Catalyst Connect - What to Expect from Year Two

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Hello and welcome to episode 27 of Catalyst Conversations.
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My name is Riley Pope, Content Marketing Manager
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here at Catalyst Acoustics Group. And today we
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have a very special Catalyst Connect centered
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episode for you. Catalyst Connect is back for
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2026, bringing together architects, designers,
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consultants, engineers, contractors, and other
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industry professionals for a single day event
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focused on learning, networking, and connecting
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with the people and brands shaping the acoustics
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industry. This year's event takes place October
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14th in Columbus, Ohio, and features CEUs and
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technical presentations, a tour of the Kinetics
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Noise Control Manufacturing Facility, tabletop
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displays from the Catalyst brands, and plenty
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of opportunities to connect with industry peers.
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In today's episode, we're going to hear from
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those attending this year's event and learn more
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about what they're looking forward to the most
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and what makes this event so unique in our industry.
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Whether you're already registered or still deciding
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if Catalyst Connect belongs on your calendar,
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this episode gives you a behind -the -scenes
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look at what the event means to the people putting
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it together. Let's dive in. And for our first
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guest today, we are joined by Charles Merrimon,
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or as we know him, CM. CM is CEO here at Catalyst
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Acoustics Group. Thanks so much for joining us
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for this special Catalyst Connect -focused episode.
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Hey, thanks, Riley. Really excited to get a few
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minutes with you and catch up today. Well, I
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appreciate you joining us. Before we dive into
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kind of the meat of this Catalyst Connect episode,
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we may have some listeners who have no idea what
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Catalyst Connect is, have never heard of it.
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Could you give us a little bit of an overview
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of what Catalyst Connect is and maybe who it's
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designed for, who would get the most from attending?
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Yeah, sure. I appreciate that. It's a great question.
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It can be a very long answer. I'll try to make
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it fairly short and succinct. But really, Catalyst
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Connect is a really great event or a forum, if
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you will, for those that are in the acoustics
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industry, that are acoustics professionals that
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are highly focused and engaged around acoustics,
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noise control, and vibration isolation industry.
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And they may have a myriad of different roles
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or remits or responsibilities, but that's really
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where this audience is targeted for us. And the
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day itself will include a lot of technical presentations,
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continuing education seminars, CEUs, if you will,
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direct engagement with leaders and partners in
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the industry. And like most events, though, it's
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really about the people and the relationships
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that you get to experience at this event. And
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that's really what we're trying to bring together.
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So that's our aim, is to provide a platform to
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do just that. And for those that don't know,
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Catalyst Connect is focused on the brands that
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Catalyst Acoustic Group encompasses here, which
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makes it a bit different from other events that
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attendees may be going to this year. From your
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perspective, though, what makes Catalyst Connect
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different than the typical industry event they
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might be going to? Sure. And a lot of your industry
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events are doing that. They're trying to really
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call out those brands. You know, I think what
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we are trying to do different is we make it unique
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because it's about the sharing, the collaboration,
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the listening and learning that's happening.
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with other professionals in the space. And it's
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not about us pushing an agenda. It's about us
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bringing those individuals together, right? So
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that they take away more knowledge, more understanding
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of what's happening in the markets and the customers
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they serve and how we can do that better collectively
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really as a community. Well, this is the second
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year of the event. So we're excited to kind of
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take what we learned from last year and put it
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into this year. What are you most excited about
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for this year's show? Yeah, you know, and a lot
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of times, a lot of people are afraid of what
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they call the sequels or the... I'm more excited
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about this because we are building on what we
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did last year. We're just trying to make it,
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and I know it will be bigger and better in a
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way that just allows us to take the lessons learned
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we had, take it to another great location for
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us that's really, really important to the customers
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and the industry we serve from Dublin, Ohio.
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And this gives us that, again, that platform
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for those partners and those customers to really
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collaborate. share and take away some things
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that's not only going to build their knowledge,
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but also build their network. And that's how
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we get better collectively. Well, CM, thanks
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so much for joining us. Thanks for that overview.
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We got lots of great guests coming up on this
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episode, and you set them up well to cover this
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year's Catalyst Connect. I appreciate your time.
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Awesome. I'm excited to hear what they have to
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say, and I know it'll be great. Thanks, Riley.
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All right. And now we're joined by Aaron Duncan.
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Aaron is the sales and operations manager at
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Soundseal. Aaron, why don't you go ahead and
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introduce yourself a little bit and then we'll
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dive into what we have to expect this year at
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Catalyst Connect. Hi, Riley. Thanks for having
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me on the podcast today. Yep. As you said, the
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newly appointed sales and operations manager
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for Soundseal. Been with the company for just
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over nine years with a little over 20 years of.
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acoustical industry work. And I'm just happy
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to be here to talk about CADCON this year. Awesome.
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Well, last year, you led one of our CEUs. What
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could attendees expect from this year's sessions?
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Absolutely. So last year, I did present on some
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interior room acoustics. We talked about everything
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from wall panels, ceiling treatments, just a...
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great breadth of offering from SoundSeal. We
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got into some baffles as well, banners as well,
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indoor, outdoor spaces. I think my favorite part
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about presenting at CAG CON was all the before
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and after those presentations, because then people
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have certain expectations. They want to learn
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certain items. They want to learn certain things.
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And when those sessions wrap, and specifically
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mine, I had probably no less than five or six
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one -on -one conversations with various people
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from various walks of life in the industry. So,
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you know, we talked with a group who were interior
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designers and they were talking about the impact
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on the space and the importance of form and function.
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And then I was talking to some contractors about
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installation methods. I talked to some consultants
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as well about some product specifics. So I really
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enjoy and I think a lot of people is that it's
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not your normal CEU. Right. You're not, you know,
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running into an architect's office or a designer's
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office for a one hour session. And then you shake
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a few hands, give a business card and you're
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and you're off and running. Right. It's the ability
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to stand around and have those meaningful conversations
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after those presentations. that makes a lot of
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connections and connects a lot of dots at that
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point. Yeah, I agree. And what I'm hearing is
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just having that in -person interaction is just
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so valuable, which kind of leads me to my next
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question. What makes seeing acoustical treatments,
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physical products in person so much more valuable
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than just scrolling online or seeing them on
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a website for you guys? Absolutely. And with
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the diverse group that we have at CAG, CAGCon
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is going to, you know, showcase a lot of different
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products for sound seal because we cover so much
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ground from both all the way from industrial
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noise control architectural finishes to some
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specialty uh some specialty products as well
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it's nice to see you know how things come together
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uh to to feel the fabric or to see the texture
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or to see stitching on on a panel and look at
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the the level of quality is probably the biggest
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understanding that people have because then they
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go, ah, this is not an off -the -shelf product.
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This is something that is bespoke. It's fully
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custom. It's made right here in the USA. And
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it's just impressive to see how each group does
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it and then more impressive to see the level
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of product that they offer into the acoustical
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world. Well, as a second time attendee, what
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are you personally looking forward to the most
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at this year's Catalyst Connect? You know what?
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I'm going to say this. Last year, the energy
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level was so high. You know, we had some music.
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You know, we had an emcee announcing what was
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going on in different areas. I hope we do that
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again this year. Again, I haven't connected fully
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with the marketing team, but I'm sure they're
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going to dial it up again. But honestly, the
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presentations, I mean, Andrew Polte is going
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to have a great one for IAC. Ben Hickey is going
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to talk about wood products and he's a great
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presenter. I would not miss that. Ben Vause is
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going to do a phenomenal job of kind of demystifying
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some of the acoustics world and understanding
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it. And then probably Eric Wolfram is a is must
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see. Right. I think for Riverbank Labs. Anybody
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that visits and listens to any of his presentations
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will always take something away. I don't care
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if you've been in the industry one year or 25
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years. He will educate you. And he does it in
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such a great way. His delivery is phenomenal.
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So hats off to Eric Wolfram and his presentation,
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which is at the end of the day. So I would encourage
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everybody to get there early. I would encourage
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everybody to grab a plate. and uh and head over
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to any table and and have a conversation i'm
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going to be there i'm going to be uh you know
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presenting at the uh at the booth for at the
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table for sound seal not presenting any ceus
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this year but um i get to socialize more so come
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see me say hello well perfect aaron thanks so
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much for joining us appreciate it looking forward
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to seeing you in columbus i'll i'll see you october
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14th and now we're joined by eric wolfram laboratory
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manager at riverbank acoustical laboratories
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Eric, your presentations have been very popular
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over the years. Tell us a little bit about why
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that might be and what we might expect from you
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this year at Catalyst Connect. Well, we've seen
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just an explosion of interest in acoustics generally
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throughout the architecture industry. Sometimes
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I feel like in the past 15 years, let's say,
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acoustics went from being something that... us
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in the trade had to convince architects was important
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or something they needed to think about and then
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today it's it's a hot topic in architecture so
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and we've seen that sort of ramp maybe exponentially
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um over the past 10 years especially so people
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are very interested in it people are very fascinated
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with it and our presentations have served as
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a sort of kind of introduction to concepts introduction
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to you know what the acoustical classifications
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are, what they mean, how they're tested, and
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then common questions, common issues people might
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have or run into. So we've kind of tailored it
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around just introductory education of acoustical
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concepts. So for an organization like Riverbank
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Acoustical Laboratories, shows like Catalyst
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Connect are a bit different. Can you tell us
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a little bit about how you view these types of
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events, these trade shows, these gatherings about
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what you go into a show like this, wanting to
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get out of it? Yeah, so we're sort of the odd
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duck in the Catalyst portfolio. And I say that
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in the most, you know, the nicest way possible,
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right? So we have a completely different customer
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base than any of the other Catalyst brands. We
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serve acoustical product manufacturers around
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the world. We test for... over 400 different
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companies around the world. So, and some of them
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are competitors for Catalyst. And so we've proven
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over the past several years that, you know, we
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are completely unbiased. We test for the Catalyst
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brands and we test for other companies in the
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industry. Catalyst Connect's a great opportunity
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for me to connect with acoustical consultants
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and influencers in the architecture industry
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and to hear what their needs are, what their
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concerns are, and to see how I can help. Excellent,
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Eric. Well, thanks so much for joining us. We're
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all looking forward to seeing you in October
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in Columbus. You have the same trip and we'll
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see you out there. All right. Thank you. And
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now we're joined by Ben Hickey. Ben is the director
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of sales for both Kinetics and Real Acoustics.
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Ben, why don't you give us a little information
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about yourself and we'll dive in. Yeah, thanks
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for having me. I started back in 2019 with Kinetics
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Noise Control, specifically in the room acoustics
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division, branched into the home market about
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a year later during the fun of COVID. And then
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in the past year, I joined the Real Acoustics
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team and I'm working within their sales division
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to help further the prowess of the wood product
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and offerings that they have. Well, you're on
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the schedule to present this year at Catalyst
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Connect. Could you tell us a little bit about
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what attendees might expect to hear from you
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at your session? Yeah, that's going to be more
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focused on biophilic design to the wood product
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in general. So while it is listed as a Real Acoustics.
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presentation. I think it flows for all of the
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wood brands that Catalyst has under its banner.
00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:12.269
And so we'll be talking a lot about how wood
00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:17.450
products can help with both absorption, but also
00:13:17.450 --> 00:13:19.509
the diffusion and scattering that they're known
00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:21.970
for. We're kind of diving back into the Real
00:13:21.970 --> 00:13:24.570
Acoustics brand specifically. Is there anything
00:13:24.570 --> 00:13:27.049
that that team is looking forward to showcasing
00:13:27.049 --> 00:13:28.970
this year at Catalyst Connect? We're always happy
00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:31.090
to show our flagship product, which is the good
00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:36.299
panel, GUD, Geometric Uniform Diffuser. two and
00:13:36.299 --> 00:13:38.539
a half to three times more effective in diffusion
00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:40.559
and scattering than just about any other product
00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.519
on the market. So it's a Richard Lenz original
00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:48.700
design and it's one of our most proud components
00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:52.659
that we offer. So we're deeply happy to show
00:13:52.659 --> 00:13:54.840
it as well as some of the deep dive products
00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.580
that are highly technical and effective to the
00:13:58.580 --> 00:14:01.110
audience that's going to be in front of us. Well,
00:14:01.110 --> 00:14:02.450
I've been asking this question to a lot of people,
00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:04.509
but what are you looking forward to most about
00:14:04.509 --> 00:14:06.710
Catalyst Connect? What kind of separates it from
00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:09.370
a typical industry conference? Yeah, I think
00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:12.409
especially from last year, we had a lot of great
00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:14.409
interaction with new faces. It was the first
00:14:14.409 --> 00:14:17.230
year we ever had it. If anybody's going to walk
00:14:17.230 --> 00:14:19.370
away from something, hopefully it's the knowledge
00:14:19.370 --> 00:14:22.250
of a product maybe they didn't know existed that
00:14:22.250 --> 00:14:26.409
may treat some of their technical issues. I always
00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:30.470
like to fulfill a... uh, a problem and give a
00:14:30.470 --> 00:14:33.470
solution to that, uh, that issue. And so I think
00:14:33.470 --> 00:14:35.529
they're going to find that, uh, we have a lot
00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:38.009
of technical prowess between both brands, kinetics
00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:40.909
and real acoustics. And, uh, we usually have
00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:43.029
something that's going to offer them a solution
00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:45.110
to any kind of noise problem that they have.
00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:47.049
Uh, well, thanks so much for joining us, Ben.
00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:48.649
We're looking forward to seeing you at the show.
00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:51.590
Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. And now
00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:53.610
we're joined by Jeremy Cantor, group president
00:14:53.610 --> 00:14:56.210
here at Catalyst Acoustics Group. Jeremy, you
00:14:56.210 --> 00:14:58.330
oversee several of the brands across the Catalyst
00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:00.649
Acoustics family. From your perspective, what
00:15:00.649 --> 00:15:03.210
makes Catalyst Connect different than the typical
00:15:03.210 --> 00:15:04.990
industry conference someone might be attending?
00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.610
What makes Catalyst Connect very different from
00:15:07.610 --> 00:15:10.409
other events in the acoustical industry is that
00:15:10.409 --> 00:15:13.350
it's focused solely on Catalyst. So what's happening
00:15:13.350 --> 00:15:16.559
at this event is we're taking... all of our Catalyst
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:19.679
companies and bringing all of our expertise into
00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:23.240
one room for our external partners, whether that
00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:26.740
is manufacturers, reps, or acoustical consultants,
00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:30.259
contractors, we want you at Catalyst Connect.
00:15:30.539 --> 00:15:33.220
And it's your opportunity to ask questions of
00:15:33.220 --> 00:15:35.860
our different brands, gain more insight through
00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:38.299
educational experiences. And then this year we're
00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:40.460
hosting it at Kinetics in Dublin, Ohio. You'll
00:15:40.460 --> 00:15:43.440
be able to see our facility and walk that facility,
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:45.830
see how we make fabric wrap. panels, see how
00:15:45.830 --> 00:15:47.929
we're rolling out our ring floor with kit pads
00:15:47.929 --> 00:15:50.409
in it, right? We want to make sure that you understand
00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:53.509
this quality in this product being made and that
00:15:53.509 --> 00:15:54.929
we're doing it right here in the United States,
00:15:55.070 --> 00:15:57.370
which is really exciting as well. So we're excited
00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:00.529
to have everybody at Catalyst Connect. And I'm
00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:02.269
excited as the first timer to be there. Yeah,
00:16:02.330 --> 00:16:04.210
you kind of flowed right into my next question.
00:16:04.570 --> 00:16:06.289
It's also going to be my first time at the show
00:16:06.289 --> 00:16:09.549
this year. So as a fellow first timer, what are
00:16:09.549 --> 00:16:12.529
you looking forward to most? As always, I'm always
00:16:12.529 --> 00:16:14.669
looking forward to meeting our partners, right?
00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:17.870
The only reason that we have a job, right? All
00:16:17.870 --> 00:16:19.429
of us that work for Catalyst is because we have
00:16:19.429 --> 00:16:21.409
great partners that get out there every day of
00:16:21.409 --> 00:16:25.059
the week and sell our products. Again, when we
00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:27.960
have industry events like this specific to Catalyst,
00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.279
we bring everyone together in one location. It's
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.100
just such an amazing way to capture everybody
00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:37.659
at one time and, you know, learn from them, right?
00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:39.659
What we can be doing better, what's working.
00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.940
And it's a really, really good opportunity for
00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:45.820
all of our people at Catalyst to get a lot of
00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:47.740
great feedback and also have a little fun along
00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:49.850
the way. right? Because we get to see our partners
00:16:49.850 --> 00:16:52.429
who become our family, right? At Catalyst, we're
00:16:52.429 --> 00:16:54.909
all about family. And we have such tenure in
00:16:54.909 --> 00:16:56.669
some of our partners. Some of our partners have
00:16:56.669 --> 00:16:59.250
been with us on the manufacturer's website for
00:16:59.250 --> 00:17:03.269
15, 20, 25 years. And when we get to bring them
00:17:03.269 --> 00:17:07.430
into a place all in one place, it's special,
00:17:07.569 --> 00:17:10.410
right? So I'm excited. Awesome. Well, thank you
00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:12.130
so much for joining us, Jeremy. And we're looking
00:17:12.130 --> 00:17:14.130
forward to seeing you in October. Awesome. You
00:17:14.130 --> 00:17:18.039
too. Thanks, Riley. All right. Now we are joined
00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:21.319
by Andrew Polte of IAC. Andrew is one of our
00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:23.259
presenters here this year at Catalyst Connect.
00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:24.740
Andrew, could you tell us a little bit about
00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:26.940
what your presentation is covering and what got
00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:28.819
you interested in this topic? Hi, Riley. Thank
00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:31.279
you. The presentation that I'll be giving at
00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.680
Catalyst Connect this year is Precision Acoustic
00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:37.579
Test Chamber Technologies and Applications. It's
00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:39.460
a little bit of a long -winded way of saying
00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:43.420
test facilities. And what that covers is acoustic
00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:45.980
test chambers. That includes anechoic chambers,
00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.160
reverberation rooms, and general predictable
00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:54.319
field acoustic test facilities. And so it's a
00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:56.869
really interesting topic. Talked about this quite
00:17:56.869 --> 00:18:00.210
a few times before. That's my specialty, testing
00:18:00.210 --> 00:18:02.289
facilities. And so I'm really looking forward
00:18:02.289 --> 00:18:05.970
to it and answering questions and hopefully we'll
00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:08.049
get a good amount of attendees. That's awesome.
00:18:08.130 --> 00:18:10.210
Well, you just mentioned a little bit there that
00:18:10.210 --> 00:18:12.730
you've kind of covered this topic before. Are
00:18:12.730 --> 00:18:15.049
there any questions that come up regularly once
00:18:15.049 --> 00:18:16.869
you're done with your presentation that people
00:18:16.869 --> 00:18:19.269
might expect answered during this? I do get a
00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:22.240
few questions that come up. more often than not.
00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:24.940
One of the most frequent ones that I tend to
00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:28.259
hear is about the test facility itself, as far
00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:31.900
as its size. Test chambers can be tabletop, small
00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:35.279
units. They can be gigantic, you know, large
00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.220
room size that can fit a class eight semi truck
00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:41.380
with a trailer in it. So it really is dependent
00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:44.519
on the product that you're testing, both the
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.660
size and the shape. It also is dependent on the
00:18:47.660 --> 00:18:51.029
frequency that you need to measure. accurately,
00:18:51.130 --> 00:18:54.470
specifically low frequencies. The depth of the
00:18:54.470 --> 00:18:57.710
walls is very dependent on the cutoff frequency
00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:00.910
of the room. Most commonly, you'll see a 100
00:19:00.910 --> 00:19:04.430
Hertz or 200 Hertz cutoff frequency, and that
00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:06.829
determines the depth and also the distance from
00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:09.390
the microphones to where your product is going
00:19:09.390 --> 00:19:11.529
to be measured is important in determining the
00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:13.869
size as well. Andrew, I know last year you were
00:19:13.869 --> 00:19:15.210
an attendee of the show and this year you're
00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:17.390
a presenter. What are you most looking forward
00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:19.750
to coming back for the show this year? Well,
00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:21.750
I'm really looking forward to presenting. I'm
00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:24.849
excited about that. Last year was a really big
00:19:24.849 --> 00:19:27.450
success. We had a lot of attendees and there
00:19:27.450 --> 00:19:30.849
was a lot of good communication, a lot of crosstalk
00:19:30.849 --> 00:19:33.069
between the different brands within Catalyst
00:19:33.069 --> 00:19:35.509
as well. So it was really, really great to get
00:19:35.509 --> 00:19:37.690
together with everyone and talk to them and see
00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:40.529
some of the local influencers and reps in the
00:19:40.529 --> 00:19:44.609
area. And I would highly recommend the factory
00:19:44.609 --> 00:19:47.390
tour as well. at this year's Catalyst Connect.
00:19:47.609 --> 00:19:49.549
The factory tour is going to be exciting. You'll
00:19:49.549 --> 00:19:51.390
get to learn, answer a lot of questions, and
00:19:51.390 --> 00:19:53.369
I'm really looking forward to that, in addition
00:19:53.369 --> 00:19:55.950
to talking to all the folks local to the Columbus
00:19:55.950 --> 00:19:58.630
area and giving the presentation. Well, great.
00:19:58.690 --> 00:20:00.349
Thank you so much, Andrew, for joining us. I
00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:01.670
really appreciate it. Looking forward to your
00:20:01.670 --> 00:20:03.630
presentation this year, and we'll see you in
00:20:03.630 --> 00:20:05.430
Columbus. Thank you, Riley. It's been great.
00:20:06.859 --> 00:20:09.640
And now we're joined with Eric McNeil, Channel
00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:12.119
Alliance Manager at Catalyst Acoustics Group.
00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.240
Eric, you were very influential in the creation
00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.700
of this event. Coming into the second year of
00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:20.019
the show, with that perspective in mind, can
00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:22.779
you tell us a little bit of your viewpoint of
00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:25.539
the impact that an event like this could have
00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:29.680
on those attending? Absolutely. The idea was
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.400
basically to be able to showcase Catalyst as
00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.339
a whole company because a lot of our... Even
00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:37.539
our key partners, not just the industry, didn't
00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:39.339
really understand Catalyst and what we bring
00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:43.140
to the table. Being a company that has 10 brands
00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:46.240
under it now, they didn't really understand how
00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.819
we were going to market. And the fact that we
00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:51.180
actually have responsibility for all these brands
00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:53.720
here, they were so agnostic. They didn't really
00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:56.720
see that it was a parent organization that really
00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.220
kind of gave breath and life to these 10 brands
00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:02.119
that kind of stood on their own. This year, it's
00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.420
going to be in Ohio. So we want to bring out
00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:06.859
the key influencers in that market and the surrounding
00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:10.579
markets that will allow our best partners to
00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.039
mingle and get to know them in some cases. Then
00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.799
also they got premier customers they want to
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:16.779
bring in. They also can invite them to the show
00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:19.500
to be able to walk the floor and get a clearer
00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:23.079
understanding of how much Catalyst actually does
00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:26.039
to support not just our brands, but at our partner
00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.299
level, because we also want to be voice of our
00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:30.640
partner. And at the same time, it's one of our.
00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:33.170
I would say criteria that we invest in channel
00:21:33.170 --> 00:21:35.549
is to be able to bring additional value as to
00:21:35.549 --> 00:21:38.430
our partners. Yeah, and I think you could give
00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:40.190
good insight into this as well. If there was
00:21:40.190 --> 00:21:44.130
someone that was on the fence of attending themselves
00:21:44.130 --> 00:21:47.869
or maybe pushing their team to attend, what would
00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:50.289
you say to encourage them that coming to the
00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.710
show is worth the trip? Oh, yeah, absolutely.
00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:55.690
I definitely have a great story because Joe Flores
00:21:55.690 --> 00:21:57.250
from Macmillan James, which I'm sure he doesn't
00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:59.930
mind me sharing. I really told Joe that, look,
00:22:00.009 --> 00:22:01.670
this is an opportunity for you to showcase Macmillan
00:22:01.670 --> 00:22:03.549
James in an environment that's going to be filled
00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:06.250
with influencers that you may not even know about.
00:22:06.390 --> 00:22:08.609
But you can now introduce Macmillan James right
00:22:08.609 --> 00:22:10.490
as the voice of Macmillan James, one of the key
00:22:10.490 --> 00:22:13.710
partner leaders in the organization to what your
00:22:13.710 --> 00:22:16.390
company actually does and can do to support some
00:22:16.390 --> 00:22:18.390
of the projects that, you know, you're not even
00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:20.970
expect on at this point. But now you can. be
00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:24.990
at least a voice or a fly on the wall, if you
00:22:24.990 --> 00:22:26.930
will, to hear what some of the things are going
00:22:26.930 --> 00:22:28.609
on in the space. And then also, you know, we
00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:31.430
have the CEUs there. So basically, at the end
00:22:31.430 --> 00:22:33.529
of the day, Joe came up to me at the end of the
00:22:33.529 --> 00:22:35.549
show last year and said, hey, Eric, I'm glad
00:22:35.549 --> 00:22:38.089
I came. I met a lot of great people. I've got
00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:41.329
some contacts now to reach out to. And it was
00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:43.349
definitely worth my time in being here. So that's
00:22:43.349 --> 00:22:44.970
the same thing I've talked about with some of
00:22:44.970 --> 00:22:47.579
the partners. who are from our invest partner
00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.420
perspective, who are coming out this year and
00:22:49.420 --> 00:22:52.200
wanted to bring customers out. And again, it's
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:53.660
like, look, at the end of the day, you have an
00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:56.599
opportunity to showcase who you are in that Ohio
00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:00.720
market and surrounding areas to dip your customers
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:02.619
into those constituents that are there that will
00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:05.579
show your value to them. And going forward, hopefully
00:23:05.579 --> 00:23:08.019
you will get meetings and opportunities now to
00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:10.059
be spec'd on projects that maybe weren't even
00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.039
a possibility before the show. Well, Eric, I
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:16.079
appreciate you joining us and excited for year
00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.759
two, excited to have you back in Columbus. We're
00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.380
looking forward to seeing you in October. Absolutely.
00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:23.829
Looking forward to it. Thanks, Riley. All right,
00:23:23.849 --> 00:23:27.009
everyone, we are joined now by Ben Vause, Director
00:23:27.009 --> 00:23:30.349
of Sales, Building Acoustics at Kinetics Noise
00:23:30.349 --> 00:23:33.190
Control. Ben, last year, we know you had a speaking
00:23:33.190 --> 00:23:35.069
session. Specifically this year, what are you
00:23:35.069 --> 00:23:37.009
covering and what brought about this topic? And
00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:39.150
tell us a little bit about what we might can
00:23:39.150 --> 00:23:41.829
expect from that. Yeah, last year, we kind of
00:23:41.829 --> 00:23:46.269
introduced a new CEU course that we had kind
00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:50.160
of redeveloped called... building acoustics beyond
00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:54.039
STC and IIC. So we take a little bit of a deeper
00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.539
dive into the building code standards that were
00:23:57.539 --> 00:24:01.000
developed with the STC, which is the sound transmission
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.519
class, and then IIC, which is the impact insulation
00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:08.299
class. Those are the two main noise isolation
00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:12.279
standards that were developed by ASTM. And they
00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:15.380
have gotten into the international building code.
00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:17.700
So that's a lot of the two big standards that
00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:21.849
my market group. focuses on so we take some time
00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:25.130
and go through that through a ceu course with
00:24:25.130 --> 00:24:30.349
aia credits and really dive into the application
00:24:30.349 --> 00:24:33.450
details and why it's important to make sure that
00:24:33.450 --> 00:24:36.710
all the design professionals are including these
00:24:36.710 --> 00:24:39.670
components when they're designing spaces whether
00:24:39.670 --> 00:24:43.450
it's a hospital or a hotel or just a multi-family
00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:48.640
apartment building and what the the standards
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:54.460
really mean and how to really kind of ascertain
00:24:54.460 --> 00:24:58.619
how the design is going to impact the user experience
00:24:58.619 --> 00:25:02.460
in the space so we're going to do the same presentation
00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:04.680
we've refined it a little bit haven't changed
00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:06.880
a whole lot but you know we've got a year of
00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:08.960
it under our belts and we're going to do the
00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:12.440
same same presentation this time around with
00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:14.799
a little more polish on it, I guess. You gave
00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:16.460
us a lot of good information there, but if there's
00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:19.220
maybe just one or two components of what you're
00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:21.799
going to cover in the CEU that someone needs
00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:24.660
to file away in anticipation for this, what might
00:25:24.660 --> 00:25:28.279
that be? Yeah, it is really we focus on the key
00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.799
takeaway that we want everybody to have is that,
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.880
you know, STC and IIC are our metrics. They are
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.619
the standard, but there's a lot of nuance in
00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:41.910
those standards that impact. a user experience
00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:44.609
in the space. So relying simply on a single number
00:25:44.609 --> 00:25:48.309
doesn't always get you the result that you're
00:25:48.309 --> 00:25:49.970
really looking for. So we want people to walk
00:25:49.970 --> 00:25:52.789
away with a good understanding of what that nuance
00:25:52.789 --> 00:25:56.630
really is and how we can help guide them when
00:25:56.630 --> 00:25:58.589
they're developing their projects and designing
00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:01.210
their projects. Excellent. Well, Ben, thank you
00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:03.170
so much for joining us. I know many people are
00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:06.009
looking forward to your session and looking forward
00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:07.829
to seeing how the show goes. Thanks so much.
00:26:07.869 --> 00:26:09.910
And we'll talk to you next time. Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:09.970 --> 00:26:12.089
Thank you. And now we're joined by James Thomas.
00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:15.250
James is the National Sales Manager at Noise
00:26:15.250 --> 00:26:18.630
Barriers. James, we have you down for a session
00:26:18.630 --> 00:26:20.930
this year. Could you tell us a little bit about
00:26:20.930 --> 00:26:23.809
what you plan to cover? Absolutely. I'm super
00:26:23.809 --> 00:26:27.289
excited to be presenting a CEU course regarding
00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:30.589
our acoustic doors. Specifically, we're going
00:26:30.589 --> 00:26:34.309
to dive into the testing and standards of acoustic
00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:37.529
performance, places where acoustic doors will
00:26:37.529 --> 00:26:41.079
matter. and also the benefits of a good acoustic
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.019
door system. I think a participant in this CEU
00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:47.319
course is going to come away learning quite a
00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:50.819
few different new things and also maybe hone
00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:53.400
in some things they thought they knew. get some
00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:55.819
more details regarding those. Yeah, I appreciate
00:26:55.819 --> 00:26:58.299
you kind of diving in there a little bit. We
00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:01.059
have lots of speaking sessions that day, pretty
00:27:01.059 --> 00:27:03.859
action -packed. Could you give a little more
00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:06.140
insight on what maybe someone might walk away
00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:09.119
with after they attend your session? Absolutely.
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:12.559
Specifically, we would love every participant
00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:15.380
to be able to explain how excessive noise can
00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:17.579
negatively impact their health and well -being.
00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:21.000
We'd like them to be able to identify key characteristics
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:24.039
of an acoustic door and evaluate appropriate
00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:28.000
use cases across commercial, institutional, educational
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.400
type projects that they might come into. And
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:32.420
then we'll also dive in at the very end into
00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:35.140
some of the lead and well standards regarding
00:27:35.140 --> 00:27:37.640
acoustical products and the safety and sustainability
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.240
goals. Very neat. I think that's going to be
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.900
a very interesting topic that day. Well, you're
00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:44.859
one of the Catalyst Connect pros. This is your
00:27:44.859 --> 00:27:49.640
second year here at the show. As a second year
00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:51.660
attendee, what are you most looking forward to
00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:54.819
this year? I'm excited to be in Ohio. See our
00:27:54.819 --> 00:27:56.940
plant at Kinetics is probably what I'm looking
00:27:56.940 --> 00:27:59.420
most forward to. I've interacted with a lot of
00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:02.980
the sister company at Kinetics individuals and
00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:04.660
sales members, but I'm excited to go see their
00:28:04.660 --> 00:28:07.720
facility and get a tour of how they do business
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:09.619
and what standards they do in their shop. And
00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:11.400
maybe we can bring some of those things back
00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:13.500
to noise barriers. Very cool. I appreciate that
00:28:13.500 --> 00:28:16.200
plug for the Kinetics tour. That's going to be
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:17.759
an exciting thing of the show as well. I hope
00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:20.680
everybody can make time to do that. Well, James,
00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:22.160
thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
00:28:22.180 --> 00:28:23.420
We're looking forward to seeing you in Columbus.
00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:26.220
We'll see you in October. Awesome. Thanks so
00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:28.400
much for having us. Okay, everyone. And now we're
00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:31.259
joined by Mike Mary. Mike is the sales director
00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:35.799
at Frosh. Mike, Frosh is known for being a pretty
00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:38.200
cutting edge company in this space. Is there
00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:40.420
anything new you're showcasing this year at Catalyst
00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:42.430
Connect that we might want to know about? Yeah,
00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:44.829
Riley, thanks for having me. Well, we do have
00:28:44.829 --> 00:28:47.589
some new products that we will be showcasing
00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:51.049
at the October event. Frosh has gotten away from
00:28:51.049 --> 00:28:53.029
new product development over the last few years
00:28:53.029 --> 00:28:55.309
due to just the growth and trying to keep up
00:28:55.309 --> 00:28:57.069
with the pace of just day -to -day manufacturing.
00:28:57.750 --> 00:28:59.950
We've gotten back now since the beginning of
00:28:59.950 --> 00:29:03.549
2026 to developing new products based on industry
00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:06.250
feedback and kind of where we think the direction
00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:10.430
of acoustics is headed in our sphere. Awesome.
00:29:10.470 --> 00:29:12.809
Well, I think a little bit related to that, how
00:29:12.809 --> 00:29:15.210
might planning for a show like Catalyst Connect
00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:17.930
differ from maybe a more traditional industry
00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:20.349
conference someone else might be attending this
00:29:20.349 --> 00:29:23.509
year? Well, I think because it's a CAG event,
00:29:23.750 --> 00:29:25.450
right? We've got all of the brands we represented
00:29:25.450 --> 00:29:27.769
there. We want to step up our game to make sure
00:29:27.769 --> 00:29:31.430
that we're showcasing us in the light we want
00:29:31.430 --> 00:29:33.549
to be seen in, right? It's a little friendly
00:29:33.549 --> 00:29:36.009
competition, if you will, between the other brands.
00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:38.789
So it is a bit different than what we've done
00:29:38.789 --> 00:29:42.119
previously. We also have just kind of a new approach
00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:44.720
to how we're conducting business. We've got all
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.880
new leadership. So again, this is kind of our
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:49.799
first chance as a leadership team to be in front
00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:52.980
of the other brands as well, along with the designers
00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:55.160
and architects that will be in attendance. We
00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:56.980
really want to step up the game and make sure
00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:59.539
we've got quality samples, quality displays.
00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:03.200
And we've got our A game when we're there. Well,
00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:04.460
I've seen y 'all's work before. I know it's going
00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:06.880
to be a very quality setup from you guys. Last
00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:08.599
question here. What are you looking forward to
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:10.960
most this year at the show? I think just showcasing
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.940
how we're different to not only our sister companies,
00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:16.619
but to everybody that's going to be in attendance.
00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:18.819
We are a different organization. Like I said
00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:20.920
earlier, we've grown leaps and bounds over the
00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:23.700
last few years. And to keep up with that pace,
00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:26.180
we've had a big change in structure and a big
00:30:26.180 --> 00:30:30.180
change in just how we present ourselves. to the
00:30:30.180 --> 00:30:33.140
community that we deal with. And I think it's
00:30:33.140 --> 00:30:35.920
going to be exciting to be in front of that group
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:37.599
and in front of our internal sister companies
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.259
to show how we have changed and how we have grown
00:30:40.259 --> 00:30:42.119
and how we're different, quite honestly, going
00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:44.980
into 2027. Excellent, Mike. Well, thank you so
00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:46.619
much for joining us and give us a little insight
00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:48.640
into Frosh and what we can expect at Catalyst
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:50.380
Connect this year. Looking forward to seeing
00:30:50.380 --> 00:30:53.240
you in Columbus. Same. Thanks, Riley. All right.
00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:56.079
And now we're joined by James Hou. James is the
00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:59.559
group president at Catalyst Acoustics. James,
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.960
I know you're a little new here, so this is your
00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:06.759
first time attending Catalyst Connect. What do
00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:09.400
you expect from your first time to the show and
00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:11.680
what are you looking forward to getting out of
00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:13.700
this? Certainly, I think this is a very exciting
00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:15.660
opportunity for me to learn from the industry
00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:18.599
the best. Also, connecting to our customers and
00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:21.359
our agents to see what's new out there and what
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:23.819
can we do better. And also, this opportunity
00:31:23.819 --> 00:31:26.299
for us to show our latest technologies, how can
00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:28.420
we... improve their environment. So definitely
00:31:28.420 --> 00:31:30.400
we're looking forward to meeting our customers
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:33.519
and connecting those dots. Yeah. And you already
00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:37.000
kind of dove into my next question here, talking
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.599
about the connection that you're going to receive
00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:43.950
to. those in our industry. But what kind of conversations
00:31:43.950 --> 00:31:47.029
do you expect to happen or look forward to happening
00:31:47.029 --> 00:31:51.049
between attendees and the brands that you work
00:31:51.049 --> 00:31:53.410
with on a daily basis? Yeah, definitely looking
00:31:53.410 --> 00:31:55.609
forward to see from our customers and our agents
00:31:55.609 --> 00:31:59.009
where can we help them in terms of their current
00:31:59.009 --> 00:32:02.029
challenges, in terms of their job site or the
00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:04.170
current work they are working on to see what
00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:07.359
unique aspects we can provide even further. Those
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:09.539
kind of more detail can helping us to shaping
00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:11.880
our new product development. And also in terms
00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:14.559
of our other services, how can we combine other
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:17.940
area to really serve them better? Well, James,
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:20.859
the show is coming up in October. So we're getting
00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:23.059
closer and closer to time. I know we have probably
00:32:23.059 --> 00:32:24.980
a few people that are listening. They're on the
00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:28.579
fence about making the trip. What might you tell
00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:30.859
them to encourage them to actually come to Catalyst
00:32:30.859 --> 00:32:33.180
Connect this year? Absolutely. I think not only
00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:35.099
we know what we know, we know, but we don't know
00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:37.119
what we don't know. It's a great opportunity
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:39.440
to go out to see what's out there and then ask
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.599
questions to explore the new things. And you
00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.680
might not have it to find out. So definitely
00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:47.099
encourage everyone, you have time, join us to
00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:50.740
see the newest technology we have. And also learning
00:32:50.740 --> 00:32:53.359
from other perspectives, from other side of the
00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:55.740
customer. So this is a great opportunity to connecting,
00:32:56.039 --> 00:32:59.079
learning the new technologies, and how do we
00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:01.440
conquer the new world. Thanks so much, James,
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:03.059
for joining us. I appreciate it. Looking forward
00:33:03.059 --> 00:33:34.769
to seeing you in Columbus. Absolutely. to save
00:33:34.769 --> 00:33:36.950
your seat. Thanks again for tuning in to Catalyst
00:33:36.950 --> 00:33:39.269
Conversations. Be sure to follow the show so
00:33:39.269 --> 00:33:41.049
you don't miss what's next, and we'll see you
00:33:41.049 --> 00:33:41.390
in Columbus.