The CEDIA 2025 drama that wasn’t
I wont say who or what, but a budding AV influencer tried to stir up some drama at CEDIA 2025. And someone else picked up on it and posted an article about it on their site. For a moment it looked like this year’s show had it signature “booth incident.”
However the story has fizzled. I watched the video. The influencer made mountains out of molehills in an effort to stir up interest in their channel. Anyone who argued back got a “you must be a dealer” response in comments, which is low effort to say the least (but also a classic example of an ad hominem argument).
But now, just a couple days later, the article about the incident was deleted. The comments on the influencers YouTube video have fizzled. The story had no legs.
Here is the problem with the story. The video offered no actual evidence of the drama it referred to, it was 100 percent hearsay. There was no photo, no video clip, and no comment from the accused. Just an accusation with zero supporting evidence. That is not journalism. It’s not even being a good influencer. It’s gossip.
So, a few thoughts. Firstly, if you are going to talk to company reps at a show, toughen up. Don’t make it about your hurt feelings. If you challenge, expect pushback. Roll with it. It’s called reporting. If you want to ask tough questions, ask for an interview, record it, and put it out there. Don’t make it about you.
But this speaks to another problem: Influencers at audio and AV shows who are there on their own dime and what motivates them. They need to monetize that trip. And that means they need a hook for their channel to justify the effort and expense. And if you wind up at a boring trade show in a niche category that most people do not care about, it can be a struggle to find something your audience connects with at scale. If the products are not exciting enough, manufactured drama is a cheap substitute.
Final comment: Some of this stuff is very expensive and that can be easy to criticize. However, luxury goods and related pricing are far from exclusive to the world of AV.
