Media Center Integrator Alliance Sponsors Media Center University at EHX Spring 2009

In addition to co-sponsoring the 3rd annual Ultimate Install Contest, MCIA plans to debut a new training program at this year’s Media Center University.

Media Center Integrator Alliance (MCIA) announces its sponsorship of Media Center University, a two day training class on the technical and management keys to succeeding with media centers as a core product discipline of a custom electronics integration business. The program runs over the course of two days and is broken into four half-day segments. Comprised of some of the industry’s top companies, MCIA was founded to provide both integrators and manufacturers with best practices and training for technologies using Media Center.

“EHX Spring 2009 marks the debut of a brand new program developed by a team of committed professionals involved in the media center ecosystem,” said Todd Rutherford, MCIA Education Working Group Chair. “We incorporated lessons learned from hundreds of integrators who have attended Media Center University in the past with many subject matter experts using Media Center in their installs today; the result? A comprehensive, hands-on Media Center training event that will be unrivaled by any of our previous courses!”

Media Center University
Designed to teach integrators skills for successfully installing Windows Media Center as the entertainment platform in a home, Media Center University will offer four separate courses that cover everything from basic integration of a Media Center PC to networking and troubleshooting digital cable issues. In addition to training classes, MCIA will host an open house on Friday, March 13 for Q&A sessions and product demos.

The fee for attending Media Center University at EHX 2009 is $495. MCIA is offering to sponsor the first 15 integrators who join MCIA for a full year to attend Media Center University for free. To take advantage of this limited offer, interested integrators should contact MCIA at admin@mediacenterintegrator.org to complete their membership agreement and receive their MCU registration code.

The following is a list of the class times and descriptions for interested integrators.

Wednesday, March 11
8:00am – 12:00pm Optimizing Media Center PCs
In this 4-hour course, Systems Integrators will learn many key skills to setting up and optimizing a Windows Media Center PC as a great single room or whole house media server.

1:00pm – 5:00pm Setup and Troubleshooting of Digital Cable
Attendees will learn how to configure, test, and diagnose issues associated with bringing standard and premium digital cable content into Windows Media Center.

Thursday, March 12
8:00am – 12:00pm Residential Networking for Media Distribution
Learn how to configure, test, and diagnose issues associated with setup and optimization of a residential network for digital media distribution.

1:00pm – 5:00pm Designing a Media Center Ecosystem
Attendees will learn how take customer expectations and behaviors and design a system to deliver on these expectations using Media Center.

Friday, March 13
8:00am – 5:00pm Open House
This day is dedicated to open format Q&A and demos. Representatives from all MCIA Member Sponsors will be on hand to answer questions, demo products, discuss techniques, share designs, and review case studies. Feel free to come by and share your stories, challenges, and questions with a group of Media Center experts. Additionally, Microsoft will be demonstrating Windows 7 and Windows Home Server and answering questions about these products.

Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Contest
This year at EHX, Media Center Integrator Alliance will join Microsoft as a co-sponsor of the 3rd annual Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Contest. This industry design competition seeks to recognize the residential integration business that best utilizes Windows Media Center in a custom home installation project. Through sponsorship, MCIA member companies will promote the contest to their installer base and contribute in some cases to the winning prize package.

To learn more about the Ultimate Install Contest, visit www.microsoft.com/ultimateinstall.

For more information on how to sign-up for Media Center University, visit http://www.ehxweb.com/training/media.html

For more information on how to become a member of the Media Center Integrator Alliance, visit http://www.mediacenterintegrator.org

About Media Center Integrator Alliance
MCIA is an open and independent non-profit consortium formed to advance and administer the support, promotion, and enrichment of the media center ecosystem. Charter members of MCIA include AMD, Crestron, HP, Intel, Life|ware, Microsoft Corp., and Niveus Media.