Members Celebrate Their Anniversaries, Part 5

As CEDIA turns 30, we talk to members who are celebrating successful businesses.

How has CEDIA membership helped you over the years?

 

Miguel Angel MuñoZ V. – Diva Integraciones Audiovisuales S.A. de C.V. (10 years): It has been of great help to expand our knowledge and continue learning through training, have contact in forums, and know the different points of view to solve problems in project management, administration, and so on.

 

Carl Willis – SIAV (10 years): We are relatively new to CEDIA — we joined in January 2018. Up until this time, we kept our eye on CEDIA and what it was doing within the local industry. It was at last year’s ISE conference that I witnessed what CEDIA training and education meant to other integrators. That persuaded me to get in touch with CEDIA. At this year’s ISE conference, I gained invaluable knowledge through CEDIA training and by connecting with other members. CEDIA exposure has certainly played a role in our own growth this year.

 

Chris Demeniuk – DemNET (20 years): Our entire staff places a high value on is education. CEDIA does a great job getting ahead of the big trends and facilitating discussion or providing talks, classes, and webinars. They also offer baseline education programs for new hires and provide standards and documentation resources for us old hires. We put significant emphasis on doing things the right way, and for many things, CEDIA provides guidance on what the right way is. CEDIA communicates changes at the legislative level to us and provides our input to legislators. CEDIA is great at representing all of us to lawmakers and works to ensure our voices are heard. We’ve found that if you actively engage with what CEDIA offers, you will get much more than your dues’ worth in return.

 

Nick Caripis – BNC Technology (10 years): CEDIA is the only reason we are where we are today. I follow and buy into the CEDIA philosophy wholeheartedly. The knowledge base, motivation, inspiration, and guidance from the community are nvaluable, and the Business Xchange was the most powerful experience for me. Sharing ideas and inspiration is what has helped my business the most. All my staff are certified, and this ensures we give the client excellent “value” with a professional service and experience.

Mark C. Popkowski – Modern System Concepts, Inc. (20 years): My first experience with CEDIA was at the beginning of Modern’s existence. A CEDIA event was being held in Dallas, so I drove from Houston and slept in my car because I only had enough money for one night at the hotel. After my first day at the show, I went to the hotel, and while I was there, I overheard a gentleman having a problem getting a room. After being told there were no more rooms, I offered him the extra bed in my room. This was my first experience of “networking” at CEDIA. I can say, without a doubt, I made two good decisions that year at CEDIA. The first was becoming a member, and the second was buying D-Tools for my sales and estimating software. I truly believe that because of these two tools, my company has been able to very successful today.

 

Aaron Flint – Acoustic Architects (10 years): CEDIA gives us exposure to new products, services, features, ideas, and collaboration with other industry leaders. The annual conference is something we look forward to. The training program is really important for us. All of our employees are required to go through CEDIA ESC certification, which supplies them with the information they need to succeed. It also holds us all accountable because that infrastructure is there.

 

Robert May – Sounds Good AVS Solutions Inc. (10 years): As a business owner, you can sometimes feel like an island of one. CEDIA provides many opportunities to meet and speak with like-minded people. It allows us to share our collective knowledge for the betterment of the industry. We have almost every CEDIA publication printed and on hand at our showroom. It is amazing to reference these and have a standard to follow.