CEDIA

Multi-Decade Member & Respected ‘CEDIA Fellow,’ Renounces His Membership

May 15, 2019 by Ted 1 Comment

Says Organization is On the Wrong Path; Announces the Launch of a New Venture

Fred Ampel, a long time, multi-decade member of CEDIA, a regular trainer at multiple CEDIA Expos, and a “CEDIA Fellow” has renounced his membership in the organization. In a Skype interview with Strata-gee, he shared his view that the organization has changed in ways that are counter to his view of the type of education that they should be providing to the membership. As a result, he feels forced to develop a new alternative program outside of the trade association.

See why Ampel left CEDIA & what he’s planning…

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Emerald Expo Releases Q1 Results with Head-Scratching Statements

May 3, 2019 by Ted 1 Comment

Does Good Spin Offset Bad Numbers?

Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. (NYSE:EEX), a leading provider of trade shows and events and the current owner of CEDIA Expo, announced their financial results today for the first fiscal quarter of 2019. And while this tends to be a rather mundane or even robotic process, there were a few things unique about this report from Emerald – most notably their head-scratching comments that dramatically contrasted with the numbers.

See Emerald’s results & comments…

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CEDIA Hires Senior Director of Sales, Sponsorships & Partnerships

May 1, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

CEDIA announced on Wednesday that it has hired Robert Keeler to join the organization as its new Senior Director of Sales, Sponsorships, and Partnerships. Keeler is ex- a lot of well-known companies in this industry and he takes on a primary sales responsibility at the trade association.

Learn more about Keeler at CEDIA…

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CEDIA Celebrates, Hoping You Don’t Notice That Little Spark Catching in the Corner

April 5, 2019 by Ted 5 Comments

Photo of CEDIA HQ — CEDIA’s new headquarters building in Fishers, Indiana

On March 28th CEDIA held a grand opening gala to celebrate their brand new $14 million glass and stone castle in Fishers, IN with about 250 of their closest friends. Depending on your viewpoint, this new facility is either a shining shrine to the strength of the custom integration tech association – or it is a monument to the monumental arrogance and ego of an association that is drifting further away from the very community it purports to serve.

But what many of these guests to the opening celebrations didn’t know was that, as they sipped champagne and oohed an ahhhd over the new gorgeous digs, there was yet another small member flare-up taking place in the background…with significant members expressing strong dissent on yet another Association initiative.

See more on this two worlds of CEDIA…

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CEDIA Admits Membership Declined in 2018

December 6, 2018 by Ted 1 Comment

‘We Do Anticipate Membership Will Be Down in 2018’

Last week, I posted an extensive report on CEDIA’s annual State-of-the-Association presentation which took place last month via a webinar for members. Certain staff and board members offered a long and detailed presentation on the many aspects of the Association’s activities in 2018. As I said then, it at times felt more like a sales pitch, than a report to members, but nonetheless they did have much to talk about.

However, my antenna went up when a chart of the number of members was shown, seeming to indicate a signficant decline. I followed up with CEDIA after the presentation for clarification – and now we know – CEDIA membership has most likely declined in 2018.

See what I learned about the state of CEDIA membership in 2018… [Read more…] about CEDIA Admits Membership Declined in 2018

CEDIA Tells Members Everything’s Fine; But Is It?

November 28, 2018 by Ted 1 Comment

The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), held their annual member’s webinar where association staff and board representatives review the “State of the Association” for those members tuning in to the webcast. The polished, prepared presentation offered an upbeat assessment on the organization’s accomplishments in 2018. But, as you might suspect, I uncovered a couple of interesting issues in which I’m seeking some follow-up clarification.

See what CEDIA presented to members… [Read more…] about CEDIA Tells Members Everything’s Fine; But Is It?

Emerald Expositions CEO Resigns, Q3 Results Released

November 8, 2018 by Ted Leave a Comment

For Owner of CEDIA Expo, There’s Trouble in Emerald City

Emerald Expositions’ stock nose-dived 19% in early afternoon trading last Thursday as the company released its third quarter fiscal results and announced that David Loechner has resigned as the company’s President and CEO. Current CFO Philip Evans takes over as Interim President and CEO.

What’s going on at Emerald Expositions?… [Read more…] about Emerald Expositions CEO Resigns, Q3 Results Released

NY/NJ Tech Summit – 2nd Verse Same as the 1st

October 11, 2018 by Ted Leave a Comment

The NY/NJ Tech Summit rolled in to the Big Apple last week, almost exactly one year after its first iteration, which took place last year in the MetLife Stadium…a really unique venue. This year, I looked forward to it with great anticipation, interested to see if the Summit would begin to gain traction and what changes would take place as a result of the show being acquired by CEDIA.

There were interesting answers to both of these questions. See more below… [Read more…] about NY/NJ Tech Summit – 2nd Verse Same as the 1st

Residential Systems: New Takes on Tech Training

October 5, 2018 by Ted Leave a Comment

Will you indulge me for a moment? I want to draw your attention to an article I wrote for Residential Systems titled New Takes on Tech Training. Regular Strata-gee readers are most likely aware of the fact that I also write for Residential Systems, and this article is one that I’m quite proud of.

Why am I proud of this particular article? Read on… [Read more…] about Residential Systems: New Takes on Tech Training

Emerald Expositions Reports Attendance Flat at CEDIA Expo 2018

October 4, 2018 by Ted 3 Comments

Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. (stock symbol: EEX) reported last week that attendance at CEDIA Expo 2018, the first Expo run totally by Emerald Expositions employees, had an attendance of “more than 20,000 home tech pros” or flat as compared to their announcement of “more than 20,000 home tech professionals” at the event last year.

CEDIA

Multi-Decade Member & Respected ‘CEDIA Fellow,’ Renounces His Membership

Says Organization is On the Wrong Path; Announces the Launch of a New Venture

See why Ampel left CEDIA & what he’s planning…