About Us

Welcome to IDEA, the premier professional association for people in the big screen/game entertainment industry.  Founded in 1982, IDEA members represent teams, public facilities, manufacturers and suppliers worldwide. IDEA encompasses all branches of the sports, entertainment and convention industries, including baseball, basketball, football, hockey, racing, soccer, arenas, convention centers, stadiums and universities.

Purpose: The purpose of IDEA is to foster and cultivate the professional, educational, creative and technical standards of its members. Through its newsletters, website, special research projects, awards program, standing committees and annual conference, IDEA provides a forum for its members to discuss and exchange information on all aspects of the game operations industry.

Membership: IDEA’s Active members are involved in all aspects of event entertainment.  They represent teams and facilities at the professional and collegiate level.  IDEA’s Allied members are those companies which provide goods and services to the game operations industry.

Annual Conference: The Annual IDEA Conference deals with subjects of interest to game ops personnel. Guest speakers are invited to address the conference on their areas of expertise.  Breakout sessions are held for individual interest groups in order to respond to their special needs.  The Allied Member Showcase allows all members to share in the latest developments in the field. Extensive networking events and excursions are included.

Golden Matrix Awards: A major event at the Annual IDEA Conference is the presentation of the Golden Matrix Awards, which recognize excellence and creativity in several categories of electronic display production. In order to be eligible, entries must have been produced for display on a system to a live audience during an event. The Golden Matrix Awards gives members the chance to show off their best work to their colleagues and voting for all categories is done by the members, themselves. Since its inception the awards ceremony and winners have received considerable press coverage. The Golden Matrix Awards were created by Mitsubishi Diamond Vision and SONY JumboTRON.