Buzz Aldrin to Keynote CEDIA Expo

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin of the Apollo 11 crew will be the keynote speaker at the CEDIA Expo.

Aldrin, who is celebrating the 40-year anniversary of the first lunar landing, will address CEDIA members during the association’s annual meeting and membership breakfast on Friday, Sept. 11 at 8 a.m.

The Annual Meeting & Membership Breakfast is open to CEDIA Members only. Members can register to attend as part of their registration for CEDIA Expo.

Like anyone who is old enough, I can vividly recall exactly where I was on July 20, 1969 when Aldrin and Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I even have an A/V memory to go with it:

I was sitting inches away from the screen of my parent's clunky old RCA TV console cabinet watching. Boy, was it a lousy TV and that moment really exacerbated the bad reception. The images were fuzzy and in black-and-white. I recall even complaining to my parents that I couldn't make out what was going on. It looked like a Rorschach Test on the screen!

Though it happened 40 years before the DTV transition, that moment was truly inspirational for me as a kid. I hope seeing and listening to Aldrin in September will be too.

It inspired me to want to be an astronaut. OK, that didn’t quite work out but it made me a major fan of astronomy and sci-fi books and movies. About 10 years ago I got to meet astronaut Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame during an NFPA show, so this will be a good companion to that memory.

Aldrin was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission and was the second person on the moon. He retired from NASA in 1972, and in 1998 founded the ShareSpace Foundation, which seeks to encourage space education and foster affordable space travel opportunities.

Aldrin’s memoirs, entitled "Magnificent Desolation," will be published in time for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing this July.

The selection of Aldrin as keynote speaker is appropriate for the CEDIA crowd. Since there seems to be a lack of "young blood" in this industry, most attendees will probably have strong memories of Apollo 11.

Do you remember where you were on July 20, 1969? Please share.