If CEDIA Expo 2022 has an ounce of the same level of exuberance as Mandy Beckner, this year’s event in Dallas is going to have off-the-charts energy.  Beckner, vice president of education and training at CEDIA, ebulliently reviewed a slate of special sessions for the fall trade show at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center hitting every aspect of custom installation, from technical to business.

Among the big themes of this year’s 60 educational sessions will be focused on all aspects of the lighting business (five sessions), wellness, and leadership using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Over half of the sessions at this year’s show are brand new, including workshops dedicated to Dante, and classes focused on critical protocols such as Matter, Z-Wave, AES67, and AV-over-IP.

CEDIA offers an All-Access Education pass for members for $449 for members ($949 for non-members). Rates go up in June. Attendees can also choose individual sessions a la carte.

There will also be a slate of free sessions held both in the Innovation Hub and on the Smart Stage on the trade show floor, along with more than 80 Manufacturer Training Sessions. The keynote has not yet been announced.

“We are so excited about this year’s conference. It is a hallmark of the event. It is a big part of what defines our channel and our community. I am so honored to be one of the stewards of this year’s program,” says Beckner.

“For three days, CEDIA will offer world-class advocacy, connection, and education to the home technology community by offering formal training and professional advancement, advocating for regulations that improve our industry, and hearing from insightful speakers,” she says. It’s simply the premier gathering of the brightest minds in home technology, bar none.”

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CEDIA Education Focus on Certification, Ask the Experts

CEDIA Education starts one day before the trade show, on Wednesday, September 28, and runs through Friday, September 30. The last day of the show, Saturday October 1, there are no educational sessions but a day dedicated strictly to the exhibits at CEDIA Expo.

The first education day will have 19 different sessions primarily focused on professional development. Sessions include preparation content for certifications for both the Electronic Systems Certified Networking Specialist (ESC-N) accreditation and the Electronic Systems Certified Designer (ESC-D) certification.  

Other long-form classes from that first day will be the popular Ask the Experts sessions in which attendees get to pick the brains of the best minds in the industry in an almost open-forum style meeting. Among the experts sharing their knowledge on video will be Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation, John Bishop of Bishop Architectural Entertainment Services, and CEDIA’s technical knowledge manager David Meyer. For audio, Steven Rissi, CEDIA’s senior director of technical education, will be available.

Renowned industry journalist Michael Heiss will be holding two sessions on Wednesday about unraveling some of the technical jargon and a look at new content via streaming and other means that dealers can use to be successful.

On the wellness front, LaDonna Erickson of the Living in Place Institute will be reviewing technologies for integrators to deploy for multi-generational households, the elderly or disabled persons. One other interesting session will be a panel focused on large-scale MDU projects and how to find and service that growing market.

On Thursday, September 29 the CEDIA Expo trade show floor opens, but the education also continues. New for 2022 is the CEDIA Advocacy Town Hall which kicks off the day at 8:00 a.m. This Town Hall event will highlight all the legislative work being done by the association to protect the industry.

“A lot of that work can be a ‘secret’ to many in the industry, but we don’t intend it to be a secret,” admits Beckner. “So this is our opportunity to not only share how CEDIA is protecting our business, but how our attendees can use their voices to influence policymakers and be part of the solution.”

Throughout the next two days, CEDIA education will be a diverse mix of thought-provoking seminars, lively panels, and interactive half-day workshops, according to Beckner. Starting on September 29 is when actual certification tests will be held.

Read Next: Registration Now Open for CEDIA Expo 2022 in Dallas

Other notable educational training includes a Spanish language track, and a workshop dedicated to the association’s Certified Outreach Instructor (COI) program with trains dealers how to educate other trade partners such as designers, architects and builders.

“Our goal is to lead the industry with training on markets and emerging technologies,” says Beckner. “This is a volunteer-led program designed to encourage discussion and networking that will create new connections between peers.”

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