CEDIA Expo 2011 Attendance Drops 15%

Since 2007 the attendance is off close to 50% .. (2007 #‘s were 29,000)  - Hopefully a wake up call for CEDIA management..

Make training affordable and rework the content so it actually benefits the student - too many of the classes are nothing more than product sales demos.

Or better yet - roll the whole show into the CES..  VEGAS Baby !

I know that many are always negative with criticism of CEDIA after each show. Some positive comments are going to three days was much better for all. The people of Indianapolis were very friendly and it seemed everyone in Indy were there to help in any way they could.
It was a great show overall and may take a couple years to win some back after the mess in Atlanta.

Been to every CEDIA show since the 1st one except for 2.

This seemed the most “down” show since 2002,  the year after 9/11.

Why?...lack of exciting new products, lack of housing starts, commoditization of much of our industry, etc.

e.g.

3-D is fringe as long as glasses are necessary regardless of price.

Ipad has cut the price by a factor of 10 for automation.

If you think healthcare is the future you are delusional.  It will be huge, but not in the CEDIA channel.  Nurse’s and big Med will provide this over 4G networks.  I wouldn’t trust us with Grandma either.

Standard automation has low price creep coming from security, telephony, and of course the big Red Delicious Apple.

Seems we’ve seen the inflation averaged peak in 2008.  When, if ever will we get back to that?

I’ve run this by a lot of smart industry vet’s in private.  No one really argues.

I’d love to be wrong.  Tell me where i’m wrong ...please.

Nothing against the “nice and friendly” people of Indy, but the simple fact of the matter is that the Southeastern US (Guess where Atlanta is) is still home to the second largest concentration of custom installers in the country.  Atlanta is easy for these guys (in the the Southeast) to get to (regardless of what getting around the city is like).  Indy, not so much.  Locating the show in Indy, while convenient for the CEDIA organization, is not really convenient for the bulk of their attendee base.

I agree with Steve B. Indy was nice (alot better than Atlanta!) But nothing beats Vegas! Especially in the winter. Also I’ve always considered the CEDIA training as a money making scheme for the organization vs. an actual training tool. it doesn’t help to be CEDIA Certified if nobody knows what that means. They definitely don’t use the money they make to advertise to end users enough.

As an Exhibitor I can say that bringing CEDIA back to Indy was refreshing after three years in ATL. The smaller venue delivered better customer feedback and allowed more time for direct business—rolling into CES would be a nightmare for the small to medium Exhibitors as they would be completely overrun by the big names. Next year though CEDIA, please try to make sure all the construction is finished!

Trade shows are dyeing.  Technology has made them unnecessary. CEDIA education is the value at expo.  We wrote millions in business but, that would have happened anyway.  I can guarantee we have one of the largest booth presences and activities at the show.  Most of the high end integrators and capitalist don’t want to come to a show and walk the floor. New IT and Alarm guys dig it, our distribution based brands enjoyed more success than our higher end select limited dealer based brands. The reality is that the big successful guys have done their share of shows and manufacturers want biz so bad they make it unnecessary for them to attend.  Newbies and alarm guys are the up and comers for the industry.  I hope cedia continues to educate and builds a brand for us with consumes. I wish we had main stream media coverage.  The board is smart an will make a better gig I am sure.  I do have cedia to thank for all they have done the past 18 years for me and our dealers.  Without cedia our brand would not have had the success it does.

Anyone know how INFOCOMM did this year?  I don’t, but would wager it’s not seeing the same drop-off as CEDIA.  Most resi integrators do commercial work…. why not get INFOCOMM to take over CEDIA like they did NSCA?

By the way… CES is a cluster.  No way CEDIA should have anything to do with it.

@Details, here’s some info from on InfoComm 2011 attendance from our sister site, Commercial Integrator. “With a total attendance of 33,001, this year’s edition was the biggest InfoComm show ever in Orlando, and bigger than last year’s crowd of 32,002 in Las Vegas.”

http://www.commercialintegrator.com/article/is_infocomm_attendance_record_a_good_sign

Though numbers don’t lie, the quality of the attendees of this past event well exceeded Expos of the past. We found the show a huge success with the highest level of potential new customers as well as the highest badge scan figures we have ever received at this show.I want to thank CEDIA for moving this venue back to Indy where there are minimal extracurricular distractions and some great restaurants that warmly welcomed our visits. Indy does made work and some much needed rest time possible. In closing I am still a huge fan of the Denver venue.

Sorry to say this is the sign ofbthings to come. Yes Jeremy CEDIA did assist but so did Comdex for many. Now they are gone. CEDIA has not moved with the times and now it’s all about money. As things got tough did they adjust venue and help manufacturers save money. NOPE

Now they spend money as the CUSTOM ELECTRONICS industry promoting a show on the DO IT YOURSELF network.

I just don’t see what they are doing for all of us at this stage. Less and less relevant. IMO

Before anyone starts writing off trade shows, let’s remember people were saying the same thing about the newspaper business about 10 years ago. Today the newspaper industry has readjusted to its new and smaller role in the world of media, but the point is it has made an adjustment.

The economy is still shaky so it’s really hard to evaluate the tradeshow industry. One major reason why attendance is down is the fact that there aren’t as many custom installers as there were a few years ago so not as many people are attending these events. Combine that with the unwillingness to incur the expense of travel, as well as the obvious loss of revenue that occurs when small companies take time off to attend these events and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that attendance is down.

At some point the economy will get better, people will spend money on travel, business ventures, etc. Tradeshows are still the most efficient way to receive product & industry training; to see the latest products in person and to network with people like Jeremy, Joel Silver and others who are viewed as industry drivers/resources.

Numerous exhibitors told me they felt the show while down had many quality dealers in attendance. The show also had a number of nice products that should help dealers sell more audio, video, control & automation, energy management, security and home network solutions to clients that still want and need the products and services the industry offers.

The big thing is that if someone didn’t attend they shouldn’t be commenting on the state of an event they did not participate in.

I think CEDIA needs to re-think it’s locations. InfoComm did a really smart thing by locating them in Las Vegas one year, Orlando the next, back to Vegas, etc.

This way neither coast of the US is left out and we all get a nice trip to Vegas every other year…

Ed

@ Robert Archer: I couldn’t agree with you more.

IMO, here is the simple explanation for low attendance;

The usual suspects were there, but they could no longer afford to bring their typical entourage due to travel & lodging costs.

Not to mention, there was not a single product/innovation introduced that I had to have and order on the spot to take advantage of the show pricing specials.

Only, “alarm guys & newbies,” think 3D has a future… That’s why there was over an hour line to get into to see the new Sony 4k/4D projector whereas the real legacy A/V dealers refused to wait in line and walked away.

Us, “old timers,” decided that single malt scotch would give us the same blurry in depth visual experience without the need for shutter glasses.

@Jeremy and Dave….

With tongue in cheek - when does the title of “ex-alarm guy” wear off?  Not everyone that is in the custom installation business was able to start there.  Those that have developed a nice shift of focus from one business model to another, which includes the company that I am with, deserve a pat on the back as well.

It is closed-minded distributors, reps, and competitors with attitudes such as shown here that is driving the CEDIA world down in my opinion, and yes I know we all have one.  Just because a company or an individual has experience in a field does not mean that they cannot re-develop a mentality, and mold themselves and their businesses into this group that you refer to as CI guys. 

This particular “ex-alarm guy” didn’t wait in line to see any 3D demos with exception of a particular projector line that we have been excelling with for quite some time.  This same “ex-alarm guy” was inundated with calls and emails while at the show begging for appointments from vendors because of success shown in a short 3 year conversion of a “mass alarm” company into a custom installation company, that also acquired another custom installation company in 2010 (and no I do not work for Vivint). 

It is disappointing to read these types of statements from highly regarded industry veterans such as yourselves, to see that you want to keep your little club a close knit community.  Funny thing is, a good friend of mine, that also is an “ex-alarm guy” and his company’s management team once worked for me in a mass alarm company and they are fairly good size dealers for SC.

I do not purchase from SC, but have been asked to consider it in the past…but it doesn’t look like we fit in.

Just some food for thought.