What’s Happening December 2018

With an increased media presence, a bigger exhibit hall and education sessions added in Spanish or with translators, the second year of KnowledgeFest Long Beach is projected to be even more successful—with the goal of making it an international event.

Words by Rosa Sophia

The first KnowledgeFest Long Beach took place in 2018, attracting over 1,100 attendees, and the second is scheduled for February 23 to 25, 2019. It is anticipated to have roughly the same amount of manufacturer trainings—60 hours—along with 30 to 40 hours of educational sessions.

Chris Cook, president of the Mobile Electronics Association, stated that he anticipates a significant growth in retailer attendance along with more interaction in education sessions. “Our first year was great, and our second year should be even better,” he said. Because more exhibitors are expected, the conference will be taking place in a much larger hall.

“We sold out the space last year,” Cook said, adding that it made sense to choose a larger hall in the Long Beach Convention Center for the 2019 event. “The hall we’re moving into is about 65 percent larger than the hall we used last year,” he noted.

With the completion of the first event came lessons learned, which will be applied to the second Long Beach conference. Also expected is an increased... Read the rest of the story HERE.

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – March 11, 2019 – The Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) today announced KnowledgeFest™, in its second year at the Long Beach Convention Center, marked another success:

• Attendance grew to more than 1500 attendees, including more than 900 retailer and 100 distributer attendees;
• The number of exhibitors increased to 53; occupying more than 70,000 square feet of exhibit space;
• 30 Hours of educational workshops; and
• A record-setting 68 hours of manufacturer trainings.

“Attendance-wise, this year in Long Beach our audience of mobile specialists was on par with last August’s KnowledgeFest Dallas, which is our long-standing flagship event now in its tenth year,” stated Chris Cook, MEA president. “This year’s increase in the number of exhibitors maxed-out the Long Beach show floor in its present configuration. We have room to expand for next year, and we’re planning some interesting new things to take advantage of that space.”

This weekend, March 15-17, KnowledgeFest sets its sights on Indianapolis. The Friday through Sunday event at the Indiana Convention Center brings its industry-recognized educational and training program and trade show floor to the Indy marketplace.

“2019 marks our fifth year in Indy. Yet, some in our industry still sell the Indy market short,” according to Cook. “KnowledgeFest Indy continues to grow with year-over-year growth. Attendee pre-registration is up more than 30 percent this year. Indy covers the market east of the Mississippi: the east coast and near east—cities, such as Pittsburgh and Cleveland. It's dealers from these markets who don’t show up for CES but are coming to Indy. There are manufacturers who recognize the value. After several expansions, our 2019 show floor is sold out.”

Kicking-off Indy, after a full day of educational sessions and manufacturer trainings, the show floor opens Friday at 4 PM for “Beer & Business”. This business-first event provides dealers and vendors with a relaxed setting to meet, see first-hand new products and do some business.

KnowledgeFest 2019 concludes with its Dallas event: August 9-11 at the Dallas Convention Center.

2020 KnowledgeFest Dates:

• Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California, February 7-9, 2020
• Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 27-29, 2020
• NEW for 2020! Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, May 15-17, 2020
• Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, August 21-23, 2020

About KnowledgeFest

KnowledgeFest is now coast to coast. Its four regional trade-only events cover the eastern, southeastern, central and western US and Canada. KnowledgeFest combines a tradeshow floor with educational programming and training for dealers. KnowledgeFests are the only industry events dedicated to the mobile specialist, the installing dealer. For more information and to register to attend, go to www.knowledgefest.org. For exhibitor sales, contact Kerry Moyer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.." style="color: #000000;">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About the Mobile Electronics Association

Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) is a trade association comprised of installing dealers and product vendors dedicated to serving the needs of the mobile electronics specialist industry. MEA owns and produces KnowledgeFest®, regional trade-only industry events that combine educational programming and vendor training with a trade show floor. MEA owns and publishes the monthly Mobile Electronics® magazine, which is the industry’s #1 resource, as well as other digital media, including websites and the industry’s e-newsletter Hotwire. MEA provides software and data-driven services to vendors and retailers.

Mobile Electronics Association Reports KnowledgeFest® Long Beach a Success

Year-Over-Year Growth Continues

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – March 2, 2018 – The Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) reported the launch of its weekend KnowledgeFest® event in Long Beach, California was a success. Long Beach is now the third event in its KnowledgeFest series. The other two 2018 events are in Indianapolis (March 16-18) and Dallas (August 17-19).

This first-time event held in the Long Beach Convention Center attracted more than 1,100 attendees, including more than 760 dealers from California, the surrounding states, and Canada, as well as attendees from five other countries. Forty-five exhibitors covered more than 45,000 square feet of sold-out exhibit space.

KnowledgeFest Long Beach featured more than 30 hours of educational programming for retailers covering installation, management and sales topics. Manufacturer trainings totaled 60 hours. Programming was packed and, for several sessions, standing room only.

“MEA was pleased and excited to bring KnowledgeFest to dealers not only in Southern California, but the entire west coast,” said Chris Cook, MEA president. “In making this decision to bring our unique KnowledgeFest programming to the region, we got buy-in from the major manufacturers headquartered in SoCal and we carefully evaluated locations and venues. We are grateful to all the manufacturers in the specialist channel who supported the event by exhibiting and to the dealers who turned out to experience our unique offering. We’ll be back in the Long Beach Convention Center’s Hall C next year on February 22-24.”

KnowledgeFest is three regional events covering the eastern, central and western US and Canada. KnowledgeFest combines a tradeshow floor with educational programming and training for dealers. KnowledgeFests are the only industry events dedicated to the mobile specialist, the installing dealer. For more information go to www.knowledgefest.org.

2018/19 KnowledgeFest Dates:

• Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 16-18, 2018
• Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, August 17-19, 2018
• Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California, February 22-24, 2019

About the Mobile Electronics Association

Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) is a trade association comprised of installing dealers and product vendors dedicated to serving the needs of the mobile electronics specialist industry. MEA owns and produces KnowledgeFest®, events in Long Beach, Indianapolis and Dallas that combine educational programming and vendor training with a trade show floor. MEA owns and publishes the monthly Mobile Electronics® magazine, which is the industry’s #1 resource, as well as other digital media, including websites and the industry’s e-newsletter Hotwire. MEA provides software and data-driven services to vendors and retailers.