Five companies to keynote Parks Associates’ CONNECTIONS conference

ADDISON, Texas—International research firm Parks Associates has announced that Alarm.com, Cox Communities, Comcast, Nice North America, and Sunnova will present the keynotes at the in-person CONNECTIONS Conference on May 17-19 at the Omni Frisco Hotel in Texas.

The annual executive conference focuses on the growing role of broadband and connected devices, systems, and services in the home. The firm’s latest research shows a rising average number of connected devices in the home, jumping from 13 in 2020 to 16 at the start of 2022, which includes a mix of smart home, connected health, and connected CE devices.

The growing convergence among these home ecosystems is driving new use crossover use cases as well—currently, one third of smart home device owners use a security device to control their smart home automation.

“We are happy to host CONNECTIONS this year in Texas,” said Elizabeth Parks, President & CMO, Parks Associates. “There are many factors propelling the market forward, including the push from consumers for greater control and security. As consumers settle into post-pandemic life, many have permanent changes to their living and work arrangements and new value placed on broadband and connected devices. The opportunity for expanded services across energy, security, health, entertainment, and controls industries in the home is huge.”

The annual executive conference, hosted across three days, features a pre-show research workshop, “Quantifying Technology across the Home,” and two-and-a-half days of interactive sessions and networking opportunities focused on new business models, innovative technology, and partnerships helping to advance growth of the connected home. 

Event sponsors include Alarm.com, Cox Communities, F-Secure, Homebase, Plume, Airties, Bitdefender, Johnson Controls, Nice, Notion, Rapid Response Monitoring, Realpage, Resideo, Schneider Electric, AmTrust Specialty Risk, Gadgeon, Cooktop Safety, Iris Powered by Generali, and Assurant.

Keynote speakers:

• Anne Ferguson, VP, Marketing, Alarm.com
• Vera Gavrilovich, VP, Marketing, Sunnova
• Vickie Rodgers, VP and GM, Cox Communities, Cox Communications
• David Puckett, VP, Connectivity & Home Products, Comcast, NBCUniversal
• Paul Williams, Chief Product Officer, Nice North America

The conference sessions cover three key themes throughout the event: Technology as a Fourth Utility: Modern Living; Building the Whole Connected Home; and Expanding and Scaling the Market.

Featured speakers:

• Jeff Bales, Sr. Director Business Development & Sales, Notion, a Comcast Company
• Joel Berntsen, VP, Strategy and Partnerships, Vutility
• Kent Dickson, GM, IoT Platforms & Services, Yonomi/Allegion
• Jennifer Doctor, Senior Director, Product Management, JCI
• Uday Kiran Chaka, CEO, Sentry AI
• David Henry, SVP, Connected Home Products, NETGEAR
• Stacey Higginbotham, Founder, Stacey on IoT
• Lainie Muller, Director, Health & Wellness, Strategic Sales, Alarm.com
• Paul Palmer, VP Service Provider Business, F-Secure
• Kian Saneii, CEO, Independa
• Heather Sellar, Director of Sales and Business Development, Essence
• Brett Sobol, Sr. Growth Initiatives Lead, Hippo
• Razvan Todor, Sr. Director, Product Management, Bitdefender
• Kevin Weirich, Sr. Director Global Product Management, Connected Products, Resideo
• Brad Wills, Director: Strategic Customers & Programs, Schneider Electric

The Parks Associates analyst team will share research insights and moderate sessions focused on smart home platforms, home security, energy management, privacy and security, health and wellness, subscription services, smart apartments, home builders and technology, and the continued convergence between entertainment and smart home ecosystems.

To request data, contact Rosey Sera at rosey@parksassociates.com, 972-490-1113.