In response to QQQ

I guess its not "evil" and "horrendous"... my word was insidious. They have built their business selling products to us... we've done the marketing. Every builder here and throughout the country has been exposed to structured wiring... many times over... from every Tom, Dick and Harrys AV company ou there. The more Toms, Dicks and Harrys there are... the more successful AVAD and CEDIA are. My problem is the "you're either with us or against us" nature of this thing. I'm not going to list verbatim the details of the program... its up to you guys to check it out. But getting strong off of us and then competing against us just chaps my ass.

Your analogy has weight but most manufacturers are not directly marketing to builders as though they were your competitor. This program will literally say that you...Mr. Builder... should only deal with an AVAD/CEDIA certified pro... NO ONE ELSE! It will be getting mailed to all of these guys and raising questions about your abilities. You know there will always be competition and you will do what is necessary to keep your own business strong and do what you do best. In the long run... this won't kill established companies and will help a few startups. My mission is to make sure that you all don't get blindsided by this when it hits. This forum and www.integrationpros.com have helped me immensely and all I'm doing here is sharing info that may help you better field the call from your builder that comes in. If you are informed... you'll know what to say to keep your relationship alive and you'll look more like someone who keeps abreast of your industry... especially if you beat the advertising to the punch!

I certainly don't feel even the slightest inclination to join this thing... some of you might... others are so established that this will be like a buzzing little gnat in your ear. Some people are going to lose a client/builder here and they are the ones who will be looking at AVAD and saying "what the f--k was that all about?"