Press Release (UNEDITED): NORTH ANDOVER, MA — The Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) announced the winners from the first phase of the 2020 Mobile Electronics Industry Awards.
The announcement comes after industry nominees submitted videos describing their business or professions.
Judges appointed by the association reviewed the videos and selected the winners, comprising the Top 50 Installers, Top 50 Retailers and Top 20 Sales Professionals. The complete list of winners is posted at the official Industry Awards website, meindustryawards.com.
“I’d like to thank our judges for their diligence, objectivity and hard work during the first phase of our
industry’s most important tradition,” said Solomon Daniels, program administrator. “In an industry where
it seems everyone knows or knows of everyone else, it’s especially difficult to put all that aside and make
judgements based on the merits of each submission.”
The judges for the first phase were Tim Baillie, current Installer of the Year; Richard Basler, director of
membership at MEA; Chris Pate, owner of Mobile Toys Inc. in College Station, Texas and former Installer
of the Year; Matt Schaeffer, former Installer of the Year and lead fabricator at Sound FX and Musaic in
Lewes, Del.; and George Smith, owner of Mobileworks in Santa Maria, Calif.
Judges follow a score sheet that matches the requirements of the video, and mark scores based on
completeness and depth of knowledge for each answer. They can also award additional points for
exceptional insight, creativity, or uniqueness in a submission.
Winners at this stage also qualify as semi-finalists the top honors of Retailer of the Year, Installer of the
Year and Sales Pro of the year. Top 50 Installers award recipients can also opt to run for 2020 Trusted
Tech, an award given to professional installers who excel more from an electronics standpoint than a
design standpoint.
The next phase of the competition features voting by industry professionals and consumers to narrow the
semifinalists list down to finalists. These categories are joined by other categories of which industry
professionals vote to select top suppliers, reps and rep firms, distributors, and expeditors, as well as retail
locations that excel in specific business practices. Voting will begin Thursday, August 27 and run for three
weeks.
“Even though the ultimate competition is ongoing, we want to take this opportunity to congratulate our
Top 50 and Top 20 winners,” said Chris Cook, president of MEA. “These are major accomplishments in
themselves and represent the hard work and growth of stores and individuals over the past year. It’s great
to see that, despite the unprecedented events of the past few months, our industry members continue
to strive to be the best and set examples for their peers.”
Voting will take place at meindustryawards.com. Visit the website for additional information on the
mobile Electronics industry Awards.
