Savant Pulls Out of In-Person CEDIA Expo; Plans Virtual Attendance

Savant pulled out of next month's CEDIA Expo as an in-person exhibitor due to COVID-19, it said in a Tuesday email to the CEDIA community. “To best protect our employees, our customers and all industry associates from the impact of COVID-19 and the unpredictable Delta variant, Savant will not be exhibiting in person at the 2021 CEDIA Expo,” said CEO Robert Madonna.

Instead, Savant, which attended the ProSource summer meeting in San Antonio last week, is preparing “engaging virtual sessions” so it can share product news and informative content “to best support your businesses through these challenging times,” Madonna said.

Savant told us last month (see 2107070057) it was enthusiastic about its planned presence at CEDIA Expo Sept. 1-3 in Indianapolis, where it would exhibit for the first time with GE Lighting, which it bought last summer. Savant still plans to showcase GE Lighting, along with Savant Power, with the three brands exhibiting together virtually for the first time, said Madonna. More details will follow, he said.

“To our integration partners worldwide, everyone at Savant is inspired by your fortitude and energy to thrive despite the challenges of a global pandemic,” Madonna said. He applauded dealers’ “skill and determination as you serve customers with great care,” and said the company looks forward to meeting them “assuming safer conditions early next year as Savant prepares smaller, targeted events for 2022 in Q1.”

CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding didn’t respond to questions Tuesday. The company told us in July it expected a 20% falloff in exhibitor numbers vs. pre-pandemic figures from 2019. The show owner was hoping to get 300 exhibitors.

Dealers told us last week at the ProSource conference that some vendors were sending out surveys to take dealers’ temperatures about attending CEDIA Expo (see 2108090054) in September. It wasn’t immediately clear if Savant was one of the companies that surveyed dealers about their plans.