Registration for one of CEDIA’s top-reviewed conferences, the 2018 CEDIA Business Xchange, is now open. This year’s event, hosted at The Camby in Phoenix, AZ from May 16-18, offers attendees an opportunity to discuss their biggest challenges with other industry leaders, develop new strategies for success, and hear directly from experts around this year’s focus: Design Thinking, a process to solve problems faster and better.
Developed by the Stanford (Design) d.school, Design Thinking is a framework for understanding challenges and developing solutions from the users’ perspective. It’s used all over the world by the most innovative thinkers and companies, including Disney, Apple, and Samsung just to name a few.
“Don’t let the name throw you,” said Dave Pedigo, CEDIA’s VP of emerging technologies. “Design Thinking is for everyone, not just designers. It’s a non-linear approach to creating solutions integrating physical, emotional, and environmental needs, allowing ideas to be generated and tested quickly to arrive at actionable insights. Attendees will benefit from learning how to shift the mindset they have about their business, ultimately improving processes and increasing profits.”
The sessions are hands-on and interactive and will be presented by Michael Shanks, a senior faculty member at Stanford University in Technology Science, Urban Studies, and in the Center for Design Research, the research arm of Stanford’s d.school, along with esteemed CEDIA members Rich Green, Rich Green Design and Peter Aylett, Archimedia.
Tabatha O’Connor, CEDIA global president and CEO added, “Year-over-year attendees have raved about the platform Business Xchange provides to network and discuss business challenges in a non-competitive environment. This year those opportunities continue with several after hours events and the ever-popular Idea Xchange.”
Business Xchange will also feature an Emerging Trends Forum, presented by CEDIA’s Technology Council. This intensive workshop explores how both consumer and technology trends will affect the home technology professional’s business in the coming years. This session will be a dynamic precursor to the Design Thinking workshop.
Attendees can save $150 by registering before March 28. Additional information about the 2018 CEDIA Business Xchange can be found at www.cedia.net/businessxchange
