CEDIA has announced a revised schedule for its CEDIA Technology & Business Summits. Eight in-person Tech Summits and one new virtual conference have been added to the schedule for the fall.
“The opportunity to gather in-person, connect with manufacturers and learn from some of the industry’s best is not something any of us will be taking for granted this year,” said Robert Keeler, CEDIA senior director of sales, sponsorships and partnerships. “We are thrilled to be able to put together a new schedule of events that will serve as an important touchpoint for the industry as we are on the road to recovery from the pandemic.”
CEDIA Tech Summit Founder Mark Cichowski added, "The regional nature of Tech Summits has always served as one of the key components to the event’s success, and now more than ever, the kind of connections that can be forged at a CEDIA Tech Summit provide unprecedented value to drive business.”
The CEDIA Tech Summits are regional educational events that also provide sponsor tables from many of the industry's AV, control, lighting, security and technology manufacturers and service providers.
This year, CEDIA added even more value to the events with the inclusion of a keynote by Google and a new two-part cybersecurity course — both of which will continue to be part of the programming. The Google keynote will be streamed at the fall events, and all keynote attendees will receive a Google Nest Mini.
The two-part cybersecurity course was developed to help integrators approach the topic from both the technical and business perspective, learning how to identity threats and opportunities to protect client systems and assessing risk and identifying policies.
“We have seen fantastic feedback from attendees who have sat in on this course at the CEDIA Tech Summits,” said Samantha Ventura, CEDIA vice president of education and training. “For those who are looking to learn more about cybersecurity — a newly developed course is available in the CEDIA Academy that nicely complements what is offered at Tech Summits.”
The revised 2020 dates are:
- September 22 – Atlanta, Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia
- September 24 – Vancouver, New Virtual Event
- October 27 – Dallas, Sheraton DFW Airport Hotel
- October 29 – Houston, Hilton Houston Post Oak
- November 5 – Toronto, Toronto Airport Marriot
- November 17 – New Jersey, Renaissance Newark
- November 19 - New York, Melville Marriott
- December 1 – Woodland Hills, California , Marriott Warner Center
- December 3 – Irvine, California, Irvine Marriott
“After a successful event in Toronto last year, CEDIA expanded our Tech Summits to include Vancouver in 2020, and we wanted to maintain our commitment to bring events to the Canadian market,” Keeler said. “Given the potential for continued travel restrictions, we decided to transition the Vancouver Tech Summit to a virtual event. We know this format will still provide exceptional value and we are excited to offer this unique opportunity to connect.”
CEDIA says the health and safety of everyone attending the Tech Summits is the primary concern. CEDIA will be implementing additional social distancing and safety measures in conjunction with each venue and state/local guidelines. Attendees will see adjustments including an altered registration process, various food and beverage options and adjusted room layouts.
Previously scheduled events for Chicago and Boston have been postponed until 2021. Companies that are interested in participating are encouraged to request more information from techsummits@cedia.org.
