Episode Summary
In this episode of The Flywheel Effect, hosts Brent Sonnek-Schmelz and Matt Bernath sit down with Jenn Heinold, Senior Vice President of Expositions, Americas at AVIXA, to unpack one of the most talked-about announcements in the custom integration industry: AVIXA’s acquisition of Lightapalooza and the launch of Reside — a brand-new residential-focused trade show that will run alongside InfoComm and Lightapalooza in Orlando in 2027, all under one badge.
Jenn walks through the remarkably fast deal timeline (introduction to closing in under six months), the strategic vision behind bringing three shows under one roof, and why AVIXA prioritized preserving Lightapalooza’s authenticity rather than absorbing it. She also shares the deeper philosophy that drives AVIXA’s event portfolio — a relentless focus on community as the guiding light, operational excellence borrowed from small-business discipline, and the concept of “manufacturing serendipity” on a trade show floor.
The conversation then zooms out to consider what this means for the residential channel more broadly: how commercial and residential integrators may begin to cross-pollinate, what the competitive landscape looks like as CEDIA Expo enters a new ownership chapter, and why the combined InfoComm–Reside–Lightapalooza footprint may reshape how integrators plan their year. It’s a candid look at industry consolidation, community stewardship, and what it takes to build events that actually move the business forward.
Featured Guest
Guest: Jenn Heinold
What he does: Senior Vice President, Expositions, Americas
Company: AVIXA (producer of InfoComm and co-producer of ISE)
Noteworthy: Jenn began her events career running the Cape May Food and Wine Festival before moving to Washington, D.C., where she launched Homeland Security events in the post-9/11 era. She spent 15 years at a media company running the largest satellite technology trade show and later worked at a show management company producing events for organizations like the National Retail Federation. She joined AVIXA in December 2024 and, within her first year, led the acquisition of Lightapalooza and the launch of Reside.
Key Insights
Community Has to Be the Guiding Light — Or the Event Will Fail Fast
Jenn is emphatic that a trade show cannot succeed if it prioritizes monetization over the community it claims to serve. When she evaluated the AVIXA opportunity, what stood out was that leadership treated community as the non-negotiable center of gravity, not a marketing talking point. This philosophy is what separates events that endure from those that erode — and it’s a subtle but pointed contrast to how some industry shows have drifted from their audiences over the past decade. For integration business owners, this insight matters because the shows you invest time and money into should be evaluated the same way: does the organizer actually know you, or are you just an attendee number in a budget spreadsheet?
Speed of Alignment Is a Signal of Strategic Fit
The Lightapalooza acquisition went from a first introduction in November to a closed deal in under six months — a pace that’s unusual in the trade show world. Jenn attributes this to immediate shared vision between AVIXA, HTSA, and ProSource on what a bigger residential opportunity could look like. When founders and executives spend months negotiating basic direction, it’s often a sign the deal shouldn’t happen at all. The takeaway for integrators considering partnerships, acquisitions, or buying group affiliations: if the vision doesn’t click quickly and clearly, that’s information, not a hurdle to overcome.
Know What You’re Good At — And Partner for the Rest
AVIXA brought the InfoComm platform, operational excellence, and world-class education to the table. HTSA and ProSource brought deep community knowledge of the residential integrator. Jenn was explicit that she needed partners who understood the CI community in a way AVIXA didn’t yet, and she structured the deal to acknowledge that gap. This is a discipline most integration business owners struggle with — trying to be great at sales, operations, hiring, finance, and technology all at once. The Reside launch is a case study in identifying your true strengths and building around your weaknesses with the right partners.
“Manufacturing Serendipity” Is the Real Product of a Great Trade
Show Jenn describes the magic of live events as the moment you run into someone you haven’t seen in years, or you walk a show floor and stumble onto the solution to a problem you’ve been wrestling with for months. Great event organizers don’t leave those moments to chance — they design for them through meetups, floor layout, curated exhibitor mix, and even Reddit-sourced grassroots gatherings. For integrators, this reframes trade show attendance from “walking booths” to intentional relationship and problem-solving strategy. The best ROI at a show rarely comes from the session you planned to attend.
Episode Highlights
The Reside Announcement in Plain English
Timestamp: ~00:01:15
Jenn opens with a clean explanation of what’s actually happening: three shows — InfoComm, Reside, and Lightapalooza — under one roof in Orlando 2027, with one badge granting access to all three. Reside will house home automation, consumer electronics, home theater, and broader residential categories, while Lightapalooza retains its lighting focus and authenticity. This structural clarity matters because it signals AVIXA isn’t trying to swallow Lightapalooza’s identity — it’s using it as a platform for something bigger.
“We are hosting Reside, which is a new residential-focused trade show alongside InfoComm in 2027 and alongside Lightapalooza. So we’re putting three shows under one roof… we really felt it was important to maintain the authenticity of what Lightapalooza is.” — Jenn Heinold
The Six-Month Deal Timeline
Timestamp: ~00:07:34
Jenn walks through the extraordinary pace of the acquisition — first introduction to HTSA’s Tom Doherty in November, a foundational meeting with ProSource CEO Jim Pierce and HTSA’s John Robbins a week later, board blessing shortly after, and a closed deal within six months. This section is a masterclass in what strategic alignment looks like when it’s real.
“From the time we met to the time the deal closed was even six months… what’s been really energizing in how you get deals done fast and right is when there is that alignment and that shared vision for what the future could hold.” — Jenn Heinold
Brent Names the CEDIA Expo Question Directly
Timestamp: ~00:16:19
Brent doesn’t let Jenn off the hook diplomatically — he addresses the industry’s open secret that CEDIA Expo has drifted from its integrator base under Emerald’s ownership and that this drift opened the door for Lightapalooza’s rise and now AVIXA’s residential move. Jenn declines to punch down at a competitor but reinforces her guiding principle: community connection is what will define Reside’s success.
“That lack of connection with Emerald is one of the reasons why there’s fewer exhibitors. It’s not as large a show as it used to be… the success of Lightapalooza in contrast to what was happening at CEDIA Expo was extraordinary.” — Brent Sonnek-Schmelz
What Actually Makes a Great Trade Show
Timestamp: ~00:20:31
When Matt asks Jenn to demystify how you build a great trade show, she offers one of the episode’s most valuable frameworks: running a trade show is exactly like running a small business — marketing to get the right people in the room, sales to curate the right exhibitor mix, operations to remove friction, and education to deliver real value. She also introduces the concept of “manufacturing serendipity” as the real deliverable.
“The beautiful thing about live events is that moment when you just run into somebody that you haven’t seen in a couple of years, or that moment where you are walking the show floor and you’ve had this problem you cannot solve, and you see the solution.” — Jenn Heinold
