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CEA Ends ‘Tech Enthusiast’ Membership for Consumers
Short-lived program 'did not attract the large numbers we needed to make it viable so we are discontinuing it'.
CEA Tech Enthusiast membership and Web site fading away.
CEA Opens Door to Consumers
Good day gentleman, The CEA is now offering memberships to consumers. The members will be called Consumer Technology Enthusiasts (CTEs), will take part in beta testing,… View this discussion thread.
Good day gentleman, The CEA is now offering memberships to consumers. The members will be called Consumer Technology Enthusiasts (CTEs), will take part in beta testing,… View this discussion thread.
The Consumer Electronics Association is ending its one-year-old CEA Tech Enthusiast initiative.
Launched in late 2010, the program was CEA’s first concerted effort to bring consumers into the trade organization.
For $49, enthusiasts could enjoy a members-only forum, the opportunity to beta-test products, and special discounts from CEA members – like a free HDMI cable with any A/V receiver, currently offered by Home Theater Entertainment Solutions in East Meadow, N.Y.
When TE debuted last year, CEA allowed the first 1,000 members to attend the final day of the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which is normally open only to the trade. They seemed to enjoy it (see video below). For 2012, members were invited to attend for two days of the four-day show.
But the Tech Enthusiast designation was not just for consumers. CEA and its traditional members also were meant to benefit from a captive base of CE-loving consumers who might offer product feedback or other valuable research.
Ultimately, though, the TE program “did not attract the large numbers we needed to make it viable so we are discontinuing it,” says Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO.
We thought that might be a problem since the Web is already awash with lively enthusiast forums (free ones). In the CE Pro forums, dealers also questioned the viability of the program.
Although CEA is dismantling the consumer-membership program, the organization will continue to educate consumers via a special (free) portal accessible through its main site CE.org.
“CEA walks the talk and takes risks to innovate,” says Shapiro (who literally wrote the book on innovation). “Sometimes we fail and we learn from it and move forward.”
CEA has stopped accepting new members or partners for the TE program. The membership site, CEAte.org, will remain live through January 31, 2012, after which it will be discontinued (may we suggest our consumer site electronichouse.com until then?). TE members who still have an active membership as of February 1, 2012 will be provided a refund of their membership fee. Tech Enthusiast members with questions can contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
VIDEO: CEA Tech Enthusiast members enjoy CES 2011
Launched in late 2010, the program was CEA’s first concerted effort to bring consumers into the trade organization.
For $49, enthusiasts could enjoy a members-only forum, the opportunity to beta-test products, and special discounts from CEA members – like a free HDMI cable with any A/V receiver, currently offered by Home Theater Entertainment Solutions in East Meadow, N.Y.
When TE debuted last year, CEA allowed the first 1,000 members to attend the final day of the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which is normally open only to the trade. They seemed to enjoy it (see video below). For 2012, members were invited to attend for two days of the four-day show.
But the Tech Enthusiast designation was not just for consumers. CEA and its traditional members also were meant to benefit from a captive base of CE-loving consumers who might offer product feedback or other valuable research.
Ultimately, though, the TE program “did not attract the large numbers we needed to make it viable so we are discontinuing it,” says Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO.
We thought that might be a problem since the Web is already awash with lively enthusiast forums (free ones). In the CE Pro forums, dealers also questioned the viability of the program.
Although CEA is dismantling the consumer-membership program, the organization will continue to educate consumers via a special (free) portal accessible through its main site CE.org.
“CEA walks the talk and takes risks to innovate,” says Shapiro (who literally wrote the book on innovation). “Sometimes we fail and we learn from it and move forward.”
CEA has stopped accepting new members or partners for the TE program. The membership site, CEAte.org, will remain live through January 31, 2012, after which it will be discontinued (may we suggest our consumer site electronichouse.com until then?). TE members who still have an active membership as of February 1, 2012 will be provided a refund of their membership fee. Tech Enthusiast members with questions can contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
VIDEO: CEA Tech Enthusiast members enjoy CES 2011
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About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
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