Indianapolis — CEDIA plans a national spring trade show to complement its September show and will co-locate the new show with its Electronic Lifestyle Forum, which is targeted to architects, builders and interior designers.
CEDIA’s first spring show will be held April 18-21, 2007, at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, just a little more than a month after the March 6-9 EH Expo event. The trade show floor will be open April 20–21.
“One Expo annually is not enough to meet industry demand for the high-quality trade show experience CEDIA delivers,” the association said. Co-locating the two events “has the added benefit of being inclusive of the architects, builders and interior designers who are participating in CEDIA’s outreach programs.” CEDIA president Andy Willcox said. The 2007 CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Forum and Expo “will truly offer unparalleled business development, industry outreach, networking and education,” he contended.
The forum portion of the combined event “is focused on increasing collaboration between architects, builders, interior designers and custom installers,” said forum chairman Utz Baldwin. The forum will include panel discussions, networking opportunities, and keynote addresses.
The new national show isn’t CEDIA’s first crack at staging additional trade shows to complement its signature September event. In 2002, the association held its first mini regional trade shows co-located with its three regular regional education seminars for installers. Exhibitors were limited to 10-foot by 10-foot booths.
The intent was to secure convention center locations to accommodate all of the manufacturers and installers who had been turned away from the education seminars in previous years because of a lack of hotel space, the association said at the time. One of the 2002 events attracted about 700 installers and 200 manufacturer personnel, but the other two events attracted only about 300-350 installers.
