It's a terrible catch 22, without the tremendous growth Cedia has had we wouldn't have as big a show every year. But along with growth comes an inbalance in what a "member" company is. Having the Cedia logo on our web site doesn't mean much when some small upstart down the road has it too. So someone with an eye for making money comes up with "Cedia Certification". Now we have an option, be a member, or pay more money and take a few tests to prove we know how to read, and become certified, thats got to be better than the guy down the road, untill he spends a few bucks and takes the tests too. But now, in an effort to take even more of our hard earned money, you HAVE to take the tests. From all the comments I have heard, the level 1 and 2 are pretty simple, so once again, being Cedia Certified obviously doesn't mean anything other than you know how to write a cheque. I agree with a mix of the above comments, there are much better ways to do this.
Much like the country clubs out there, they need to have a "social membership" for companies that want to have access to the show and courses. For a full membership, they used to require you to be in business for a few years and have references, I think this plus submission of 5 projects showing different disciplines of this industry should get you in. After that, companies should be able to earn levels based on experience, manufacture trainings( advanced Lutron programming, AMX or Crestron and others) .