Chief adds a rewards site to its certification program-- meaning Chief Certified Partner Program participants earn Chief points when completing courses.

Once a partner hits 600- and 1200-point levels they can pick from many different rewards, including tools, travel accessories, fashion accessories and gift cards.

All one needs to do to see the full list is to log into their online partner accounts.

The Chief Certification Program currently has over 2400 active users (with more than 1000 Certified Partners), and is designed to help dealers and installers improve business results, differentiate their businesses and enhance their overall mount and rack product knowleedge.

The company offers 21 courses through its online program, with specialised training modules for a variety of needs and vertical markets such as residential, corporate and education. Recent additions to the list include Automated Classroom, Elite Home Theatre, Control Room and Training Room courses.

Go Chief Certified Partner Program

Integrated Systems Europe launches a charitable programme (SeeHearTouch) to equip children’s hospices with the latest home-cinema and media technology and enhance the lives of terminally ill children.

Obviously ISE can’t tackle all Europe simultaneously, but integrators (and vendors) who can identify children’s hospices and offer to join in the outreach can possibly put their countries higher on list for consideration in the next phase.

Panasonic is back in the black in Q1 2012, following its largest-ever 2011 losses-- through cost cutting measures the company records $163.7 million net profits despite a -6% Y-o-Y decline in group sales.

However Panasonic does not attribute any success to its bleeding TV division, as Q1 2012 Plasma sales fall by -47% Y-o-Y. Back in 2011 Panasonic spent nearly $11 billion to write-down losses from massive investments in plasma display factories and early retirement payments.

BD recorder and player sales drop by -60% Y-o-Y, while the Panasonic products segments (including PCs) makes nearly $64.6 billion in profits.

Other profitable segments for the company include industrial goods, including solar panels and rechargeable automobile batteries.

New Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga says he is conducting a "strategic review" of every part of the company-- pledging to pull out of loss-making or low-profit businesses in favour of more investment in the profitable energy business.

Go Panasonic Reports Q1 2012 Results

Go Panasonic Returns to Profit (WSJ.com)

Crestron names the winners of the 2012 Crestron Residential Awards-- with eight integrators receiving awards for "outstanding" projects completed in 2011.

The awards for this year received 59 entries across eight categories, the highest number since Crestron started the awards 5 years ago. Judging the entries were Crestron UK MD Robin van Meeuwen, Marketing Manager Petra van Meeuwen, Tanya Houston (Wildwood PR) and Paddy Baker (INSTALLATION editor)

The winners are as follows:

• Best Integrated Home System: T&T Automation for Georgian Mansion
• Most Distinctive Digital Media Installation (on sea): Audio Vision Ltd for Maltese Falcon
• Most Distinctive Digital Media Installation (on land): Smartcomm Ltd for Lavish Family Home
• Brilliant Lighting Control and Design: Audio Vision for Longwood Manor
• Best High Rise Living: ClearSphere Ltd for New Bond Street Penthouses
• Best Marine Project: AV Synergy for DB9
• Best International Crestron Home: Custom Controls for Dubai Villas
• Most Creative GUI: C3 Custom Code Crafters (Europe) for Xenon

The awards ceremony took place at a BBQ party at the marquee outside the Crestron offices.

Were you part of the competition? Let us know about it!

Go Crestron Celebrates Best in Integration

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announces 5 new standards-- with topics ranging from 3D video accessibility to wireless charging and remote controls.

The standards are as follows:

• ANSI/CEA-2041 Standard for a Round Tactile Indicator: defines a round, raised nib that visually impaired people can use to identify the buttons on a remote control.
• CEA-708.1 Digital Television (DTV) Closed Captioning, 3D Extensions: describes how to send closed captioning information for 3D video.
• CEA-2038 Command–Driven Analog IR-Synchronized Active Eyewear: describes how to control “active” 3D glasses worn by viewers using an infrared signal sent by a TV set.
• CEA-2042.1-A Wireless Power Glossary of Terms: defines terminology used to describe wireless charging (from a flat charging surface) systems.
• CEA-805-D-1 Data Services on the Component Video Interfaces: provides important clarifications about how digital bits need to be transmitted in a CEA-805-D component video signal.

The association also has a technical document on TV brightness levels-- CEA-TR1, Home Illumination Study.

Go CEA Announces Five New Standards

What more can you say about a show where all the exhibition space sells out and attendance is already up, up and up?

You add more focus on the conference side of the business.

“Since we launched our first Conference on the eve of ISE 2009, the numbers of industry professionals attending our pre-show events has grown year by year,” comments Mike Blackman, MD, Integrated Systems Events. “To further develop this programme, we have decided to invest in someone with a proven track-record of successful business-to-businesss conference management...”

Integrated Systems Events has appointed Marieke Bouman to the new position of Conference & Events Manager. Working out of ISE’s Amsterdam operations office, Bouman will oversee development and organisation of Integrated Systems Europe’s pre-show events programme. (Bouman will also help develop other events in Europe, complementing ISE, but that’s another story.)

Her first pre-show event project will be the ISE Smart Building Conference.

“The message from our post-show questionnaire in 2012 was unequivocal – our attendees want to see more building automation, energy management and related technologies on our show floor, and these are the areas where they see the greatest future growth potential for their businesses,” explains Blackman.

“By launching our Smart Building Conference on the eve of ISE 2013, we aim to ensure that as these technologies become more significant to our industry our attendees have the market intelligence and technical expertise they need to embrace their opportunity.”

“Our aim is to ensure that the Smart Building Conference is not just a talking shop about ‘green AV’,” continues Blackman. “As building automation and energy management become more important in the design and sustainability of both commercial and residential buildings, it is vital that we hear the voices of all those involved in their development – including architects, design consultants, developers, electrical contractors and more.

“The ISE Smart Building Conference will give all these groups the opportunity to discuss the big issues alongside representatives from our core AV and systems integration communities: manufacturers, distributors, integrators and institutional end-customers.”

To accompany the Conference, the show floor of ISE 2013 will have its own Smart Building @ ISE area in Hall 7.. Set to be twice the size of the 2012 Energy Management Pavilion, the area will share common branding and promotion with the pre-show event – giving Conference delegates a clear destination to include in their ISE show itineraries.

“Following the successful formula we’ve established in fields such as digital signage, enterprise communications and live events, the ISE Smart Building Conference will give additional meaning to an area of our show floor that is growing in both size and importance,” Blackman concludes.”

Go ISE 2013, 29-31 January 2013