Electronic House Expo Fall Attendance Up 16% To 8,701; Custom Electronics Industry's Fastest Growing Event Delivers Record-Breaking Results Again.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Electronic House Expo (EHX) Fall 2005 concluded last week in Anaheim, California, drawing 8,701 custom electronics professionals to its sixth annual conference and tradeshow. Over 300 exhibiting companies demonstrated products and services for custom electronics integrators and retailers over the five-day event, November 7 - 11, 2005. It was the largest EHX ever.

Exhibit Floor

Anchored by sponsors - HP, SpeakerCraft, and Syntax - the EHX show floor included over 300 exhibiting companies displaying the latest technologies for home audio, theaters, networking, security, automation, and accessories. Media servers, IP-based controls and interfaces digital media players were all over EHX. The exhibit hall also included "Demo Alley" where 12 companies demonstrated high performance audio/video demos to thousands of attendees in private demo rooms.

"EHX Fall 2006 reflected a tipping point in the custom electronics market with digital, IT- and IP-based media servers, players, distribution devices and controls beginning to dominate the new product offerings of manufacturers," stated John Galante, vice president of EH Events & Education, the show's producer. "Because EHX is an open, fast growing show it's reflecting these changes more quickly and accurately than other custom electronics events, and the thousands of integrators and retailers who engaged with EHX vendor base are now better tuned into this major trend and the challenges and opportunities it represents."

Opening Keynote

Julie Jacobson, editor of CE Pro magazine, moderated a discussion with David Tovissi, vice president of in-home services, Tweeter and Robert Kaufmann, principal, Audio Command Systems - two of the top 100 CE Pro integrators named in 2005. The group discussed the challenges and opportunities for today's custom integration market - from two differing perspectives. Approximately 500 professionals attended this event, learning from some of the most successful CE Pros in the nation.

Conference & Training Programs

The first ever EHX Wake-Up Call breakfast drew nearly 200 conference attendees to learn about new DVD, broadcast, online and game content on the horizon. The session, moderated by Sean Wargo of the Consumer Electronics Association gave attendees insight into how understanding digital content can maximize complementary product and services sales. EHX debuted several new boot camps and conference sessions in Anaheim. The Audio Fundamentals and Media Center boot camps were well-received additions to the program - with nearly 200 attendees. CE Pro editor, Julie Jacobson chaired the Media Center boot camp, which gave integrators a fresh look at the platform and how it can work for custom installers. Other courses that drew large crowds included: Utilizing Flat Panel Technology in the Digital Home; Configuration of Home Wireless LANs; Sound Theory & Practice; and IP Based Networked Audio/Video.

Awards & Recognitions

EHX Fall was the site for the announcement of the 2005 Multi-Room Audio/Video Award winners, sponsored by CEA. The contest recognized manufacturers of multi-room audio and video products, debuting in the last year. Twenty-one products were recognized in total, including iMuse's Media Server Series as the Best overall MRAV Product of the year. For a complete list of winners and entrants, please visit http://www.virtualehx.com/mrav.

Attendees at the show were tasked with the duty of selecting the best demo in Demo Alley, which was awarded to Faroudja, Meridian & Transparent Audio for their demo room.

Networking Events

The thousands of attendees at EHX had several networking events to participate in. EHX Unplugged featured entertainment from Nuvo Technologies and drew approximately 2,000 attendees for live music, cocktails and great networking. Nuvo also gave away a B.C. Rich guitar to a lucky attendee during the party.

The EHX Conference Cooldown, sponsored by Unicom drew a large crowd of conference attendees, while the California Alarm Association, SpeakerCraft, Volutone, and On-Q/Legrand also held parties on and off the show floor during the event.

General Assessment

"Overall, this was our most successful EHX ever, setting records in exposition floor space and attendance," said Galante. "Perhaps, as important, EHX has taken a firm grasp of the AV/IT convergence trend in its exhibits, conference and special events. And our conference is promulgating the diversity of business models now available to dealers in the rapidly expanding custom electronics industry."

About EHX

Electronic House Expo, a Tradeshow Week magazine Fastest 50 event for three years running, is the fastest growing trade event of the $16 billion custom electronics industry. Held twice annually and sponsored by CEA's TechHome Division, the EHX trade show floor and conference program provide an invaluable forum for information exchange, education and new product demonstrations from leading manufacturers and service providers across the entire custom electronics spectrum of home networking, automation, entertainment, and security.

About EH Events & Education

EH Events & Education, a division of EH Publishing, Inc.(http://www.ehpub.com), develops and produces world-class expositions and conferences for the technology and construction industries. The EH Events & Education portfolio includes: Electronic House Expos (EHX) Spring & Fall, the TecHome Builder Conference and Expo (TBX), and Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX). EHX Fall was named the fastest growing show in America by Tradeshow Week magazine in 2003, and both EHX Spring and Fall were named among the fastest 50 growing tradeshows by Tradeshow Week magazine in 2004 and 2005.

About CEA

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry through technology policy, events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA represents more than 2,000 corporate members involved in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and integration of audio, video, mobile electronics, wireless and landline communications, information technology, home networking, multimedia and accessory products, as well as related services that are sold through consumer channels. Combined, CEA's members account for more than $122 billion in annual sales. CEA's resources are available online at www.CE.org, the definitive source for information about the consumer electronics industry. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES - Defining Tomorrow's Technology. All profits from CES are reinvested into industry services, including technical training and education, industry promotion, engineering standards development, market research and legislative advocacy.

UPCOMING EVENTS

--  2006 International CES
    January 5-8, 2006, Las Vegas, NV

--  2006 CEA Winter Summit
    March 2-4, 2006, Vail, CO

--  EHX Spring 2006
    March 28-April 1, 2006, Orlando, FL

--  TBX 2006
    May 10-12, 2006, Ontario, CA

--  CONNECTIONS (TM) - The Digital Home Conference & Showcase
    May 2-4, 2006, Santa Clara, CA

--  2006 PARA Conference
    May 3-7, 2006, Hilton Head, SC

--  WFX 2006
    November 8-10, 2006, Dallas, TX

--  EHX Fall 2006
    November 13 -17, 2006, Long Beach, CA