Pittsburgh — Members of the PowerHouse Alliance, a national consortium of 13 regional CE/IT distributors, have set a full slate of training sessions for the first quarter.
Volutone, which covers Southern California, already began a Remote Technologies (RTI) training series in late January, to be followed by nearly two weeks of daily CCTV trainings this month.
Volutone’s CCTV surveillance training, which kicks off at its Simi Valley, Calif., headquarters on Feb. 10, was recently awarded CEDIA credits. Every training date features two separate sessions, varying in skill and content, and will be led by Volutone security specialist Scott Jones and operations manager David Grant. Attendees can choose from Analog/HD CCTV training (for 1.5 continuing education units, or CEUs) in the morning, or the IP Solutions course (carrying 2 CEU credits) in the afternoon. The series will also hit San Diego and Irvine, Calif., and Las Vegas, among other locales.
“We wanted to start 2015 on a high note and offer our dealers numerous opportunities to hone their skills and earn CEU credits along the way,” said Volutone VP Trevor Hansen. “To keep dealers current and well-rounded, our upcoming sessions touch upon different segments of the business that PowerHouse is working on this year.”
Meanwhile, Consumer Electronics Distributors (CED), which recently opened a new Bloomington, Minn., Facility — PowerHouse’s 40th — will hold Luxul and Sonos training sessions there. The sessions will provide best-practices sharing, the latest tips for Sonos installations, and a popular segment on measuring and optimizing Wi-Fi networks, the company said.
“We are looking forward to hosting Sonos and Luxul at our new location,” said CED president Avery Baron. “Not only are these two of the most highly requested training sessions from two of the most popular brands in our industry, but each course also promises to be highly interactive. … Having our dealers learn directly from the manufacturers is just one way we aim to drive business in 2015.”
Elsewhere, Electronics Custom Distributors (ECD) is hosting Verbatim LED certification events at all three of its Texas locations, starting today in Dallas and continuing with Austin and Houston events on Feb. 5. Each of the events will have a morning and afternoon session where attendees will learn tips on adding custom lighting to their installs. And following the success of its Clare Control and Digital Watchdog vendor days last month, ECD will hold a Doorbell Fon vendor day at its Houston facility on Feb. 13.
In addition, Mountain West Distributors, which serves New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, is set to host a Vanco Evolution training session at its Phoenix facility on Feb. 4, and an Altronix training session the following day.
In the security segment, Sierra Select Distributors will host two back-to-back Kwikset and 2GIG joint-training sessions on Feb. 18 and 19 at its Oakland and North Highlands, Calif., locations, respectively.
The $800 million PowerHouse Alliance provides name-brand products for custom installers, specialty dealers, large retailers and industry buying groups in the residential and commercial A/V, home entertainment, security, IT and CE accessories markets. Member companies carry over 150 product lines in 800,000 square feet of combined warehouse space. The group says its model creates cost efficiencies for manufacturers and buying power for customers, and offers a national footprint with the added benefit of local sales and support.
PowerHouse said the training sessions follow a busy holiday season for its members and a successful group showing at International CES. A complete listing of member calendar events is available here.
