Strategy in TECH...
On Wednesday, Emerald emailed a letter to exhibitors that appears to be an attempt to stem the outflow of companies that have canceled their participation in the CEDIA Expo 2021 – 42 brands according to Strata-gee’s tracking – and encourage those exhibitors that have not yet abandoned the show from leaving. Signed by Emerald executives Brian Pagel and Jason McGraw, the letter declared “the show is still very much on as planned.”
Sonance, a leading supplier of custom integration speakers and electronics, announced today that they will “withdraw from exhibiting at the 2021 CEDIA Expo,” much as several other exhibitors have decided over the last few days. In fact, today has been a big day for such withdrawals – almost a third of all companies who announced they were pulling out of the show, made that announcement today.
This morning, within just minutes of Crestron’s announcement, Lutron announced that they too have decided to withdraw from CEDIA Expo 2021. One of the top lighting control and systems providers to custom integrators, this announcement is likely to hit hard, as potential attendees weigh whether attending the show will be worth their time, and their added risk in the face of the rapid spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
<<NOTE on 2nd MASSIVE Update: Scroll to the bottom of this page to learn more about a second MASSIVE list update on 8/25>>This past week brought a surprising turn of events while we were all preoccupied with preparations for the rapidly approaching CEDIA Expo 2021 show that is just about 3 weeks away in Indianapolis, IN at the Indiana Convention Center. The surprise is that some exhibitors began to pull out of the event in response to the national increase in infections resulting from the COVID-19 Delta variant.
The first to take a stand was Savant, who announced last Tuesday that they would sit out this year’s Expo in order to ensure the safety of their employees, partners, and customers in the face of the surging Delta variant. Within 48 hours, other exhibitors began to join them in making the same decision and by the end of the week, at least six major brands, all large exhibitors representing literally thousands of square feet of exhibit space, had announced or otherwise informed their dealer base that they had decided to pull out of the Expo.
Crestron Electronics announced this morning that it has made “the difficult decision to fully cancel our presence” at the rapidly approaching CEDIA Expo 2021, scheduled to start in just about two weeks in Indianapolis, IN. Crestron joins a long list of exhibitors who have also decided to pull out of the event, almost all due to health and safety concerns from the dramatic increase in infections and hospitalizations as a result of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 Delta variant.
I have been covering the rapidly unfolding events as more announcements come every day of companies choosing to withdraw from CEDIA Expo 2021 in the wake of the surging infections from the COVID-19 Delta variant. While several large exhibitors have already announced their decision to pull out of the annual event, there are many more who are thought to be caught somewhere along the path of the decision process – a tough path to walk in an environment that is extremely fluid and changing daily.
One of the top brands rumored to be exiting the show, but has not yet officially announced anything, is Sony. But now, there is a strong reason to believe that Sony has already exited the Expo.
In a note sent to dealers Friday, Sonos said that “after much deliberation” it has decided that it will no longer be participating in the CEDIA Expo 2021 as originally planned. Yet another in a line of exhibitors leaving the event, the company cited “the recent increases in COVID cases and the prevalence of the Delta variant.”
Positioned on prime real estate in the front row of the convention hall, with power brands Sony on one side and Samsung on the other, Sound United says that their booth at next month’s CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis, IN, will remain empty. The company announced today that, like Savant and Snap One before them, they too have decided to pull out of the Expo over concerns about the spike in cases of the COVID Delta variant.
Strata-gee broke the news to the industry on Tuesday that Savant had announced they were pulling out of CEDIA Expo 2021 due to the surging COVID Delta variant putting employees and attendees at risk. Today, Snap One, another major CEDIA Expo exhibitor has made the same decision, pulling out of the event currently scheduled to launch in just about three weeks from now.
By now, you may have heard that Savant has acquired Racepoint Energy, LLC, which will now operate as Savant Power. In another post, I discuss this acquisition in a little more detail and interview Savant Power President Anna Demeo. Demeo is incredibly smart and because of this, it was one of my more challenging interviews – let’s just say you don’t want to take her on in a game of Scrabble. This is a big move by Savant and if you don’t look closely, you may miss the importance of what it potentially represents – a significant disruption of the power segment.
