Strategy in TECH...
Major industry player Sound United is on the cusp of launching its first-ever virtual event called, appropriately enough, “Inside Sound United” (ISU). Coming November 9-12, 2021 to a computer near you, this highly immersive 4-day virtual event will be chock full of useful content and allow integrators to experience a side of the company not usually seen.
I have just learned that Crestron is planning to launch a monster series of regional dealer shows, called the Crestron NEXT Road Trip, that sounds as though they’re going to be spectacular – with new product launches, full product displays & demos, and in-depth educational courses offered. The multi-day event will include huge displays from both the company’s commercial and residential business units in what promises to be quite a show.
As the first and one of the most prominent brands that decided to pull out of the recent CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis last month, Savant based their difficult decision on placing the safety of their employees and customers as their key concern in a time of surging Delta-variant COVID infections. But that decision did not mean that they didn’t want to communicate with their dealers about the many exciting developments at the company. So Savant developed a powerful two-pronged approach (the 1-2 punch I mentioned) to deliver their dealers a better – virtual – trade show.
Over the last few weeks, a buzz began to swirl around yet another major tech industry trade event, the NAB Show, set to run from October 9-13 in Las Vegas, NV. The buzz was a series of rumors that exhibitors may begin pulling out of the event. Then last week, major exhibitors Sony and Canon did exactly that by withdrawing from NAB Show, both citing the COVID Delta surge in infections and the need to protect their employees’ and partners’ health and well-being first and foremost.
Quickly taking their cue, the NAB announced today that the event will be canceled as “…the Delta variant has presented unexpected and insurmountable challenges for our global community.”
Emerald Expositions on Monday put out a final recap of the CEDIA Expo 2021 that took place earlier this month and while Group Vice President Jason McGraw called it “…a solid event,” the numbers they revealed told a much more sobering tale. Still, I need to say up front that I am actually impressed they released data from the event rather than the hazy and rough estimates as they have done in the past. It’s at least a step in the right direction towards some sort of transparency.
The resurgence of COVID due to the Delta variant is causing increasing pandemonium throughout the exposition industry. In the face of growing headwinds, Emerald Expositions insisted on moving forward with CEDIA anyway, kind of. But with dismal attendance and most of the exhibitors pulling out in the weeks leading up to it – it was far less than a normal event. Now we learn that another show – the audio-centric Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) – after much pressure from media and exhibitor pull-outs, has decided to cancel its event, as well…this time for good.
In a post yesterday, I suggested that the evidence seemed pretty clear – this year, attendees would find a very different CEDIA Expo. Today, the opening day of the event has seen a few videos and photos uploaded on Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites which seem to suggest that this is indeed a very different Expo.
CEDIA Expo opens this week, with education sessions starting today and the show floor opening tomorrow. As Strata-gee has been reporting, over the last three weeks literally hundreds of exhibitors have pulled out of the event over concerns surrounding the surge of infections due to the Delta variant of COVID-19. With Emerald expositions vowing to forge ahead with the event no matter what, attendees to the event – whether many or few – will find themselves at a very different CEDIA Expo.
Digital Projection, Inc. (DP), a leading video technology provider, announced this week that it will withdraw its participation in CEDIA Expo 2021, as well as all large, in-person tradeshows for the remainder of 2021. While DP says they enjoy meeting face-to-face with “customers, partners, and friends,” the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to reexamine the risks of such events and led to this decision.
What a crazy couple of weeks it has been for exhibitors of CEDIA Expo 2021, and also for potential attendees who watched a slow-motion train wreck unfold right in front of their eyes. It was almost exactly two weeks ago – on August 10th – when Savant CEO Robert Madonna suddenly announced that Savant was pulling out of CEDIA, due to concerns over the surging infections from the Delta variant of COVID-19.
Little did we know then that this was the trickle before the flood…
