I’ve been writing and reading about CEDIA’s Industry Outreach Education and Registered Outreach Instructor Programs over the past couple years, but wanted to gain a much better understanding of what these courses are all about. So I asked CEDIA’s PR director Jamie Antcliff to allow me sit in on a class at the associat
CEDIA’s 2009 Electronic Lifestyles Idea Book is now available while supplies last.
This comprehensive publication features all the entrants of the CEDIA 2009 Designer Awards and is a great tool to use while discussing new installations with your clients. There is a limit of five books per o
I was pretty excited to find out on Tuesday (I was sworn to secrecy until the next day) that CEDIA was moving its annual EXPO convention back to Indianapolis in 2011. Hopefully by then the industry will be buzzing again and the energy that we all felt in earlier Indy years is there again. Of course I have a selfish r
Savant Systems has consistently distinguished itself from other multi-room control innovators. Everything, from its decision to base its core product platform around Apple's operating system to the design of its touchpanels and remote controls, has edgy etched into the fine print. So it should come as no surprise tha
I learned two things during my visit with Runco in Beaverton, Oregon, last week. The first was to stay away from the rainy Pacific Northwest this time of year if you’re susceptible to seasonal active disorder (SAD). The second (and more important) was that Runco is finally back on the right course. I know it’s not
I recently learned how an electronic systems contractor used out-of-the-box thinking to market itself and introduce its showroom to a group of local NFL players (who just happen to be their target demographic). And, it wasn’t a pure profit play either. The event benefitted a charity. Zobo.tv., the sister integratio
Lighting control manufacturer, Lutron, has always had a flare for the dramatic, and yesterday’s new product unveiling was no different. Held at the trendy New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City's Bowery neighborhood, the launch of the company’s new Kirbe vertical drapery system was bracketed by a theatric
In a difficult economy, every cent matters. As seemingly everyone scrambles to save money, the temptation of sourcing knock-off and counterfeit projectors bulbs (lamps) is, for many dealers, too good to resist. While it might help make the numbers in the short term, however, what are the real costs of copycat lamps?
Rick Komendera, former president of Richard Gray’s Power Company, has been hired by SurgeX to serve as its VP of sales. According to Komendera, the opportunity to work with SurgeX was “just too exciting” for him to let pass, but that he left on good terms with RGPC's Richard Gray and Dick McCarthy. Before he parted w
It was not that long ago that I visited Crestron’s world headquarters in Rockleigh, New Jersey, and wrote about my experience on a behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s multiple facilities. At the time the company’s massive Experience Center was still under construction, so I couldn’t say anything about that in my
I’ve never been a big fan of the outsourcing trend in our country. Yet, the notion that electronic systems contractors can offer more efficient services and better quality products to their customers by outsourcing time-consuming programming chores is something that I’m learning to accept. One such independent progra
I don’t review a lot of AV products in my day-to-day role as editorial director, but when a product offer is particularly intriguing or of a certain "size" (shipping freight is such a pain), I’ll sometimes agree to test out “a loaner” for a few weeks. Such was the case when the PR folks for Orb Audio offered me a ha