Gordon Daily
CEO
Gordon Daily is the Co-Founder and CEO of BoxCast, where he sets the company’s strategic direction, guides the leadership team, and manages partnerships, board relations, and investor engagement. With more than 17 years as a CEO and a background spanning industrial automation and AV technology, Gordon brings a rare blend of engineering, business, and product expertise to his role.
Before founding BoxCast in 2009 and launching the platform in 2013, Gordon spent over a decade at Rockwell Automation, where he participated in the company’s Leadership Development Program. His early career included roles in software development, hardware testing, and product marketing. Gordon’s work at Rockwell Automation included an overseas assignment in Singapore, working throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Outside of BoxCast, Gordon serves as a trustee at Case Western Reserve University and Westside Christian Academy. A Crain’s Cleveland “40 Under 40” honoree, Gordon lives in Cleveland with his wife, Dr. Cara Daily, an internationally recognized expert in autism and child development.
Justin Hartman
Distinguished Software Engineer
As a Co-Founder and Distinguished Software Engineer at BoxCast, Justin works across the platform to guide architectural decisions, mentor engineers, and develop key initiatives including Mixing Station Anywhere. Since the company’s earliest days, Justin has played a central role in shaping both BoxCast’s hardware encoders and cloud systems.
In the early years, Justin led firmware development for the original BoxCaster and later the BoxCaster Pro, laying the groundwork for the company’s hardware automation and reliability. As the team grew, his work expanded upward through the cloud stack and across the broader platform architecture.
Before co-founding BoxCast, Justin spent nearly a decade as an Embedded Software Engineer at Rockwell Automation, contributing to industrial automation systems used in manufacturing worldwide. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Case Western Reserve University. Outside of work, Justin enjoys performing music, volunteering in his church, long-distance running, and time with his wife and four daughters.
Ron Hopper
Distinguished AI/ML Engineer
As a Co-Founder and Distinguished AI/ML Engineer at BoxCast, Ron designs and develops the intelligent systems that power the company’s live production platform. From the earliest days of BoxCast, Ron has led web application architecture and cloud-based media streaming infrastructure, building the technical backbone that supports thousands of broadcasts each week.
Before co-founding BoxCast, Ron served as President of Adelphus Solutions, a Cleveland-based software consulting firm that helped launch the original BoxCast concept. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Web Application Architect at RR Donnelley.
Ron holds a BSE in Computer Engineering and a BA in Theatre Arts from Case Western Reserve University, along with a Master’s in Computer Science with a focus in Machine Learning from Georgia Institute of Technology. Outside of work, Ron enjoys playing pickleball and volunteering with the Center for New Testament Restoration.
Brett Bzdafka
Growth Marketer
As a Senior Growth Marketer at BoxCast, Brett creates various forms of content that delivers real value to readers, listeners, and viewers — from the fundamentals of live streaming to advanced strategies in video and audio production.
With a diverse career spanning pastoral ministry, software sales, product management, and growth marketing, Brett has helped organizations like BoxCast and Blumira expand their impact. At BoxCast, he helped grow the platform into a leading live streaming provider for churches. At Blumira, he played a key role in launching the Blumira Agent, extending SIEM cybersecurity coverage from on-premises to hybrid and remote environments.
Brett’s unique mix of technical, creative, and theological insight has led him to speak at industry events, teach as an adjunct college professor, and serve ministries on multiple continents. Outside of work, he enjoys disc golf, board games, Batman graphic novels, and time with his family within his local Anglican community.
Streaming reliability requires a multifaceted approach
Encoding, compression, and protocol each matter on their own. But when they’re strategically designed to work together, that’s when real reliability happens.
In this session, we’ll unpack how BoxCast’s custom streaming protocol and end-to-end delivery platform are built to work in harmony, creating streams that are far more resilient in the real world, not just in ideal lab conditions.
Why streaming audio matters more than you think
At BoxCast, we don’t just innovate on backend technology or video clarity. We believe audio deserves the same level of intention.
Simply sending your house mix to the live stream isn’t enough. We’ll show you a smarter, more intentional approach that makes audio the strength of your broadcast, not an afterthought.
Why we started BoxCast + where we’re headed next
From presidential candidates to pro sports leagues, small businesses, municipalities, schools, and churches, BoxCast has helped tens of thousands of organizations go live over the years.
In this session, you’ll hear directly from our founders about why they started BoxCast, some of their favorite early memories, and how they’re thinking about the future of live production and streaming.
