I’ve set myself a challenge during this years CEDIA Show in San Diego. I’ve got to get a blog out everyday of the show.

The CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association) industry has taken it’s annual EXPO to San Diego this year and has literally taken over the Gaslamp and Convention Centre areas of this coastal gem in California. CEDIA 2017 is a 100% dedicated to Home Technology show running between 5th and 9th of September. Over 500 exhibitors and 150 training courses are available to visitors to the show.

The show floor officially opens on Thursday the 7th but training began on the 5th at the venue. I touched down in San Diego on the 6th and immediately got involved with manufacturer training sessions which are free to attend during the show.

First up was a session with iDevices, a Connecticut based tech manufacturer, with a growing range of Apple HomeKit compatible lighting switches and dimmers, power outlets and thermostats. They covered all their new products, described a hub-less Smart Home using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology and showed their products as a viable alternative to Leviton and Lutron wireless lighting solutions.

This session was closely followed by an overview period with the Z-Wave Alliance. This global connected home standard continues to be the default communication choice for manufacturers and service providers. New improvements in mesh network healing, advancements in security protocols and continued backwards compatibility with early devices make this a hugely popular platform for home technology professionals and electricians worldwide.

One of the great benefits of attending global shows like CEDIA is the opportunity to meet, in person, people we network with in industry forums, on social media and who we listen to on podcasts. Check out our social media this week to see us catch-up with industry friends. It was great to catch up with colleagues on Day 1.

Day 1 ended with the attendance of the CEDIA opening Keynote speech by Dave Evans, Co-Founder and CTO, Stringify. Dave famously coined the term “Internet of Everything” and his Keynote charted the exponential growth in the need for more data, more speed and more storage to support the connected future. Population growth coupled with non-sustainable demands on essential resources has put an even greater emphasis on technology to provide new answers we need to find. The Keynote mapped out a future where crucial services like healthcare, transportation and agriculture will rely heavily on the Internet of Intelligent Things to handle the continuing growth.

Looking onwards to Day 2, the doors are open to the main show floor and thousands of visitors will get up close to the newest and best technology available for their homeowner clients. Dozens of training sessions will be running today. I’m booked in for training with Amazon Alexa and I’m attending another Keynote in the evening by Amazon Smart Home Services. On the show floor I will be making a beeline for the Leon Speakers, Savant, Lutron and Josh.ai booths.

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