CE Pro February 2022 - 13

CEDIA Touts Initiatives, Membership Growth in Update
DESPITE THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC that restricted CEDIA from
achieving many of its goals, CEDIA's State of the Association
update reflected an organization continuing to push forward
and one that is in solid financial footing. The annual CEDIA
" State of the Association " presentation in December provided
a glimpse into the organization's membership, programs, legislative
work and financials among other things. The information
was a mix of 2021 status reports, along with certain key data,
such as its financials and membership, pertaining to 2020,
which is the latest year available.
The update kicked off with new global CEO Daryl Friedman
welcoming attendees. He then turned it over to Wendy Griffiths,
vice president of engagement and global development,
who covered the status of membership by saying, " I am excited
to share with you that not only have we had our biggest member
growth since 2015, but we've also seen fantastic loyalty
from our existing members, ending this year with an 82% global
retention rate, our highest recorded retention on record. "
Among the areas of specific membership growth in 2021 are:
New individual members up 145%
Industry-related professional membership up 168%
Home technology integrator membership up 75%
" With members in 76 countries, we continue to focus our
attention on specific, established and emerging markets. Two
specific markets where we have seen exceptional growth in
2021 are the U.S. and Latin America, specifically in Mexico.
Griffiths also gave thanks to the association's 163 volunteers,
who she called " the true lifeblood of our association. "
Next, David Whitney, senior director of certification, provided
a few highlights of the association's certification and
workforce development strides in 2021, including the launch
of the new CIT certification in January. He noted that more
than 150 individuals have earned the CIT certification.
Whitney also noted that the association has been working
hard to fill out the new Integrated Systems Technician (IST)
exam, which is a level above CIT and covers a broad range
of skills for integrators. The IST, which replaces the previous
ESC-T certification, is a " stronger and more mature credential, "
according to Whitney, with about 30% more content and
stricter pre-requisites, including work experience, a required
foundational certification, and a code of conduct.
He acknowledged how important online training is, and
reports that in 2021 attendees completed more than 5,000
hours of remote learning via the CEDIA Academy portal.
Additionally, Whitney addressed workforce development
initiatives, noting the new Smart Home Technician Apprenticeship
program is gaining momentum and 21 apprentices
have been placed in U.K. companies.
Darren Reaman, director of government affairs, reviewed some
of the legislative initiatives undertaken by the association over the
cepro.com
CEDIA's Kory Dickerson (top left), Daryl Friedman (top right)
and Giles Sutton fielded live questions during the online
" State of the Association " presentation.
past year. In 2021, the association worked on legislation in New
South Wales, Australia, as well as in the U.S. states of Maryland,
Michigan, New Jersey and Oklahoma, and in the city of Houston.
" The common theme for all of these jurisdictions was licensing, "
explains Reaman. " CEDIA works daily to track, monitor
and lobby pending licensing legislation to ensure the appropriate
exemptions are defined to represent the work done by
integrators today and in the future. "
Giles Sutton, senior vice president, gave an update on
CEDIA's events business, commenting, " As the world emerged
from lockdown in 2021, we gradually saw a return to normality
for in-person events. "
Sutton says the association's Tech Summits held in the fall
of 2021 in the U.K. and the U.S. (in Southern California, Texas
and Florida) were successful with over 1,500 people attend
globally. Combined, the Tech Summit events had a total of 45
training classes on subjects ranging from Ultra HD 4K and 8K,
HDMI 2.1 and HDR projection.
Sutton also touted the CEDIA EMEA awards event in
London that had 375 attendees and was streamed to 3,600
people online. Other events held by CEDIA in 2021 included
the recent virtual WellCon conference focusing on wellness
technology. The mid-November event had 500 attendees.
He added that CEDIA hosted 14 new Certified Outreach
Instructor (COI) classes in 2021 that graduated 79 new COIs,
bringing the total to 729 globally. Those COIs in turn conducted
classes for more than 2,000 industry professionals in the
homebuilding, architecture, design and other trades.
The association has also expanded its partnerships to bring
more training to the market in 2022 via Nationwide Marketing
Group/HTSN, PowerHouse Alliance, the Grow with Google
initiative, and a pavilion and education track at the upcoming
International Builders Show. -Jason Knott
February 2022 CE Pro | 13
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CE Pro February 2022

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