The bottom of the hour is when the minute hand points all the way down. Ie half hour.

Maybe most of you are just spoiled by the lavish CEDIAs of the 'old days', or just too immersed in the business side of the convention.

I freaking loved walking the booths! Yes, scaled back, but definitely still enjoyable.

The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Nothing like getting special VIP passess to a 'free party' with lots of food and drink and maybe a mediocre has been band.

And while I'm standing there sucking down beer and good finger food wondering why I'm not at a pub with my buddies, I think...

I paid for all of this by buying from them loyally.

I will fight you in the face if you call Cheap Trick a mediocre has-been band.

Would you prefer sub par has-been?

Your screen name was derived from a Jimmy Buffett song... so your input on topics of music is immediately seen as invalid to me.

Go listen to any "Heaven Tonight", "In Color", or "Dream Police" and reconsider that sub-par comment.

Since I've copyright protected the term Hasbeen. Immediately cease and desist using that term when referring to Cheap Trick.  Please use Never Was instead. :)

That is all. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

The floor traffic seemed light. I was the only person during the Espon demo! Last year I had to wait in line.

The IP'er party was awesome! Brett was on his game as usual, and the prizes and company was better than last year.

The networking classes we packed.

The Denver show (7ish years ago) was my first Expo in the business, and I liked that one the best.

You must be an engineer.

I just got back, and I agree. The numbers sure seemed lower, and the training classes were poorly attended. I did go to the RTI trainings, which were full. I enjoyed the RTI SDK session; maybe i can learn to write my own drivers.

Velodyne had some chick sitting in a directors chair listening to ear buds......no booth. This is the story of a company that fell from grace faster than anything I have ever seen.

Sorry for the long post but,

We all just got back last night and this was a real eye-opener about the total waste of time and big money to bring the staff to the Cedia expo.

The Internet and webinars ARE the way of the future. When the newly developed technologies are created by the manufacturers, they quickly email BLAST it out!!

In the past, they held it and teased the new stuff like Apple and forced you to go to the "show" to see and touch the magic. By the time the show arrives, its old news and sleepy....Blogs, websites, forums, emails are filled with all the new stuff months before its really ready for primetime.

I went to every BOOTH on the floor and off site "suites" and didn't see ANYTHING that was "new".

I am real curious on how the Cedia press people try to "spin" the attendance and create value for next year. Sad that the venue is so important, versus the real meaning of dropping plenty cash to get "cutting edge" knowledge.

It is finally time to realize its our own faults for allowing the manufacturers to give away the products to mass merchant retailers like Wal-mart and Amazon. we drove the race to zero in a fast car! I mean Monoprice and Sonos are ON THE FLOOR.

Wireless and Bluetooth technologies are getting better and better and putting us all one step closer to dinosaur land.

I am not trying to start a war, but I spoke with plenty other dealers that all thought the same thing... The show is over or really close.

Seeing something in person and talking to the designer/engineer, is a LOT different than reading an email blast.

The summary is CEDIA needs to evolve, as we all did.

1. It can't be just about the show.
2. Volunteer level training isn't good enough anymore.
3. Unlike Cheers, nobody knows your name :(

I get it, it's run by volunteers, guess what, volunteers aren't good enough in this industry anymore. Those really good are too busy making money, a few who really tried to help, lost their businesses during their term.

What I need:
more in-depth training
- not a 45 or 90 min over view
- on a specific item, show me how to setup 'Johns model ABC' router from a to z. Stop trying to be so vendor neutral.

Lounges/Roundtables with titles - to talk to peers on a subject
- business, networking, iPad integration, adwords, etc.

eMail
Send me a weekly email summarizing what's going on. I know you already get 15, that you don't read! Because they're not targeted. I'm interested in... check all that apply....send me stuff about that, just that (maybe the really important other stuff too, in brief).

One of the vendors does a nice job with their weekly, but also has so much filler/format that you have to scroll through to get to the good stuff. I read those emails at lunch guys on my iphone, give me the 30sec meat's worth, hold the potatoes and graphics.

Vendors
Great job. Thanks for the support. Love you guys.
Give me more info! Make a 2-3min video on a subject of a device. Show me how to setup your device. Don't make me jump through hoops and logins to download a manual. Show me fronts, backs, what's included.

Here's a secret - why is SnapAV doing well, they do these things.

What do you want from CEDIA? Not what they're doing wrong, or did, what should they do to make themselves relevant and earn your dues?

To go to a show like this and claim you did not see anything new makes one wonder if your eyes were open.

I fully understand year after year going to these events can make things seem like it is always the same old stuff, but there are ALWAYS a few new items or improved items on the show floor that are worth looking at.

I imagine it all comes down to what type of projects you do and how they are done. Maybe you have found everything you will ever need for the systems you do.

Many people are constantly reviewing and fine tuning the how and whys of their systems and specifications. So coming into shows like Cedia they will usually have a list of things they are looking for or wanting to get new solutions or options for.

In the end it is all about how to improve your bottom line.