Succession of Exhibitors pulling out of CEDIA Expo 2021
Not the good news story our industry could do with, but as industry members around the world would typically be finalizing travel plans and gearing up to head to the CEDIA Expo around now, COVID has again thrown a spanner in the works.
CEDIA Expo will run September 1-3, 2021, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, and was this year billed by organizers as "The most anticipated event of the year…" - and righty so.
The typically well-attended and supported event is as vital to AV manufacturers, integrators, custom installers, designers and the AV industry as a whole, as Munich's annual High End show is to the hi-fi industry.
So when Savant, one of the largest home automation manufacturers, announced it was pulling out of the show last week due to concerns surrounding health and safety, no one really expected this to trigger a chain of similar announcements.
Industry commentator Ted Green from Strata-Gee has been all over the news and keeping the industry informed as the announcements are released. The latest withdrawal comes from Samsung, in which Green commented:
The announcements are coming faster than I can get them written up, as I learned late Friday that Samsung has notified their dealers that they too have pulled out of the CEDIA Expo 2021. Pressure is building on other exhibitors to take a stand. A tipping point may be approaching…
The Samsung announcement follows Sonos, Sound United, and Snap One's withdrawal announcements just in the last week. Both Samsung and Snap One are Lead Sponsors of this year's Expo.
All exhibitors cite COVID and its recent rise in infection rates, particularly the Delta variant, as the reason for their understandable withdrawal from CEDIA Expo 2021.
While other trade shows in some countries have begun ramping back up, CEDIA Expo's advertised Health & Safety Plan states attendees who have been fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks (but encouraged to do so). This is in contrast to other trade shows that have taken place where the wearing of masks is mandatory.
While the industry wants and needs shows to return, according to The New York Times, the show's location in Marion County, Indiana, has seen a steady increase in new daily cases over the past 30 days.
More as the situation evolves.
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Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Home Theatre | Visual | Integration | Technology | Smart Homes & IoT | Industry
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