leaders meetings, each designed with a specific manager in mind, including system designers (February), operations (July), and sales managers (July).
In addition, several Azione vendor factory tour opportunities are in the works, including an exclusive tour and experience of Barco’s Belgium Campus, prior to ISE Amsterdam. While at the Spring conference, dealers are invited for a tour of JL Audio and IC Realtime’s headquarters, as well as AudioControl, during the Azione Fall Conference. Additional visits with vendor members like James Loudspeakers are in the planning stages.
Azione Advisory Board Guides the Group’s Future
Azione’s education and other initiatives are part of short and long-term plans for the organization, developed by Glikes and the Azione Advisory Board. Elected and equally representing membership with four dealer and four vendor members, the Advisory Board brings an outstanding lineup of leaders to the table to conceptualize, guide, and execute major Azione initiatives. Last month’s Board retreat in Dallas, TX, succeeded in a significant task: refreshing the vision, pillars, and mission of Azione Unlimited, reflecting the group’s evolution over the past seven years.
“The Board is a synergy of the best minds in our industry and together with Richard [Glikes], we developed the new vision of ‘Help Grow Profitable Businesses’ and the pillars of Community, Education, Purchasing Power and Business Guidance, which will be the guiding force of Azione’s conferences and programs moving forward,” said Tim Bigoness, Azione Advisory Board member and CMO of D-Tools.
The new Azione mission statement is as follows:
Be the definitive organization serving the Custom Integrator Industry that helps members grow their business through a combination of education, purchasing power, and business guidance while providing a platform for like-minded integrators and vendors to share ideas and best practices that will benefit all. And to have fun while doing so.
About Azione Unlimited
Azione Unlimited, the education and buying group for integrators, is a consortium of like-minded custom installers, home technology professionals, and vendors. The organization helps its members achieve greater levels of prosperity, technical acumen, and sophistication in running their businesses and serving customers. Founded by industry veteran Richard Glikes and headquartered in Chester Springs, PA, the organization hosts two high-energy, information-packed conferences per year, Azione provides its members with a host of benefits, from product discounts to educational middle management meetings and marketing tools.