The Five Big Takeaways from 2020 – So Far

When future history books are written, the chapter on 2020 is likely to be long – really long. Any calendar year that sees this much disruption is bound to be a cultural and economic marker with massive long-range repercussions.

And it’s only half over.

We dug into the posts and podcasts and webinars and Zoom meetups to see if we could identify some top-line trends that have shaken out in the pandemic era. In no particular order:

As industry expert – and CEDIA Expo keynote speaker – John Penney notes: “The future will be the same – only more so.” Wim de Vos of the Spanish firm Genesis Home Technologies explains that notion in a more concrete fashion, describing how the pandemic impacted the CEDIA biz: “I looked back at CEDIA’s research and reports from last year and the year before. There were trends there: more robust networking, cybersecurity, and so on, that haven’t changed at all. The only change? Those trends are accelerating. That means systems need to be better documented and better engineered. Network systems will become bigger, therefore more complex service will be more important,” he adds.

“Engineering will be the core of what our industry supplies, not products. And all of that was underway before the pandemic hit.”

You’ll likely be doing business differently. Have your work processes changed? Did you take stock of your business and contract some areas or expand others? Did your techs take advantage of CEDIA education during the slowdown – and has that renewed an interest in more training? How many of your people will continue to work remotely if they have that option, and how many clients will be remote as well?

Morale has never been more critical – for you and your people. Let’s face it: This is uncharted territory, and a lot of us have really been thrown for a loop by the impacts of the social upheavals we’ve seen in 2020. Mental health is important for everyone in your firm, and honest communication about cultural shifts can’t hurt, nor can discussions about inclusion and diversity.

 

Good accountants can’t be beat – nor can good colleagues. There’s a series of webinars at the CEDIA HQ YouTube channel that cover everything from financial fitness to business advice, with presentations from a variety of money-minded pros and great insight from your peers.

 

CEDIA members are really generous. Whether they’re making masks in Houston, finding PPE for free in the UK, or providing communications for front-line workers, CEDIA firms from around the world really pitch in during a crisis.

 

And one more thing – check out the trends that CEDIA members noted in this survey conducted during the early part of the pandemic.