Longtime Crestron executive Vincent Bruno came on board Oct. 1 as the first CEDIA CEO in more than three years, and he has plans for the association and the custom-integration industry.
CEDIA was founded in 1989, represents 3,500 member companies worldwide, and serves more than 22,000 industry professionals who manufacture, design, and integrate goods and services for the residential market. The group hosted its first trade show in 1990.
Bruno’s priorities include the addition of several more membership categories within CEDIA, including service providers and retailers/e-tailers. They would join manufacturers, integrators, manufacturer reps, distributors and industry professionals.
Bruno also wants to develop a “determined focus” by the association to identify new technologies and revenue streams for members. And he wants to identify emerging technology trends before they become public to give integrators the tools they need to profit from them.
The association will also work with a university to determine how it can better deliver advanced business education to members, and the group will define ways to make sure talent enters the industry, introducing residential installation as a career path, he said.
Bruno also promises more aggressive marketing efforts and other initiatives to make it easier for consumers to find the right technology through the right integrator. “CEDIA is the hub of the residential installation channel, and we intend to be the source for not only the trade but also for the consumer,” he told TWICE.
He also plans to build bridges to other industries. CEDIA will actively engage with other key associations such as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), National Association of Realtors (NAR), Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Info-Comm International and others, he said.
Bruno, who reports to the CEDIA board, described his role as providing “the strategic vision and overall leadership for our organization in advancing the global residential A/V industry.” He is tasked with strategic planning, governance, membership development, CEDIA’s annual trade show and events, operations, staff leadership, communications and advocacy.
For the past seven years, Bruno was Crestron’s marketing director. He also sits on CTA’s TechHome Division Board. Before working at Crestron, Bruno was VP for VCOM International Multimedia.
