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2ndRick
12-06-2011, 08:25 PM
CEDIA and Utz Baldwin have agreed on Mr. Baldwin's departure from CEDIA as Chief Executive Officer. CEDIA's Board of Directors will continue to provide strategic leadership for the organization as it continues to build strength as the dominant global association in residential technologies.

Randy Stearns, CEDIA’s Chairman, said, “CEDIA would like to thank Utz for his contributions as CEO, president, and volunteer in addition to his strategic vision of the Association’s future. CEDIA wishes Utz the greatest success in his future endeavors.”

Don Gilpin will assume a more active role as CEDIA's Chief Operating Officer under the direction of the Board of Directors. Randy Stearns continued, “As we continue to grow we will be calling on more members to volunteer and help us be the best trade association in the world.”

Being the first of anything has to be tough.
There are no existing benchmarks to work toward or precedent to draw from.

I know I would not have wanted to have been the first, that's for sure.

Best of luck to you, Utz.
Please feel free to drop us a line to tell us where you are headed.

BMaxey
12-06-2011, 09:09 PM
Shocking, I tell ya! Utz Baldwin took over Cedia just as the industry was being rocked on its heels from this economic recession. I thought he was highly adept, listened to clients (dealers), and worked to enact needed changes.

Wondering if Cedia is running low on cash? Long timer Margaret Sheenan left in November as did another employee. Then again, Cedia probably needed to shed some overhead. Earlier (2003) PL statements showed their administrative costs at 21% as a percentage of expenditures, while 2010 was at 43%. That's awfully high.

P2P
12-06-2011, 10:24 PM
Shocking, I tell ya! Utz Baldwin took over Cedia just as the industry was being rocked on its heels from this economic recession. I thought he was highly adept, listened to clients (dealers), and worked to enact needed changes.

Wondering if Cedia is running low on cash? Long timer Margaret Sheenan left in November as did another employee. Then again, Cedia probably needed to shed some overhead. Earlier (2003) PL statements showed their administrative costs at 21% as a percentage of expenditures, while 2010 was at 43%. That's awfully high.

Make no mistake - Margaret and Cathy didn't "leave..."

Greg_C
12-08-2011, 10:48 AM
Was surprised about both Margaret and Utz's situation. Spoke to someone off the record, and Margaret got shafted in effect. CEDIA is trying to be more "member driven" instead of staff driven. Thus recent changes such as full membership for CEDIA members even if they don't have a CEDIA Certified employee. Also CEDIA U is trying to make more online classes so people can get CEU's more at their convience. Hope it works out.
Also, back in 2003, it was a "Professional Hired Staff" that ran CEDIA. The board thought they could do the same job by hiring their own staff rather than having it outsourced to a 3rd party. I don't know if this had an effect on the cost of expenditures, or if it was due to a smaller vendor intake at EXPO vs cost of running Expo out of town. I bet there are significant savings to doing the show in Indy (2003) vs. Atlanta (2010).