KnowledgeFest Indy Brings the Experience East

Another Record-Setting Event

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – March 29, 2018 – The Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) announced attendance for its March 16-18 KnowledgeFest® event in Indianapolis, Indiana. Following a successful first-time event in Long Beach, California earlier in March, KnowledgeFest Indy, now in its fourth year, was another record-setting event with year-over-year growth for all KnowledgeFest events continuing in 2018.

Held in the Indiana Convention Center, KnowledgeFest Indy 2018 attracted more than 950 attendees, including more than 630 dealers, a thirty percent increase over 2017. KnowledgeFest Indy is the only industry event dedicated to the mobile electronics specialist, the installing dealer. And, KnowledgeFest is the only mobile electronics tradeshow east of the Mississippi; attracting dealers from more than ten surrounding states, as well as the east coast, “near east” cities like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo and Rochester, and Canadian cities like Toronto and Ottawa.

Forty-five exhibitors packed a sold-out trade show floor. KnowledgeFest is unique in that it combines a tradeshow floor with educational programming and training for dealers. Indy featured sixty hours of manufacturer training and thirty hours of educational sessions focused on management, sales and installation. Billed as “Spring Training”, KnowledgeFest Indy is scheduled to allow dealers to get training on new products just coming to market and to kick-off the spring season.

“Indianapolis has become a great venue for us, our attendees and exhibitors. We continue to attract manufacturers from the specialty sector of our industry who don’t exhibit at other trade shows and who want to get their products and new technologies in front of our audience of mobile specialists, the installing dealers,” said Chris Cook, MEA president. “The opportunity for manufacturers to train dealers adds value to manufacturers and the dealers overall KnowledgeFest experience. Having Davis Distribution’s presence in Indy has helped drive attendance from nearby markets, and I thank them. As a Massachusetts-based business, we continue to focus on driving attendance from the northeast, New York City and Philadelphia. These dealers aren’t going to Vegas, so we need to communicate that KnowledgeFest Indy is accessible to them, inexpensive to attend, and a high-value experience.”  

KnowledgeFest is three regional events covering the eastern (Indianapolis), central (Dallas) and western (Long Beach) US and Canada. The next 2018 KnowledgeFest takes place in Dallas from August 17-19. For more information go to www.knowledgefest.org.

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.

The Mobile Electronics® group has added 7,500 square feet of exhibit space to make room for its new exhibitors at the second annual KnowledgeFest Spring event in April. Attendance for this year’s trade show and training event is expected to double over the previous year as a result of several manufacturers incorporating their regional training efforts into KnowledgeFest Spring 2016.
The event will be held April 8-10, 2016 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. The Spring Training show floor is projected to feature more than 50 brands from manufacturer and vendor exhibitors throughout 42,000 square feet of exhibit space and 10 meeting rooms.
The Spring Training event provides dealers a top-notch venue in the midst of the new-product shipping season, allowing attendees and exhibitors to network and train on the latest mobile electronics technology. First time manufacturer exhibitors for KnowledgeFest Spring include
JL Audio, Sony, AudioControl, AAMP Global and Accele, all of who will be holding brand specific training on-site for their authorized dealers.
“We are extremely pleased to have these new exhibitors join us at KnowledgeFest Spring Training 2016, most of them have been supporting our Dallas event for several years” said Chris Cook, Mobile Electronics Group President. “Their support recognizes this event as the best opportunity to provide quality sales and installation training during the launch of their new products and services introduced earlier this year at CES”.
KnowledgeFest Trade Shows and Conferences are the mobile electronics industry’s largest educational events. This year’s events combined will offer more than 80 hours of business management, sales and installation training along with nearly 120 hours of manufacturer specific training. Additionally, some of the industry’s best known training organizations such as BusinessWorx, Del Ellis International, Mobile Solutions, Sonus Evolution and MECP will also be participating and exhibiting.
In 2016, KnowledgeFest will also return to Dallas August 20-22. For more information about either event, go to KnowledgeFest.org.