CEDIA has honoured three of its global volunteers for their contribution to the industry.

Giving back to the industry is the backbone of the organisation according to CEDIA global president and chief executive Tabatha O’Connor, adding that the industry and organisation thrived when members lent their expertise to the rest of the world.

This year’s Volunteer of the Year award goes to Geoff Meads from Presto Web Design in the UK.

Geoff has been a contributor to CEDIA training and e-learning courses for more than 15 years. He has been part of a number of working groups as well as serving on the Professional Development Advisory Council. Recently, he has taken an active role in the UK Smart Home Apprenticeship Trailblazer Committee.

Geoff is perhaps best known as a CEDIA EMEA & Global Awards judge, serving on the technical judging committee since 2010 and, in recent years, as chairman of the EMEA region judging panel.

Geoff is a long-term instructor who holds CEDIA ESC-T, ESC-D, and ESC-N certifications.

The Education Volunteer of the Year award goes to Jamie Briesemeister from Integration Controls.

After becoming a member in 2005, she took on as many CEDIA education courses as possible to fill the schedule at her first Expo. She subsequently volunteered on the Professional Development Advisory Council before becoming co-chair of the Business Xchange taskforce in class instruction, and is currently the Business Working Group chair.

She has served on the Industry Relational Advisory Council and was named CEDIA Volunteer of the Year in 2015.

Michael Robinson from Perfect Integration Limited is this year’s New Volunteer of the Year.

He took on an Outreach Instructor role with CEDIA in 2012 and has expanded his involvement since then, serving on the Industry Relations Advisory Council and on the task force for EMEA Continuing Professional Development Creation. He earned his ESC-D credential from CEDIA earlier this year.