Utz Baldwin
President
Utz Baldwin is the president of AD systems in Houston TX. Utz’s primary focus is on industry development, raising awareness of CEDIA, and elevating the standards of installation practices in the industry. His career spans 19 years in the consumer electronics industry with the majority of time spent in the custom installation field. “My career in this industry began in 1984 like many CEDIA members in the retail sector of the consumer electronics industry working for the Federated Group in Los Angeles. As my interest in consumer technologies grew I migrated to high-end audio/video sales and installation at Jonas Miller Sound in Santa Monica. I was fortunate to have learned from two icons in our industry; Jonas Miller and Ken Kreisel of M&K Sound.” After managing the custom installation division for several years Utz founded Acoustic Design Inc.
Migrating from a one-man sales, installation, management, financial shoe to a departmentalized corporate organization is paying off. “I have found the intricacies of business itself, to be just as exciting as the systems we install. We have had many successes over the years, but most of them can be attributed to failing first. The important thing is that decisions are made and executed. The reward is spending more time on the things you are passionate about.” He has presented to NAHB, ASID, AIBD, EHX and CEDIA EXPO. Utz has served as CEDIA Management Conference Chair and currently serves as vice president of CEDIA's Executive Committee and is CEDIA’s Industry Outreach Chair.
Ken Erdmann
Vice President
Ken Erdmann is a co-founder and president of The Erdmann Group Inc., an electrical contracting and custom installation company. He has been a Utah State licensed electrician since 1978. Active in the custom design and installation segment of his company he regularly performs installations exceeding $500,000. As an electrical contractor, Ken has done industrial and commercial design build projects including the design of automation and process control systems for chemical refineries, and above ground mining facilities.
In 1999, Ken took a leave from The Erdmann Group Inc. to serve as director of activation and director of product development for SwitchPoint Networks. During his time at SwitchPoint he was responsible for the design and implementation of the network construction methods, topology, and powering of city-wide fast Ethernet broadband networks. He was also responsible for the IP television and video on demand trials conducted by SwitchPoint. He has currently retuned to The Erdmann Group Inc. to resume his role as president.
As an adjunct faculty member since 1992 at Utah Valley State College Ken serves as an instructor in Electrical Automation and Robotic Technologies. Ken is a member of the Society of Cable and Telecommunication Engineers and of BICSI, a telecommunications association.
As a member of CEDIA for over 10 years, Ken currently serves as secretary on CEDIA's Executive Committee and serves as the Education Council Chair. He has participated on the original Bylaws Committee and the Home Theater Council. He served as a subject matter expert for the Designer Certification Exam and is active as a CEDIA Instructor for many CEDIA Education events across North America.
Ken Smith
Past President
Ken Smith is the founder, co-owner, and president of Custom Electronics, Inc. based in Falmouth, ME. He was also CEDIA/HA Pro Dealer of the Year. Ken’s background consists of a B.S. in Business Management and 11 years with Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) as a management development consultant. DEC was a Fortune 500 corporation, and Ken designed and delivered management development programs, which were used successfully on a worldwide basis.
Ken has been involved with CEDIA for years; he has served as the Dean of the Business Track, Dean of the Vision and Excellence Track (which he created), Chair of EXPO Education (2 years), CEDIA Education Council Chair (2 years), and the Membership Council Chair. Currently, Ken serves as president on CEDIA's Executive Committee.
If you would like to speak with any member of our Executive Committee, please contact Claire Chappell at 317-644-8101, or send an email request to Claire.Chappell@publicis-usa.com.
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