The Awards, which celebrate the best the residential custom installation industry has to offer, will be judged by a prestigious line-up of individuals, wide-ranging in their specialist knowledge, and will be chaired by CEDIA Chairman, Robert Hallam.

Appointed as Chairman in March 2009 after six years on the CEDIA Board, Dublin-based Robert Hallam brings his considerable expertise to the CEDIA Award judging process for the first time. “As a showcase for the work of our members, the CEDIA Awards are unrivalled and I am delighted to be taking part, alongside a highly influential group of people. Personally, I am particularly interested to see the workmanship of our ever-increasing number of international members. We have worked hard to broaden membership from throughout Region 1 and last year we received a record number of entries from no fewer than 11 countries, and we’ve set this as the target to beat in 2010!”

Judging with Robert Hallam will be Dave Mitchell from the Home Builders Federation (HBF), the editor of idFX Magazine Kate Burnett; RIBA Journal Assistant Editor Jan Carlos Kucharek; President of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), Iris Dunbar; Steve May, Editor of Home Cinema Choice Magazine and industry journalist Chris Price. “The CEDIA Awards represent an opportunity for our members to have their work assessed by a truly unique panel of experts, many of whom have supported the scheme for many years. They bring an enormous depth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the CEDIA Awards judging process and we are extremely pleased to have them all on board.”

CEDIA US Chairman, Ken Erdmann will oversee judging proceedings. As in previous years, all entries to the 2010 Awards will be kept anonymous to maintain the integrity of the scheme and to deliver honest and unbiased results. The closing date for next year’s entries will be Friday 12th February 2010, with the winners revealed at a black tie ceremony to be held on the 16th of April 2010 in London, venue to be confirmed.

The full list of ‘CEDIA Awards 2010’ categories is as follows:

• Best media room under £15,000
• Best media room over £15,000
• Best home cinema installation project under £40,000 (42,000 Euros)
• Best home cinema installation from £40,000-£100,000 (42,000-110,000 Euros)
• Best home cinema installation over £100,000 (110,000 Euros)
• Best integrated home under £100,000 (110,000 Euros)
• Best integrated home from £100,000 - £250,000 (110,000 – 270,000 Euros)
• Best integrated home over £250,000 (270,000 Euros)
• Best integrated solution for a multi-dwelling development
• Best dressed rack
• Best marine
• Best innovative solution - residential
• Best trade supplier
• Best training initiative by a trade supplier
• Industry lifetime achievement award

CEDIA members will be invited to make their nominations for the Industry Lifetime Achievement award and also to vote for the trade supplier categories via a postal and email poll. The Trade Supplier categories are open to all CEDIA members and recognise the top manufacturer or distributor in the industry for standards of service, support, product innovations and training provided to members. The CEDIA Awards are open only to CEDIA member companies.