Inaugural CE Pro 100 Integrators Summit – A Resounding Success

Custom electronics integrators, manufacturers and advisors unite to discuss products and practices that will lead to success in economic challenging economy.

November 11, 2008 ? The first annual CE Pro 100 Integrators Summit concluded last week in Long Beach, California with praise from guests and sponsors. Produced by AE Ventures for CE Pro magazine/EH Publishing, the summit brought together custom electronics industry VIPs for executive level education and vendor sponsor meetings.

The summit kicked off with a golf tournament on Tuesday, November 4, where dealers networked and enjoyed an afternoon of golf. That evening, the summit Kick Off Presentation was sponsored by SpeakerCraft and Monster Cable Products. The inspiring presentation featured SpeakerCraft president, Jeremy Burkhardt and Head Monster, Noel Lee who presented their insights on how to survive and thrive in a down market. For complete coverage of the presentation, visit CE Pro.

Wednesday, November 5 began with a breakfast keynote from John Mack of Imperial Capital. Sponsored by Nuvo Technologies, Mack focused his presentation on industry trends and keys to high company value. According to Mack, the keys to continued success in a tough economy are:

  • Differentiation
  • Customer Service
  • Managing costs to maintain margins
  • Focus on higher margin offerings
  • Diversification to reduce the impact of one particular product or sector
  • Product exclusivity with vendors or manufacturers
  • Effective methods to target retrofit end users
  • Creation of sources of recurring revenue

Tim Sullivan, president of Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors, discussed the housing marketing outlook and its impact for custom dealers, identifying opportunities in the retrofit and rental markets. CE Pro editor Jason Knott and FMI investment banking executive, Chris Daum, orchestrated a group discussion of best practices submitted by Summit participants, and Julie Jacobson offered a humorous tour of new opportunities for custom electronics dealers. These presentations were sponsored by Runco and Channel Vision Technology, respectively.

Another major component of the summit was vendor presentations and the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the dealer attendees. The event provided valuable networking and consultations for dealers and vendor sponsors.

Dealers and sponsors also came together for multiple social events throughout the week. A highlight was Wednesday evening?s banquet and casino night, where Jason Knott announced the winners of the Best Practice Awards, which included Home Systems, Audio Video Interiors, Logic Integration, and EPI. The group also enjoyed entertainment from budding musician, Jonathan McEuen

"The CE Pro 100 Integrators Summit may be the best value for money spent on an event this year," stated David Rodarte of Nuvo Technologies. "We spent three days meeting with seventy of the industry's biggest and most successful dealers, learning how we can work together and obtaining valuable feedback on their view of our custom electronics products and consumer demand. We have already secured our sponsorships in the 2009 event."  David Rodarte, President COO, NuVo Technologies.

?I am so happy to have participated in the CE Pro Integrators Summit,? stated Michael Pope, president of Audio Video Interiors. ?The event provided me with some great insights on how to continue to grow my business in this type of economy. I made great connections with other dealers and had a great time at the social events.?

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Shannon Murphy at 508-618-4224 or by email at smurphy@ae-ventures.com.

About EH Publishing
EH Publishing is an integrated media company, producing market leading publications, events and e-media for the technology and construction industries. EH media products provide cutting-edge information to millions of professionals and consumers worldwide. Specific markets served include consumer and custom electronics, information technology, house of worship, robotics, and homebuilding.

About AE Ventures
Association Event Ventures is focused on developing and managing new events, e-media, publications and research products for associations and other third parties. AE Ventures offers its partners opportunities to launch strategic, high quality media products aligned with their missions at a minimum financial risk.