News

Corporate, academic leaders to offer keynote addresses at CEDIA EXPO 2004 - Noted academic innovator Negroponte, business leader Putnam, slated for twin keynote presentations (2/8/2004)

Indianapolis, Ind.-In addition to serving as the only show that meets the specialized needs of the residential custom electronics industry, the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) will offer two featured keynote presentations at CEDIA EXPO 2004 to provide attendees with a wealth of perspective on business leadership and innovation.

At 8 a.m. on Friday Sept. 10, CEDIA will present keynote speaker Nicholas Negroponte, Ph.D., one of the foremost futurists on the international scene, to deliver reflections on his knowledge of digital trends to EXPO attendees.

Professor Negroponte is the co-founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory. He was the first to predict and describe how digitalization would affect every industry throughout the world. Professor Negroponte's calculations that about half of all media-from publishing to telecoms-would evolve in the digital age have been proven remarkably accurate.

Professor Negroponte's lecture topics include:

things that think
news in the future
television tomorrow
perceptual computing
learning and common sense

Most recently Professor Negroponte helped establish the B21 Foundation, an organization focused on information technology and global development issues and serves as chairman. He is also the author of the 1995 best-seller, "Being Digital," which has been translated into more than 40 languages.

At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, CEDIA will welcome its second keynote speaker-Howard Putnam, former CEO of Southwest Airlines and Braniff International-to communicate his knowledge of business to the custom electronics community. Putnam was the first executive to successfully restructure a major airline into, through and out of Chapter 11. As chief executive officer for Southwest Airlines, he tripled the airline's revenues to $246 million and boosted its profitability to $25 million.

Putnam's lecture topics include:

bottom-line improvement
leadership
customer service
managing change and turbulence

Putnam is the author of "The Winds of Turbulence" and is recognized for his highly-rated talks on businesses, change, leadership and ethics. He is also co-founder and chairman of Aircraft Interior Resources (AIR) in Houston.

Both keynote addresses at CEDIA EXPO 2004 will be offered at the Westin Hotel in Grand Ballrooms IV & V.

www.cedia.org