How the team creates the culture of your business — advice from a boss who's been there.

Richard Colman, Company Director at Luxe Smart Homes, discusses how attending industry training allowed him to set up a successful installation company and why all integrators should maintain standards by regularly signing up for education courses.

We think being a member of the #CEDIATweeps Team would be a great gig. But don't take our word for it. We asked Heather Sidorowicz aka @tech_chi and 2 year #CEDIATweeps veteran why you should apply, check out what she has to say!

Just because someone is on the #CEDIA13 #CEDIATweeps team doesn’t mean that they know everything about social media. Case in point: vlogging and me. Prior to a few weeks ago, I have never in my life done a vlog. (For those of you who are clueless like me, vlog = video blog.) My first attempt was definitely NOT #SwinkySw

One of the greatest benefits of attending CEDIA EXPO is the networking possibilities that exist. Finding and connecting with similar business people does two basic things for you and your business. First, it helps expand your base. Second, it provides an additional sounding board for issues that arise during the year.

CEDIA EXPO is on its way, and we’re really starting to see people getting excited. My email is quickly becoming saturated with press releases, invitations to connect, etc. Everywhere I turn, people want to network. That is one of my favorite parts of attending EXPO; I love being able to network with so many other great people in our industry.

In this world we strive for perfection. Perfection in our daily lives. Perfection in product design. In performance. But what is perfection? It means different things to different people. Sometimes what is imperfect to one person is perfect to another.

I need your help, #CEDIATweeps! View my plea below.

If you ask my friends and family what I really love, probably the first thing that will pop out of their mouths is “cricket!” This will no doubt be accompanied by massive eye-rolling and head-shaking on a scale not seen since I came home from college with an earring, zipper-front Michael-Jackson-style shirt, and parachute pants. Because, frankly, I think and talk about it a lot. In an obsessive-compulsive kind of way. Cricket is to me like baseball is to many other people: full of action, excitement, strategy, and metaphors. Metaphors for everything: life, work, kids, and yes, even projection screens and CEDIA.

We’ve asked our #CEDIATweeps for their best money-saving tips for CEDIA EXPO. Find out what they think will save you some green.

A couple of days ago, CEDIA Communications Manager Olivia Sellke – not to be confused with a Selkie, a mythological mermaid-like creature said to live as a seal in the sea but shed its skin to become human on land (however, I have never actually seen Olivia Sellke in the water, so it is entirely possible she is indeed both a Sellke and a Selkie) – posed the question, “What is your best money-saving tip when planning to attend CEDIA EXPO?”

As control system programmers, it is our job to turn a collection of devices from different manufacturers into a system that works together seamlessly and easily.

As we know, not all devices are created equal. What may be a great fit from a design standpoint could be a headache when it comes time for integration and programming. And, in the end, project success and client satisfaction hinge largely on ease of use.

As we approach CEDIA EXPO, I’ve been thinking about the importance of not just the EXPO but the CEDIA association in general. As we all work our schedules around the show, we must ensure that we have everything in place for not only the departure, but also the weeks following the show.

Yes, I know it can be a challenge to get away and MAKE THE TIME to attend a show, even for someone like myself who is a staunch supporter of tradeshows.

I proudly wear the mantle of CEDIA Old School. (Or if you grew up like me in the ‘80s and ‘90s on a steady diet of 2Pac, Ice T, NWA, and Snoop, CEDIA OG.)

The integrators of CEDIA’s New School entered the market with no experience with how it “used to be,” nor any preconceptions of “this is the way we used to do it when all we had was 480i video, Dolby surround, and cathode ray tubes, and we liked it that way dagnabbit!” during the Golden Age of Custom^TM.

Really? You wrote a blog about "relationships"? Who are you, Dr. Phil?

Well no, I'm not Dr. Phil, and I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but YES I wrote a blog about "relationships"! You know why? Because over the past few days I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the upcoming CEDIA EXPO in Indy.

You see, I've got a really busy next two months, and the common sense scheduling side of me will attempt to tell me on occasion that I just can't dedicate the time to attend our beloved CEDIA EXPO this year. That we've got too much going on and too many deadlines. And yet I always shut that side of my brain down and remind it: We can't afford to NOT to go to CEDIA EXPO. It’s the most important event of the year for our residential and light-commercial business.

Picture this: a 21-year-old at her brand-new desk. Her papers are neatly stacked and her notebook is crisp and ready for an ambitious task list.

She was just assigned to coordinate the 2011 CEDIA EXPO booth for her new company. This is her first time hearing about EXPO and her first exposure to the custom installation industry. She is nervous but ready to dive in! She takes a deep breath and gets to work.

If you haven’t guessed by now, that was me about a year and a half ago. I had just started my career with Pakedge Device & Software and was given the job of CEDIA booth planning. I had done a substantial amount of event planning before, so I was ready to tackle this task head-on.

I’m honored to have been selected as one of ten #CEDIATweeps this year at EXPO.

Finding the perfect balance of education, show floor appointments and entertainment has always been the challenge for me. If this is your first year, you’ll hear over and over again that you need to plan for the show. (CEDIA even has an App this year that allows you to do just that.)

But what do I really want to see at the show? What is on my Bucket List this year?

Throughout my career in the audiovisual industry, I have been aware of the distinction and division between the residential and commercial industries. But this gap is narrowing day by day. Though the equipment, processes, applications, and requirements may be different, the objectives, methods, and often clients are the same.

So you spent the last year building up a great social media following, and you took a week to go to CEDIA Expo. You're going to share everything you see and really deliver value to all those followers… but suddenly the show's over and you feel like you didn't share half of what you saw.

This could happen to you, young Tweeter. Avoid the mistakes and pitfalls of losing yourself in the show and you could come away with new followers and stronger relationships.

The first question I asked myself when registering for training at this year’s CEDIA EXPO was: “Can I design a network that could properly handle the demanding wired and wireless workload of a home today?”

My answer was, “Maybe, but by no means the proper way.”  Then I got to thinking: These are just the products of today. What about all the connected devices of the future?