Waipahu, HI — Hawaiian rep firm, Pride of Hawaii, recently hosted a well-attended summit developed to introduce home audio and video integration to the architectural, design, and lighting communities. The goal of the one-day event, held on April 17, was to embrace all facets of design and bring to fruition homeowners’ goals and dreams.
According to Marco Colindres, principal of Pride of Hawaii, “CE dealers and integrators in Hawaii and the surrounding islands don’t have the luxury of frequent meetings with manufacturers due to traveling constraints. Our goal was to bring our home integration vendors together with the design communities to address and support their specific needs.
More than 35 designers and 37 integrators and lighting specifiers attended the event along with over 25 dealers and supporting manufacturers. Attendees had a chance to view and demo products from Sonance, SIM2, Stewart Filmscreen, Vantage Lighting, Denon, Activated Designs, Leon Speakers, Monster Cable, KEF, Panasonic Corporation, Elan, RTI, Homelogic, Sunfire, Omnimount, Continental Theater Seating, Kinetics Noise Control, KAZ TT Automated Torches, and Xantech.
The program also included two educational seminars presented by qualified instructors with experience from within audio-video industry:
Building a Quiet Environment for the Home (CEU Points)
Presenter Lance Crabbe, Design Systems Ltd.
Registered Outreach Instructor for CEDIA.
Home Theater Design Essentials for the Trade
Presenter Sam Cavitt of Paradise Theater.
From left, Marco Colindres, principal of Pride of Hawaii, and Alberto Fabiano, western regional marketing and sales manager for SIM2 USA.
“SIM2 is thrilled to call ‘Pride of Hawaii’ one of its premier partners and we were very excited to have such a large group of ASID and AIA members in attendance,” said Alberto Fabiano, western regional marketing and sales manager of SIM2 USA. “With the current economy, Marco has demonstrated true commitment to brand representation through hard work and dedication to boost sales in the islands while supporting his dealers, installers, and designers.”
Craig Childs, director of sales, western and central area for Sonance, also felt the event was a win win for all. “The Pride of Hawaii event was a big success for both companies. The turnout by the specification community was very high and our ‘differentiation through design’ strategy was embraced by all that attended,” he said.
Concluding, Colindres added, “We wanted to redefine the role of manufacturer’s rep and how it has changed as we see it. We must go beyond simply calling on integrators as our products have become more design focused. It is pivotal to the success of the consumer electronics industry that we form strategic partnerships with the AIA and ASID Design communities.”
Pride of Hawaii has been representing consumer electronics brands for more than 10 years. The company plans to host an expanded event in 2010 to include targeted consumers in a variety of professions.
