By Marcio Gomes.
Our second Boca Tech Talks survey has ended, and we have received some very valuable responses. This article will highlight the answers and give you an overview of what our audience expects in these CEU Webinars. This survey was taken for the first time at the beginning of 2021 and again in May 2022.
Why Boca Tech Talks
Boca Tech Talks was first launched in 2019 to connect and educate architects, interior designers, builders, students, and final consumers about all topics related to custom home technology. As we all know, home technology can change lives for the better. It can fortify health, wellness, safety, as well as security. But most of the time, the lack of knowledge on how to apply or use technology ends up being an obstacle to a successful implementation and integrators become limited, if not unable to do their best.
These CEU Webinars have been a fantastic experience, as well as an essential tool to interact with our trade and connect all teams for a successful project. BTA partnered with ASID, AIA, and numerous special guests to host 42 unique CEU Webinars. More than 45 hours of courses were provided by CEDIA, LK and Associates, Lutron, Ketra, Orion Integrated Systems, Struxure, Crestron, Lumini, Savant, Seura, C&E Marketing, Leon Speakers, and Sonnen. We had fourteen industry experts talk about current and future home technology trends and solutions, providing an open dialogue between designers, architects, builders, students, and clients. More than 400 people from four countries have registered to attend our Webinars, and more than 840 CEU credits were provided.
Since its start in 2019, Boca Tech Talks has offered almost every CEU Course available on the market. Topics like Technology and Design, Health and Safety, Lighting Solutions, Outdoor Living, Home Technology Systems, Shading and Window Solutions, Home Theaters and Media Rooms, and Power Management helped our audience to enhance their knowledge and grow in their careers.
Boca Tech Talks Survey – What We Learned from our responders
The Boca Tech Talks survey collected data for 30 days in both 2021 and 2022. It was promoted to ASID FLS members, Boca Tech Talks attendees, and a particular group of builders, interior designers, and architects from our CRM. Almost 30 people voluntarily participated in both years, providing an excellent base to prepare for our next phase.
First, we wanted to know if they attended the webinars or just registered to receive the recording to watch it later. Most of the answers were that they attended the webinar – 86% in 2022 and 93% in 2021. All our webinars happened on Wednesdays from 11 am to 12 pm EST. And even if people are busier than last year, they can still be interested in the topics we teach.
The second question, “what topics would you most like to learn about during our next webinars?” was a multiple-choice answer, Technology and Design was one of the top choices in both years, with 82.14% of votes in 2022 and 70% in 2021. This year we slightly changed the lighting option from “Lighting Controls” in 2021 to “Health and Safety Lighting Solutions”, this change didn’t affect much of the people’s interest in this topic, 57.34% in 2022 and 56.67% in 2021. But it brought this option from the fifth position in 2021 to the second position in 2022. Followed by Outdoor Living in the third position in 2022 with 53.57% and the fourth position in 2021 with 60% of the votes. Home Technology Systems was in first place last year with 76.67% and dropped to fourth position this year with 50% of the votes. Shading and Window Solutions also dropped from third place and 70% of votes to fifth position and 46.43% of votes. A new topic debuting this year is “Artificial Intelligence/Voice Commands,” and it’s already in the sixth position with 42.86% of the votes, surpassing Home Theater and Media Rooms, which received 32.14% of the votes this year and 53.33% in 2021. The last topic offered to be voted on was Power Management with 25% of the votes this year and 26.67% last year. We also gave the option of suggesting a new topic, and this year, we received the suggestion of teaching “Acoustic for Music Systems” with one vote. Last year, one person suggested “Solar Panels, and other alternative green energy sources applicable to South Florida residential construction.”
CEU credits vs. Non-CEU credits
When asked if they benefited from the CEU credits, 75% said yes in 2022, and 76.67% were also positive in 2021. But when questioned if they would attend a non-CEU credited Webinar this year, only 21% of the participants said they would not. We did not ask this question in 2021. Now let’s see some of the reasons they submitted when justifying why they would attend the webinars despite the credits being provided or not. “I prefer the credits but would watch if interesting.,” “I prefer to learn new things, but since I need the CEUs, if they are accredited, it makes it much better,” “If the topic is important to me, I attend either way, but I prefer they are CEU,” “I need CEUs but also apply knowledge to projects,” “I appreciate the CEUs. And I do learn about the topics. Thank you.” We added this last question because we were concerned about not having new CEU webinars to offer. Since 2019, we have taught all available webinars in our field and are glad to learn that most participants support content over credit.
Conclusion
We are now more than ready for another season of our Boca Tech Talks, and you can rest assured that this is going to be what our audience is asking for. Content over credit, but if a CEU course is available, we will give it the preference. The topics on top of our own list that we are going to look for will be Technology and Design, Home Technology, Health and Safety Lighting Solutions, and Outdoor Living. But we are also going to try to bring new technologies to the table like Artificial Intelligence/Voice Commands and Power Management. There is no doubt that these webinars help the design community and open the discussion about Home Technologies available to them, we only wish that our peers understand the value of these courses and keep creating and certifying new CEU Courses and updating the current ones. Time to create, schedule, and launch a new season, let’s do it!
BTA is now C.E. Provider Certified
By the time we finished this article, we received an official congratulation and a certificate from the State of Florida – Department of Business and Professional Regulation – Board of Architecture & Interior Design – with our license to become a CE Provider, so stay tuned for new exciting BTA CEUs!
Marcio Gomes – For over 30 years, Marcio has practiced the science and art of marketing, communications, and advertising. At BTA, Marcio oversees all digital and mainstream marketing events, communications, and social media platforms. While Marcio’s tools have adapted over the years, his philosophy has remained constant: what makes a strategy successful is understanding people’s behaviors, identifying the best way to connect with the target audience, delivering the right message, and ultimately providing the best product or service possible.
