Lenexa, Kansas – October 9, 2013 – Custom channel distributor Pioneer Music Company — a member of the Catalyst AV Distribution Network that covers the Plains states -– orchestrated a “field trip” to take 20 integration companies to CEDIA Expo in Denver last month by luxury bus.
“I was the one who came up with the idea and organized it,” says David Allen of Pioneer Music Company. “The idea was conceptualized due to the fact that there were quite a few of our “top” accounts that were not going to CEDIA for one reason or another. We felt that if we could organize easy transportation and accommodations for these dealers, that they should be able to afford to take the time off. 20 companies in total, 40 attendees. 31 of the attendees took the 22 hour (2-
The terms of the field trip attendance were that attendees must visit each one of the trip’s sponsors booths (8 total booth visits) and main trip sponsors had one attendee from each company in a manufacturer product training class.
The main field trip sponsors were as follows Atlona, CORE Brands, ICE Cable, URC, and Vivitek. The secondary sponsors were Definitive Technology, IC Realtime, Mitsubishi, and Yamaha.
”The Cedia field trip with PMC took the stress travel of and planning out of my hands and allowed me to focus more on the show itself. I also enjoyed touring the PMC Kansas City location and meeting the people in person that we speak to on the phone. This trip strengthened my relationship with PMC and their manufacturers and I hope we can do it again,” said Levi Angst, of Integration Excellence, located in Lebanon, MO.
“We had the opportunity to go to an event that we did not know about and would not have gone to otherwise,” said Tom Alexander of Elite Home Audio, located in Tiffin, Iowa. “It was a great learning experience and gave us a lot more options as far as sales to our customers which in turn makes our business more money. This is a great event and everyone in the A/V industry should go.”
About Catalyst AV
Founded in 2012, Catalyst AV is a network of 12-independent consumer electronics distributors serving the residential and professional AV channels in the U.S. Catalyst AV grants manufacturers a consistent and cohesive nationwide distribution model to more than 10,000 professional integration specialists. Catalyst AV benefits integrators by delivering all the products and support necessary to execute the demands of job specifications with confidence. The Catalyst AV Board of Directors consists of Mike Hench (Electronics Source); Steve Presti (Easy Access Distribution) and Wally Whinna (Allnet Distributing).
