At the start of the year, when Stephen Miller stood down as executive director of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), a lot of people weren’t sure of what would come next. Coupled with the 2012 CEDIA Expo in Brisbane, which was largely indicative of how the industry was faring at the time, integrators could be forgiven for being confused.

But, thanks to the support of the global CEDIA community, in particular Americas director Don Gilpin, Region 1 director Wendy Griffiths, Asia Pacific chairman Len Wallis and Clare Ward, it would appear that the hurdles of the past year have provided a way forward for the organisation at home.

In fact, in recent months the group has devised a plan that aims to ensure the longevity of CEDIA in the region.

As readers of Connected Home would be well aware, in early 2013 Clare Ward was appointed as the interim executive director of CEDIA Asia Pacific. It was her job to take over the helm of the association during this transistional phase. And, if for no other reason than the immense success of the 2013 Integrate Expo in Sydney, Clare clearly demonstrated to both the industry and the public that there was a strong future for residential technologies in the region.

Now we are entering stage two of the plan.

Six months after commencing her interim post, Clare will be stepping down as interim director to make way for a new management structure to be implemented.

”Under the leadership and tremendous commitment and contribution of Clare and her staff, Lauren Tuckwell, the Asia Pacific office has reached the end of the transitional phase,” Len says.

”Now, the CEDIA Asia Pacific Board is excited to announce that the day-to-day operations of the Sydney office will be moved to The Association Specialists (TAS), a professional association management company located in Crows Nest, Sydney, with over 30 years of service to member-based organisations.

“In an effort to maximise membership dollars, the CEDIA Asia Pacific Board voted to move the management of the association to TAS in order to provide the resources necessary to help grow the organisation and to maintain the financial health of the association moving forward.”

TAS will dedicate a team to support the financial, administrative, training and event services for CEDIA Asia Pacific beginning 1 November.

In addition, the CEDIA Asia Pacific Board of Directors will adopt a more active role in the running of the organisation.

”It’s important to note that this change will not impact members directly. CEDIA Asia Pacific will continue to serve its members and support the home technology industry in Asia Pacific,” Len says.

To further demonstrate its commmitment to the Asia Pacific region, CEDIA is currently working with CEDIA Region 1 and Americas to deliver an online training portal, featuring more than 100 courses, reference materials and documents, which CEDIA members will have exclusive access to globally. This will supplement the existing marketing materials and white papers currently available for members to download.

”In addition to our new exciting partnership with the Integrate Expo, CEDIA Asia Pacific TAS staff will also be working to schedule training events to deliver the valuable face-­to-­face networking and learning opportunities CEDIA is known for,” Len says.

”We look forward to continue to serve our members.”

Contact details for the new CEDIA TAS team will be made available shortly.