Connected Spaces Collective - Smart Home & Building Automation Meetup in Cherry Hill, NJ

You're a real estate agent who knows smart home features sell properties faster but you're tired of referring business to integrators who don't call clients back.

You're a contractor watching competitors win bids by offering "smart home upgrades" and you're ready to learn what that actually means.

You're an insurance agent who sees the claims that could have been prevented with a $40 leak sensor and you want to position yourself as the advisor who helps clients avoid disasters, not just file paperwork after them.

You're a tech enthusiast whose smart home setup works beautifully at 2pm and mysteriously breaks at 3am and you need people who actually understand what you're talking about when you say "the automation stopped firing after the last Home Assistant update."

You're in the right place.

The Connected Space Collective is a monthly meetup where smart home technology meets real business growth. Whether you're here to find your next client, solve a technical challenge that's been stumping you for weeks, or network with professionals who actually get what you do, this is your community.

No sales pitches. No vendor showcases. Just working professionals, serious enthusiasts, and honest conversations about what actually works in connected spaces.

This isn't a user group. It's not a vendor demo day. And it's definitely not another networking event where everyone's pitching and nobody's listening.

Each month focuses on one specific topic—the kind of thing that either grows your business or solves a problem that's been costing you time, money, or sleep. We dive deep. We show working examples. And we make space for the questions that YouTube tutorials don't answer.

• For professionals: Learn strategies that differentiate your business, meet potential collaboration partners, and discover how automation knowledge becomes a competitive advantage in your industry
• For enthusiasts: Get answers from people running production systems, see implementations that actually work, and connect with others who understand why you care about webhook timeouts and Z-Wave mesh topology
• For everyone: Build relationships with people across real estate, construction, insurance, IT, low voltage, and property management—the kind of cross-industry connections that lead to referrals, partnerships, and solutions you wouldn't have found on your own

You don't need experience. You don't need credentials. You just need to be genuinely curious about how connected space technology works and what it can do for the people you serve—whether those people are your clients, your family, or yourself.

Different backgrounds. Shared curiosity. Real expertise to trade.

6:00pm - 7:00pm: Networking & Informal Q&A
Grab a drink, meet other attendees, and ask Ashley (or whoever else is around) those quick questions that don't need a full presentation. This is when the real troubleshooting happens.

7:00pm - 8:00pm: Deep Dive on the Month's Topic
Working demonstrations, case studies, and honest talk about what actually works. Not theory—implementations. Not possibilities—production systems. We show you the tech, explain why it matters for your business or project, and make space for the technical questions that separate hobbyists from professionals.

8:00pm - 9:00pm: Open Discussion & Problem Solving
Bring your challenges. Share what you're working on. Get input from people who've solved similar problems. This is peer learning at its best—no experts on a stage, just people who've figured things out helping people who are still figuring it out.

Same location every month. Same format. Different topic worth your time.

I've spent over 20 years in cybersecurity and infrastructure. I've seen what happens when businesses build on systems they don't understand, trust vendors who don't deliver, or promise clients capabilities they can't support.

And I've watched smart home technology get trapped between two extremes: hobbyist forums where professionals feel out of place, and industry conferences where enthusiasts can't afford the admission price.

This meetup exists because we need a middle ground—a place where professionals can learn the technical depth that makes them credible, and enthusiasts can access the business perspective that turns expensive hobbies into income streams.

Whether you're trying to grow a business, solve a technical problem, or just find people who understand why you spent four hours debugging a Node-RED flow last Saturday, you belong here.

"I came to learn about smart locks for my rental properties. I left with a partnership with an integrator, a referral to a contractor who actually understands automation, and the solution to the thermostat problem that's been costing me $200/month across my portfolio."

These are the kinds of implementations we demonstrate, troubleshoot, and discuss at our monthly meetups. No theory, just working automation that solves actual problems.

Remember last time your internet went down and suddenly you couldn't turn on your lights? Or when that cloud service had an outage and your entire smart home became dumb? That's the problem with systems that phone home to someone else's server. Come learn why local control isn't just a tech philosophy—it's practical insurance against the inevitable. Whether you're a professional who needs to promise clients systems that actually work, or an enthusiast tired of being at the mercy of corporate servers, we'll show you how to build automation that keeps running when the internet doesn't.

Know someone tired of cloud-dependent smart homes that stop working during outages? Share this event.

Your clients are juggling seven apps just to control their house. Hue for lights. Ecobee for temperature. Ring for the doorbell. Arlo for cameras. It's absurd, and it's costing you referrals because nobody wants to be their family's tech support forever. For professionals: learn how to deliver unified control that makes you look like a wizard while keeping client data local and subscription-free. For enthusiasts: stop context-switching between apps and finally get everything talking to everything else. We'll demonstrate privacy-first integration that actually works across brands, and show you why one dashboard to rule them all isn't just convenient—it's a competitive advantage.

Know an integrator or tech enthusiast drowning in incompatible smart home apps? Pass this along.

Storms happen. Power goes out. Internet drops. Your client's basement is flooding but their Wi-Fi cameras can't record because the router's dead. Or your own security system just became decorative because it can't phone home. Learn battery backup strategies that actually matter, cellular failover that doesn't require a second mortgage, and which systems keep working when infrastructure fails. We'll cover what to protect first (hint: it's not your smart lights), how long your gear really runs on backup power, and the unglamorous truth about what fails first. Whether you're designing systems for clients or hardening your own setup, this is the session about making smart homes that stay smart when everything else goes sideways.

Know someone who's lost their smart home to a power outage? They need this meetup.

Your client wants Lutron lighting because their designer specified it. Nest thermostats because that's what they know. Yale locks because their contractor recommended them. And Ring cameras because their neighbor has them. Congrats—you now have four incompatible ecosystems that will never talk to each other without help. For most integrators, this is where you start limiting clients to single-brand solutions. For you? This is where you show them what's possible. We'll demonstrate how to integrate mixed-brand systems while maintaining local control, so you can say yes to more projects instead of fighting the ecosystem wars. Enthusiasts running Frankenstein setups with six different protocols? You'll finally understand why some things work and others… don't.

Know an integrator stuck telling clients "those brands don't work together"? Share this solution.

Your water heater is failing. Your HVAC filter hasn't been changed in four months. There's water in your crawlspace. You just don't know it yet. By the time you notice these problems, you're already looking at emergency repair bills. Smart sensors can tell you before the disaster—but only if you know what to monitor and how to make alerts that don't train you to ignore them. We'll cover the sensors worth buying, the automations that catch expensive problems early, and how to set up monitoring that actually prevents disasters instead of just documenting them. For professionals: this is how you become the hero who saved your client from a flooded basement. For enthusiasts: this is how you stop paying for preventable emergencies.

Know a property manager or homeowner who's learned the hard way about preventable disasters? Share this.

Your clients are asking about Ring and Nest because that's all the marketing they see. But they hate the subscription fees, they're uncomfortable with cloud storage of their security footage, and they definitely don't love the idea of outages making their cameras useless. Good news: there's a better answer that makes you more money on the install and gives clients better features with no monthly fees. We'll show you how to position locally-stored security systems that deliver everything the big brands promise—plus actual data sovereignty, zero subscription dependency, and resilience against internet outages. For professionals: learn the privacy argument that wins deals. For enthusiasts: build security that doesn't require trusting Amazon with footage of your kids.

Know a security professional tired of explaining subscription fees? This is the alternative they need.

Forget YouTube tutorials with conflicting advice from people who may or may not know what they're talking about. Come see working demonstrations of Home Assistant, Loxone, local voice control, presence detection, and the automations that actually improve daily life. Ask questions. Touch things. Break stuff (we'll fix it). See what happens when you walk in a room, what voice control actually sounds like, and how automations chain together in real life—not in theory. For professionals: this is your chance to experience what you'll be selling before you promise it to clients. For enthusiasts: see what's possible before you spend money on hardware that might not do what you think it does. Way better than learning by expensive trial and error in your own home.

Know someone who learns better by doing than watching? This hands-on session is perfect for them.

ADHD isn't an edge case. Neither is autism. They're your clients' daily reality, and traditional homes aren't built for how neurodivergent brains process information, make decisions, or manage energy. Smart homes can reduce decision fatigue, create predictable routines, provide environmental support for sensory needs, and build scaffolding for executive function challenges. But only if you understand what actually helps versus what just adds complexity. For occupational therapists and caregivers: learn how to position yourself as the professional who gets it. For enthusiasts (especially neurodivergent ones): discover automations that support your brain instead of fighting it. We'll cover real implementations that work, not theoretical accessibility that sounds good but fails in practice.

Know an OT, caregiver, or neurodivergent tech enthusiast? This session was designed with them in mind.

Voice control isn't just convenient when your hands are full - it's independence for people with mobility challenges. Automated lighting isn't a luxury; it's safety for people with vision loss. Smart homes that adapt to how bodies change aren't futuristic—they're available right now. Learn how universal design principles make automation work for everyone, at every stage of life. Whether you're a professional positioning yourself for aging-in-place renovations, or an enthusiast building a home that supports you today and adapts for tomorrow, this is about systems that accommodate reality instead of requiring people to accommodate technology. We'll demonstrate what actually helps versus what just sounds inclusive, and show you why accessible and powerful aren't opposites.

Know someone planning aging-in-place renovations or building accessible homes? Share this resource.

Your client's energy bill doubled but nobody knows why. The HVAC guy blames the windows. The window company blames the insulation. Everyone's guessing—and wrong guesses cost your client thousands. You need data. Appliance-level monitoring tells you exactly where energy goes, quantifies waste, and identifies savings opportunities with actual numbers. When you can show clients their pool pump is costing them $847 a year or their old refrigerator is burning $320 annually, you become the trusted advisor who solves expensive problems instead of adding to the guessing game. For energy consultants and property managers: learn how to deliver recommendations backed by ROI that justifies itself. For enthusiasts: stop wondering why your bill is high and start knowing. We'll cover monitoring that actually answers questions instead of just generating pretty graphs.

Know an energy consultant or someone with mysterious utility bills? Pass this along.

Airbnb and VRBO want to charge you monthly fees for smart locks and thermostats you already own. You're literally paying them to use your own hardware. That's backwards. Learn how to automate check-in with codes that expire, manage energy costs between guests, monitor properties remotely, and handle the operational logistics of short-term rentals—using local systems that don't require platform subscriptions or monthly fees. For property managers running multiple units: this is how you keep more of your revenue. For enthusiasts with a vacation property or ADU: stop paying recurring fees for features you could own outright. We'll show you what actually works in production, not theory.

Know a short-term rental host tired of platform fees? They'll want to see this.

Come see real installations. Hear actual ROI numbers from people doing this work, not selling courses about it. Meet the contractors, insurance agents, property managers, and integrators who are winning business with smart home differentiation. We'll share case studies of what's working, discuss what flopped (and why), and plan partnership opportunities for the year ahead. This is part showcase, part networking, part strategic planning for how you're growing in the next year. Whether you've been coming all year or this is your first event, December is where we connect the people who are successfully building businesses around smart spaces with the people who want to. Bring your wins, your questions, and your business cards.

Know someone building a business around smart spaces? End the year with strategy and connections.