EHX 2012: Finding New Growth at the Crossroads of System Integration

If you were a plumbing or tile contractor and wanted to grow your business, you’d invest more in new media and search engine marketing (SEM), ramp up your b2b networking activities, find some new products and be on your way. The same equation holds true for integrators in growing markets who have a firm grasp on their business and are successfully targeting higher-end customers.

But because most electronics systems integrators live in a universe of constantly changing technologies and shaky market conditions, many companies are finding it harder to make ends meet. Gone are the days of high sales and profits on TVs, the Internet has stolen a certain amount of gear sales, and tablets and apps have eroded sales and profits from touchpads and, to some degree, whole-home automation systems.

So what’s a dealer to do? The good news is, as new technologies take away old sources of income, they also create new income opportunities – If you are game to try new things and invest the time and money to learn what you need to know to compete in new integration markets and offer new integration products and services. Many integrators are finding success with remote video surveillance, remote diagnostic solutions, energy management audits and services, commercial video conferencing and network systems, and video walls for bars and restaurants to name just a few.

In an effort to help integrators get the technical training they need to stay on top of new IT/IP network, automation, A/V and security technologies — and help owners find the business direction they need to address new residential and commercial integration markets — EHX has completely re-engineered the product and program focus of the spring show (March 15 – 17 in Orlando).

Highlights include:

• 21 Hot Topic CEU-earning CEDIA classes — Choose from five IT/IP networking courses (all will sell out) plus HDMI troubleshooting, distributed audio/video, energy management system design, service contracts, home theater system design, new display technologies and many more.
• 7 Quick Start Commercial IT Sessions from CompTIA — 90-minute sessions on getting started in healthcare IT, security IT, legal IT, government contracts, virtualization, unified communications and more.
• 8 commercial Tech Courses — Real-life examples to help you design the ultimate boardroom, system design for bars and clubs, energy management for hotels, remote surveillance for commercial properties, etc.
• 17 how-to-Make-Money Business Sessions — Featuring bite-sized 30-minute classes on how to succeed as an energy management tech, apps for operations, LED lighting, SEO marketing techniques, cloud control, digital signage, getting started in security and light commercial, future trends in home automation, video conferencing and telepresence, etc.
• 24 Manufacturer Training Sessions — Including Lutron full-day RadioRa and half-day cellular shade training , and 90-minute sessions from Proficient, Honeywell, Somfy and more.

For a full course listing, go to ehxweb.com and register.