The CEDIA Board of Directors has announced that Tabatha O’Connor has been promoted from acting to permanent CEDIA global president and chief executive.

Tabatha is the board treasurer for Integrated Systems Events, which is co-owned by CEDIA and AVIXA, and produces the ISE tradeshow. She also serves as board treasurer for Electronic Systems Professional Alliance (ESPA) and in 2016 she was chosen by Dealerscope as one of its Powerful Women in Consumer Tech.

“Tabatha has proven herself to be an incredibly effective leader, working to make some of CEDIA’s most significant projects become a reality. From the global alignment to the sale of the show to our new headquarters, Tabatha has been the one to carry the torch across the finish line,” says CEDIA chairman David Humphries.

“CEDIA is not the same organisation it was 12 months ago. We are shifting focus from an organisation whose primary function was running a tradeshow to an organisation that will push the industry forward through education, outreach to design and build specifiers, and increasing professionalism though standards, guidelines, and best practices.”

Tabatha joined the CEDIA team in 2002 and has led many different departments over her tenure, including membership, finance, human resources, operations and volunteer development.

In 2015, Tabatha was promoted to chief executive where she created structures and processes to manage the association’s activities. She has experience in association management and governance, and has served as acting global president and chief executive since May 2017.

“I am honoured to be named global president and chief executive. I am passionate about building this industry and providing our members the tools they need to be successful. The organisation is at a very exciting pivot point as we implement our new strategic plan, construct our new global headquarters that will serve as a resource to our members and our industry, and expand CEDIA’s educational programming around the world,” says Tabatha.