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Rendezvous<br />
The <strong>High</strong> End in Power?<br />
Kathy Gornik has been around CEA<br />
(<strong>the</strong> Consumer Electronics Association),<br />
<strong>the</strong> huge trade organizations to<br />
which <strong>the</strong> majority of electronics<br />
manufacturers and distributors<br />
belong ) for years. By high end<br />
standards, <strong>the</strong> company she heads<br />
up — Thiel Audio — is a major<br />
player. But Thiel’s annual revenue<br />
wouldn’t pay <strong>the</strong> Christman bonus of<br />
<strong>the</strong> sort of person who typically serves<br />
as chair of <strong>the</strong> CEA board of directors.<br />
So what does her appointment mean?<br />
We caught up with her at CES (<strong>the</strong><br />
show CEA organizes) in January.<br />
UHF: Thiel has grown a lot over <strong>the</strong><br />
years, which means that as president<br />
of Thiel you’ve had a lot on your plate.<br />
How did you get involved in CEA,<br />
giving yourself even more work?<br />
Gornik: I got involved in CEA<br />
because I wanted to see if I could<br />
inf luence <strong>the</strong> lot of high end<br />
audio companies at CES. So,<br />
on <strong>the</strong> fourth morning of every<br />
CES, I would attend <strong>the</strong> meeting<br />
of what was <strong>the</strong>n known as <strong>the</strong><br />
CES Advisory Committee. There<br />
would be all <strong>the</strong>se folks from <strong>the</strong><br />
exhibits, giving feedback to CES<br />
on such things as security, food,<br />
registration, electricity…whatever.<br />
And when that portion of <strong>the</strong> meeting<br />
was over <strong>the</strong>y’d ask for new business. I<br />
always raised my hand, and talk about<br />
how things were going for <strong>the</strong> high end<br />
group. I did this so persistently for so<br />
long that <strong>the</strong>y finally asked me to serve<br />
on <strong>the</strong>ir big board, <strong>the</strong> CES board.<br />
UHF: Did you hesitate?<br />
Gornik: Yes, I was nervous about it, and<br />
I didn’t know whe<strong>the</strong>r I could do it. It<br />
turned out to be an absolutely wonderful<br />
experience, because people were so<br />
terrific.<br />
UHF: How long ago was that?<br />
Gornik: It’s more than 10 years, and<br />
it could be as long as 15 years ago. At<br />
some point <strong>the</strong>y asked whe<strong>the</strong>r I would<br />
be chairman of <strong>the</strong> audio division — we<br />
have seven product divisions within<br />
CEA. Chairing a division means getting<br />
a seat on <strong>the</strong> executive board. This<br />
is a much smaller group, which has<br />
<strong>the</strong> day-to-day responsibilities for <strong>the</strong><br />
organization. It’s quite an honor to be a<br />
member of that elite group.<br />
UHF: That’s <strong>the</strong> executive board of <strong>the</strong><br />
whole organization, not just CES.<br />
Gornik: Yes. CEA owns and operates<br />
<strong>the</strong> Consumer Electronics Show, CES.<br />
My term was two years, and when that<br />
ended <strong>the</strong>y gave me an “at-large” seat.<br />
Apparently, I hung out <strong>the</strong>re for so long<br />
that I got <strong>the</strong> opportunity to become <strong>the</strong><br />
chair. And I accepted.<br />
UHF: It’s obvious to anyone who gets a look<br />
at <strong>the</strong> show coverage that high end is a small<br />
minority within CES, and <strong>the</strong>refore within<br />
CEA as a whole. What kind of response were<br />
you getting when you were raising your hand<br />
and talking about high end audio?<br />
Gornik: In <strong>the</strong> early days it was more<br />
difficult to get attention. There was<br />
a completely different management<br />
group <strong>the</strong>re at <strong>the</strong> time. But I have<br />
to say that my experience for <strong>the</strong><br />
most part has been extremely<br />
positive. CEA’s mission is to serve<br />
<strong>the</strong> industry, and it really doesn’t<br />
matter how “minority” <strong>the</strong> group is.<br />
They’ve been extremely responsive.<br />
Relative to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> companies,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> number of companies<br />
in <strong>the</strong> high end, we get an enormous<br />
share of attention and support from<br />
CEA and CES.<br />
UHF: But you’re no doubt aware that<br />
some high end manufacturers have<br />
complained of exactly <strong>the</strong> opposite. A<br />
number of <strong>the</strong>m say that CEA does not<br />
pay enough attention to <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
Gornik: That position is based<br />
on lack of information and awareness.<br />
It’s easy to take potshots at<br />
large bureaucratic organizations.<br />
They appear to have a face that<br />
is different from what is behind<br />
<strong>the</strong> organization. I know for a<br />
fact that any small company that<br />
has interacted with this group of<br />
people found <strong>the</strong>m to be nothing<br />
short of responsive, inclusive and<br />
welcoming.<br />
UHF: Over <strong>the</strong> years <strong>the</strong>re have been<br />
a number of groups setting up alternative<br />
shows in competition with CES. The adult<br />
video section actually won a complete victory,<br />
and split off. There is an alternative high end<br />
show this year, T.H.E. Expo. How seriously<br />
does CEA take that sort of challenge?<br />
Gornik: Well, <strong>the</strong> challenge is more<br />
to <strong>the</strong> members, and to <strong>the</strong> exhibitors<br />
at CES, not CEA as such. Members<br />
of our community have a great deal of<br />
difficulty with colleagues who are not<br />
participating. This is our show. We pay<br />
a lot of money to be here. We organize<br />
ourselves, we work with CEA and CES<br />
to make <strong>the</strong> best show we can, and to<br />
draw to Las Vegas <strong>the</strong> people we need<br />
to see. It is not for to <strong>the</strong> community for<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r group to come along and siphon<br />
off <strong>the</strong> attendees we need to see. It’s great<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y want to have a show, but <strong>the</strong>y<br />
should come here ano<strong>the</strong>r week.<br />
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY <strong>Magazine</strong> 19