2022 was a bounce back year for CEDIA in terms of its financials, membership level, and its ability to offer in-person education. The association made those announcements during its annual member meeting, which was conducted via video conference with both recorded and live segments.

The 33-minute-long video conference began with a montage of some work done by custom integrators and images of hands-on training being done by the association. Attendees were then welcomed by board chairperson David Weinstein, vice president of sales at Lutron Electronics.

“I am very proud to share with you today some of the highlights from CEDIA’s 2022,” he says. Weinstein cited his favorite highlights as the hiring of Daryl Friedman as the new global president and CEO of the association, the creation of a new three-year strategic plan, and the staging of two successful association-sponsored trade shows (Integrated Systems Europe and CEDIA Expo).

“The board is functioning in the most effective manner I have seen in my six years of service,” he noted. “We are effectively focusing on the high-level strategies while supporting Daryl and his CEDIA team in the management of the association.”

The meeting then transitioned to a welcome from Friedman, followed clips from a session on the CEDIA Smart Stage in Dallas in which he detailed many of the initiatives the association is pursuing under the three pillars of Advocacy, Connection and Education (ACE).

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“Advocacy means telling the story… championing this industry to everyone. It could be to designers, builders and architects. It could be to the homeowner… we want to do more of that. And it could be to governmental bodies,” says Friedman.

The Connections element of ACE is focused around the events CEDIA conducts, including ISE, CEDIA Expo, its regional Tech Summits, and its online communities and forums.

“Education of course is training. Upscaling everyone and making sure this industry is fully trained,” he noted. Friedman added that training is important for integrators to establish credibility with the other trades.

Regarding workforce development, Friedman said that within his first 100 days as head of the association, he quickly realized the urgency and priority of getting more skilled labor for the industry.

“In most associations the members will tell you they want help getting more business. What I was hearing from this community is, ‘I have more business than I can handle. I need techs.’”

He highlighted that at CEDIA Expo the association launched a new three-pronged approach to getting more technicians. One of the planks is outreach in local communities to invite trade school students to come to the Tech Summits.

CEDIA Finances Stabilize in 2022

The next segment of the annual membership meeting was a financial review presented by Kory Dickerson, senior vice president of finance and operations at CEDIA.

“This has been a year of stabilization for the association. The Covid-19 global pandemic prompted many challenges for CEDIA’s programs through both 2020 and 2021 as a result of restrictions and limitations on travel and in-person events. Like many businesses, these global unforeseen changes brought significant reductions in our revenues. However, even with these constraints affecting our ability to connect with you, our members, and the industry, CEDIA was still able to continue many of our member programs by tapping into our reserves to support you during these unprecedented times,” he said.

Dickerson noted that CEDIA ended 2021 in a strong financial position with net assets of $34.6 million as of December 31, 2021.

“Thankfully, as the world moved toward a new post-pandemic normal in 2022, CEDIA and our partners, including Integrated Systems Europe and Emerald, were able to return to live in-person events focused on networking, education, and advocacy.”

Dickerson noted that CEDIA was able to hold a full slate of its regional Tech Summits in 2022 for the first time since 2019.

“With a successful year in terms of in-person events as well as membership growth, CEDIA’s core business results are improving over the prior two years and are expected to be back to pre-pandemic levels by next year in 2023.”  

Additionally, CEDIA just approved its first balanced budget, excluding portfolio returns, for the first time in six years for the upcoming year. The lack of a balanced budget over the previous six years was based on two factors. First, Dickerson noted that the funds from the sale of CEDIA Expo to Emerald in 2017 were invested heavily by the association into initiatives and strategies that were developed at the time. That was followed by the multi-year effects of the pandemic. He indicated that CEDIA’s investment portfolio is not immune to the overall market volatility that has been happening on Wall St. over the past year. 

“The market decline has resulted in larger than forecasted unrealized losses of $4.4 million through October 31, 2022,” he explained. Dickerson iterated that the association believes the portfolio is well positioned and will recover over time.

“CEDIA continues to be well capitalized with cash and investment returns of well over $11.4 million. Net assets as of October 31, 2022 were $29.3 million,” he added.

Tech Summits to Expand; Membership Surpasses 4,000

The final segment of the presentation was a live Q&A. Among the questions was the potential of reviving the CEDIA Management Conference.

“We will need to find a model that works for this,” answered Friedman. “One aspect of this is financial. We have submitted a balanced budget for the first time in five years and we are really trying to hold to that. This had not been a profitable event in the past. We would like to bring it back and make it profitable because we have heard good things about it.”

Another question pertained to adding more Tech Summits in the Midwest. CEDIA’s senior vice president Giles Sutton revealed that the association is planning a Tech Summit for Chicago in 2023. The association is also investigating the potential for Tech Summits overseas, including the Middle East. Lastly, CEDIA noted it is working on its DEI initiatives to help create more opportunities for women and minorities, and it is expanding its Spanish language education in Latin America.  

Lastly, Friedman said the association is targeting non-members in 2023. He noted that in 2022 CEDIA passed more than 4,000 members “for the first time in anyone recollection.”

At ISE 2023 in Barcelona, CEDIA is planning a live, in-person annual membership meeting.

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