In case you missed some of the coverage on our homepage last week, I had a chance to attend the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association Expo (CEDIA 2010) last week in Atlanta. As you would expect, a big part of the show focused on some of the latest and greatest in home entertainment technology, but the show also held value for security dealers that may be looking to broaden their horizons when it comes to integrating security devices with other home systems, such as lighting controls and HVAC. Click here to read more about some of the new solutions for security installers that I came across at the show.
As with most tradeshows, there was a lot to take in outside of most vendors' booths and no, I'm not talking about the models. Every now and again, even in security, you run across a booth that makes you do a double take. At this year's CEDIA show, that booth was from the company that makes the CuddleBag.
Amidst all of the custom theatre seats and acoustic panels, were these comfy-looking pieces of home decor, which had I not had more booths to visit, I probably would have hopped on and went to sleep.
According to the company's website, CuddleBags range from $419 for a 4-foot "Kiddie Bag" to $659 for an 8-foot "Great Biggie Bag."
Away from the show floor, I had the chance to check out the CEDIA University/ADI Learning Labs EST Skill Challenge. Among some of the challenges attendees had the chance to test their abilities in included wire fishing; cut, prep and terminate coax cabling; cut, prep and terminate UTP cabling; a wire labeling challenge; and, installing a fastener into a wallboard.
Here are a few pics I snapped as attendees went to work at the different stations:
John Sullivan, vice president of sales for security and low voltage products distributor ADI, kicks off the skill challenge.
Here an attendee tries his hand at the wire fishing challenge, which required participants to use their skills to weave wire cabling through a enclosed panel.
In this challenge, attendees were given the Rhino 5200 label printer from DYMO to see how quickly they could identify and print out labels for particular wires.
Another part of the overall skill competition was to see which installer could cut, prep and terminate coax (first picture above), as well UTP cabling (second picture above) in the least amount of time.
The last challenge of the overall skill competition was to see who could install a fastener into a wallboard the fastest as the contestant in the above picture demonstrates.
