CEDIA Wants to Spread Resources to Larger Group of Installing Dealers

It’s a lot easier to join CEDIA today than it used to be, as the once-exclusive custom installation association seeks to broaden its membership, said board member Randy Stearns in a webinar Wednesday. In a response to a caller question charging CEDIA -- known for promoting luxury theaters and high-end home automation during stronger economic times -- with now signing up “any new member that has a pulse,” Stearns said CEDIA has gone “full circle,” since the heyday of the organization when it was “growing by leaps and bounds."

At that time, the organization wanted to “raise the bar,” Stearns said, and it made certification a requirement for membership with the goal to be a kind of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for electronic systems contractors. Monitoring quality and workmanship “from an office in Indianapolis” proved to be an “unrealistic expectation,” he said, and certification requirements were dropped.

Now, because of changes in the economy and industry, “we've decided to be more inclusive,” Stearns said. “CEDIA has so much to offer anybody who installs electronics or technology in the home that we should make those resources available to that larger sample set,” he said. Membership has broadened and “we are seeking membership from truly anybody and everybody that is interested in placing technology in the home and doing it better than how they're doing it now,” Stearns said.

Companies that join CEDIA are required to meet state and local licensing requirements, including being “properly insured” and having trade references, Stearns said. The requirements are the “same as they've ever been,” Stearns said, other than being certified, which used to be referred to as “certified members.” Non-certified members were called “provisional members,” he said, “and we've done away with the provisional member."

Several questions focused on the need for CEDIA to be “more relevant.” One attendee said he needed a “tangible reason to join beyond putting a logo on a truck or wearing a t-shirt.” Board member Michael Creeden answered with two responses. “I don’t know there’s too much we can say that’s going to convince [anyone] that these are viable things,” Creeden said, citing CEDIA’s ROI (Registered Outreach Instructor) program that’s designed to teach members of other trade associations including building and design about the benefits of electronics integration. CEDIA research shows that members who participated in the ROI program added $100,000 of new business, Creeden said. “That’s the answer,” he said.

Creeden also hit on a theme that has persisted in the industry, especially during the economic downturn that hit CEDIA particularly hard. “Why is it we versus them?” he said. “We all glaze over that all too often. We're all ESCs,” he said. CEDIA staffers in Indianapolis are just “extensions of our business,” he said. He challenged other ESCs to join the organization and promote change if they don’t like the direction of current management. “We're going to be a very transparent leadership,” he said. “Feel free to call us and put us on the chopping block.” He encouraged webinar attendees to “help us change us,” adding his belief that a “high tide raises all ships,” he said. “We believe the success of the association is tied to the success of our own businesses.”