News

AVNation Launches ‘Commercial Learn From Home’ Virtual 3-Day Online Event

April 9, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Previous Residential Event a Big Success

AVNation, a largely podcasting group of integrators in both the residential and commercial AV space, this week held a somewhat abruptly announced, but ultimately successful online learning event they call their LFH – or Learn From Home – virtual residential event. Essentially an online conference with multiple presentations from a variety of industry experts, the event gave COVID-19 isolated colleagues an opportunity to while away the hours of their isolation…and perhaps learn something in the process.

Now, the group announces it will offer a new LFH event targeted at the commercial channel next week.

See more on AVNation’s LFH events…

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Melrose Suspends Dividends, Cuts Executive Pay

April 9, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Parent of Many Top CI Brands Steps in to Adjust for Impact of COVID-19

Melrose Industries PLC has announced it will suspend the payment of its usual year-end dividend in the face of the deteriorating economic environment as a result of the global spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Melrose, the U.K. turnaround specialist that is parent company of the U.S. based Nortek has taken other actions to adjust operations at its operating companies in the face of COVID-19.

Learn more about Melrose’s actions to adjust to COVID-19…

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Stuck in COVID-19 Isolation? Country Music Star Says ‘Thank Goodness for Technology’

April 8, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

'Thank goodness for technology' says country music star Miranda Lambert

An astonishing 283 million Americans are stuck in some form of self-isolation or self-quarantine due to the fact that most states and cities have imposed a “Stay-at-Home” rule in the fight to snuff out the COVID-19 pandemic. This new reality in which we find ourselves means that almost all businesses (except for a few essential services) are closed – and millions of Americans are stuck at home with little or nothing to do. But what role does their technology play in this situation?

Thanks to Technology, we can all be connected…

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As Overall Economy Hit by COVID-19, Layoffs Hit Tech as Well

April 2, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

AudioQuest Announces Downsizing

A relatively large number of readers and industry sources have reached out to Strata-gee with word of cutbacks and layoffs at various industry brands – as the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) takes its toll on the U.S. economy. As was reported in a post just a few days ago, jobless claims jumped dramatically – by 33% in just one month – only to be exceeded a few days later by a massive jump in claims of 3 million more unemployed workers.

Now we are beginning to see layoffs in Tech…

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New Study: Another Impact of COVID-19 – the Crash of Consumer Sentiment

March 26, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Nearly 90% of Consumers Expect a Recession Because of COVID-19

New research conducted this month shows another major impact of COVID-19 Coronavirus – the crash of consumer sentiment. A statistically significant survey of a representative sample of all Americans has reached concerning conclusions about consumer sentiment now and likely to prevail for months after the COVID-19 crisis passes.

See how COVID-19 has impacted consumer sentiment…

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IFA & CT Labs Pull the Plug on CE Week

March 26, 2020 by Ted 2 Comments

Yet another trade show bites the dust as CE Week joins a long list of shows canceled due to the nationwide Coronavirus epidemic. This cancellation is no surprise, as CE Week was only a little more than 60 days away and planned for the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan – a facility that is in the process of being converted to a large hospital for victims of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic that is hitting New York City and New York State very hard.

See more on the canceled CE Week…

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New Home Sales & Housing Starts Decline in February, A Hint of Things to Come

March 25, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development announced this week that sales of newly built residences fell in February 2020. Housing starts also fell in February. This housing market downturn is likely a precursor to much more dramatic declines when figures for March 2020 are reported – a time period when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began to really take hold across America, forcing State and City governments across the U.S. to order residents of all non-essential businesses to stay home.

See more on the drop in new home sales…

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Emerald Cancels All Trade Shows & Events for First Six Months of 2020

March 22, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Status of CEDIA Expo Remains in Doubt

Emerald Holding Inc. (NYSE: EEX), formerly known as Emerald Expositions Events Inc. – a national exposition company that is home to both the CEDIA Expo and CE Pro magazine – has announced that they are postponing all events for the first two quarters of 2020 due to the rapid spread of the global pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19). Given their position as one of the largest producers of B-to-B trade shows in the U.S., this is a major development with huge impact on the various industries their shows serve.

Learn more on this major Emerald move…

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Uninvited Guest: Attendees of ProSource Summit 2020 Exposed to Coronavirus COVID-19

March 19, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Photo of entryway into ProSource Summit 2020

ProSource Confirms COVID-19 Exposure from Exhibitor at Annual Member Conference

ProSource wrapped up their annual Summit, this year known as Summit 2020 on March 11th. The event had barely wrapped up when within days many other organizations began canceling their events due to the rapidly propagating coronavirus epidemic sweeping across the U.S. ProSource barely got their event completed just as health authorities around the country began restricting gatherings such as conferences like theirs which congregate a lot of people in one place at one time.

And now we know that there was another attendee at the ProSource Summit 2020 – coronavirus COVID-19, an uninvited guest, visited the group’s annual event..

See more on COVID-19 at ProSource Summit 2020…

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Strata-gee Survey: Majority of All Tech Businesses Already Impacted by COVID-19

March 18, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Strata-gee Survey: COVID-19 Impact on Tech

Strata-gee’s COVID-19 Impact on Tech Study Offers Insights on Early Pandemic Impact

This week, Strata-gee launched a survey designed to get a sense of the level of impact on Tech businesses by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic now sweeping across the United States and the globe. Thinking that the timing of this survey was very early in the spread of the epidemic and likely to reveal a calm baseline reading, respondents surprised us with results that are fairly dramatic and showed that many are already feeling the impact.

See Strata-gee’s Survey: COVID-19 Impact on Tech…

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News

AVNation Launches ‘Commercial Learn From Home’ Virtual 3-Day Online Event