NEW CEDIA ACTION TEAM ASSISTS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMPANIES

CEDIA's professional services members, commonly known as consultants, marketing and public relations firms, and designers, represent a crosssection of independent companies and professionals who are focused on informationbased services for the electronics marketplace. They offer an unparalleled level of experience in the custom electronics industry, and their influence has been at the forefront of many noteworthy advances in this sector.

Professional services members offer many levels of support beyond assistance to manufacturers, electronic systems contractors, retailers, distributors, and CEDIA. Professional services members also lead key publications that inform and service our trade. Furthermore, these companies have educated the consumer market for widespread technology adoption and devised campaigns and product launches for many of our industry’s most compelling success stories.

The elaborate experience of professional services members extends back to CEDIA’s earliest days. Their work continues to help advance today’s most accomplished custom electronics innovators. They have dedicated their practices to the growth and development of the electronics market. Professional services members offer decades of industry specific experience and invaluable market expertise.

MEMBER BENEFITS
There are a variety of benefits to utilizing CEDIA professional services members—a practice also known as outsourcing talent. The main advantage is access to highly specialized professionals that are not carried on your payroll. Their specialized know-how encompasses virtually every aspect of our sector, from product conceptualization to manufacturing, marketing, public relations, sales, and consultation.

Professional services members help their clients do more with less by extending their clients’ internal bandwidth. They educate manufacturers, retailers, and electronic systems contractors on today’s technology possibilities and help bring those possibilities to fruition with efficiency and precision. They ensure that their customer’s initiatives are enhanced with professionalism, reliability, and insight that can’t easily be found anywhere else.

THE NEW ACTION TEAM
CEDIA has been insightful in recognizing the professional services members’ continuous contributions to our industry. The association has formed a new Professional Services Action Team (PSAT), which I currently chair alongside co-chair Frank White of StayTuned and Action Team members Mario Leone of Electronic Solutions Company, Joel Rosenblatt of A/V Marketing Consultants, Colleen Sterns of Marketing Matters, Steve Firszt of Fast-Forward Business Coaching, Leslie Shiner of the ShinerGroup, and Fred Ampel of Technology Visions SA. John and Jeanne Stiernberg of Stiernberg Consulting also provide input to the team. The biggest

Leslie Stevens (leslie@eclipse marketing.net) is CEDIA Professional Services Action Team Chair and president of Eclipse Marketing in Laguna Niguel, California.

challenge related to outsourcing talent is pairing appropriate professional services members with companies in need of specialized skills. CEDIA has recognized this void, and the PSAT is in process of establishing an efficient gateway to assist those in need in finding appropriate talent.

Within CEDIA’s online member directory, members may search for and select a specific type of professional services member. CEDIA is also developing an index of professional services members that will be included in its online directory and in the EXPO exhibitor manual.

The PSAT has developed a number of initiatives that will benefit the industry. One of these advantages is an enhanced Code of Ethics, which the team recommends all CEDIA professional services members adhere to. Other initiatives include online resources to develop professional services members in providing enhanced service and support.