CE Pro February 2023 - 10

Industry Pulse
CEDIA Meeting Outlines 2022 Rebound, 2023 Initiatives
LAST YEAR was a bounce
back for CEDIA in terms of
its financials, membership
level, and its ability to offer
in-person education. The
association made those announcements
during its annual
member meeting, which
was conducted in December
via video conference.
The 33-minute-long mix
of live and recorded content
began with a montage
of work done by custom
integrators and images of
hands-on training by the
association. Attendees were
then welcomed by board
chairperson David Weinstein,
vice president of sales
at Lutron Electronics.
Weinstein cited his favorite
highlights as the hiring of
Daryl Friedman as the new
global president and CEO of
the association, the creation
of a new three-year strategic
plan, and the staging of two
successful association-sponsored
trade shows (Integrated
Systems Europe and
CEDIA Expo).
" The board is functioning
in the most effective manner
I have seen in my six years of
service, " he noted. " We are
effectively focusing on the
high-level strategies while
supporting Daryl and his
CEDIA team in the management
of the association. "
The meeting then transitioned
to a welcome from
Friedman, followed by clips
from a session on the CEDIA
Smart Stage in Dallas in
which he detailed many of
the initiatives the association
is pursuing under the three
10 | CE Pro February 2023
During its annual meeting, CEDIA noted the expansion of its Tech Summits for 2023; at press
time, 12 were scheduled with hopes to add international events.
pillars of Advocacy, Connection
and Education (ACE).
" Advocacy means telling
the story... championing
this industry to everyone. It
could be to designers, builders
and architects. It could
be to the homeowner... we
want to do more of that. And
it could be to governmental
bodies, " says Friedman.
The Connections element
of ACE is centered around
the events CEDIA conducts,
including ISE, CEDIA Expo,
its regional Tech Summits,
and its online communities
and forums.
" Education, of course, is
training. Upscaling everyone
and making sure this industry
is fully trained, " he noted.
Friedman added that training
is important for integrators
to establish credibility
with the other trades.
Regarding workforce
development, Friedman
said that within his first 100
days as head of the association,
he quickly realized
the urgency and priority of
acquiring more skilled labor
for the industry.
" In most associations the
members will tell you they
want help getting more
business. What I was hearing
from this community is, 'I
have more business than I
can handle. I need techs.' "
At CEDIA Expo the
association launched a new
three-pronged approach to
getting more technicians,
he mentioned. One of the
planks is outreach in local
communities to invite trade
school students to come to
the Tech Summits.
Association Finances
Stabilize in 2022
The next segment was a financial
review presented by
Kory Dickerson, senior vice
president of finance and
operations at CEDIA.
" This has been a year of
stabilization for the association.
The Covid-19 global
pandemic prompted many
challenges for CEDIA's
programs through both
2020 and 2021 as a result of
restrictions and limitations
on travel and in-person
events. Like many businesses,
these global unforeseen
changes brought significant
reductions in our revenues.
However, even with these
constraints affecting our
ability to connect with you,
our members, and the industry,
CEDIA was still able to
continue many of our member
programs by tapping into
our reserves to support you
during these unprecedented
times, " he said.
Dickerson noted that CEDIA
ended 2021 in a strong
financial position with net
assets of $34.6 million as of
December 31, 2021.
" Thankfully, as the world
moved toward a new
post-pandemic normal
in 2022, CEDIA and our
partners, including Integrated
Systems Europe and
Emerald, were able to return
to live in-person events
focused on networking,
education, and advocacy. "
CEDIA was able to hold a
full slate of its regional Tech
Summits in 2022 for the
first time since 2019.
" With a successful year
in terms of in-person
events as well as membership
growth, CEDIA's
core business results are
improving over the prior
two years and are expected
to be back to pre-pandemic
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CE Pro February 2023

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