CEDIA... ACE... Membership and Certfication: Are They Relevant and/or Necessary?
roognation
Posts: 138
I hijacked this from another thread... And maybe there is another thread that airs this out, but alas, I have not done a lot of searching on the subject.
I have been wondering this and asking some of our close partners...on a larger level.
So my question is, what is the attraction/benefit of ACE certification? Are prospective jobs resting on a knife-edge to be determined by ACE credentials?
Further, are end-users making decisions based on CEDIA (or even InfoComm CTS for the commercial side) membership/certification? Do they even know what CEDIA is?
I think you missed the whole point of suggesting it be ACE only. Like it or not AMX is going to hold on to ACE certs until their last breath, so it only benefits them to find ways to make that certification hold some perks for the dealers that go through the trouble to get certified.
I don't see AMX releasing anything like this on the open market, but I do see them dipping into the training budget for some development costs if it will greatly increase the percentage of dealers that are certified.
They need to try to add value to something that inherently doesn't have any value to begin with.
I have been wondering this and asking some of our close partners...on a larger level.
So my question is, what is the attraction/benefit of ACE certification? Are prospective jobs resting on a knife-edge to be determined by ACE credentials?
Further, are end-users making decisions based on CEDIA (or even InfoComm CTS for the commercial side) membership/certification? Do they even know what CEDIA is?
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The big dealer reduction of 2 years back, and the "support annual fee" were calculated to reduce support. They studied support use, and found they spent the most hours with the least productive and least trained dealers. So they cut the ones below a certain dollar number, and stiffened training regulations (although enforcement fell off sharply with the economy crash).
There are some marketing aspects of the ACE and CEDIA logos for a dealer to distinguish their seriousness above the trunk-slammer competition, but that's not what anyone inside AMX talks about when discussing training and certification. It's about support. You can debate whether the training they do has a high useful value in the field, but their statistics satisfied them that it has a high correlation with reduced support.
My world is resi and the majority of my clients never heard of AMX and couldn't give a rat's a$$ about my certifications. I have them for my ego and because they were/are(?) required to become a dealer.
As far as perks, I think I got a T-Shirt once and I've had a few Christmas holidays ruined doing maintenance but if those are the perks you might be better off with out them.
Do them if it makes sense for your market or for you own self satisfaction since any accomplishment is good for the ego and self esteem.
I stay credentialled because, in my case, it's the best thing for me to do. I do seem to get better gigs overall as I tend to run in the circles where this kind of thing matters. It is, IMHO, a complete pain in the arse, but alas and anon...
I do have several other credentials such as college, audio engineering stiff, etc... These too operate under the same premise. I need them because of the sphere of influence I run in.
Are AMX's methods and methodology for maintaining credentials a good barometer of how good or bad a programmer you are? No, of course not. There are also quite a few amateur math wiz types out there who've never spent a day in college who could clock some of my most proficient professors. But is your goal to be the best of something for yourself or for your vocation? They are not always the same goal.
So, until such time time that it 'officially' doesn't matter or it doesn't matter to your professional world, I'd advise keeping it up. In the mean time perhaps we can work to make the credential ing process better.
I'd personally like to see AMX take it more a 'academic/pedagogical' route than a 'sales/marketing' one. I'd like to have more in-the-field expertise involved in the learning process. But, AMX is not in business to create an academic arena for us to play in. It's in the business of making and selling widgets. Perhaps the marketing strategy should then, therefore, not be based upon creating the illusion of academics. Schools are not good marketing tools.
Bottom line is, it's their gig. The rules are printed on the box top. You either play by them or not.
I'm not sure of the relevantcly of this post, but it got my attention and I feel the need to respond. I am 56 years old. I got my first job in commercial broadcasting when I was 15 in 1970. I hold (held?) a first class radio telephone license, which enabled me to work on and control any am/fm transmitter at any commercial radio station in the US. I went to Elkins Radio Institute in Illinois to learn how to take the test (cost me $500, a lot of paper route money), a test to which they would give to any aspiring DJ, as they had to be licensed to be on the air back in the day. I had the knowledge, I just needed to learn what the FCC wanted to know to past the test.
The AMX ACE certification brings me back to those days of yesteryear. I was once a newbie seeking knowledge. A broadcast tech from Kentucky taught me everything I needed to know plus my thirst of knowledge led me to seek out amateur radio broadcasters (Hams) who were not only willing to share their knowledge but were excited by the fact that there were young people eager to become what they were (QSL's anyone?). What happened to this industry? You can cut the acrimony with a knife. I encourage all to pay it forward. I have always shared my knowledge and received so much in return. Call in Karma, sow and reap whatever. My life is better for sharing what I know. I'm not sure of the relevancy but I see so many seekers treated so harshly in this forum and I just don't get it.