Daktronics and Riedel Communications were among two companies making strategic hires. PlexusAV and Powerhouse Alliances announced new partnerships. Get caught up on news from last week in the latest Pro AV Newsmakers.

[Pro AV Madness: March into the Tournament with 2025-26 College Basketball Installations]

People News

Daktronics Hires Danson Kincaid to Serve North Texas Sign Companies

Daktronics hired Danson Kincaid as the new sales representative for sign companies throughout North Texas. Kincaid serves as a primary point of contact for sign partners in the region, providing information on Daktronics LED display solutions, product resources and support for upcoming projects. His role includes assisting sign companies with project coordination and customer support.

Kincaid brings industry experience from his time as a Daktronics intern, where he worked with sign companies and supported project coordination and communication efforts. This experience provided him with insight into the processes involved in delivering digital display projects. He earned a degree in Sports Management and competed in roller hockey at the collegiate level, experiences that contributed to his team-oriented approach and communication skills.

KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America Welcomes Mondae Hott

KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America has appointed Mondae Hott as regional sales manager for the Northeast. Mondae leads sales and business development across the Northeast down through North Carolina, working closely with dealers, systems integrators, broadcasters, and production teams to help customers get the most from KOKUSAI DENKI’s broadcast camera and imaging solutions. A key part of her duties includes supporting partners and end users directly, which is an approach that’s central to the company’s strategy.

Mondae brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the position. She spent over two decades with Ensemble Designs, where she played a central role in managing international sales initiatives. During that time, she built strong relationships across global markets and earned a reputation for being responsive, technically knowledgeable and committed to helping customers. When Ensemble Designs was acquired in 2024, it closed a long chapter in her career and paved the way for her role with KOKUSAI DENKI.

Ampetronic | Listen Technologies Announce Promotion and New Hire

Listen Technologies and Ampetronichave promoted Kasey Kaumans to national account manager and named Robert C. Luckey consultant liaison.

Kaumans and Luckey work closely with national partners across the professional AV channel and within the consultant community, respectively, to meet their customers’ need for assistive listening and communication solutions that promote audio accessibility in commercial venues and public settings.

As national account manager at Ampetronic | Listen Technologies, Kaumans, who joined Listen Technologies in 2006, collaborates closely with national partners across the professional AV channel, including integrators and national resellers, to expand adoption of Ampetronic and Listen Technologies solutions and support the company’s growth in the Americas. He also works closely with regional sales managers, manufacturer representatives, marketing, and product teams to ensure consistent execution and strong partner engagement.

In his role as consultant liaison at Ampetronic | Listen Technologies, Luckey works directly with the AV consultant community to amplify their input in service of new products and provide seamless day-to-day support. Luckey has been deeply embedded in the commercial AV channel throughout his career. He has collaborated with consultants, integrators, distributors, and architects on everything from audio DSP and sound masking to conferencing, AVoIP, and acoustical instrumentation. He understands how projects come together, where they can get complicated, and how to be useful at each stage.

Prior to joining Listen Technologies, Luckey was a manufacturers’ representative and represented Listen Technologies in New England. He is very knowledgeable about Listen Technologies’ and Ampetronic’s combined suite of products, including Auri, the world’s first Auracast broadcast audio-based solution for assistive listening.

Riedel Expands Managed Technology Division in the Americas

Riedel Communications appointed Jan Schaffner as VP, managed technology Americas. Schaffner joined Riedel in 2018 and has played a key role in developing the company’s managed technology activities in the Americas. Having most recently served as program manager responsible for the division’s regional expansion, he has contributed to multiple innovation initiatives across global sports leagues and live event environments. In his new role, Schaffner leads the continued growth of the Managed Technology Division in the Americas, focusing on sustainable expansion, local market alignment, and operational excellence.

Collaboration with existing rental partners and system integrators remains a key element of Riedel’s regional strategy. Rather than competing with traditional rental providers, the Managed Technology Division focuses on highly specialized service solutions and complex workflows that extend beyond classic rental models. By combining Riedel products with proprietary technology, operational expertise, and dedicated service teams, Riedel complements the capabilities of local partners, working alongside them to deliver large-scale, technically demanding productions.

SoundTube Adds Jimmy Martin as Design Sales Engineer

SoundTube Entertainment has appointed Jimmy Martin as design sales engineer. Based in Austin, TX, Martin will support integrators, consultants, and distribution partners with system design, pre-sales engineering, and technical sales support across SoundTube’s expanding portfolio. His career includes technical support at Screen Innovations, custom microphone and analog console manufacturing with Wunder Audio, and inside sales and design roles at Biamp and HARMAN. In those positions, he supported programming, audio-video design, and pre-sales engineering for complex commercial AV projects.

Martin joins SoundTube with substantial hands-on experience in professional audio, live sound, AV systems design, and technical support. His background spans retail pro audio sales, live sound engineering, AV installation, manufacturing, and inside sales for major industry brands.

USSI Global Adds Ralph Annunziata as SVP of Operations

Ralph Annunziata has joined USSI Global as SVP of operations. In his new role, Annunziata is focused on driving enterprise-wide process improvements, operational efficiency, and scalable execution to support the company’s continued growth.

A seasoned business transformation leader, Annunziata has more than 30 years of experience in the IT and services industries. Most recently, he served as senior director of operations at Stratasys, but has also held leadership positions at RCA Communications Systems and Eastman Kodak. At USSI Global, he will oversee operations for on-site repairs, depot repair, and logistics.

Partnerships, Trainings, and More: Company News

Almo Pro AV's E4 Experience Stops Next In DC on March 17

After a successful kickoff in Anaheim last month, Almo Pro AV is bringing its 2026 spring E4 Experience to the DC Metro area on March 17. The event will spotlight the public sector and emerging technology markets, bringing together integrators, end users, and technology partners for a day of education, command-and-control demonstrations, and invaluable networking.

“This stop marks the seventh time the E4 Experience has visited the DC Metro area,” said Greg O'Rourke, director of trade shows and events for Almo Pro AV. “For professionals whose work touches public safety, operations, or complex monitoring environments, this E4 Experience should absolutely be on their radar.” He added, “Attendees will have access to more than 55 exhibitors, along with our public sector sales and business development teams that are ready to help explore new opportunities in government and mission-critical environments.”

Almo Pro AV supports integrators working in the public sector with a broad portfolio that includes displays, drones, audio systems, XR/VR technologies, and software solutions while also offering NDAA- and TAA-compliant products designed to meet federal procurement requirements. The DC Metro E4 Experience will also feature a keynote presentation from Tim Albright, founder of AVNation. His session, tailored for the public sector market, will examine how evolving security frameworks, regulatory requirements, and infrastructure expectations are reshaping the AV industry and the role of integrators.

PlexusAV Partners with Bassett Sales Corporation 

PlexusAV announced a new partnership with independent manufacturer representative firm Bassett Sales Corporation. The agreement strengthens PlexusAV’s growth strategy across Southwest territories of the United States, including Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii.

Bassett Sales Corporation has a long-standing reputation within the physical safety and security markets, representing Pro AV brands. Its recent expansion into professional AV brings strong synergies as AV and IT infrastructures continue to converge.

Together, the companies will work closely with regional distributors and integrators to provide enhanced access to PlexusAV’s high performance AV over IP solutions. The partnership will offer all the tools and technical training needed to educate and deploy seamless, high-performance networking built on IPMX interoperability.

PowerHouse Alliance Adds Three Strategic Vendor Partner

PowerHouse Alliance has added three new vendor partners: Cleerline, LOEWE, and Optoma. The additions further expand PowerHouse’s offerings across fiber optic cabling and connectivity systems, premium home entertainment, projection and display, and residential security categories.

Cleerline enhances the Alliance’s infrastructure category with its fiber optic connectivity solutions, delivering unsurpassed performance and longevity. Optoma adds depth across both residential and commercial display segments. Its portfolio includes 4K UHD home theater projectors, high-brightness commercial projection systems, interactive flat panels, and large-format displays, providing dealers with versatile solutions for home cinema, corporate, hospitality, and education environments.

For residential customers, LOEWE brings design-forward OLED televisions and integrated audio systems to the PowerHouse portfolio.

SFM Appointed Authorized Reseller of Technologie Optic.ca Products

SFM has been appointed as an authorized reseller of Technologie Optic.ca products, a Canadian manufacturer of transceivers and optical networking components. As an existing authorized distributor of NETGEAR networking products, SFM is now adding Technologie Optic.ca’s NETGEAR-compatible transceivers to its portfolio, completing the picture for channel partners who can now source both the networking equipment and the optical connectivity components they need from a single trusted partner.

Technologie Optic.ca is a Canadian specialist in advanced optical connectivity solutions, offering an extensive selection of transceivers, optical and direct attach cables, multiplexing and optical amplifier system compatible with the world’s leading networking equipment brands. Its NETGEAR-compatible transceiver lineup covers a wide range of applications, from enterprise LAN deployments to data center interconnects, ensuring that SFM’s integrators, resellers, and network professionals have access to the right module for every use case.

Introducing WyreStorm Academy, a Dedicated Training Platform for AV Professionals Worldwide

WyreStorm has launched WyreStorm Academy, a brand-new online training platform designed to support AV professionals with structured learning, certification pathways, and practical knowledge for system design, deployment, and sales.

The platform launches with foundational courses covering AV over IP design and technical configuration, with built-in assessments and certification requirements to ensure meaningful learning outcomes. The custom-built platform will continue expanding with additional courses to support integrators, designers, and AV professionals worldwide.

If promotions, new hires, and partnerships are any indication of a healthy industry (spoiler: they are), Pro AV is thriving. With ISE 2026 in action to kick off February, you may have missed the flurry of moves that happened across our industry the past couple weeks.

[SCN Stellar Service Awards 2026 Nominations Now Open]

Don't worry. That's exactly what we are here for. Get caught up with the latest people movers and partnerships in Pro AV.

People on the Move

Advanced Systems Group Appoints Industry Veteran Derek Pezzotti to Lead Sports and Venue Market Growth

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has appointed Derek Pezzotti as senior account executive. Pezzotti joins ASG’s Production and Innovation team to help expand the company’s presence in the sports and venue segment. In this role, Pezzotti works closely with ASG’s consulting, design, engineering, and integration teams.

Pezzotti arrives at ASG after an almost 20-year career spanning sports team and event operations, broadcast news, broadcast equipment manufacturer, and, most recently, a consulting firm specializing in broadcast technology for stadiums. This varied background has given him a 360-degree perspective of how venues are planned, procured, built, and run in real-world conditions. That background translates into faster project development and solutions that meet both technical and business goals.

Ampetronic | Listen Technologies Promotes Mikey Shaffer to Vice President of North American Sales

Listen Technologies and Ampetronic have promoted Mikey Shaffer to VP of North American sales. In this role, Shaffer is responsible for accelerating revenue growth, expanding market presence, and optimizing channel performance across North America. She leads the North American sales teams and channel partners in selling Listen Technologies and Ampetronic assistive listening systems.

Shaffer joined Listen Technologies in 2016 and has held marketing, vertical markets, and regional sales roles at the organization. Prior to her promotion, Shaffer served as senior director of sales in North America. Under her leadership, the team delivered a period of exceptional growth and operational maturity.

D-Tools Names G Paul Hess as CEO

D-Tools has appointed G Paul Hess to chief executive officer as part of a long-planned leadership succession. After more than a decade as CEO marked by strong, consistent growth, Randy Stearns has chosen to “downshift” from the role while remaining actively involved.

Hess brings decades of experience in the electronic systems industry, beginning his career as an integrator and later holding senior and executive leadership roles across product, sales, and marketing at organizations including Snap One and ADI. Having worked closely with integrators, manufacturers, and channel partners throughout his career, Hess has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the electronic systems community and how D-Tools’ platform can unlock greater efficiencies, profitability, and growth.

Visionary Appoints Ryan Nowak as VP of IPTV and Signage Solutions

Visionary appointed Ryan Nowak as VP of IPTV and signage solutions. In this role, Nowak leads system architecture, deployment strategy, and technical alignment for Visionary’s IPTV platform to support customers and partners worldwide.

Nowak brings more than 20 years of experience spanning IPTV systems engineering, global solution deployments and product strategy leadership. He works closely with Visionary’s product management, engineering and support teams to ensure scalable and reliable IPTV and signage deployments across enterprise, education, healthcare, sports and broadcast environments.

Prior to joining Visionary, Nowak held multiple senior leadership roles at VITEC, where he most recently served as strategic growth unit product director for Engage and Connect solutions. Earlier roles included head of product management for platforms and director of deployments, where he led global IPTV and signage deployments across diverse network environments. Earlier in his career, Nowak spent more than a decade with the Green Bay Packers as a technology systems engineer, supporting and maintaining technology systems across Lambeau Field and other managed facilities, including live-event operations and fan-facing technology environments.

Vizrt Welcomes Expanded Enterprise Team

Vizrt expanded its team to ignite a new era of professional-grade production, communication, and connection for enterprises. Under the leadership of Vizrt’s CRO, Ryan Poggi, the expanded enterprise team brings decades of expertise in enterprise technology to deliver broadcast-level engagement, once only available to Sports, Media and Entertainment corporations, to organizations of all sizes.

As the new VP of Enterprise, Andy Baillie brings a wealth of experience across content automation, AI and analytics, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) technologies. Baillie has held growth leadership positions at IBM, DocuSign, and Seismic. With a history of pioneering disruptive technologies that scale, he is uniquely positioned to deliver transformative outcomes for Vizrt customers.

Coming from leadership positions at Microsoft, SoftwareOne, and Pax8, Nikki Meyer leads the global Channel Sales team. She manages a high-performing team to deliver solutions via Vizrt’s international community of trusted partners, expanding the reach of communities that can create content that captivates viewers.

Company News

AES Opens Submissions for 6th International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games

The Audio Engineering Society (AES) has announced details for its 6th International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games (AVARIG2026), taking place in Europe and including immersive game audio for the first time, June 30 – July 3, 2026, at Sorbonne University/d'Alembert and IRCAM/STMS in Paris, France.

Submissions for peer-reviewed papers, extended summaries, workshops and tutorials are now being accepted through March 24, 2026. Accepted contributions will be included in the AES E-Library and considered for a special Journal of the Audio Engineering Society issue following the conference. Sponsorship opportunities are currently available, with conference registration opening soon. For details on submissions, programming, and how to participate, visit AES.org.

​Audacy and Sonos Forge Exclusive Partnership

Audacy and Sonos have announced a strategic partnership that includes Audacy serving as the exclusive U.S. sales and distribution representative for Sonos Radio’s streaming inventory. Through the partnership, Audacy will leverage its sales capabilities, technology and audio expertise to expand Sonos Radio’s advertising business and strengthen monetization across the platform. The partnership reflects Audacy and Sonos’s shared vision of maximizing the power of audio wherever and however people are listening, for both audiences and marketers.

Sonos Radio’s more than 100 stations will also be distributed on the Audacy platform, expanding access to Sonos Radio’s curated music, artist channels, and mood-driven listening experiences. Listeners will be able to discover Sonos Radio stations across the Audacy app and web, with Sonos Radio featured alongside Audacy’s popular owned-and-operated brands. In addition to distribution on the Audacy app and website, Audacy will also distribute Sonos Radio stations across various platforms, including Google Home, Alexa, and Apple Music. Audacy’s complete portfolio of broadcast stations has been available on Sonos devices since 2020.

AVI-SPL Achieves SOC 2 Type II Attestation

Among a bevy of announcements at ISE 2026, AVI-SPL announced that it has achieved SOC 2 Type II attestation. This attestation applies to the entire AVI-SPL organization and includes a separate SOC 2 Type II report for Symphony, AVI-SPL’s experience management platform. By earning SOC 2 Type II attestation directly, rather than relying on third-party platforms, AVI-SPL reinforces its commitment to security and its role as a trusted, enterprise-grade partner for organizations worldwide.

SOC 2 Type II attestation confirms not only that AVI-SPL has established strong security and confidentiality controls, but that those controls operate effectively over time. For customers, this provides assurance that their data and environments are protected throughout the full lifecycle of engagement, from design and deployment through ongoing managed services and support.

Brompton Technology Welcomes New Partner to Panel Manufacturer Partner Program

Brompton welcomed Fabulux LED as the first Silver Partner in its Panel Manufacturer Partner program. Brompton is introducing the Silver Partner tier to its Panel Manufacturer Partner program, alongside the existing Diamond and Gold Partner levels. While Brompton works with a huge range of LED panel manufacturers, the Partner Program recognises the particularly strong relationships the company has developed with panel manufacturers including ROE Visual (Diamond Partner), Absen, AOTO, and INFiLED (Gold Partners).

Grass Valley and NETGEAR Partner on Enterprise Broadcast AV Workflows

Grass Valley and NETGEAR announced a strategic partnership to serve the rapidly growing Broadcast AV segment. The collaboration combines NETGEAR AV’s live media optimized switching and secure IP networking with Grass Valley’s software-defined production tools and hardware platforms to make it simpler for enterprises to produce, manage, and distribute high-quality content.

Enterprise organizations, including corporations, universities, houses of worship, esports, and venues, increasingly require broadcast-quality production capabilities but have historically faced prohibitive costs and complexity. This partnership directly addresses that gap. Both companies share a common vision of interoperability, built on major standards including NDI, SMPTE ST 2110, Dante, and SRT, alongside a customer-first approach that simplifies user experiences and delivers powerful tools.

Ross Video, BeckTV Expand Ravens’ LED Display System for Stadium-Wide Control

BeckTV and Ross Video have partnered to deliver a major upgrade at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens. Building on a collaboration that began in 2017 and continued with a comprehensive content management system (CMS) overhaul in 2023, BeckTV led the design and integration of a fully unified LED display system that is now fully installed and operational for the current NFL season.

The upgrade introduces new LED boards in Premium Club and concourse areas, extending the Ravens’ CMS beyond the bowl displays. At the heart of the solution is the Ross XPression Tessera M9 engine, enabling real-time graphics rendering and data integration for LED displays and IPTV. The system also incorporates the Ross Ultrix FR5 routing platform, custom Rocket Surgery graphics design, and DashBoard control interfaces for seamless venue-wide management.

To support large-scale visual experiences, the system leverages Carbonite Mosaic for compositing live video and graphics and Ultrix Carbonite switchers for routing and processing. These technologies, combined under BeckTV’s design, ensure pixel-accurate rendering across massive LED surfaces, including end-zone boards approaching 13,000 pixels wide. The expanded CMS now drives content to 52 unique displays throughout the stadium, including concourse TVs, club screens, vomitory displays, and upper and lower ribbons. Full redundancy is built into the system to guarantee reliability during high-profile events.

Pleneo, Sennheiser Announce Intelligent Room Kits

Pleneo and Sennheiser unveiled the availability of two intelligent meeting room kits designed to remove installation complexity, reduce deployment cost, and enable consistent, AI-ready collaboration experiences in medium and large meeting spaces at scale.

The Pleneo Medium Room Kit and Pleneo Large Room Kit are designed to change that. Engineered for medium and large rooms, the kits extend AI-enabled collaboration into larger environments that are typically difficult to standardize and scale. By integrating Sennheiser ceiling microphones as part of a fully orchestrated Pleneo system, the kits deliver high-performance audio pickup that supports intelligent meeting experiences in the spaces where collaboration matters most.

Each kit is built around Pleneo RoomHub, which connects all room endpoints into Pleneo Room OS, the system layer that powers the room as a single, unified environment. Room OS enables zero-touch deployment and automated setup, allowing complete rooms to be brought online without specialist configuration or individual tuning of audio or video settings. Rooms deploy over standard IT infrastructure, using enterprise-grade security and governance frameworks by design.

Visix Named Premier Partner in BrightSign Bright Alliance Program

Visix has been recognized as a Premier partner in the BrightSign Bright Alliance program. This designation acknowledges Visix's commitment to leveraging BrightSign's media players and operating system, BrightSignOS, to power enterprise-level visual communications.

As a Premier partner, Visix will collaborate more closely with BrightSign to strengthen integrations, streamline support, and deliver greater value to customers. This ensures faster alignment on technology updates, deeper knowledge sharing, and coordinated assistance for complex deployments. Visix's priority access to BrightSign firmware and engineering resources accelerates development, supports advanced technical troubleshooting, and fosters continuous innovation informed by client feedback. All of this supports seamless performance and exceptional service, ultimately enabling more powerful, engaging digital signage experiences.

Welcome to February. January went out with a flurry of Pro AV news and the new month is coming at us with several big stories. In the words of LeBron James, this past Monday, there was not one, not two, but three Pro AV companies announcing acquisitions.

Audiotonix Acquires Three Audio Brands

The first sees Audiotonix acquiring DPA Microphones, Wisycom, and Austrian Audio. All three brands now join the growing Audiotonix brand portfolio of leading audio technology and solutions companies that includes Allen & Heath, Calrec, DiGiCo, DiGiGrid, Fourier Audio, Group One Limited, Harrison, JH Audio, KLANG:technologies, Slate Digital, Solid State Logic, sonible, and Sound Devices.

“With the development work we have been investing in with Sound Devices, it makes technological sense to add Wisycom to the team," explained James Gordon, CEO of Audiotonix. "The next logical step is to move closer to the performer with microphones, and DPA as a premium brand is the ultimate choice. Austrian Audio, with their decades of microphone and headset design experience, have immense potential and will help complement our existing and future portfolio. We always aim to work with brands that add value for our customers, and the future potential of this trio as part of Audiotonix is not hard to imagine."

Ricoh's Second Acquisition This Year

In its second acquisition in less than a month, SCN Top 50 systems integrator Ricoh was at it again. The company acquired ET Group, a Canadian workplace technology and collaboration integrator. This strategic acquisition by Ricoh Canada accelerates Ricoh’s expansion into high‑growth digital services, strengthens its position as a leading provider of end‑to‑end workplace experience solutions in Canada, and reinforces its global strategy to support an evolving workplace environment. If you missed it, get caught up with our coverage here.

VTG Rounds Out Busy Monday

Virtual Technologies Group also announced an acquisition, acquiring Whitlock Infrastructure Solutions, a software solutions and IT services firm specializing in IT operations management for enterprise organizations. The acquisition of Whitlock strengthens VTG’s commercial enterprise service capabilities and federal government services expertise. Check out our full story here.

People News

Ampetronic | Listen Technologies Names Mark Coombes VP of International Sales

Listen Technologies and Ampetronic have named Mark Coombes VP of international sales. Coombes is leading the brands’ international sales and business development efforts across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

As a member of the Ampetronic | Listen Technologies executive management team, Coombes helps shape and execute the brands’ global expansion strategy. He also mentors and develops Ampetronic’s and Listen Technologies’ combined team of regional sales leaders. Coombes is an experienced sales leader in the Pro AV industry. He has a record of success achieving significant revenue growth and building high-performing teams and channel partnerships across several brands. During his career, he has lived in the Middle East, France, and the U.K. He brings unique cultural insight and an extensive network to his new role.

DMF Lighting Strengthens Marketing Leadership

DMF Lighting announced key marketing leadership updates designed to support continued portfolio expansion, channel engagement, and long-term growth across both indoor and outdoor lighting solutions.

As part of this strategic evolution, Stephen Roome has transitioned into the role of senior marketing manager, HK Luxury, DMF Lighting’s sister company focused on architectural outdoor and landscape lighting marketing manager, integrator channel, assuming responsibility for marketing strategy and execution supporting the company’s custom integration partners.

Roome has been with DMF Lighting since 2021, most recently serving as CI channel marketing manager. In that role, he played a central part in shaping DMF’s integrator-focused marketing efforts, including the launch of products, the expansion of DMF Luxury initiatives, oversight of DMF’s B2B strategy, and the development of content-driven programs designed to support integrators in the field.

In his new position, Roome is applying his expertise in B2B channel marketing and digital strategy to help accelerate HK Lighting’s growth in the exterior lighting market.

Lynn is focusing on programs, campaigns, and tools that align DMF’s product innovation with how integrators specify, sell, and deploy lighting solutions. Her responsibilities include driving data-informed marketing initiatives that support dealer engagement, demand generation, and long-term channel success.

Hewschott Transitions Daniel Lee to Group CEW 

Hewshott, a global AV, IT, theater, and acoustics consultancy firm, has completed a global transition with current UK managing director, Daniel Lee, acquiring Hewshott and becoming the new Group CEO. Under his ownership, Hewshott will continue its 24-year legacy of independence, ethical conduct, and exceptional client experience. Founder and outgoing Group CEO Peter Hunt will continue as MD of Hewshott Australia, while maintaining his industry association roles.

The leadership transition has been strategically planned to foster stability, continuity, and create new opportunities. Building on the foundations instilled by Hunt from day one, Lee plans to evolve and amplify the company’s global capability to be unified, visible, and influential, all while staying true to the same core principles that define the Hewshott way.

L-Acoustics Appoints Olivier Maynard as Executive Director of Strategic Market Development

L-Acoustics has appointed Olivier Maynard as executive director of strategic market development and significantly expanded the recently established division’s capabilities to accelerate growth across key vertical markets worldwide. The new Strategic Market Development division regroups three core disciplines—Business Development, Creative Engagement, and Market Intelligence—working in close coordination with regional sales teams to drive demand and strengthen L-Acoustics’ position in both established and emerging markets. Maynard is also spearheading commercial innovation, developing new business models from concept to implementation throughout the organization. Joining the company’s Executive Committee, he works alongside the leadership team to integrate market development and new business models into the company’s long-term vision to connect humans through the best shared sound experiences.

Maynard brings extensive experience in strategic market development and business model innovation. He spent over a decade at Boston Consulting Group leading projects in go-to-market strategy, sales, and digital transformation for industrial companies before joining Groupe Beneteau, a global leader in recreational boating, as Director of Digital, New Business Models, and Transformation. In that role, he led the company’s digital strategy and served as Deputy CEO of Services, developing innovative financing and service models. At L-Acoustics, he applies this expertise to professionalize the division’s approach to vertical markets while exploring new business model opportunities that keep L-Acoustics at the forefront of industry innovation.

tvONE Appoints Amit Singh as Regional Sales Manager for India and the Middle East

tvONE expanded Amit Singh’s role to regional sales manager for India and the Middle East. With more than a decade of experience in the audiovisual industry, Singh brings extensive expertise in AV project design, brand development, and distribution management to the role. In his expanded role, he is responsible for leading sales strategies, strengthening partner relationships, and promoting tvONE’s brands and solutions throughout India and the Middle East.

A seasoned techno-commercial professional with a proven track record in the AV industry, over the past 10 years, Singh has successfully managed and developed business relationships, designed comprehensive AV solutions, and driven brand growth and market awareness. His background includes working with original equipment manufacturers Audio-Technica and Wyrestorm, where he gained deep insight into OEM strategy and channel development.

Partnerships and Company News

Introducing Diversified Digital

Diversified formally introduced Diversified Digital as ISE 2026 opened its doors—a dedicated Digital Experience practice built to design, deploy, and support enterprise-scale digital environments with holistic lifecycle management.

Diversified Digital brings together Diversified’s digital signage, immersive, and experiential AV capabilities, expanding its ability to help enterprise clients deliver experiences that are both engaging and operationally sound as digital experience networks become increasingly business-critical. While Diversified has delivered complex digital and immersive environments for decades, the launch of Diversified Digital represents a deliberate step forward formalizing a dedicated practice designed specifically for large-scale rollouts, governance, and lifecycle operations, regardless of whether the experience lives in a single flagship space or across hundreds or thousands of locations.

In a digital experience context, scale is not defined solely by the number of endpoints. For many organizations, scale also means the complexity, visibility, and performance expectations of a single environment—such as a stadium, museum, customer experience center, or public venue—where immersive and experiential AV must perform flawlessly under real-world pressure.

Diversified Digital is built to support both ends of that spectrum in high-impact, single-location immersive environments where reliability, content orchestration, and operational readiness matter as much as design, and large-scale enterprise rollouts where consistency, governance, and lifecycle management are critical across regions and business units.

Diversified Digital is technology-agnostic by design and built to support complex enterprise environments with predictable outcomes. Rather than focusing on isolated platforms or limited delivery models, the practice is structured to help clients manage digital experience as part of a broader, integrated enterprise ecosystem.

DTEN Names SFM Canadian Distributor

DTEN has appointed SFM as its Canadian distributor. This strategic partnership grants SFM distribution rights for DTEN's complete portfolio of collaborative communication solutions throughout Canada, opening significant new revenue opportunities for its Canadian channel partners.

The collaboration brings together SFM's extensive distribution network and industry expertise with DTEN's collaboration technology platform, providing Canadian audiovisual professionals, system integrators, and IT resellers with immediate access to one of the fastest-growing segments in enterprise technology. As organizations consolidate their hybrid work strategies, DTEN's purpose-built solutions address the demand for seamless, reliable collaboration tools.

HDBaseT Alliance To Mark 15 Years of Revolution

The HDBaseT Alliance is celebrating 15 years of HDBaseT technology and its enduring impact, which has continuously evolved to reshape how the industry designs, deploys, and experiences Professional AV. Attendees to ISE 2026 were invited to join the festivities in “An HDBaseT World.”

Since its founding by LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Valens Semiconductor, HDBaseT has delivered uncompressed, long-distance, plug-and-play connectivity over a single Category cable. HDBaseT boasts a world-wide ecosystem of manufacturers, certified installers and integrators operating across a variety of verticals including video conferencing, education, immersive experiences, home entertainment, live events, and digital signage.

At this year’s show, live demonstrations from Valens Semiconductor, the inventor of HDBaseT technology and co-founder of the HDBaseT Alliance, will showcase next-generation multi-media signal distribution solutions streamlining complex system architectures.

Neutrik Americas Appoints Sigma Component Design New Distributor

Neutrik Group Americas is growing its presence in Canada with the appointment of Sigma Component Design as its new manufacturer’s rep for the region. As an independent manufacturer’s representative serving the Canadian electronics industry, Sigma will represent the complete product portfolio of Neutrik Group brands and will provide sales support and customer service throughout the region.

Sigma Component Design is known for power, thermal, passive, and electromechanical components. From design to fulfilment, Sigma works with customers to provide complete design support from its world-class suppliers. Founded in 2002, Sigma has completed thousands of application designs and has a team of technical sales reps dedicated to serving the needs of the Canadian market.

NDI Expands Its Partnership with OBSBOT

NDI announced an expanded partnership with OBSBOT through a renewed licensing agreement that will see NDI integrated across OBSBOT’s entire product lineup as a native capability. NDI is now available free of charge on OBSBOT products, with no additional licensing required for end users. OBSBOT plans to significantly increase the number of products shipped with NDI built in, as more of its product line adopts native support.

OBSBOT’s products are widely used by creators, educators, and teams who want professional capabilities without enterprise-level complexity. Native NDI support allows those users to connect OBSBOT cameras directly into IP video workflows for streaming, remote production, and hybrid use, without adding extra hardware or licensing steps. This also highlights NDI’s interoperability, allowing OBSBOT cameras to work seamlessly with a wide range of software, switchers, and production platforms.

Pro AV Around the Globe

AudioControl has announced the appointment of Habitech as master distributor of the brand’s AV entertainment solutions in the United Kingdom. Habitech is currently the distributor for RTI in the U.K. Based in Hampshire, England, and founded in 2006, Habitech specializes in supplying a broad range of custom install products and services to technology integrators representing home entertainment, smart home control and lighting, networking, and more to end-users.

AVPro Global appointed Generation AV as its representation for the AVPro Edge and RTI brands in Asia. Founded in 2019 and based in Singapore, Generation AV offers decades of combined experience in the professional audio/video, control, and automation markets. In addition to strategic sales and business development, the Generation AV team delivers technical support and application engineering services to partners, integrators, and customers—assisting with product selection, system design, project support, and troubleshooting. Additionally, the company appointed LCAVI as their distributor of residential audio, video, and control solutions, representing the AudioControl, AVPro Edge, and RTI brands in France.

LEA Professional announces its partnership with distributor Televic Conference France, which will help expand LEA Professional’s commercial reach throughout Europe by providing better access to French customers. Televic Conference France will represent LEA's extensive technology catalog. Through this partnership, Televic Conference France will offer LEA Professional’s Network Connect series of professional amplifiers and companion Dante Connect series featuring Dante and AES67 connectivity. The comany also announced a newfound partnership with Dubai-based distributor Pro Lab Trading. The partnership will bring LEA to customers in the Middle East Region. Pro Lab Trading is the region’s one-stop shop for professional audio, lighting, staging, rigging, and special effects equipment and supplies.

Legrand | AV expanded its global partnership with TD SYNNEX. This enhanced collaboration reinforces a joint go-to-market strategy for Legrand | AV’s portfolio of industry-leading brands, including Chief, C2G, Da-Lite, Middle Atlantic, Luxul, and Vaddio. As part of this expanded agreement, TD SYNNEX Maverick, TD SYNNEX’s specialist AV, UC, and digital signage division, will now offer the full Legrand | AV brand portfolio across its entire European footprint.

PureLink announced a new strategic partnership with AVer Information Europe. The cooperation establishes a structured cable and signal management certification program for AVer systems, designed to improve installation reliability in enterprise, education, and public-sector environments. Through this partnership, PureLink’s portfolio of solutions for video conferencing, workspace connectivity, and USB-C–based signal management will be aligned and validated for use with AVer cameras, video matrices, AV hubs and USB-based collaboration systems.

RTI appointed Aquila Data Singapore as their distributor for commercial solutions in Singapore. Aquila Data Group was founded in 2001 and is based in Jakarta, Indonesia, with offices in Singapore and Malaysia. The company specializes in distribution of Unified Communication (UC) and Audio Visual (AV) devices, providing solutions such as video conferencing, audiovideo (AV), and smart technology integration. Additionally, Stars AV is its new distributor for RTI residential and commercial solutions in Spain and Portugal. Stars AV already represents AVPro Global brands AudioControl and AVPro Edge in the territory.

January in the Pro AV industry is alive and well. Before ISE 2026 kicks off, there were a flurry of big moves from Disguise, Daktronics, Chyron, Custom Channels, and many more.

[SCN's ISE Insiders 2026]

It was a hectic week of new hires, promotions, and partnerships. Get caught up below in your weekly Pro AV Newsmakers rundown.

People News

Analog Way Appoints Jeff Singer as Chief Marketing Officer

Analog Way appointed Jeff Singer as chief marketing officer (CMO). In this worldwide role, Singer leads Analog Way’s global marketing strategy with a strong focus on go-to-market execution, sales enablement, and ownership of the company’s product roadmap and product definition. Drawing on his extensive experience in technical product marketing and a customer-centric approach, he will also contribute to elevating the user experience across all customer touchpoints, ensuring consistent value throughout the customer journey.

With over 30 years of experience in global marketing and product launches, Singer has led go-to-market and demand generation strategies for technology-driven organizations worldwide. He previously served as executive director of global product marketing at Crestron Electronics, where he developed and led the positioning of strategic platforms across global markets.

Chyron Strengthens Support in Sports Venues

Chyron promoted Owen Seaton to VP, venue solutions. Seaton brings a wealth of expertise to the role, including both customer perspective and deep knowledge of venue display control technology. Based on input from end users and buyers as well as his own experience, Seaton contributes vital guidance to roadmaps for Chyron products.

Seaton is backed by a strong and growing team of technical, support and creative services professionals. Over the past two fiscal years, these teams of experts have consistently grown at 90% year-over-year on average.

Custom Channels Names René Arnold Senior Director of Partnerships

Custom Channels has appointed René Arnold to the position of senior director of partnerships. Arnold drives the company’s channel sales growth and deepen its integration into the commercial AV ecosystem by reaching more enterprise customers through trusted AV and IT partners.

Arnold comes to Custom Channels from audio and visual business solutions provider Rockbot, where she served as senior manager of the partner program. Prior to Rockbot, she was an account manager at AVI Systems (now Fortè). Prior to Forté, Arnold got her start in the commercial AV industry at PTG (Promotion Technology Group), where she developed a strong appreciation for the benefits of joining together music and digital signage. Arnold also credits her time there for providing her with a solid understanding of how to best support partners and their needs.

Daktronics Hires Thomas Welling to AV Channel Partner Team

Daktronics has hired Thomas Welling as an account executive in the company’s AV channel partner sales team with a focus on expanding AV market growth in the Southeastern United States. Welling began this full-time position in 2025 to proactively meet with clients to understand their project requirements and propose effective AV solutions to meet those needs.

Welling brings previous Daktronics sales internship experience and a degree in Sport and Entertainment Management to this role. This includes experience representing Daktronics at industry conferences and customer demonstrations.

OpenDrives Appoints Trevor Morgan as CEO

On the heels of investment news, OpenDrives promoted long-time chief operating officer, Trevor Morgan, to chief executive officer. Morgan has led a multi-year operational and strategic transformation of the business and brings deep experience in data management and SaaS across both early-stage companies and Fortune 500 enterprises, including Cisco and Capital One.

OpenDrives ended last week with the announcement of an add-on investment to its previous funding rounds led by IAG Capital Partners. The new capital will support OpenDrives’ continued strategic market growth as it expands its software platform across media, sports, and enterprise video production teams worldwide.

Panoptec Technologies Holding Strengthens Group Leadership

Guntermann & Drunck GmbH (G&D) made key leadership appointments at Panoptec Technologies Holding, the group uniting G&D, VuWall, and Tritec under a shared strategic and technological framework. Mark Schmidt has been appointed chief technology officer (CTO) of Panoptec Technologies Holding, and Alena Lombartová has joined the organization as chief financial officer (CFO).

Schmidt has been with VuWall since its early European expansion in 2014 and most recently served as the company’s CTO, where he played a central role in shaping its technology roadmap, security initiatives, and platform strategy. In his new role, he focuses on aligning R&D efforts across the group, leveraging synergies between engineering teams, and accelerating the execution of Panoptec’s shared innovation roadmap.

Lombartová joins Panoptec as Group CFO, bringing international experience in financial leadership, strategic planning, and operational governance within technology-driven organizations. Previously serving as CFO at Leyard Europe, she brings extensive experience and deep expertise in the AV industry to her new role.

StreamGuys Names VP of Digital Sales and Strategy and New EVP of Technology

StreamGuys appointed Dara Kalvort as VP of digital sales and strategy and promoted Eduardo Martinez to EVP of technology. Kalvort leads the company’s sales efforts for the StreamGuys Ad Network, growing digital audio revenue through relationships with agencies and brands. The move creates new revenue opportunities for publishers while giving brands access to highly targeted, premium digital audio audiences. Martinez, who spent nearly two decades at StreamGuys, previously served as VP of technology, leading R&D and helping bring many of the company’s core products to market. In his new role as EVP of Technology, he mentors and guides technical operational teams across the company.

Partnership and Events

Audinate Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Dante

2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of Dante, celebrating two decades of innovation and AV excellence that have transformed professional audio and video distribution worldwide. Originally developed to simplify the complexity of digital audio networking, Dante has grown from a bold idea into the de facto standard for AV over IP. Today, Dante is trusted by manufacturers, integrators, and end users across multiple environments, including live sound, commercial installations, education, and broadcast.

“Twenty years ago, Dante didn’t just solve a technical challenge. It redefined what was possible for AV,” said Aidan Williams, chief executive officer at Audinate. “What began as a better way to move high-quality audio reliably and easily over IP has become a platform that underpins today’s AV systems. This milestone validates our vision, the sustained collaboration of our partners, and the depth and commitment of the global Dante community.”

Dante has continuously evolved to meet the needs of a rapidly changing AV landscape. From enabling plug-and-play audio networking to expanding into video, control, and cloud-based management, Dante has ushered in an era in which AV systems are more flexible, software-driven, and network-centric than ever before.

Updates for AES Show Nashville 2026

AES Show Nashville 2026 will deliver a tightly curated three-day technical program, Friday, Oct. 30- Sunday, Nov, 1, paired with a two-day exhibition taking place Saturday and Sunday, designed to bring together audio professionals, technologists, creators, and educators for in-depth learning, discovery, and connection.

The exhibit floor will serve as a central hub for activity throughout the weekend and will feature the AES Main Stage, home to the opening ceremony, the show’s main keynote, and a dynamic schedule of interviews, insights, and appearances from industry leaders and “famous friends” across music, media, and technology.

Advanced Systems Group and Nu·Studio Announce Exclusive Partnership

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) announced an exclusive partnership with Nu·Studio, the company behind the first modular, portable studio designed for immersive audiovisual production. Under the agreement, ASG will serve as the exclusive reseller of Nu·Studio, bringing the platform to market through its global sales, installation, and service infrastructure.

Nu·Studio is a studio infrastructure designed to be adaptable as technology, standards, and workflows evolve. Built as a modular, reconfigurable acoustic control room, it allows for integrated audiovisual workflows with a portable, non-permanent framework that installs in days and can be relocated or reconfigured as needs change.

The partnership brings together Nu·Studio’s modular studio environment with ASG’s 28 years of experience in end-to-end sales, installation, training, and long-term service for media production environments worldwide.

Bergamot Asset Management Acquires 50% Stake in Augspurger and Professional Audio Design

Bergamot Asset Management has acquired a 50% stake in Augspurger and Professional Audio Design and Malekpour Design Partners. The three companies will operate under the newly created Augspurger Holdco, a new parent company created in partnership with Bergamot and Dave Malekpour, founder and president of the group.

The partnership, which was completed prior to Thanksgiving after several months of due diligence, combines Bergamot’s capital investment and operational leadership with Malekpour’s entrepreneurial vision, positioning Augspurger for new growth and operational efficiencies while maintaining its reputation for "craftsmanship, performance, and design excellence."

Disguise, ASB GlassFloor Partner

Disguise and ASB GlassFloor announced a strategic partnership that turns the arena floor into a fully customizable interactive digital surface. This will enable coaches to visualize ball tracking data as well as players’ live positions, movement speed and performance metrics right on the playing surface, allowing teams to win more matches. The technology will also enable more venues to become multi-purpose entertainment spaces by offering augmented reality (AR) floor experiences, such as interactive games, to fans and advertisers at halftime.

ASB GlassFloor’s operational system for the digital court, GLASSCOURT OS, feeds directly into Disguise’s servers. Adopting the Disguise environment means that, on top of the GLASSCOURT OS solutions, ASB GlassFloor now enables all venues to use the most state-of-the-art media servers in the industry to directly feed interactive content to the floor.

As part of the partnership, the Disguise platform will be used exclusively on all ASB Arena and Event Services floors, as well as ASB GlassFloor sports courts and activations, including the NBA All Star Weekend, FIBA Basketball Champions League Final 4 and the EuroLeague, and the company’s facility in Orlando, the ASB Athletes Lab. Developed in collaboration with the NBA, the Athletes Lab will be used to showcase the technology and allow teams and clients to see the immersive sports solution in action, as well as acting as a testing ground for future innovation. Disguise and ASB GlassFloor will also provide three full-sized, portable event rental basketball courts that will see usage at marquee sports events across the United States and Europe this year.

Playback Distribution Announces New Distribution Partnership with Vicoustic for U.S. and Canada

Playback Distribution was appointed U.S. and Canadian distributor of Vicoustic. The partnership is poised to strengthen Vicoustic’s presence in North America by targeting key growth opportunities in the Hi-Fi, residential custom integration, and pro audio markets, and uplevel the customer experience by streamlining the process from project design to fulfillment.

Founded in 2007 in Portugal, where every product is designed and manufactured to this day, Vicoustic is known for high-performance acoustic treatment that blend technical rigor with sustainable and stunning design. The company has maintained a strong presence in North America for over a decade, delivering acoustic solutions that span professional audio, hi-fi and home cinema, residential CI, and more.

“The SoundTube Showdown” Training Experience Scheduled in Kansas City

SoundTube Entertainment is hosting The SoundTube Showdown, a two-day immersive training event taking place Feb. 18–20, 2026, in the Kansas City area. Designed to move beyond the traditional classroom seminar, the SoundTube Showdown blends in-depth technical training, certification credits, and high-value networking into a dynamic, game-inspired experience where every participant walks away a winner.

The event builds on SoundTube’s Tubey Training program, named for the brand’s squeeze-ball mascot, Tubey, and transforms it into a competitive, high-energy learning environment focused on real-world AV solutions and system design.

Pro AV Around the World

LEA Professional’s commercial audio technology catalog is set to reach more Australian customers in 2026 through a new distribution partnership with Jands, one of Australia’s leading AV distributors. The Jands team has been providing technology solutions to its customers since 1970. Thanks to Generation AV, LEA Professional’s APAC manufacturer’s representative and authorized sales partner, Jands, and LEA Professional, the partnership came together.

There were a lot of people on the move last week. SCN Hall of Famer, Kirsten Nelson, joined Extron and Amanda Wildman became the first woman to hold the chairperson role in CEDIA’s history. There were plenty more, so get caught up on the week that was below.

[SCN's ISE Insiders 2026]

People News

AtlasIED Appoints Joey Palkowitch as Director of Commercial Audio Sales

AtlasIED appointed Joey Palkowitch as director of commercial audio sales. In this role, Palkowitch will lead the company’s commercial audio strategy and market development efforts across key verticals, including education, industrial, corporate, and hospitality.

With over a decade of experience in driving commercial audio growth, Palkowitch is well positioned to take AtlasIED to the next level. He specializes in building high-performing sales teams, leading strategic partnerships, and executing scalable go-to-market strategies across complex ecosystems. Palkowitch has worked for multiple leading manufacturers and distributors to serve the integration, consultant, and end-user channels in the commercial audiovisual industry.

Palkowitch works with the AtlasIED sales staff, independent manufacturer reps, and key partners to help grow and strengthen channel relationships and increase sales in strategically targeted verticals. Additionally, his role is integral in bringing feedback from the field to product and engineering teams to help develop solutions specific to integrators’ challenges.

AVPro Global Names Matt Murray CEO

AVPro Global appointed Matt Murray, formerly chief technology officer, as chief executive officer while AVPro founder Jeff Murray transitions from CEO to chairman of the board. Matt, a seasoned senior leader who, alongside his father, built the foundation of AVPro, now leads the organization’s day‑to‑day and long‑term operations. Matt assumes overall leadership of the enterprise while Jeff, remains deeply engaged in strategy, governance, and mentoring. This planned generational leadership evolution honors AVPro’s heritage and opens new dimensions for future growth and innovation.

Matt’s appointment as CEO reflects his long‑standing commitment to AVPro’s customers, employees, and products, demonstrated by the way he has architected the company’s backbone and growth engine over the past decade. He has led the build‑out of AVPro’s operational infrastructure, including implementing the ERP platform (Enterprise Resource Planning), establishing a disciplined new product development system, and expanding the brand portfolio, which now serves a wide range of residential and commercial AV partners. With this experience and customer‑first mindset, Matt is well positioned to guide AVPro into its next phase, delivering innovative solutions while strengthening the culture and capabilities that have made the company a trusted partner around the world.

CEDIA Welcomes New Board Members and Officers

CEDIA welcomed several additions to its Global Board of Directors for the 2026-2028 term. Following a slate vote approved by CEDIA members, integrators Rich Green of Rich Green Design, Jennifer Mallett of Level Up Automation, and James Ratcliffe of Homeplay have now assumed their positions as board directors. Joining them will be board-appointed members, Kris Hogg of Samsung and Maryellen Oswald of Somfy.

The newly elected slate of officers forming the executive committee will be led by chairperson Amanda Wildman. An integrator and president/owner of TruMedia Home, Wildman becomes the first woman to hold the chairperson role in CEDIA’s history. Alongside her, Edward Gilmore will serve as vice chairperson, Stuart Tickle as treasurer, and James Chen as secretary. Former chairperson Alex Capecelatro will assume the role of Immediate past chairperson and remain on the executive committee.

The DAK Group Welcomes Denis Pozigun

Denis Pozigun, a globally recognized operating executive and M&A strategist with two decades of experience has joined The DAK Group's Integrated Systems and Live Experiences Practice. Pozigun brings deep sector expertise spanning integrated systems, mission-critical environments, broadcast, and live events.

Most recently, Pozigun led the global AV practice at Convergint, where he oversaw complex, multinational operations serving enterprise and mission-critical clients. Prior to that, he played a key role in international expansion initiatives at Diversified, giving him a first-hand perspective on platform scaling, cross-border integration, and value creation in highly technical environments.

At The DAK Group, Pozigun works closely with Ari Fuchs, managing director, to advise owners and investors navigating increasingly sophisticated M&A processes across the integrated systems and live experiences sectors. His operator-focused background enhances DAK’s ability to help clients translate operational complexity into clear equity narratives and position their businesses for premium outcomes.

Extron Welcomes SCN Hall of Famer Kirsten Nelson as New PR Manager

Extron appointed SCN Hall of Famer Kirsten Nelson as public relations manager. Nelson has over 25 years of experience in the Pro AV industry, encompassing publishing, journalism, technology communications, event programming, and hosting. Her background in editorial direction and content strategy will enhance Extron’s communications and strengthen its relationships.

Nelson’s career highlights include serving as lead editor at Systems Contractor News for over 16 years and co-founded Residential Systems magazine. She created and launched multiple editorial franchises that continue today, including the SCN Nine, the SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators list, the SCN Hall of Fame, and Executive Q&A interview series. Nelson won the WAVE (Women in AV) Mentor Award in 2013 and was named to the SCN Hall of Fame in 2025. Her efforts have contributed to major industry initiatives, including AVIXA’s Center Stage at InfoComm. She also founded Cohort Assemble, an event series that focuses on creative technology and immersive experience design. Her appointment reflects Extron’s ongoing commitment to thought leadership and strategic communications.

Pliant Technologies Expands Sales Team

Pliant Technologies appointed Adam Grede as the company’s new regional sales manager. In this role, Grede supports all sales efforts for Pliant products to serve customers on the West Coast as well as across North America.

Based in Southern California, Grede joins a geographically diverse but tightly integrated sales team, working closely with regional sales manager Matthew Lott based in the New York metro area, and sales administrator Kathy Belcher, who operates from Pliant’s headquarters in Auburn, AL. Together, the team will work as a unified group to ensure responsive, consistent support across all regions.

Company News

cavlo Trade Show Reformats and Returns to Music City

The cavlo Trade Show is returning to the entertainment mecca of Nashville, TN, for its spring 2026 show. cavlo will bring the professional AVL community together at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro for a two-day event. The regional audio, video, and lighting technology trade show will feature nearly 50 exhibitors, a free welcome reception, and educational breakout sessions for attendees.

cavlo will take place on April 22-23rd at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro, just outside Nashville. The show floor opens at 4:00pm on the 22nd, with the complimentary Welcome Reception from 5-7:00pm; the show resumes on the 23rd at 9:00am. Breakout sessions begin at 1:00pm on the 22nd and continue on the 23rd. With discussion panels and educational sessions led by professionals in the design, integration, production and end-user communities. cavlo promises to be a great opportunity for AVL folks in the Southeastern US to convene. Complimentary registration to attend the show will open on Monday, February 23rd. cavlo is a trade-only event. For more information on exhibiting or sponsoring, or to register to attend, visit http://www.cavlo.tech.

DirectOut Expands into the US with New Subsidiary

DirectOut launched DirectOut LLC, its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary following recent strong growth and after more than 15 years of presence in the United States through its distribution partners. DirectOut LLC operates as a fully owned subsidiary of DirectOut GmbH but with a high degree of autonomy, enabling the team to respond quickly to the specific needs of the U.S. professional audio market. The company’s new headquarters in Fort Wayne, IN, also house its U.S. warehouse, streamlining logistics for customers across the region.

Vaino Gennaro has been appointed managing director of DirectOut LLC and will oversee all U.S. operations.

QuickLink Expands U.S. Reach With Midwich Distribution 

QuickLink announced a new U.S. distribution partnership with Midwich. Midwich will distribute QuickLink’s full portfolio of remote production and live contribution tools to resellers and integrators across the United States. The collaboration expands access to QuickLink’s innovative solutions while providing Midwich’s customers with the technical expertise, support and market experience needed to deploy high-quality, low-latency video workflows efficiently.

Pro AV Around the World

AtlasIED announced multiple strategic distribution partnerships with U.K.-based Solstice Marketing, ProAUDIO-AVT, serving Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and UpOut, based in Turkey. Solstice Marketing offers a full suite of AV solutions, with customer service being a primary driver for its team. Headquartered in Wrocław, and with offices in Warsaw (Warszawa), Kraków, and Gdynia, ProAUDIO-AVT has delivered high-quality audio solutions to customers throughout Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia for over 35 years. Based in Istanbul and specializing in AV technology, UpOut is entirely focused on improving the customer experience.

Listen Technologies and Ampetronic have enlisted Nvincy Solutions to sell and distribute their combined portfolio of assistive listening and communication solutions in India. Nvincy is a distributor for AV and IT brands, delivering professional grade products and technical support across India.

The Pro AV world has gotten off to an auspicious start in 2026. There were a bevy of people on the move and new partnerships announced, as Samsung, FORTÉ, Sennheiser, Powersoft, and many more made headlines.

[Wayne's CES 2026 Coverage]

Get caught up on what you missed last week.

People News

FORTÉ Names Josh Braun CIO

FORTÉ, formerly AVI Systems, promoted Josh Braun to chief information officer (CIO), effective immediately. Braun becomes FORTE’s first-ever CIO, reflecting the company’s increasing emphasis on technology, security, and infrastructure as essential drivers of growth.

As CIO, Braun leads all aspects of FORTE’s information technology and digital infrastructure, including security, internal IT support, systems architecture, and long-term technology strategy. In addition, he will oversee the IT demands of FORTE’s 42 U.S. locations and presence in four European countries, and guide integration planning and execution as the company continues to expand.

Braun joined FORTE in 2016 as director of IT and was promoted to Vice President of IT in 2019. Throughout his tenure, he has built a strong, scalable IT foundation. His leadership has driven enhanced security protocols, improved employee tech support, and includes the implementation of modern systems that ensure reliability, efficiency, and organizational resilience.

Powersoft Expands North America Sales With Strategic Regional Hires

Powersoft expanded its U.S. sales organization with the appointment of Timo Hildebrandt as regional sales manager for the Western United States, Rob Howitt as regional sales manager for the Northeast, and Sunil Karanjikar as senior sales engineer.

Howitt joins Powersoft with nearly 30 years of experience in professional audio sales and regional account management throughout the Northeast. Before joining Powersoft, Howitt held regional sales leadership roles at Blaze Audio, ADI Global Distribution, and Audiopros. At Powersoft, he leads sales activities across the Northeast, supporting dealers, consultants and integrators while expanding the company’s regional footprint.

Hildebrandt brings more than 20 years of experience spanning sales leadership, operations, channel strategy, and business unit management across the consumer electronics and professional audiovisual industries. Prior to joining Powersoft, Hildebrandt held executive positions at Snap One, Resideo and AVAD, where he led sales operations, vendor strategy and organizational transformation initiatives. In his role, he oversees sales efforts across the western United States, focusing on channel development, partner engagement and regional growth.

Karanjikar adds more than 21 years of experience in live sound, system design and application engineering, with extensive manufacturer-side expertise. Prior to joining Powersoft, Karanjikar held senior application engineering and product management roles at Harman Professional Solutions, supporting large-scale deployments and developing technical resources for customers and partners worldwide. As senior sales engineer, he provides technical support, system design assistance, and training for Powersoft customers across the United States.

Re-Sauce Strengthens Global Communications Offering

Re-Sauce has appointed Beky Cann as head of global PR and marketing. Cann joins the Re-Sauce leadership team in 2026 to expand the consultancy’s communications and media services worldwide, strengthening its ability to support clients in brand storytelling, channel influence, trade press engagement, and strategic marketing delivery across Europe, Middle East, India, North America and APAC.

With 25-plus years of PR and marketing experience, including senior international roles in the professional AV, workplace, enterprise technology, and digital signage sectors, Cann brings deep market knowledge and an expansive network of connections built on decades of trust and industry collaboration.

SDVI Names Simon Eldridge COO

SDVI has appointed Simon Eldridge chief operating officer. In this new role, Eldridge oversees all functions except finance and accounting for the company. Eldridge is one of three company founders and has been serving as chief product officer. He will continue to report to Larry Kaplan, who remains in his roles as chairman and chief executive officer.

In a corresponding move, the company has also promoted Chris Brähler to the post of chief product officer. Brähler previously served as VP of product, and in his new role continues to drive product strategy and execution. He continue sto own the product roadmap while working closely with customers and the company’s solutions team to define new product requirements.

Company News

Almo Pro AV, INOGENI Announce Distribution Partnership

INOGENI announced a strategic distribution agreement with Almo Pro AV. This partnership significantly expands INOGENI's reach, introducing its full portfolio of innovative products to Almo’s extensive network of customers in the unified collaboration, videoconferencing, and audiovisual markets.

INOGENI’s product line, including the TOGGLE Series for BYOD/BYOM environments and its new voice-activated multi-camera switcher (CAMTRACK), directly addresses the market's growing demand for simplified, high-performance integration and interoperability.

Amino and Xibo Partner to Deliver Next Generation 4K Digital Signage

Amino announced a strategic partnership with Xibo, which sees the integration of the Xibo CMS with the purpose-built Amino H-Series media players to power reliable, enterprise-grade 4K digital signage networks.

Many organizations currently rely on consumer grade hardware for digital signage, which often struggles with the continuous operation, security and longevity required in demanding environments like retail, hospitality, or corporate workplaces. The Amino H-Series solves these challenges by providing dedicated, high performance 4K playback, enterprise grade security and effortless remote management, ensuring smooth and dependable performance across all industries.

This partnership removes traditional barriers of cost and complexity. The H200 and H200W models offer flexible Power over Ethernet (PoE) or wireless installation, rugged VESA-mounted designs, and cloud-based management through Amino’s Orchestrate for zero touch provisioning and real time updates. When combined with Xibo’s flexible Content Management System (CMS) and intuitive scheduling, this pairing offers robust performance that businesses can depend on.

AVer, Sennheiser Partner to Deliver Smarter Camera Tracking

Sennheiser's EW-DX microphone system, the newest addition to the Evolution Wireless Digital family, now integrates with the AVer MT300(N) Matrix Tracking Box via Sennheiser Sound Control Protocol v2 (SSCv2), enabling intelligent, audio-triggered camera switching across single and multi-camera setups.

With full SSCv2 compatibility, the latest MT300(N) firmware supports encrypted communication and faster, more responsive control signals from EW-DX wireless microphone systems. This enables quick, consistent camera switching based on active audio signals, making the solution well suited to wireless microphone workflows in professional collaboration and education environments.

This simple firmware update enhances responsiveness, security, and reliability, helping ensure the active speaker is clearly seen and heard while keeping system design straightforward. This integration builds on the established collaboration between Sennheiser and AVer, which also includes support for Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling microphones with AVer camera tracking solutions, offering flexible options across wireless and ceiling-based audio workflows.

Carousel Unveils Interactive Experience

Carousel in collaboration with content partner Studio Kudzu launched its new Interactive Experience, a fully immersive environment designed to help communications and IT teams explore the full capabilities of the Carousel platform. The new interactive experience is now available on Carousel’s Corporate Solutions page and is supported on multiple devices, including laptops, tablets, mobiles, and VR headsets, for an even deeper, hands-on demonstration.

The Interactive Experience enables prospective customers to explore a comprehensive digital signage deployment as if physically present in a modern, fully equipped business environment. Within the experience, users can discover: Dynamic content delivery in lobbies, hallways, conference rooms, and common areas; advanced emergency alerting features integrated with Common Alerting Protocol (CAP); room signage supporting event promotion and facility management systems, device management; engagement tools like interactive touchpoints, video walls and employee spotlights.

BLINC, Samsung Partner to Deliver DynamicSoftware Solutions

Behavioral Labs (BLINC) announced a new partnership with Samsung Electronics America to develop dynamic software solutions that strengthen Samsung Visual eXperience Transformation (VXT), the company’s content management ecosystem. The partnership combines Samsung’s industry-leading display hardware and VXT solution with BLINC’s innovative software capabilities to deliver powerful, intuitive, and scalable digital signage solutions for businesses across industries.

The first collaboration between Samsung and BLINC is the launch of Utilix, an intelligent, rule-based content management tool that empowers brands to effortlessly design, deploy, and manage large-scale digital signage content across thousands of screens. Utilix allows brands to create multifaceted, data-driven content that responds to variables such as time of day, audience demographics, and promotional priorities, delivering the right message to the right audience, at the right time.

Nanolumens, Renova Technology Drive Sustainability and Design Innovation

Renova Technology has established a strategic service agreement with Nanolumens, a U.S.-based LED manufacturer offering innovative display solutions across multiple market segments including transportation hubs, universities, corporate offices, and themed entertainment venues.

The agreement leverages Renova's data analytics capabilities to create value beyond traditional service providers. By analyzing component performance from the field, Renova's Engineering Team provides actionable insights to Nanolumens' R&D department. This creates a feedback loop that improves product design, extends display lifecycles, and accelerates next-generation development. The announcement comes as Renova Technology approaches its 30th anniversary as a leader in technology lifecycle services.

The new collaboration benefits Nanolumens customers with uptime excellence, optimized service delivery, and future product iterations designed with real-world performance insights that drive continuous improvement.

Neutrik Group Americas Strengthens Presence in Mexico

Neutrik Group Americas is expanding its relationship with EXIT in Mexico. EXIT has advanced infrastructure and fiber expertise with a 15-year history of serving the broadcast, entertainment, retail, and government industries. As a trusted partner in the region, EXIT provides its clients with the complete portfolio of Neutrik Group brands throughout Mexico.

EXIT is a specialist in infrastructure design, backed by leading brands in the market, which guarantees excellent performance and durability. The company has existing relationships with top cabling manufacturers, so integrating Neutrik Group products on the connector side is a natural fit, as EXIT can seamlessly provide its customers with an end-to-end solution.

Pro AV Around the Globe

RTI appointed AV Intelligence as the distributor for RTI’s residential solutions in Singapore. Founded in 2010, AV Intelligence has showrooms in both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and serves residential and commercial integrators as well as specialty dealers across the region. Product offerings include high-performance audio products, home cinema solutions, distributed audio systems, and control and automation products. The AV Intelligence team provides support services to regional dealers, and they collaborate closely with interior designers and architects to ensure seamless systems integration for any project.

The new year is quickly approaching, but 2025 refuses to slow down. This week there personnel moves from Advanced Systems Group, AV Stumpfl, and more as several companies made new strategic partnerships.

[The Talent Challenge]

Get caught up below.

People News

Macky Beheshti Joins Advanced Systems Group

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) appointed Macky Beheshti as director of enterprise storage and systems. In this role, he focuses in the key areas of traditional IT facility integration, enterprise software, workflow solutions, managed services, and cloud orchestration for as-service delivery models.

Macky’s expertise plays a key role in expanding the company’s footprint into new verticals. Sectors such as corporate, education, government organizations, and healthcare all require secure and flexible storage and systems integration for mission-critical applications that can benefit from ASG’ enterprise-level support.

Richard Baldinger Joins AV Stumpfl as Managing Director, USA

AV Stumpfl welcomed Richard Baldinger as managing director of its U.S. subsidiary with offices in Atlanta, GA, and Santa Monica, CA. He brings more than 15 years of international leadership experience, with a strong track record of helping companies grow, scale and succeed in the U.S. market. His professional background spans sales, marketing, service, and product management, giving him a comprehensive perspective on building customer-centric organizations.

Most recently, Baldinger served as director of sales and marketing at Fronius USA, where he played a pivotal role in building the U.S. marketing and inside sales teams and led the company’s U.S. solar energy business unit. He also managed various media projects at the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Austria, and organized dozens of events in various venues.

d&b audiotechnik North American Announces Key New Appointments in Canada

d&b audiotechnik North America made several new appointments in Canada. The company welcomed Cameron Wilkison to the role of managing director, d&b Canada. Wilkison will actively manage the overall business activities for d&b audiotechnik in the Canadian marketplace. Since joining the d&b Canada team in 2019, Wilkison has been overseeing and managing sales for western Canada. A veteran of the professional audio industry, Wilkison was previously with Canadian professional audio manufacturer Radial Engineering and Primacoustic, where he was involved in product development and responsible for a variety of sales and marketing activities throughout the region and internationally.

Francois Corbin, former managing director, and a key member of the d&b audiotechnik leadership team, will assume an advisory role for the company. Corbin will remain on staff in the near-term to facilitate the transition to the new managing director for d&b audiotechnik Canada.
d&b audiotechnik North America also appointed Pierre-Paul Gignac to the role of sales support specialist, which entails education and application support for Canada and regional sales for the province of Quebec. An audio systems designer for more than 22 years, Gignac was previously an independent contractor hired directly by clients for his audio engineering expertise and was also a key member of the Solotech design services team, where he was responsible for overseeing all design services for the Quebec City, Solotech office.

Nanolumens Adds Ryan Fowler and Tim DeLaere

Nanolumens has added two industry leaders, Ryan Fowler and Tim DeLaere, to strengthen the company’s presence in the federal and command and control markets. Fowler joins as federal segment leader, and DeLaere joins as control room segment leader. Their appointments emphasize Nanolumens’ focus on expanding its reach in high-demand, mission-critical environments through TAA-compliant displays and the secure Aurora platform.

Fowler brings over 20 years of experience in federal market development, account management and audiovisual technology sales. In his new role, Fowler leads Nanolumens’ federal channel strategy, working with partners and integrators to support government customers with tailored LED visualization solutions as the company continues emphasizing new markets with industry experts. DeLaere joins Nanolumens with more than 25 years of experience in advanced visualization, command and control environments and mission-critical system design. DeLaere focuses on strengthening Nanolumens’ partner ecosystem and expanding the company’s footprint in mission-critical sectors that require high-performance LED displays while highlighting the company’s broad TAA line up and secure Aurora processing platform.

Wisycom, DPA Microphones Appoint René Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless

Wisycom and DPA Microphones have appointed René Moerch as group product director, wireless, a strategic leadership role that guides the combined wireless product roadmap for both companies. Following an increased investment in wireless product development, this appointment strengthens the brands’ joint management structure, reinforcing a unified approach to innovation across wireless microphones, IEMs, and RF distribution solutions.

Moerch has spent more than a decade with DPA, including nine years in product management and four years dedicated to wireless development. His recent contributions include his key role in developing the DPA N-Series Wireless System. With a deep understanding of the global broadcast, live production, and other pro audio sectors, Moerch plays a pivotal role in accelerating the delivery of next-generation RF technologies across both the Wisycom and DPA portfolios.

Having collaborated closely with Wisycom for several years, Moerch steps into this expanded cross-company role at a time when the brands are aligning more closely than ever to serve the market with high-performance, integrated wireless solutions. He leads new product introduction efforts at Wisycom’s headquarters in Italy and DPA’s facilities in Denmark, working on-site and remotely with the engineering, product and leadership teams. In addition to overseeing product strategy, Moerch is also part of the management teams of both companies.

Company News

AIMS Announces Inaugural IPMX Product Testing and Certification Event

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), announced that the first official Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) Product Testing and Certification Event. A major milestone for the IPMX initiative, the event will take place January 19–23, 2026, at the EBU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the EBU having played an important role in the development and adoption of open media standards in the broadcast industry.

For the first time, manufacturers will have the opportunity to complete formal certification of products built to the IPMX set of specifications for professional media over IP. Certified products will qualify to carry the IPMX branding, signaling compliance with a rigorously verified set of transport and interoperability requirements.

Blackwire Announces New Partnership with Dylan Innovations

Blackwire Designs announced a new strategic partnership with Dylan Innovations, a provider of racks, TV brackets, structured wiring, and flush mounts. The Dylan Innovations lineup is now available at Blackwire, strengthening their position as a one-stop source for professional integrators.

This partnership is a direct response to the needs of the Blackwire dealer network and reinforces the company’s commitment to providing equipment that delivers real-world performance. With Dylan Innovations now in the lineup, integrators gain access to the full suite of products, including their signature flush-mount solutions for hidden outlets, robust rack systems designed for maximum accessibility, and articulating brackets. This partnership enhances Blackwire’s overall offering, making it easier than ever to find the right parts from a single, trusted source.

DVDO Bolsters Western U.S. Presencewith New Regional Sales Manager and Rep Firm Appointments

DVDO has expanded its sales presence across the Western United States with the hiring of industry veteran Pete Fox as Western Regional sales manager and the addition of three new manufacturers’ representative firms.

With more than two decades of experience in the Pro AV and technology sectors, Fox brings a proven track record of driving sales growth, establishing strong partner relationships, and supporting integrators throughout the project lifecycle. In his new role, Fox will lead DVDO’s expansion efforts across the Western region, strengthening customer engagement and supporting DVDO’s rapidly growing portfolio of AV and communication solutions.

To further enhance regional coverage and better support integrators and resellers, DVDO has also appointed the following sales representative firms: Southern California and Southern Nevada: Maxom Group; Rocky Mountains: CB Electronic Marketing; and Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas: Reliable AV Marketing.

#GALSNGEAR 2026 Leadership Retreats Announced

#GALSNGEAR is launching two signature leadership retreats in early 2026, designed to equip women in media, entertainment, and technology with the tools to lead with confidence and clarity. Leadership Retreat East will take place on Jan. 16 in Columbia, MD, timed ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend to honor the spirit of equity and inclusion. Leadership Retreat West takes place on March 6 in Burbank, CA, in celebration of International Women’s Day/Month. The East event is hosted by Vectorworks, and both events are sponsored by Diversified.

Leadership Retreat East will be held at Vectorworks just minutes from BWI Airport. The program begins on the evening of Jan. 15 with a welcome networking event at Old Line Kitchen & Bar, offering attendees a chance to connect before the full-day workshop. The networking event will feature a Tequila tasting of TCapri, a hand-crafted small batch brand that is Black woman-owned. Founder Tiffany Capri Hainesworth will be participating in the retreat panel on career pivots.

Leadership Retreat West will be hosted by Keycode Media. With an understanding of the ongoing media and tech workforce disruptions brought on by mergers, layoffs, and the emergence of GenAI, this gathering will focus on emerging technologies and personal brand-building strategies in a changing employment environment. In addition to its work supporting “tequity” in the workplace, #GALSNGEAR recognizes that building a more sustainable and equitable industry also means engaging around climate impact. As such, Leadership Retreat West will include a special session on the Media Climate Accord and how women leaders can help move the industry forward on those goals.

Midwich Adds Turtle AV to its Expanding Portfolio of Professional AV Solutions

Midwich announced a new U.S. distribution partnership with Turtle AV, a manufacturer of Dante-enabled audio and video solutions, AV over IP platforms, USB extension products, and signal processing tools. The addition of Turtle AV strengthens Midwich’s portfolio and provides integrators across the country with streamlined access to a rapidly expanding range of network ready AV technologies.

Under the new agreement, Midwich will distribute Turtle AV’s full product collection including Dante AV A encoders and decoders, Dante audio products, Dolby Atmos and DTS converters, USB extenders, video wall processors, and Chazy Control.

Panasonic Partners on the Fairway

Panasonic Projector & Display Americas announced its partnership with TGL presented by SoFi, the team golf league fusing advanced technology, live action, and global fan engagement. Through this partnership, Panasonic joins TGL as its Official Projector Partner, providing its innovative projection technology that brings the league’s gameplay to life on its 64-by-53-foot screen, which is approximately 24 times the size of a standard golf simulator screen.

[TGL Playoffs: Technology at the Tee]

As part of the multi-year agreement, Panasonic delivers professional projection systems that help power the immersive environments within TGL’s custom-built SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. This includes Panasonic’s flagship PT-RQ50K 4K projectors, nine units in total, each delivering an impressive 50,000 lumens of brightness and native 4K resolution. Together, these high-performance systems deliver stunning color, detail, and intensity, creating a truly lifelike and dynamic visual experience that blurs the line between physical and virtual play.

Riedel and Racing Electronics Announce Strategic Partnership

Riedel Communications announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Racing Electronics, a provider of motorsport communication equipment in the United States, to deliver communication solutions that enhance safety, efficiency, and performance for race operations, controls, teams, drivers, and fans alike.

This collaboration brings together Riedel Communications' expertise in advanced intercom technologies, including their pioneering Artist-1024 infrastructures and award-winning Bolero wireless intercom system, with Racing Electronics' extensive radio communications experience, wide range of U.S. market-specific tailored communication accessories, and its reputation as a legendary force in the country’s motorsport industry.

Based on the partnership, Riedel will open new North America Motorsport Competence Centers in Racing Electronics’ facilities, building substantial staff and equipment resources to support both U.S. and visiting racing events. By combining Riedel's technologies shaped on large racing series, such as Formula 1 over decades, with Racing Electronics' products and customer service, this collaboration will provide seamless, reliable, and high-quality communication systems for all motorsport levels.

QuickLink Announces New U.S. Distribution PartnershipWith Broadfield Distributing

QuickLink announced a new distribution partnership with Broadfield Distributing, one of the industry’s most trusted sources for professional video, broadcast and AV workflow solutions. Under this agreement, Broadfield will distribute QuickLink’s full range of solutions throughout the United States, significantly expanding availability for customers across the region.

Through this partnership, QuickLink’s innovative offerings, including StudioPro, StudioEdge, and its full suite of remote production tools, will be added to Broadfield’s extensive product line inventory. The collaboration opens QuickLink products to Broadfield’s expansive reseller network, making it easier and more efficient than ever for U.S. customers to integrate QuickLink’s technology into their workflows.

Pro AV Around th Globe

DirectOut Technologies, based in Mittweida, Germany, welcomed DWR Distribution as is its new partner in South Africa. Established in 2006, DWR Distribution is a trusted distributor of audio, lighting, AV, and LED display solutions, offering full technical solutions for the architectural, commercial, broadcast, and entertainment markets. The company is also home to DiGiCo consoles in South Africa, a relationship that laid the foundation for the new partnership with DirectOut, as Kyle Robson, sales, support specialist for DWR explained.

Stage Audio Works (SAW) is closing out their 25^th anniversary year with a series of major investments in the manufacturing capabilities at its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company has expanded its in-house production capacity through investment in several new pieces of machinery, including a direct-to-material printer, a new CNC machine, an aluminium extrusion rolling machine and a dedicated embroidery machine. These developments consolidate more processes under one roof, enhancing quality control, speeding up production times and encouraging creative flexibility.

Diversified has appointed Paul Lidsky as CEO. Lidsky, who has served as chairman of Diversified’s board of directors since 2023, brings more than four decades of leadership in IT solutions and technology services. In his expanded role as CEO, Lidsky is set to guide Diversified’s next stage of growth by driving market expansion and enhancing service delivery across its global footprint.

[Former Disney Exec Joins Diversified]

“Paul is a highly respected leader with deep expertise in the technology services industry and a strong history of building great companies with a focus on the people and partnerships that drive success and serve their clients,” said Will Fleder, partner at Tailwind Capital, Diversified’s primary investor. “We are confident that his leadership and experience will further strengthen Diversified’s position as a global leader and accelerate its continued growth.”

Before joining Diversified, Lidsky served as CEO of Core BTS, president and CEO of Datalink, and CEO of Calabrio, where he led companies delivering enterprise solutions across collaboration, cloud, data centers, networking, and security. His career also includes executive leadership positions at OneLink, Spanlink Communications, and Norstan.

“Diversified’s strength has always come from doing the fundamentals exceptionally well, delivering quality, expertise, and consistency in support of our clients,” said Lidsky. “I’ve had the privilege of serving as chairman and working closely with this team, and I see extraordinary opportunity ahead. As CEO, my focus is on building on that momentum by continuing to invest in our people, our partners, and the technologies that matter most to our clients. We continue to grow, adding new clients every year, and Diversified is well positioned to continue that growth as the industry evolves.”

This announcement comes on the heels of Diversified’s expansion in EMEA, where it recently opened a new strategic hub in Germany to expand its operational footprint and provide in-region engineering, project execution, and client support. It's one of several recent developments highlighting the company’s continued growth as well as its commitment to serving global customers.

While many people in the United States opened up July with celebrations and fireworks, Pro AV began the month with a bang. Get caught up with the latest people on the move, partnerships, and the all-new Innovation Park planned for ISE 2025. 

People News

Advanced Systems Group Appoints Andy Wiswell as Production Technology Ambassador

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) named broadcast industry veteran Andy Wiswell as the company’s production technology ambassador. Known in the media and entertainment industry for his 40-plus year career with Sony Broadcast, Wiswell brings an invaluable combination of knowledge and connections to ASG.

Wiswell supports ASG’s expanding client base with high-profile entertainment, corporate, education, broadcast, and post facilities throughout the U.S. Given his extensive background at Sony, he’s well versed in hardware and software video production technology. His knowledge and connections beyond Sony are expansive. Wiswell will assist ASG in a wide range of tasks, including supporting personnel with sophisticated configurations. 

K-array USA Strengthens Touring and Production Division with Industry Veteran David Rees

K-array USA welcomed David Rees as business development manager for production and touring. In his new role, Rees is responsible for expanding K-array’s visibility within the touring and live event production industry. His focus will be on showcasing K-array's unique, efficient, and innovative audio solutions to vendors and artists, leveraging the company's cutting-edge technology in powerful touring systems and software applications.

Rees brings over 20 years of experience in the live event production industry to K-array USA, having held a dynamic range of previous roles in the live event sector from small clubs to large stadiums at some of the most respected organizations in the industry. Previously, he served as national director of facilities and venue operations for SaveLive, director of production for Hollywood Park (YouTube Theater/SoFi Stadium), and national director of production for Live Nation. In addition to his management experience, Rees is a seasoned live sound engineer with over 20 years of experience mixing for a variety of artists and events.

Korbyt Expands Senior Leadership Team

Korbyt expanded its leadership team with four VP and C-level appointments to usher in the company’s next phase of growth. Expanding the senior leadership team marks Korbyt’s most notable organizational development since the company received a strategic investment from Clearhaven Partners in July 2023.

As CFO of Korbyt, Stuart Mitchell calls on his deep experience working with technology and software companies to drive profitable growth and be a trusted partner to the wider leadership group. Mitchell is uniquely suited to his new role as CFO as an accredited member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, with deep C-level experience at several successful B2B software companies.

Newly appointed VP of marketing Christel Billault leads the strategic direction and execution of Korbyt’s marketing initiatives. With more than two decades of experience in B2B SaaS marketing, Billault brings a wealth of expertise to establish Korbyt’s leadership and drive growth through innovative and integrated marketing strategies. As VP of engineering, Adam Griffis leads the engineering team responsible for developing and expanding the Korbyt Anywhere platform. He comes to Korbyt by way of CommentSold, where he served as VP of engineering. In his new role as VP of product management, Travis Kemp leads the strategic vision and execution of Korbyt’s product portfolio. With a deep passion for developing innovative solutions, Kemp is dedicated to driving the next generation of Korbyt’s offerings, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of customers and the market. 

Planar Bolsters New England Sales Team

Planar welcomed Bill Copley as a regional account manager for the company's New England sales team. With more than 20 years in the AV industry, Copley brings a wealth of integrator and manufacturer sales experience with display technologies and control systems. His breadth of understanding equips him with insights and skills that will directly aid him in working with dealers to grow Planar's footprint in the region. Copley will cover Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Upstate New York. 

Powersoft Bolsters Global Team with Five New Hires

Powersoft has expanded its global team with the appointment of two new business development managers and three new solution engineers. With over 20 years of industry experience, Jonathan Wu, newly appointed business development manager for China, possesses a deep understanding of the pro-audio market. He is charged with enhancing the user experience and product knowledge for Chinese clients, as well as continue to raise Powersoft’s brand awareness in China. In his new role, Wu will be focusing on nurturing relationships with potential clients, partners, and stakeholders.

Jinfu Chen, business development manager for the Southeast Asian market, will focus on Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam ensuring growth objectives by creating direct relationships with key integrators and consultants and utilizing regular meetings and training sessions within the distribution network. Chen has an extensive background in the industry, having previously worked with Yamaha Commercial Audio and Audio-Technica, as well as a freelance sound engineer.

As a new solution engineer for the Chinese market, Michael Wu's plan is to collaborate with Powersoft’s partner EZPro Intl order to promote the application of innovative products in the Chinese market and explore their potential within specific market segments. This includes training, promotion, and technical support. 

In the U.K., new solution engineer Tom Bland—who has been around the pro-AV world since he was born and started his first role in the  education and application support team at d&b audiotechnik GB after graduating university—will be helping the sales team by offering training, demos, and technical help, as well as being directly available to Powersoft’s users and specifiers to help them better understand Powersoft’s offerings and providing them with support on how to get the right tool for the job.

Joe Byrne, whose industry experience includes more than 30 years in AV integration, live production, and manufacturing, joins the Powersoft U.S. team as solution engineer. Byrne will focus on assessing the immediate needs of Powersoft’s U.S. team, including day-to-day activities, product training, customer education and overall technical support systems.

QuickLink Expands Its U.S. Presence

QuickLink appointed two high-level personnel specifically for the United States and Canadian markets, including Andrew Takacs, who has been hired as head of sales, and Donny Oropeza as pre-sales engineer and customer success engineer. In addition, QuickLink recently opened its new U.S. office in San Antonio, TX, furthering its strategic expansion and continuous commitment to offering exemplary sales, service, and support to its customers, throughout the United States and Canada.

Takacs brings over 20 years of sales and business development experience to QuickLink. In this new role, he will drive sales in the U.S. and Canada, broadening QuickLink’s reach throughout those regions. In his previous roles at NewTek and Vizrt, Takacs led the development and execution of business strategies for top revenue-producing resellers in the broadcast and post-production industries. His expertise in relationship and long sales cycle management, as well as new business growth, will be invaluable as he leads the QuickLink sales team in North America.

Oropeza works in tandem with Takacs to support the sales channel, provide necessary technical expertise, and actively work to close business. Bringing 25 years of experience from Vizrt/NewTek, Oropeza’s career has seen him rise from corporate ranks. His deep understanding of technical support, sales engineering, and territory management will be beneficial to QuickLink’s U.S./Canadian initiatives.

Company News

New Innovation Park Announced for ISE 2025

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) unveiled its brand-new Innovation Park for ISE 2025. Centrally located in Congress Square, this dynamic initiative is set to take place on every show day from February 4-7, 2025, and promises to be an opportunity for startups to showcase breakthrough business ideas and connect with industry leaders. Innovation Park will include a dedicated Investors Lounge as well as a Pitching Stage programmed on all four days of the show by start-up venture capital experts Plug & Play.

Innovation Park will be the epicenter of entrepreneurship at ISE 2025. This new and dedicated space is crafted to support and amplify the efforts of startups – those companies in the early stages of operations with a unique product or service offering, who are looking to scale up quickly. Providing a unique opportunity to expand their capabilities through valuable connections with ISE’s influential professional audience key features of Innovation Park include:

• Exhibition Area: An exclusive space with promotional pods to showcase the latest innovations. This area aims to position startups in front of ISE’s influential professional audience, providing opportunities to meet and engage with potential buyers, suppliers, and investors.
• Pitching Stage: Managed by Plug and Play, one of the world's leading early-stage venture capital firms, the Innovation Park Pitching Stage offers startups a platform to present their innovations to a discerning audience of experts, investors, and business professionals.
• Investors Forum: An exclusive event on the first day of ISE 2025, designed to offer investors and startups additional exposure and opportunities to discuss our industry and trends.
• Matchmaking / Networking Lounge: Facilitates strategic connections between startups and potential partners or investors, enhancing collaborative opportunities.
• Hackathon: An exciting competition which will see industry experts and students working collaboratively to solve problems and develop innovative solutions in real-time. The winning teams will be announced on the final day of ISE.
• Startup Networking Evening Event: An informal, engaging networking event allowing startups to build relationships in a relaxed atmosphere.

EAW Names Sales Force as New Manufacturer’s Rep in Florida

Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) named Sales Force & Associates as its new manufacturer’s representative in Florida. Based in Hollywood, FL, Sales Force also serves the Southeast and Caribbean regions.

“The addition of such a forward-thinking company as Sales Force will bring a fresh approach to expanding EAW’s reach in Florida,” said TJ Smith, president of EAW. “With their deep understanding of pro audio, we’re very much looking forward to having them on our team.” 

With a staff that has over 50 years of widely diversified experience and knowledge in the pro audio, lighting, and video industry, Sales Force acts as an extension of the brands it represents, allowing the relationship between the dealer and manufacturer to grow successfully and effectively. 

Severtson Screens Names Phoenix Marketing Group New Representatives

Severtson Screens has appointed Lincolnton, N.C.-based Phoenix Marketing Group to represent the company’s home theater, commercial, and Pro AV lines in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions. Phoenix Marketing Group is a  Luxury Technology Manufacturer’s Representative, covering 20 states along the east coast with a team of uniquely handpicked individuals. PMG focused on lighting design, indoor and outdoor shading, smart automation, audio and video solutions, outdoor living spaces and acoustical treatments for residential, commercial, and industrial segments. 

Vision2 Marketing to Rep FOR-A in U.S. Market

As part of a more expansive push into the U.S. market, FOR-A partnered with Vision2 Marketing, a manufacturers’ rep for pro audio, video, lighting, and control. Vision2 will handle all lines of FOR-A video software and hardware from its growing line up of IP-based solutions to its popular video switchers, routing switchers, frame synchronizers, color correctors, signal processors, and video servers. V2 will support FOR-A in the southeastern, southern, and western U.S. states.

“We’ve recently expanded our staff and services in the U.S., and we’re thrilled to add FOR-A to our client roster at this time,” said Matt Bouck Partner and regional account manager, Vision2 Marketing. “We’ve been very impressed with their internal product development as well as new partner lines, such as the Alfalite LED displays and ClassX graphics. The new line up of software-based products including the SOAR-A live video production platform and the RDS Conductor resource sharing solution address issues our clients are asking about now. They’re looking for a seamless solution for multi-vendor, software-based live production. FOR-A is a well-known and respected brand for its quality engineering, durability and accessible price point. We look forward to a very long and successful relationship.”

Palmer Digital Group Moves into Larger Office Space

Palmer Digital Group has moved into a new 2,500-square-foot office space to accommodate the company’s rapid business growth over its first five years. The new space was redesigned from the ground up as an extension of the existing facility, with PDG’s previous office space vacated and returned to Palmer Digital Group’s parent company, Industrial Enclosure Corporation (IEC), for other business functions related to its electronics enclosure manufacturing operation.

Palmer Digital Group (PDG) worked with outside architects and contractors to design and prepare the new workspace, which includes four offices, five cubical spaces, one large meeting room and a cafeteria. The space was previously a storage space for an outside company, and PDG brought in various teams to raise walls, add flooring and run electrical among other needs to support business operations. PDG has retained the existing workshop and warehouse space where its digital menu boards, kiosks and other indoor/outdoor structures are designed and built, adding a new laser machine and robot welder to accelerate the manufacturing process.

The new space will remain the headquarters to all business functions including sales, finance and manufacturing, with plenty of room to accommodate new employees as jobs are created. That includes new engineering and high-level customer service positions that PDG are actively seeking to fill.

The SDVoE Alliance today announced Justin Kennington has resigned from his role as president, effective immediately, and introduced Stephane Tremblay as the new president of the nonprofit consortium, which includes technology providers collaborating to standardize the adoption of Ethernet to transport AV signals in Pro AV environments. 

In 2016, Kennington conceived and founded the SDVoE Alliance to drive a standards-based approach to AV technology. Under his leadership, the SDVoE Alliance has grown from a handful of visionary Founding Members—including Christie, NETGEAR, Semtech, and ZeeVee—to a global organization with more than 60 industry-leading companies representing the vast diversity of the Pro AV industry. The SDVoE Alliance has developed a robust technology, established strong brand awareness, and created a vibrant community of SDVoE adopters.

[One Standard to Rule Them All?]

“It is with mixed emotions that I have decided to step down to pursue new opportunities, personally and professionally,” said Kennington. “I am incredibly proud of the milestones, accomplishments, and growth of the SDVoE Alliance. I sincerely thank the SDVoE Alliance Board of Directors, the membership, and the staff for their support and dedication during my time as president."

Kennington welcomed Tremblay as president, calling him an industry trailblazer and technology visionary. "Stephane is a highly respected industry veteran with a deep understanding of and passion for SDVoE technology," he added. "Actually, he is personally responsible for my joining the team that created SDVoE in the first place! I am confident he will lead the SDVoE Alliance to even greater heights.”

“I’m honored to be appointed by the SDVoE Alliance Board of Directors as the president of the SDVoE Alliance," Tremblay said. "Over the last seven years, Justin and the SDVoE Alliance have collaborated to solve industry challenges, promote the SDVoE standard, and educate the market about the benefits of AV-over-IP. I am energized to build upon the foundation that Justin has established, and I look forward to the continued growth and success of the SDVoE Alliance.”

[On Visualization Technologies: SDVoE Alliance]

Tremblay is a familiar face to the organization, as he developed the technology that serves as the foundation for the SDVoE Alliance. With three decades of experience in the field of semiconductors and electronics, Tremblay designed the SDVoE Alliance’s IP-based system architecture to create a more flexible, reliable, and cost-effective solution compared to point-to-point connectivity and circuit switches. As a result, SDVoE technology is the only off-the-shelf solution that provides a complete, interoperable solution.

Rise, the advocacy group for gender diversity in broadcast media technology, has announced its newly appointed board of non-executive directors (NED). The addition of these talented individuals—Andy Beale, Claire Da Silva, Samantha Harrison, Namrata Sarmah, Charlotte Wheeler, and Tim Williams—will enhance Rise’s leadership team and support the organization's mission of advancing gender diversity in the broadcast media technology industry. 

The newly established board will be responsible for the management and governance of the Rise employees, including those of the Rise-Up Academy charity and the Rise Advisory Boards, as well as current and future initiatives. 

[Rise Awards 2022 Announces Woman of the Year Winner]

"We are delighted to welcome Claire, Sam, Namrata, Tim, Andy, and Charlotte to our board of non-executive directors," said Donna Smith, managing director of Rise. "Rise has grown substantially over the past few years, bringing mentoring, awards, program training, and awareness to women around the world. With chapters in North America, Europe, APAC, and now India, these new board members will provide Rise with strategic guidance and independent perspectives, contributing to our long-term growth and success." 

Andy Beale is a proven and experienced senior technology and operations leader, most recently responsible for BT Sport's broadcast infrastructure, operations roadmap, and innovation strategy. Beale is co-founder of the Rise-Up Academy, an award winning STEM schools program that aims to inspire the next generation to enter the media technology industry. He is also a SMPTE Fellow and was named Technology Leader of the Year at the 2021 IABM awards.

Claire Da Silva has a proven track record of building highly effective global teams and operating models in the broadcast and production space, driving productivity and efficiency of production capabilities. She is the current vice president of production services at DAZN, and was responsible for the virtual production offerings that enabled DAZN to create content from anywhere during the pandemic. 

With a background in finance, Samantha Harrison currently serves as the finance director at NEP Connect, and is responsible for shaping the company's strategic direction and financial trajectory. She also promotes careers in the broadcast industry and finance sector as a STEM Ambassador, supporting secondary school students with careers advice. 

Namrata Sarmah has a passion for education and is currently the chief product officer at INTO University Partnerships, a global higher education company. Continuing her commitment to education, she also sits on the board of The Open University Business School, advises Antler, an early stage VC firm, and is the founder of Women in Product (London).

[Pro AV Labor Pains]

Charlotte Wheeler is the director of the Broadcast Tech & Sport Group and event director of the U.K.’s only annual trade event, the Media Production & Technology Show. In her role, Wheeler manages a team of editorial, sales, and marketing experts, and has been part of many new successful launches over the last five years. Through her work, MPTS has been one of the only M&E industry-focused tradeshows to achieve a 50% gender split in content programming.

With more than 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry, Tim Williams is an experienced business leader and director. In 2018, he became the operations director at Argosy. He has a background in procurement and international logistics, and is comfortable working with clients on projects in the Middle East and Asia. Williams has held non-executive roles, acted as a mentor in the 30% Club, and served as chair of a BID group in Marlow. 

Partnerships were made and new hires were appointed. These companies made some Pro AV moves last week. 

SNA Displays Hires Richard Hill as New Director of Sales

Richard Hill, an experienced player in the audiovisual industry, joins SNA Displays’ sales division as director of sales. Based out of the company’s Atlanta office, Hill will focus on opportunities in the themed-entertainment market sector, support the SNA Displays’ Preferred Partner channel program, and manage other prospective business in the southeast United States.

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Hill joins SNA Displays with 18 years in the commercial audio-video and digital display industries, most recently as vice president of LED display solutions at Digital Projection, a manufacturer and distributor of laser projectors and digital display technology. Instrumental to the establishment and expansion of DPI’s LED division, Hill specializes in business development channel growth and project management with a foundation in marketing and applications engineering.

Throughout his career, Hill has cultivated meaningful connections with systems integrators, consultants, architects, content creators, influencers, and industry media. Sales and partner development highlights include IBM, Coca-Cola, Amazon, NASA, Six Flags, Universal, The Department of Homeland Security, the Smithsonian Institute, and numerous flagship higher education institutions. 

When not chasing the next big LED project, Hill enjoys recording and producing music, snow skiing, University of Georgia football, Atlanta Braves baseball, and spending time with his family and their golden retriever, Django.

Nanolumens Welcomes Rob Lamb as New CFO

Nanolumens recently hired Rob Lamb as chief financial officer (CFO), effective July 10, 2023. Lamb will be part of Nanolumens executive leadership team, reporting to chief executive officer, Ney Corsino. 

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Lamb comes to Nanolumens from Hodinkee, a New York based e-commerce and media company that specializes in the luxury watch industry, where he also served as CFO. During his tenure with Hodinkee, Lamb led the company through the acquisition of Crown & Caliber, established financial processes and controls and partnered with the executive team and key stakeholders to establish the growth strategy for the organization. 

Prior to his role with Hodinkee, Lamb spent nearly 20 years with Turner Broadcasting where he served in a variety of finance roles across the organization before concluding his career with Turner as the vice president of finance for Turner Sports, Turner Studios, and Content Distribution. In this capacity, Lamb led a team of finance professionals in the development and management of business strategies and operating budgets. 

Powersoft Expands Footprint in China

Miao Wang has joined Powersoft China as a solutions engineer in its new Beijing office.
 
Wang is the latest hire for Powersoft’s local operation, which recently relocated to the national capital from its previous office in Shenzhen. He will report directly to Abbu Hu, Powersoft’s chief representative officer in China.
 
Wang joins Powersoft from a local pro-audio equipment manufacturer, where he worked with clients to deliver professional sound solutions, introduce new products, and provide manufacturer support for important projects and installations. Previously, after studying professional audio at university, he worked as a sound engineer at a television station, handling live sound mixing and recording.
 
It was as a student that Wang first came across Powersoft’s amplifiers, which, he explains, are as renowned in China for their power, quality and efficiency as in the rest of the world. He says he is enthusiastic about bringing his pro-audio industry expertise to bear in his new role and spreading the word about the company’s industry leading hardware and software solutions with his Chinese colleagues.

Utelogy Corporation and Lightware Visual Engineering Join Forces to Improve Firmware Management

Utelogy Corporation and Lightware Visual Engineering, a longstanding Utelligence Strategic Alliance Partner, have announced an enhanced partnership. This advanced collaboration brings significant updates to Lightware’s API, and further integration with Utelogy’s driver for the Taurus UCX, delivering marked improvements in firmware management and upgrades for Lightware UCX devices.

This strengthened alliance is already delivering impressive results, as highlighted in a recent case study with Erasmus University Rotterdam. Engaging the comprehensive AV systems integration services and support of global provider Kinly, the university successfully transitioned traditional classrooms into dynamic hybrid learning environments, utilizing the power of both Utelogy and Lightware technology.

The robust functionality of the Taurus UCX, coupled with Utelogy’s innovative control solution, has facilitated a fluid, user-friendly learning environment for students and instructors alike. The one-cable connectivity, rapid switching, and smooth operation of USB-C technology, along with the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) capabilities, have been met with positive feedback across the University.

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Additionally, AV/IT campus engineers have leveraged the networked nature of the switcher, capitalizing on its remote diagnostic, control, and management capabilities. With the further integration of Utelogy software, the University now operates a campus-wide solution, enabling preemptive resolution of technical issues, maximizing device uptime, and providing room usage reports to optimize the efficiency of AV technology and venue usage.

A major benefit of this enhancement is the elimination of the need for manual updates to the Taurus, a crucial time and cost saving measure for institutions managing hundreds or even thousands of rooms and devices.

Both Utelogy and Lightware offer a solution that not only streamlines technical operations but also fosters an efficient, collaborative environment for users. This latest update reflects Utelogy’s and Lightware’s ongoing commitment to driving innovation in workspace management and AV technology, providing a seamless, scalable solution for educational institutions and organizations worldwide.

Korbyt Receives Significant Growth Investment from Clearhaven Partners

Korbyt has received a significant growth investment from Clearhaven Partners (“Clearhaven”), a dedicated software and technology-focused private equity firm based in Boston. The partnership with Clearhaven will accelerate Korbyt’s growth trajectory by expanding reseller and technology partnerships, facilitating customer support growth, as well as supporting additional innovation in Korbyt’s industry-leading, cloud-native SaaS platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The company’s cloud-based Korbyt Anywhere SaaS platform is a next-generation technology platform for corporate omni-channel communications and content management, enabling organizations to create and distribute compelling messages and visualize mission-critical data to boost contact center agent and frontline worker productivity. Korbyt is the workplace experience technology partner of choice for 400 global enterprises, including 60 of the Fortune 100 across many industries, including financial services, manufacturing & distribution, healthcare, retail, insurance and higher education.

The Korbyt Anywhere platform enables content and data to be seamlessly shared across multiple channels such as digital signage, employee desktops, mobile devices, meeting rooms and more. Korbyt’s customers benefit from a single, highly configurable platform with robust native integrations and machine learning technology that empowers communications, IT, marketing and operations teams to visualize real-time content and better engage with both employees and customers.

Clearhaven Partners is a growth-oriented software and technology private equity investment firm. Clearhaven invests exclusively in software and software-driven companies across major thematic areas driving business software demand. Clearhaven brings experience and operating support to its portfolio companies to help them scale profitably and realize their next-stage potential.

“We are thrilled to partner with Clearhaven Partners in this next chapter of our company’s growth,” said Ankur Ahlowalia, CEO of Korbyt. “Clearhaven’s deep software industry expertise and shared vision for growth align well with our strategic objectives. Together, Korbyt and Clearhaven will accelerate momentum as the leading provider of cloud-native digital signage and corporate communications software, further invest in the product portfolio and our experienced and passionate team, and continue exceeding customer expectations through best-in-class customer support.”

“Clearhaven’s investment in Korbyt marks an exciting starting line for the next era of the Company’s growth and innovation,” commented Michelle Noon, co-founder and managing partner of Clearhaven. “We were impressed with Korbyt’s product vision and success in bringing a true cloud-first approach to address the digital communication demands of the modern workplace. Our alignment with Ankur and the management team underpins our enthusiasm for this partnership and investment.”

McAfee & Taft acted as legal counsel to Korbyt and Virgo Capital, who remains a minority investor in the business. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Clearhaven Partners in the transaction.

Airtame has appointed Dan Deem to vice president of sales (Americas) and Peter Kristensen to vice president of sales (EMEA). Both hires signify Airtame’s investment in expanding its global network and supporting efforts to provide top quality collaboration tools for offices and educational institutions around the world. 

“I look forward to contributing to Airtame’s continuous path of growth in the Americas and reinforcing its strong reputation as a responsive and technology-forward collaboration company,” said Deem. “I believe customer success and satisfaction should be key drivers in every step of our business development and growth strategies, and I’m proud to be working with a company that shares those same values.” 

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Deem, a U.S. Navy combat veteran, has over 35 years of sales experience and has held leadership roles at major technology companies including Panasonic, Apple, and Oracle. Prior to joining Airtame, Deem was the senior vice president of Boxlight’s Enterprise and Government team, responsible for building their go-to-market strategy for North America across their entire product portfolio while implementing distribution, channel, and sales strategies. 

With a solid footprint in the EMEA market already, the appointment of Kristensen marks Airtame's further expansion and highlights the opportunity to develop partner relationships. Kristensen will work collaboratively with the entire Airtame team, with a specific focus on leading and growing the partner distribution network across the EMEA region.

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Kristensen comes to Airtame with over 25 years of experience in the IT and technology industries, having worked in multiple positions at major companies including HP, Acer, and Panasonic. He brings knowledge of the reseller and end customer market based on former roles in sales, purchasing, product, and marketing. “I’m looking forward to beginning my tenure with Airtame and working with a talented global team to create value for customers, resellers, and the company,” said Kristensen. “It’s an exciting time to be joining Airtame, and I’m honored to be a part of this growth journey.” 

Airtame’s new hires join following the announcement of the company’s most recent investment round during which it raised over 2.5 million USD. The capital will support Airtame’s ongoing transformation and global market expansion as the leading all-in-one solution for shared screens in business and education, challenging the norms in the AV industry with a newly introduced hardware-enabled SaaS platform.

Visionary  has appointed Richard McPherson as executive director of strategic accounts. In this role, McPherson will build customer relationships and support business development with the industry’s fastest-growing, medium to large-scale integration companies.

With nearly 40 years of experience, McPherson has worked with many Pro Av organizations, including Crestron Electronics, 1 Touch Control, Momentum Group, and Winsted Corporation, and understands the unique challenges and priorities for medium to large-scale integrators. McPherson will manage key business relationships to better understand the unique challenges facing the industry's fastest-growing integrators.

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“Visionary has grown immensely over the past few years. Their agile and dynamic approach has provided a unique opportunity to build personal relationships with their customers,” said McPherson. “In my role, I look forward to strengthening and building relationships with many key integrators. We recognize the importance of medium- to large-scale integrators. As a result, we want to take our relationships to the next level and work closely with them to understand their pain points and how Visionary might solve them.

“I’ve known Jordan Christoff [chief technology officer for Visionary] for decades. We previously worked together, so I’m excited to reunite with him. He is a true pioneer and innovator of AV over IP technology. Visionary is at the forefront of AV-over-IP development and it’s an exciting time for Visionary to solve many of the unique challenges of today’s customers.”

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“We are thrilled to welcome Richard to our growing team,” said Scott Freshman, chief operations officer for Visionary. “Richard is highly regarded in the industry and brings excellent business development experience and strategic vision to Visionary. Over the last two decades, Visionary has become a trusted and reliable professional AV brand. We have grown immensely with many unique installations and monumental projects. Naturally, as part of our continued growth, we are invested in strategic hires to strengthen business relationships with many of the industry’s fastest-growing integrators.”

Visionary’s latest hire is the next strategic step in expanding business development to support the AV industry. Despite global supply chain issues, Visionary continues to deliver feature-rich solutions to meet increased demand. Visionary is committed to providing reliable, feature-rich, problem-solving solutions to support integrators, consultants, and end users. The latest hire emphasizes Visionary’s investment in experienced talent to address accelerated growth. 

PPDS recently appointed experienced AV sales specialist, Kristen O’Connor, to its North America management team.

Part of an accelerated recruitment drive to increase staff numbers by 50% in North America this year, O’Connor joins as the new sales operations manager, NA.

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Based in Oregon, and with a career entering its twelfth successful year, O’Connor has held a series of leadership roles at several technology companies. Reporting to Joe King, vice president hospitality at PPDS, O’Connor's role covers a broad range of important responsibilities, including driving revenue, providing data-driven insights, pipeline development, management and forecasting, performance metric analysis, and sales process optimization. In addition, O’Connor will also be providing sales data management, communication, and tools administration to ensure increased efficiency and productivity, while helping to improve the sales onboarding process and provide ongoing training on sales tools.

“I am delighted to have joined PPDS and to be part of the company’s journey as it continues to set a new benchmark for the Pro AV industry, delivering truly world leading, highly innovative solutions together with unrivalled customer support," O'Connor said.

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“As PPDS continues to grow rapidly, we need to ensure we have a solid, scalable structure and sales process," she continued. "My ambition is to build out a successful operations team that will help propel the success of the overall sales team, support strategic initiatives, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. I believe my ability to recognize and prioritize challenges, develop ideas for potential solutions, and then execute them with thoughtfulness and a focus on collaboration makes me an effective asset to any team.”

Strengthening its ability to support partners in all areas of the country, ClearOne has appointed of Muckle Sales to represent ClearOne’s complete portfolio of professional conferencing, communications, and collaboration solutions in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.

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“Since 1973 Muckle Sales has demonstrated its ability to provide commercial audiovisual system solutions that meet the needs of partner integrators and their end-user customers throughout the Pacific Northwest,” ClearOne CEO Derek Graham said. “Their success in helping partners to grow their business is now going to be further enhanced with the addition of ClearOne’s award-winning professional solutions to the company’s portfolio of manufacturers."

“Our mission is to provide an expanding dealer base with the latest in technology and support that they need to thrive in the constantly changing, increasingly important commercial AV industry," said Muckle Sales president Dan Muckle.

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“Our success is based on our commitment to work closely every day with salespeople, training and educating them, and most importantly, making the maximum number of end user calls with them. We are experienced sales professionals committed to the customers we serve across all vertical markets,” he continued. “We look forward to presenting the ClearOne portfolio to all of our customers.”

BrightSign has appointed Misty Chalk to the role of vice president of sales, Americas. Chalk joined BrightSign in 2018 to manage federal government sales for the mid-Atlantic region, and most recently served as director of U.S. sales and federal before stepping into her current role in January of this year.

“Misty’s enthusiasm and tenacity have served her well at BrightSign since joining us five years ago. Successfully managing our government sales organization first at the regional level and then countrywide demonstrated that she doesn’t shy away from taking on big challenges,” said BrightSign CEO Jeff Hastings. “We are fortunate that Misty is embracing her new responsibilities, and I have every confidence that she will thrive in her new role.”

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Chalk’s elevation to head sales in the Americas is part of a broader realignment across the sales organization. In January 2023, Frank Pisano concluded his tenure at BrightSign to accept the CEO role at Bluefin International. Bluefin has long been a close partner of BrightSign, integrating BrightSign media players into a growing portfolio of finished, frameless and countertop displays. Upon Pisano’s departure from BrightSign, Chalk was elevated to vice president of sales, Americas, and Tim Valley was also appointed director of commercial sales.

“Throughout my time at BrightSign, I’ve been fortunate to work closely with the best sales team in the business. Frank set a great example of what it takes to manage a high-performing sales team, and I’m humbled but also very excited to carry the torch as we continue to grow the business in 2023 and beyond,” commented Chalk on her recent appointment.

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BrightSign is poised for strong growth as the company continues to expand its new Series 5 portfolio of digital signage media players. Most recently, BrightSign took the wraps off its HD5 and LS5 players, which join the previously announced XC5 and XD5 players as the newest members of the Series 5 family of products.

Grass Valley appointed of Tim Banks as chief revenue officer (CRO), of Marek Kielczewski as chief technology officer (CTO), and of Jim Kirkland as senior vice president global delivery and support. These appointments reinforce Grass Valley’s accelerated transformation of the business and its long-term vision to accompany media and entertainment organizations in their digital transformation.

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“I’m delighted that Grass Valley’s leadership is strengthened by the experience and market knowledge that Tim, Marek, and Jim bring to the team. They will be pivotal in reinforcing GV’s customer-centric culture and leading our ongoing business transformation”, said Louis Hernandez Jr., CEO and executive hairman at Grass Valley. “We will continue to lead in media technologies and digital workflows, to create the future of media production, and to be the best partner for our clients as well as for channel and alliance partners”.

With over 25 years of experience in the media and entertainment space—most recently as vice president of sales EMEA at Grass Valley—Banks has been in the interim CRO role for the past six months. Over his years at Grass Valley, Banks has established an exceptional sales and pre-sales presence in-region and has achieved impressive rates of revenue and market-share growth. “I’m very proud of GV’s past and very excited by our future as we continue to help our customers create new revenue streams and drive operational efficiencies, leading the way through the media and entertainment industry’s ongoing digital transformation," said Banks.

Marek Kielczewski comes to Grass Valley with over 20 years of industry experience in running engineering organizations in the broadcast, media, and entertainment segments. Prior to joining Grass Valley, Kielczewski co-founded TVCoins, a streaming media startup. He was previously also CTO of SeaChange where he led the consolidation and transformation of the global R&D organization. “I am thrilled to be joining Grass Valley at such a pivotal time—not only in their journey, but the industry’s as well. Our new product strategy will have an incredible impact on our current and future customers and will realize the full potential of AMPP— it’s truly an exciting time for all of us," said Kielczewski.

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Jim Kirkland brings over 15 years of experience of senior customer-facing positions to his new role, having worked in service and pre-sales in Omnibus, Miranda, and Grass Valley. “I look forward to elevating Grass Valley’s excellent reputation for customer service even further as we transform our Delivery and Support structure and continue to help our customers and partners succeed”, said Kirkland.

“I’m delighted that Grass Valley’s leadership is strengthened by the experience and market knowledge that Tim, Marek, and Jim bring to the team. They will be pivotal in reinforcing GV’s customer-centric culture and leading our ongoing business transformation”, said Louis Hernandez Jr., CEO and executive chairman at Grass Valley. “We will continue to lead in media technologies and digital workflows, to create the future of media production, and to be the best partner for our clients as well as for channel and alliance partners”.

Clear One and its Board of Directors has appointed Derek Graham as chief executive officer (CEO), effective January 24. 2023.

Graham was appointed to the role of interim CEO in May 2022. "Derek Graham has provided strong and decisive leadership in the last few months and navigated the company through a particularly challenging time," said Eric Robinson, chairman of the Board of Directors. "I am confident that Derek will continue to guide ClearOne through the next phase of growth. The Board and I are delighted to appoint Derek as ClearOne's CEO."

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Graham joined ClearOne in 2003 as a lead engineer and rose through the ranks. He has overseen the development and introduction of multiple generations of professionally installed audio and video conferencing, video streaming, wireless microphone, digital signage, and camera products. Graham has authored 13 patents, including many patents that are critical to ClearOne's success.

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“I am very grateful for this opportunity and thank the Board of Directors for expressing faith in my abilities to steer ClearOne to the next level. ClearOne is a truly unique and talented organization with a proud history of pioneering product innovation. I look forward to continuing my work with this amazing team to deliver great results to our investors, channel partners, end users, and other stakeholders," noted Graham.

Snap One recently announced a new exclusive distribution partnership with Fine Sounds APAC, a subsidiary of the audio manufacturer McIntosh Group, to increase availability and market awareness of Snap One solutions throughout China and Hong Kong that began on January 1, 2023.

According to Adam Merlino, Snap One vice president and general manager for the Asia/Pacific region, the strategic distribution partnership significantly strengthens Snap One’s presence in the region. “Our partnership with Fine Sounds APAC will help increase local knowledge of our solutions, and expand accessibility of our leading automation, audio and video, security and networking solutions for Partners in China and Hong Kong,” Merlino emphasized.

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In 2023, Fine Sounds APAC will invest in multiple logistics centers in Hong Kong and mainland China to provide timely availability and shipments of Snap One solutions across the region.

The partnership also includes several local support initiatives—including the opening of a Control4 training center to efficiently onboard Partners, and an experience center to host events and demos for architects, builders, designers and specifiers/consultants.

“Our commitment to the region is stronger than ever, and we look forward to the continued growth of Fine Sounds APAC’s dealer education and support initiatives,” Merlino added. “Given the long history of admiration for high-end audio in China and Hong Kong and the storied reputation of McIntosh, they are the ideal partner to represent our brands and help drive new business opportunities.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Snap One in China. Our complimentary brands and products will provide our retailers and installers a compelling offer supported by continued training and marketing investment," Lionel Nunney, McIntosh Group CCO added. "We look forward to a long-term partnership with Snap One.”

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The Snap One sales, sales engineers, support, and marketing teams currently operating in the area will remain unchanged and will take up positions with McIntosh Group.

For more information, visit the Snap One Booth 2D400 in the Residential & Smart Building at ISE 2023.

Megan Zeller, senior director, business development, Peerless-AV, was recently elected for one of six seats on the Digital Signage Federation Board, marking the highest number of female board members on the DSF Board in years.

As senior director of business development, Zeller leads Peerless-AV’s dvLED video wall systems, integrated kiosks, and outdoor AV sales initiatives in the hospitality and gaming verticals. She is responsible for helping her clients develop brand standards with digital signage solutions that are representative of the specific style and quality of the company.

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Zeller will take these roles and responsibilities into her new role on the DSF Board to be a larger voice in the digital signage industry with the goal of providing education, networking, and advocacy to continue to innovate and move the growth of the industry forward.

“We are immensely proud of Megan Zeller being elected to the DSF Board,” said Nick Belcore, executive vice president, Peerless-AV. “Her passion and dedication to the field makes her the perfect addition to this board to join in the efforts and contributions to the AV industry and work towards a better, more innovative tomorrow.”

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The full board will be gathering with members in Louisville, Kentucky on February 15th for the first DSF Meet ‘n Mingle of 2023. The event will feature panel discussions, tabletops featuring products and information from Advisory Council Members.

Uniguest has promoted Matt Goche to chief executive officer from his role as chief operating officer, taking over responsibility from Jeff Hiscox following a highly successful six-year tenure.

Hiscox will move into the chairman role on Uniguest’s board of directors and act as a strategic advisor to the Uniguest executive team, while Goche steps up to take responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the company and driving revenue growth.

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“This is the right time to make this change both for me personally and the company," Hiscox commented. "I feel the executive leadership team is well positioned to take the company forward.

“With setting up our operations to support our organic growth, supporting the commercial teams to drive top-line revenue, and with bringing on new companies through his tireless efforts on acquisitions and integration, Matt has been instrumental in growing Uniguest and I’ve no doubt he will continue to be successful in his new role.”

“Under Jeff’s outstanding leadership and guidance, our global business is strong and well positioned," Goche added. "He hands over the reins at an exciting time for the business, and I am thrilled to be leading the team forward as we enter the next phase of growth at Uniguest.

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“2023 and beyond are going to be important years for our industry and for our business, and I am proud and motivated to lead an amazing group of people at Uniguest.”

Supporting Goche in his new role, Mike Rethage joins the Uniguest executive team, promoted to chief operations officer from his role as executive vice president of Uniguest’s Senior Living division. Heading up the R&D teams, Jeff Stonebrook is also promoted to the Uniguest executive team as chief technology officer from his previous role as executive vice president of software engineering.

Bluefin International has hired long-time industry veteran, Frank Pisano as CEO.  Pisano is an experienced leader in the audiovisual, digital signage, and technology infrastructure industries, and brings 20-plus years of client leadership, strategic sales, operational know-how, and revenue performance to the Bluefin team.  

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“The Bluefin team has gained a champion whose energy and vision is contagious," said Bluefin owner, Randy Guy. "I’ve admired Frank’s drive, cultural impact, and team-forward approach and know his determination and abilities will propel Bluefin to a new level. We are ecstatic to have him on our team and look forward to all the great things 2023 has in store for our organization."

Tasked with leading the company into a new era, Pisano will advance the strategic positioning and differentiation of the company, so its competitive edge is razor sharp. Bluefin is known for its customizable solutions for signage and digital communications, and Pisano will prioritize ensuing the offering is more accessible to new markets/verticals, new channels, and offer a fresh take on partner strategy.

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“I’m thrilled to lead Bluefin to the next level with a go to market strategy that includes engineering innovation and unleashing key insights that will make our brand a superpower that generates demand with end-users and partners alike,” said Pisano. 

Hall Technologies has added five new staff members. Hall’s global team now includes Daniel Adams as technical support manager for the EMEA region, Brandon Gramse comes aboard as senior electronics engineer along with Rey Aviles as support manager/applications engineer, for Inside Sales Hall added Mario Becerra as an account manager, and lastly Victor Vasquez was added as a customer service technician.

“We love the tremendous growth opportunities our new staff members bring to Hall," said says vice president of sales and marketing, Hal Truax. "The company’s trajectory has been on a steady rise for more than two years now beginning with our rebrand in 2020. The purpose of rebranding was to put a greater focus on the human centric products and the global solutions Hall is developing. For more than three decades Hall had been focused on creating singular products, but in today’s current climate, the demand for new end-to-end solutions has become more apparent. The culmination of our rebranding, GLI’s Investment into Hall earlier this year, and the addition of new members to our team, helps solidify Hall’s plans for product expansion."

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Adams has worked as both an integrator and at a distributor/manufacturer level within the AV industry for over 15 years. He is joining Hall Technologies to bolster the technical expertise outside of the United States and bring in-territory pre and post-sales support. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering and is highly qualified in video distribution.

Bacerra was born and raised in Dallas. He has 20-plus years of sales experience. Outside the office, he’s a huge Green Bay Packers fan, and enjoys spending time with his family, producing music, antiquing and treasure hunting collectibles.

Aviles has previous experience in corporate AV and in the live events industry managing concerts and film festivals. Rey will be the new tech support manager/engineer to assist in organizing and executing QC/QA processes.

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Gramse is a 25-plus year veteran in the AV industry with his most recent position at GenComm. His primary responsibilities at Hall will include leading an engineering team with developing, managing, and supporting UCC and AVoIP products.

Vasquez will be a key point of contact to respond to technical service requests, troubleshoot technical issues, and report the resolution back to management.

Pliant Technologies has appointed Vision2 West Marketing as its Manufacturers’ Representative for Southern California.

“The Southern California market is very important to us, and partnering with Vision2 West puts Pliant Technologies in a great position to increase brand awareness and market share,” said Gary Rosen, vice president of global sales for Pliant Technologies. “Vision2 West’s seasoned team of sales and support professionals will help ensure that all current and future customers receive optimal customer service and support, and we look forward to working with the Vision2 team.”

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Vision2 West will represent Pliant’s entire suite of products, including its CrewCom and MicroCom intercom lines, along with its complete line of headsets and accessories. Pliant’s CrewCom is an innovative, professional wireless system featuring excellent 7KHz voice quality with 4-conference or 2-conference full-duplex Radio Packs that can select from up to 64 different conferences for each user, and a host of user-friendly features. It is available in two frequency bands (900MHz and 2.4GHz). Unlike a matrix-based architecture, CrewCom is based on a decentralized network platform. CrewCom wireless provides proven, reliable license-free communications, and with the newly released High Density mode offers the highest available user count of any wireless intercom system.

Pliant’s MicroCom line of wireless intercom (MicroCom M and MicroCom XR) are multi-user, full-duplex professional wireless intercom solutions for applications where high-quality audio, excellent range, and low cost are essential. MicroCom delivers the performance and affordability often needed for smaller houses of worship facilities, videographers, corporate events, schools, and more.

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“We are excited to add Pliant Technologies to our portfolio of premium manufacturers of pro audio products,” said Mick Beisel, CEO, Vision2 Marketing. “When we opened our Vision2 West office in Southern California, we wanted to make sure we aligned ourselves with top manufacturers of industry products. Pliant’s reputation throughout the industry speaks for itself, and we look forward to promoting and selling Pliant in this busy territory.”

“The decision to partner with Pliant was an easy one,” said Vision2 West, Southern California partner, Lee Carpenter. “For us, Pliant provides the ability for a wider array of customers to get into wireless at a lower price point. It’s always a good fit when we can find one brand that can cover our entire customer base from the smallest to the largest.”

DAS Audio appointed Michael Palmer to the position of vice president of sales-pro audio. Palmer will be integral to the efforts of expanding the company’s sales channel through its representative and partner network. He will also have a direct impact on the company’s initiatives to grow its presence with products such as the recently introduced LARA cardioid line array system in addition to other forthcoming product groups—all with the goal of increasing DAS Audio’s brand recognition. He is based remotely out of San Antonio, TX.

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“I have been extremely fortunate to have a career in music and sound," Palmer said. "From my earliest days as a product specialist for Guitar Center throughout my various tenures with some of our industry’s leading equipment manufacturers, I have gained a well-balanced perspective on the ins and outs of our business. I like to think that I have a solid understanding of the concerns facing both equipment manufacturers and customers alike, and I believe this experience will enable me to make a solid contribution to DAS Audio. I look forward to being part of the team that takes DAS to its next level of success.”

Palmer brings a wealth of experience to his new position with DAS Audio. Before joining DAS, he served as director of sales for Eastern Acoustics Works (EAW) of Whitinsville MA, where he oversaw the bilateral product sales and distribution efforts of EAW and dB Technologies. Prior to his time at EAW, Palmer served as the head of sales for the United States and Canada at L-Acoustics of Westlake Village, CA. In this capacity, he was charged with meeting and exceeding sales targets for the company’s product line. Palmer also worked for American Music And Sound of Newbury Park, CA where he spearheaded the sales efforts for the company’s Allen & Heath brand.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Jaime Villegas, general manager at DAS Audio of America, is equally enthusiastic about Palmer’s addition to the company team. “Michael brings an impressive track record to his new position with DAS, and I have complete confidence that he will be a significant contributor to our efforts. His background has an ideal blend of both sales and product knowledge, and I am confident he will be a tremendous asset to our company going forward. All of us at DAS Audio welcome him aboard.”

VITEC has appointed Kevin Dowd to the role of regional business development director, APAC. Based in Hong Kong and fluent in Mandarin, French, and Japanese, Dowd will use his linguistic dexterity, economic acumen, and extensive experience across a range of vertical markets to help to drive VITEC’s growth.

“As VITEC continues its growth in APAC, we are pleased to welcome Kevin Dowd to the team,” said Jamie Hind, regional director, APAC at VITEC. “It’s an exciting time for us in the region and Kevin brings a huge amount of experience and knowledge with him—we are looking forward to seeing him help drive the long-term success of VITEC across Asia.”

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Dowd has more than 25 years of business development experience across China and the broader APAC region, where he has worked for international technology companies including MultiDyne, Accord Networks, RGB Networks, Broadstream, Haivision, Polycom, deCarta (now part of Uber) and Viewcast. He has directly sold and managed multimillion dollar projects in markets including telecoms, healthcare, military, finance, government, broadcasting, education, and public relations.

Having lived in Shanghai and Hong Kong since 1995, Dowd has established a strong network of some of the largest broadcasters, government agencies, financial institutions and telecommunications service providers in APAC, and at the highest levels of local and central governments in China and throughout Asia.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

With a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, and an MSc in Economics with distinction from the University of Bristol, Dowd is an expert on the political economy of China, having held positions with the Shanghai Institute of Economic Development and Jiaotong University in Shanghai.

Electrosonic Group has appointed Andrew Menendez as vice president of operations for its systems integration (SI) U.S. line of business. In this newly created position, Menendez will lead operations for the system integration line of business, including project management, engineering, fabrication, installation, testing, and quality control. 

Menendez will lead operations in the United States to improve quality, drive operational efficiencies, and improve customer satisfaction. Menendez brings decades of audiovisual experience and operational excellence from AV industry companies. He has been with Electrosonic for the past two years, and in his new role will be part of the global operations leadership team reporting to COO Steve Chambers.  

[Electrosonic, HOLOPLOT Partner to Create Immersive Audio Environments]

"I'm excited to have Andrew in this new role," said Chambers. "He has been a key part of our global operations team and brings a wealth of experience in operations, developing high performing teams and creating a culture of excellence. He will be a great asset as we continue to grow our business." 

Menendez has more than seven years of leadership and operations experience, providing oversight to iconic projects like Summit One Vanderbilt in New York, Illuminarium in Atlanta, Kennedy Space Center and Newark airport, to name just a few.  

"I'm excited to be taking on this new role at Electrosonic," said Menendez. "It's an exciting opportunity to create high-quality and consistent delivery experiences for our customers regardless of their location. We will continue to delivery high quality projects and deliver the best in immersive experiences."  

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights]

"I am delighted to announce that Andrew Menendez has accepted this new position” said Ewan Smith, president and managing director of the Electrosonic Group. "Andrew's wealth of experience in quality execution and operations will be a tremendous asset at Electrosonic. He will be based in Orlando at our headquarters and center of critical fabrication and logistics operations. This role is of significance as we continue to scale the company with velocity, speed and direction." 

Menendez’s SI operations team of over 100 Electrosonic employees are based in Orlando, New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Northern California locations. 

PPDS has appointed Pro AV industry veteran Nick Begleries, as its new commercial vice president, North America.

Adding more than 25 years of top-level senior AV experience to the steadily expanding PPDS U.S. team, Begleries is a recognized and respected leader in the AV industry, heading up and guiding forward some of the world’s largest and most successful display manufacturers during an already illustrious career. His specialist knowledge of the Pro AV market and proven management skills, backed by an impeccable track record delivering substantial and often record-breaking growth, made him a standout choice for this business-critical position.

[PPDS Donates a Pair of Philips Displays to Help International Eye Care]

Begleries New Role for PPDS

Begleries will play a crucial role in PPDS’ accelerating phase of growth in the United States, with the target of achieving the business’ ambitions to achieve a top three position in the North American marketplace.

Reporting to Franck Racapé, head of global commercial at PPDS, Begleries will be responsible for all aspects of PPDS North American business. This includes, but is not limited to, defining the mid and long-term sales strategy for North America, setting and achieving quarterly sales targets, managing the supply chain, service and post-sales, and driving greater awareness of the PPDS brand and its solutions. Education, retail, hospitality, corporate, healthcare, and transportation are among focus markets, with Philips Professional TVs, Interactive Displays, dvLED, Digital Signage and the company’s exclusive remote display management cloud platform, Wave, all key product categories.

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“Our ambitions for Philips professional displays in the North American market are extremely high and we have been looking for a profile combining great industry knowledge, strong manufacturing experience across all our product categories (Digital Signage, Interactive, dvLED and Hospitality TV), who already has a track record of driving growth and developing an expanding team," Racapé said.

“Nick ticked all these boxes," he continued, "and I am really pleased to start our collaboration, with extremely exciting times ahead. With Nick on board, we aim to accelerate our growth exponentially in what will be our most strategic growth region for the coming 2-3 years.”

Begleries will also oversee the company’s move into a new U.S. head office and globally connected showroom, as well as executing plans to increase staff numbers by 50% in 2023 in order to better support customers and enlarge reach across all verticals, leveraging on PPDS extensive product portfolio.

In addition to leading the North American team, Begleries will work closely with the wider global organization, using his knowledge and expertise to support senior management operating in the company’s other 158 regions.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights]

“I feel that all my previous experience has led me to this position, and I am incredibly motivated and excited about what we can go on to achieve in North America," Begleries said. "PPDS has demonstrated a strong understanding of market direction and what Pro AV integrators and end users need from a manufacturer. As a result, PPDS has already proven to be a highly disruptive force in North America and in the wider global market, bringing truly world-leading, uniquely innovative solutions to the market, when the market needs them. With TPV, R&D and resources are unparalleled, all of which provide incredible benefits to customers from the initial tender process to post-installation support.

“I’m honored to become part of the PPDS journey and to be entrusted with leading the North American business to even greater heights.”

German audio technology and solutions company d&b audiotechnik has appointed Jan Biermann, head of research and development at d&b, to the board of directors of the Open Control Architecture (OCA) Alliance. The OCA Alliance is a non-profit corporation formed to promote and support the AES70 standard for Open Control Architecture as a system control standard for professional applications.

The Alliance, which was founded in 2011, supports the development and evolution of the AES70 standard and promotes its adoption through marketing, education and training. In addition, the Alliance develops new AES70 revisions and related materials to increase the value and usability of AES70 as an interoperability tool for the media systems industry.

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“d&b has been a supporter of the Alliance since its founding, hence I am very excited for the opportunity to join the OCA Board of Directors and reaffirm d&b’s commitment to OCA and the open public standard for media network control,” commented Biermann. “AV systems often work within complex networked environments. As AV media networking expands, Open Control Architecture assures compatibility with existing and future transport protocols.”

“d&b is a founding member and long-time contributor to the OCA Alliance, and on behalf of the organization, we are pleased to welcome Jan to the board of directors,” commented Bill Scott, OCA Alliance president. “We look forward to bringing Jan’s insights and experience to the organization to continue to drive the AES70 standard and OCA ecosystem.”

[Bill Burr Takes the Stage at Fenway Park with d&b audiotechnik]

Biermann has been at d&b audiotechnik since August 2017. Prior to joining d&b he held positions at NewLogic Technologies and Bosch. Biermann’s position on the Board, working with existing board members Bill Scott of Bosch and Simon Jones of Focusrite, is effective immediately.

Genelec  has deepened its commitment to the AV market by appointing Kati Pajukallio as AV business manager and Sami Mäkinen as AV sales manager for Finland. These new appointments will bring Genelec even closer to its key customers and help drive continued growth in both international and domestic AV markets.  

“Since the launch of our Smart IP networked loudspeaker family in 2019, our profile in the AV market has grown significantly and we’re totally committed to further expansion," said Genelec business development director Ken Kimura. "The experience that Kati and Sami bring to the company will help us to both sustain our strong AV presence in the Nordic region, and significantly drive our global AV sales and marketing efforts. We see a very bright future for us in this extremely important market segment.” 

[Kajaani University, Genelec Collaborate in Creation of Audio Production Hub]

Pajukallio joined Genelec last year, bringing with her a wealth of AV industry experience, having previously worked in marketing communications roles for Electrosonic and Audico Systems, both highly regarded integrators. As AV business manager, she will now lead Genelec’s global AV installation business, helping to develop the company’s international presence by developing its AV portfolio and partner network. As well as strengthening Genelec’s reach and relationships with customers, Pajukallio’s strong marketing background will be fundamental in helping to shape the company’s profile in this key market segment.  

“I’m looking forward to strengthening the co-operation with our fantastic global distributor and integrator network, providing customer-oriented solutions and support together with our professional AV team,” commented Pajukallio.

Mäkinen has been a key part of the Genelec sales management team since 2007 and has concentrated exclusively on the AV market for the last seven years. As Finnish AV sales manager, Mäkinen will handle pre-sales and sales pipeline management, account management and local marketing co-operations, and will look to build on Genelec’s very strong presence in the premium AV installation market in Finland, increasing the levels of cooperation with local AV integrators and installers.  

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights]

Mäkinen will work closely with sales engineer Henri Ulmanen, who will continue his important role in the Finnish AV team by focusing on sales channel education, technical sales support and internal R&D co-operation.  

“I´m very excited to be joining the Finnish team once more," said Mäkinen. "The connection and communication between us and our partners are key to successful co-operations, and I can’t wait to start building closer relationships with them.”  

Jetbuilt recently welcomed Jonathan Breckon-Rowe to the team as EMEA manager, bringing extra energy to their ambitious global strategy. Breckon-Rowe, former chief technology officer at Kramer, brings with him over 25 years of industry knowledge and is adding renewed momentum to Jetbuilt’s product roadmap. Having held key roles in leading AV companies, Breckon-Rowe’s appointment is a clear signal of exciting future growth for Jetbuilt.

[Jetbuilt Added Technical Data Fields to the Project Builder—What This Means for You]

“We’re delighted to have Jonathan on board,” commented Jetbuilt CEO, Paul Dexter. “His profound experience of AV technology alongside his industry relationships have added a new breadth of expertise to the Jetbuilt team and we see this new appointment as a huge step in the right direction for our global expansion strategy.”

Based in California, Jetbuilt products empower AV, IT, and security professionals to manage complex projects, proposals, and client portfolios with ease thanks to their powerful yet easy-to-use technology. The onboarding of Breckon-Rowe as EMEA manager reinforces the company’s plans to drive international brand recognition and sales.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Having occupied key roles within companies such as Kramer, Breckon-Rowe was quick to identify this role within Jetbuilt as a great opportunity. “The capabilities of this software to streamline the installation process and workflow of AV professionals is industry-changing," he said. "It’s no overstatement to say that the technology created by Jetbuilt is the future of the professional AV industry. I’m thrilled to be a part of such a transformative mission.”

Visionary appointed Jack Ericson as director of Australia and New Zealand. In this role, Ericson will establish and build customer relationships and support business development in Australia and New Zealand. 

Ericson has numerous years of success in sales, operations and business development in the professional AV industry. Based in Canberra, Australia, Ericson has worked with many industry-leading organizations, including Diversified, NEC Australia, and Crestron Electronics, and understands the unique challenges and priorities for integrators in Australia and New Zealand. Ericson will manage Visionary’s key accounts in the region while expanding its customer base with new opportunities. 

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“I’m energized to join Visionary. They are at the forefront of AV over IP development and constantly looking to expand and improve solutions that accelerate ultra-low latency distribution for the professional AV industry,” said Ericson. “Australia and New Zealand are a rapidly-growing region. The focus on audiovisual technology has never been stronger and it’s an exciting time for Visionary to solve many of the unique challenges that customers in the region are facing. In my new role, I look forward to building lasting relationships with our customers in the region.”

“We are focused on growing business relationships and supporting global end user customers, consultants and integrators with innovative AV-over-IP distribution solutions,” said Scott Freshman, chief operations officer for Visionary. “Since our inception in 1995, we have built a trusted and reliable professional AV brand. We are excited to strengthen our brand in Australia and New Zealand with feature-rich solutions, personable customer and technical support, and a continued investment in innovation.” 

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Visionary’s latest hire is the next strategic step in expanding business development to support the global AV industry. Visionary continues to deliver feature-rich solutions to meet an increased demand, despite global supply chain issues. Their advanced AV over IP technologies create a reliable, cost-effective solution for audio and video transport for all professional AV related markets, standards, and formats.

Key Digital has appointed Mechanicsville, VA-based firm KLM Marketing as its manufacturer’s rep for the Middle Atlantic region, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Eastern PA, Southern NJ and Washington, D.C. The announcement was made by DeWayne Rains, Key Digital vice president of sales, and represents the brand’s ongoing initiative to expand its national sales force.  

“When looking to better serve the mid-Atlantic region,” remarked Rains. “KLM Marketing was the obvious rep firm to partner with. They share our passion for providing effective solutions to end-user needs and a well-earned reputation for unsurpassed customer support.” 

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Established in 2002, KLM provides video and intercom, access control, and new AV solutions in the mid-Atlantic region. It offers system design, sales/technical training, and site visits and strive for total customer support by working closely with end users to fit their needs with a solid solution. 

Key Digital now joins KLM Marketing’s roster of brands, which also includes Alpha Communications, Axton, FLIR, KBC, TOA and VMP. Firm principals Paul Walter and Rob Leiggi will be joined by a dedicated team of sales personnel in promoting Key Digital’s products to the burgeoning market in these regions. 

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“Great technology is just a start to meeting customer needs,” added KLM Marketing sales manager Rob Leiggi.” Reliability, cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and the support infrastructure to ensure customer satisfaction are also critical elements. We are confident that Key Digital’s innovative product line and their willingness to go the extra mile with tailored solutions will be embraced by our customers and look forward to working together.” 

Atlona welcomed Marco Bolzonello as regional sales manager Italy, effective immediately. Reporting to Thorsten Goecke, business director, EMEA, Bolzonello will work closely with key channel partners throughout the Italian territory and serve as a key conduit between Atlona distribution partners and systems integrators. That includes commercial business plan development with Atlona partners to raise brand visibility, and driving business development with systems integrators both familiar with and new to Atlona.

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Bolzonello comes to Atlona with 10 years of experience in both the AV and IT industries, which provides him with a strong understanding of how the two technologies intersect to serve key Atlona business verticals including corporate, education and hospitality. On the AV side, Bolzonello spent four years as AV account manager and project manager for Lindy Italia, where he focused on sales and technical system design projects before joining ATEN as regional commercial manager for Italy, Greece, and other countries in the Mediterranean region. Before approaching the AV sector, Bolzonello gained electrical and networking background in building construction sites and recently, direct IT industry experience working for Websin s.r.l as senior key account manager, where he developed IT services and strategies across systems design, sales, and marketing initiatives. 

Through these experiences, Bolzonello has developed strong relationships with dealers and integrators throughout the country which, in addition to his AV/IT expertise, sets him up for success in a country with a unique and often challenging business environment.

[5 Takeaways from the AV/IT Summit 2022] 

“Italy feels like a very different country upon crossing north to south and west to east,” said Bolzonello. "It is therefore important to have strong business relationships as well as a selective approach to working with the most value-added partners. I am confident that my knowledge of the Italian business landscape for AV and IT technologies, as well as the trends taking shape now that AV and IT operations have nearly fully converged, will bring Atlona to a much larger audience of end users.”

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Bolzonello sees Atlona’s Omega Series of collaboration and presentation products as particularly compelling for the Italian market, noting that solutions like the Omega AT-OME-MS42 integrate videoconferencing, USB extension, and other important features for modern meeting and learning spaces. He is also planning more trainings and webinars to educate and inform current and potential partners about new and existing Atlona solutions. That includes developing more  programs around AV-over-IP, which he sees an important growth business for Atlona over the next several years.

“Marco’s experience throughout Italy coupled with his enthusiasm makes him the ideal representative for Atlona as our dedicated sales and business development resource for Italy,” said Goecke. “His ability to establish new business relationships and create stronger bonds with existing customers will also help Atlona build a stronger presence throughout the country. We welcome him to the Atlona team and look forward to his contributions.” 

Independent NY-based manufacturer sales representative firm Digital Sales Group Metro—led by principal David Silkin—hired Joanna Mikucki for vice president of business development, Danika Dalton for vice president of sales, and the promotion of Josh Silkin to vice president of marketing. These new positions are representative of the firm’s expansion and strategy to help dealers grow their business.

Tapping her experience in project management in the Pro AV world, as vice president of business development, Joanna Mikucki will focus on developing relationships with developers, builders, project managers, designers, and decorators—providing education on how the product lines bring value to their projects—and connecting them with sales and installation companies best suited for their jobs. 

[SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators 2021]

“Bringing in quality jobs work for our dealers has been an initiative of mine for several years now,” said Silkin. “We have several large-scale projects in process and anticipate additional considerable projects going forward.” 

Former TruAudio regional sales manager Danika Dalton has been hired for the position of vice president of sales. “Danika had been our rep for the past four years and we couldn’t have asked for a better partner,” said Silkin. “She very quickly became one of our dealer’s favorites and together we grew this territory double digits. Danika has become an important part of the DSG Metro family and with the blessing of our friends at TruAudio.” 

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Since the age of twelve, Josh Silkin has been learning the business from the ground-up with various roles across the rep firm and sister company DSG Distribution. Now in his twenties, and recently promoted from merchandising manager to vice president of marketing, Silkin is leveraging this experience and college degree to apply key marketing support. This includes creating a new DSG Metro website (plus those of dealers and vendors), content for social media platforms and dealer brochures, and managing CRM.

Peerless-AV recently made two appointments to bolster the company. Tiffany Kautsky joins as director–business development and Amy Moss as Regional Sales Manager–West.

Kautsky is responsible for North America territories, including Canada and Mexico. Based in Southern California, she will cultivate new business opportunities and partnerships with OEMs, end users, architects, specifiers, integrators, and consultants, utilizing her 13-plus years’ experience in specialized solutions for emergent applications such as virtual production.

[Peerless-AV Plays Supporting Role in Cutting-Edge Hybrid Learning Environments]

“Tiffany has been involved in hundreds of unique and complex AV installations across North America," said Brian McClimans, vice president of  sales North America and APAC, Peerless-AV. "Her invaluable knowledge and skillset, together with her energy, resilience, and passion for challenging long-term goals, means she is a great fit for the business and will help drive the growth we are already experiencing in North America and globally.”

“The strength the company has in terms of emerging tech product lines, and the year-on-year sales growth, makes this an exciting time to join Peerless-AV,” said Kautsky. “I look forward to getting started with key accounts, increasing our capabilities and creating new opportunities in new and developing markets; contributing to the long-term success of the business.”

Moss returns to Peerless-AV after 11 years, resuming a sales management role for the following territories: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, California, Nevada, Arizona and Western Canada. She will be responsible for supporting existing accounts while promoting, selling and securing new business via an established network of integrators, distributors, dealers, and architects.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“The opportunity to return to Peerless-AV and be customer facing for clients in the Western territories is fantastic. Seeing so many familiar faces within the business, some who have 20-plus years of long service, speaks of the company’s reputation.” said Moss. “I have the product knowledge to fulfill all our client’s support requirements in terms of pricing, bids, product specifications, procurement, delivery schedules and more.  The sales potential in dvLED and outdoor displays really excites me especially.   I can’t wait to see result of the unique implementations our clients are going to be installing in these fields.”

Lightware Visual Engineering welcomed Roger Takacs as vice president of education. Takacs will play an instrumental role in developing and growing business in the education channel. 

[Lightware, Cisco SolutionsPlus Partner for Hybrid, Videoconferencing Collaboration]

Takacs has more than 20 years of success in sales and executing strategic initiatives across several key verticals, including education. Takacs has worked with many industry-leading manufacturers, including Crestron, Atlona, and Custom Display Solutions, and integration companies, such as CompView, MCSi, and The Intellisys Group. Takacs has a passion for technology and explaining complex technologies in a manner that is easy to understand. Takacs holds an MBA from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, and a double Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In addition to his successful professional career, Takacs is an active volunteer for the Boys and Girls Club and Little League International. 

“We continue to expand our team with many of the industry’s most widely respected professionals,” said Jason Tirado, president of Lightware Visual Engineering. “We are focused on building relationships with customers, consultants and integrators and demonstrating our confidence in Lightware’s innovative solutions. We are thrilled to welcome Roger to our team as we invest in the education channel. We firmly believe that AV technology should support the learning process instead of causing unnecessary distraction. We continue to develop solutions to tackle the unique challenges that teachers and students face in any classroom.” 

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“I'm excited to join a fast-growing company that is focused on open architecture audio visual solutions as well as the much-needed USB switching solutions for today's conferencing needs," Takacs added. "In today's era of supply chain issues with control manufacturers, it's nice to be able to offer solutions that will work with any control platform on the market today.”

Lightware’s latest hire is the next strategic step in expanding on specific verticals the professional AV industry supports. Lightware is focused on building classrooms of the future. Lightware offers intuitive and automated room control solutions for educational institutions that allow teachers to access and control their classroom’s AV equipment to engage with their students seamlessly.

NSCA announced Ignite’s participation in a series of career fair events to increase awareness about the commercial integration industry among the next generation of professionals.

Ignite is an NSCA Education Foundation initiative created in 2016 to introduce jobseekers to the in-demand industry of communications technology and connect them with employers.

To kick things off, NSCA and Ignite will exhibit at the Fall 2022 “All Majors” Career Fair hosted by Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a historically black college/university (HBCU) and an independent unit of The Texas A&M University System. The in-person, on-campus career fair is scheduled for Sept. 21-22, 2022, followed by a virtual career fair on Sept. 27. These events offer a convenient and efficient way for Prairie View A&M students and alumni to meet and discuss opportunities with employers.

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Through its eight colleges and schools, PVAMU offers students more than 70 degree programs to choose from, including technology-specific opportunities in engineering, business, and the arts.

Ignite’s participation in these events is just one step in the journey toward inspiring industry integrators and manufacturers to embrace the concepts and practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion as they bring the next generation of professionals into the industry.

Much like Ignite’s focus on expanding the industry’s talent pool, NSCA’s DEI Action Council is on a mission to create an inclusive industry environment across age, gender, race, religion, identity, and experience.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Xzavia Killikelly, audio visual design consultant at CTI,  NSCA DEI Action Councilmember, and passionate supporter of the NSCA Education Foundation’s Ignite initiative, is assisting in the coordination of Ignite’s presence at PVAMU’s Fall 2022 “All Majors” Career Fair. “I want to share my passion for DEI with the industry,” said Killikelly. “I want to ask our industry professionals to stop thinking about hiring folks who are a ‘culture fit’ and start thinking about hiring folks who are a ‘culture add.’ Partnering with PVAMU and exhibiting at their upcoming career fair is an exciting step forward in this process.”

To help members instill inclusivity and diversity as cornerstones of their business—and realize the benefits of doing so—NSCA also named livingHR as a new NSCA Member Advisory Councilmember. The agency works with companies to make work more human for everyone by building inclusive cultures, optimizing talent, and humanizing experiences.

Lightware Visual Engineering recently introduced Clint Hoffman as vice president of business development for the Americas. Hoffman will establish and build customer relationships and support business development with global enterprise partners. 

“I am delighted to welcome Clint to our team at Lightware Visual Engineering,” said Jason Tirado, president of Lightware Visual Engineering. “Clint is well-recognized throughout the AV industry for his leadership over the last three decades. He will be instrumental in supporting Lightware’s continued growth and business success globally.” 

[Lightware, Cisco SolutionsPlus Partner for Hybrid, Videoconferencing Collaboration]

Hoffman has more than 35 years of success in sales, marketing, operations, and product development in the Pro AV industry. Hoffman has worked with many industry-leading manufacturers, including Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, and Kramer Electronics. Most recently, Hoffman served as the president and country manager for Kramer North America. During his two decades at Kramer, Hoffman was instrumental in channel and brand development strategy and product development success. 

Hoffman brings a background in promoting and championing the professional audiovisual industry through his leadership at AVIXA International. Hoffman is currently an adjunct faculty member of AVIXA International. Previously, he has served as chairman of the AVIXA Membership Committee, a member of the steering committee of the AVIXA Exhibitors Committee, a member of the AVIXA Foundation Board, and vice chairman of the AVIXA Manufacturers Committee.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“Lightware has grown exponentially over the last few years,” noted Hoffman. “Lightware’s world-class signal management products are designed to deliver unparalleled quality and reliability in AV applications. Their investment in innovation and product excellence has positioned Lightware for continued accelerated growth. I am thrilled to bring my experience and deep relationships in the AV industry to grow and support Lightware’s ever increasing number of global enterprise partners.” 

As a result of increased demand for their smart, IoT-ready amplifiers in the Pro Audio market, LEA Professional has named Mainline Marketing as its new sales and service partner supporting professional and commercial AV integrators for the state of Florida.

This partnership will allow LEA Professional to increase support for existing customers in the region, as well as further develop new opportunities within this large and diverse market.

“The demand for LEA Professional in the U.S. has exceeded our expectations. With the recovery of the market in full swing, more and more people are looking to cloud technology to future proof their business going forward,” commented Scott Robbins, vice president of global sales for LEA Professional. “Mainline Marketing has significant expertise in the pro audio market and is proactive in providing customers with new innovative technologies, making them an ideal partner.”

[Meet The Nine 2022: LEA Professional's Brian Pickowitz]

Mainline Marketing is an independent representation firm that manages sales, marketing, and distribution for companies that manufacture professional audio and video equipment. The company has represented the top manufacturers in professional audio and video for over 30 years, and will now include LEA Professional Connect Series products in its extensive repertoire.

The LEA Professional Connect Series IoT-enabled amplifiers are a commercial-grade audio amplifier family perfectly suited for installations of any size. The user-friendly interface means that set up is fast and easy. The Connect Series also features cloud connectivity allowing users to harness the power of the cloud for remote control, monitoring, configuration, and more from any personal device. Connect Series also features HiZ and LoZ channel-selectable analog inputs, and external I/O control for remote on/off and fault monitoring. A highly flexible family of out-of-the-box, Dante-enabled Connect Series amplifiers are also available.

 [AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“I am incredibly excited about representing LEA Professional. While the name might be new, the people behind the brand certainly aren’t,” said Clinton Muntean, president of Mainline Marketing. “This company was founded by some of the best and brightest in our industry – people who have extensive experience in manufacturing amplifiers. Not only will LEA’s product offerings meet our customer’s needs, the LEA Way aligns perfectly with Mainline’s values and the way we do business—putting the customer first and ensuring that our customers receive personalized, one-to-one service every single time. I have no doubt that LEA will be very successful and I look forward to bringing their unique amplifier solutions to our customers.”

The LEA Way—the mission of LEA Professional, describes a singular goal: to make its customers successful. That goal drives every aspect of business within LEA Professional, from producing bold audio technologies to delivering a sound transaction and support experience.

tvONE announced it has strengthened its NCSA sales team by appointing Frank Brady as regional sales manager for the Northeast. Brady will represent tvONE, Magenta, and Green Hippo brands, covering the regions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, and West Virginia.

“I am excited to join tvONE having represented them for the last 11 years with HMA. I’m eager to start as a direct employee of tvONE to serve the customer base with professionalism and good service,” said Brady.

[A Look at the tvONE Upgrades to the CORIOmaster Family]

Brady brings over thirty years of AV industry experience to this new position at tvONE. Prior to joining tvONE, Brady served as vice president of sales for Haddonfield Micro Associates (HMA), a manufacturer representative firm in the Pro AV industry throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New York regions of the United States.

“Frank brings a high magnitude of professional AV experience to our sales team. His ability to further customer relationships will help maximize the sales of tvONE brands and its products. I am thrilled to have him on our team,” said Paul Streffon, director of sales, NCSA.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights]

Brady served in progressively increasing roles at BTX, DPI, and Liberty Wire & Cable, where he was vice president of broadcast and integration and was responsible for developing its commercial and residential manufacturer representative team nationwide. Before Liberty Wire & Cable, Brady was instrumental in developing one of the nation’s leading suppliers of AV systems integration and videoconferencing products, as vice president of sales and operations at Peirce Phelps.

Jetbuilt has added Pro AV-veteran Bruce MacIntosh as director of vendor partnerships. MacIntosh’s diverse background from his work with manufacturers, systems integration, to early developer of AViQ give him a unique appreciation for the needs of integrators and manufacturers alike and the extraordinary value Jetbuilt provides for both.

“This position fits right into my wheelhouse,” said MacIntosh. “It really brings all of the industry collective knowledge that I’ve had from working with a systems integrator, a public entity—with how grants and bidding processes work—to information that the manufacturers need to provide services to their partners, whether dealer integrators or distributors. Jetbuilt is an outstanding platform for connecting all of that.” 

[Jetbuilt Launches Jetbuilt Engineering Lab]

After several years in radio and television for the New York Senate, MacIntosh moved on to  director of marketing for Audio-Video Corporation. Both of these experiences served him well when he seized the opportunity to become one of four instrumental collaborators for AV-iQ, which he helped to advance as the most widely used public product research tool in the AV industry.

“My experiences in the industry have ignited an interest industry-wide to help manufacturers with the challenges of getting their information out there,” said MacIntosh, “which brings me right up to Jetbuilt. I am extremely impressed with the innovation and detail that has gone into this platform, what it is able to do, and the future for where we're going to take it. I’m excited to present the exceptional value of partnering with Jetbuilt to the manufacturers.”

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“We are thrilled to welcome Bruce to the team," Paul Dexter, Jetbuilt’s founder and chief executive officer said. "His extensive experience and industry knowledge is fantastic. The respect he has earned from so many in AV is admirable. Together we are excited to drive forward our innovations for the benefit of this industry we both love.”

NSI Industries announced the appointment of industry veteran Joe Saganowich as the company’s Electrical Division president. This is a new position created to support the company’s rapid growth in the electrical market.

“During the past three years, NSI has experienced unparalleled growth and terrific momentum within our electrical division with key acquisitions as well as a number of new product launches,” explained G. R. Schrotenboer, CEO of NSI Industries. “As such, we needed not only to create a new position to lead this division, but to recruit a proven industry leader to fulfill this role, as well. Joe has deep experience in the electrical and manufacturing industries, making him the ideal choice to take on this responsibility and to continue to grow, develop, and direct our Bridgeport, Polaris, Tork, Metallics, and Remke brands. We are pleased to have him as part of the NSI leadership team.”

[NSI Industries Acquires SUPCO | Lynn]

Saganowich joins NSI from IDEAL Industries, where he held positions as vice president of sales and marketing for IDEAL’s North American Electrical Group. He also has worked as vice president and general manager of SK Hand Tool, a division of IDEAL, and was its Southeast regional sales manager for the electrical group. Saganowich, who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Pennsylvania State University, has led sales teams for commercial and industrial lubrications groups of Pennzoil-Quaker State Products, SouthChem, and SUNOCO.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

“NSI’s corporate model and impressive overall growth made my decision to join the team an easy one,” said Saganowich, who will report directly to Schrotenboer as part of the NSI leadership team. “NSI’s electrical division is home to many of the industry’s leading brands, which creates many new and exciting opportunities. I am looking forward to helping guide the division to continued prosperity.”

QSC has welcomed Craig Paller to the organization as director of U.S. sales–East for the company’s Pro Audio Division. Paller joins the QSC management team with 30 years of senior leadership and management experience at notable brands including Electro-Voice, Shure, HARMAN and ClearOne. 

[Meet the New (but AV-Veteran) QSC Pro Audio Leadership Team]

“I am very excited to have Craig join our team,” stated Perry Celia, vice president global sales and service, QSC Pro Audio. “Craig’s considerable business acumen, passion for the business, our customers, and end users, along with a track record of responsiveness and collaboration, will make him highly successful in his new role. Our entire Pro Audio team is looking forward to working with him.” 

“Joining the Pro Audio team at QSC is a dream come true for me,” stated Paller. “The company’s reputation for innovation and steady growth, along with the way they care for employees and channel partners, makes the division poised for a big, post COVID recovery. I’ve known and respected David Angress and Perry Celia for years and I look forward to working alongside them and their teams to propel the business forward.”  

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights]

Paller will service the Eastern region in the field and from his home office in Sandy, Utah. 

Kinly announced Chico Dominguez has been promoted to the role of vice president of U.S. service and support.

Part of a recruitment drive in the United State, adding even more strength to bringing world support and services to new and existing clients—including many Fortune 500 companies—this new role sees Dominguez taking responsibility for all technical operations and service delivery including installation, fabrication, programming, engineering, project management, and U.S. helpdesk.

[SCN Exclusive: New Kinly CEO Martin Sets His Sights on U.S. Market Growth]

“I am delighted and excited to extend my role and responsibilities with Kinly in the U.S.," Dominguez said. "The company has experienced some incredible growth since I first joined and with the further strengthening already executed and planned, the opportunities for growth are vast.

“I joined Kinly because I felt I could make a difference. I wanted to be part of a technology company that I could help to grow and define.  When I joined in 2007, I had a team of 12 people whereas I had been working for an organization with more than 120,000 employees. I realized that I was no longer a number and would be able to transform the culture and future growth of this business.”

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Based in New Jersey and reporting to Kinly’s newly reappointed U.S. managing director, Vel Johnson, Dominguez first joined Kinly as director of operations in 2007, where he was responsible for a team of just 12 people. Kinly US today now has a team of almost 140, a figure likely to grow during the course of this year and in to 2023, as the company continues to execute a globally aligned strategy.

Before joining Kinly, Dominguez gained considerable experience in IT services and supporting video conferencing facilities at Johnson & Johnson. It was during his tenure there that the devastating events of 9/11 stopped corporate travel for months. In order to keep business running, J&J invested millions in videoconferencing and that is when Dominguez realized that this was the future of communications.

“Chico is a videoconferencing pioneer and from day one, he has been making his mark at Kinly and shows no signs of stopping," Johnson said. "His excellent technical knowledge has gained him the admiration and trust of colleagues and customers throughout the business, while his unwavering determination to do the best possible job plays a huge part in Kinly’s ongoing success.”

Neutrik Americas announced the expansion to its staff. Addressing a wide range of skills, the addition of seven new hires represents a significant personnel increase as the Charlotte, NC-based company broadens its presence throughout the Americas.

“With the recent change from Neutrik USA to Neutrik Americas, we suddenly found ourselves responsible for not just a considerably larger territory, but also for the ability to address the sales, support, and other aspects of our evolving operations," said Peter Milbery, president of Neutrik Americas. "Bilingual communication skills, increased sales and support staff, as well as greater warehouse efficiencies all required our attention to properly manage our newfound responsibilities. I speak for all of us in the Neutrik organization when I say ‘Welcome Aboard’ to the new members of our team. I have every confidence we will all benefit from the changes that await us.”

[Neutrik Announces the halo Product Range]

Anibal Sepulveda

Tasked with creating a marketing strategy to serve the company’s channel partners and engage with end users in the Americas region, Anibal Sepulveda is the new director of marketing, Americas. In addition to providing leadership and growth to the Americas’ marketing team, Sepulveda will also have an active role in partnering with the global marketing organization to coordinate new product launches, improve processes, etc. He joined the company in March and is stationed at the Charlotte, NC headquarters.

Jeff Heffner

As the new director of sales, Jeff Heffner will steer all sales strategies for Neutrik Americas in addition to overseeing the company’s regional sales managers and account managers. As part of these responsibilities, Heffner will also manage the company’s distribution relationships. Heffner started with Neutrik Americas in May and is stationed in Denver, CO.

Vicki Swiader

Vicki Swiader is the company’s new market development manager for MCC (Major Custom Cable), which Neutrik Americas acquired in December 2021. Working from Parker, CO, Swiader’s key responsibilities include assisting customers with cable assembly solutions as part of the greater mission to increase revenue for Major Custom Cable. As part of these efforts, she will also be tasked with incorporating more Neutrik brand connectors into cable assemblies at Major Custom Cable. Swiader joined the Neutrik Americas team in July.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Jazmin Morales

Jazmin Morales joined the Neutrik Americas team as account manager—bilingual in May. Morales’ ability to communicate with customers on questions about orders, inventory, pricing, etc. throughout the Latin America region is a crucial part of her responsibilities. Additionally, she will also work closely with the internal team to move inventory more efficiently for customers as well as processing orders and samples. Morales is stationed at the company’s Charlotte, NC office.

Angela Fluett

As a key member of Neutrik Americas’ marketing team, Angela Fluett is the company’s new marketing graphics designer. Fluett’s responsibilities include designing graphics and animations as a vital component of the company’s marketing efforts. Further, she will also create and update sales documents and product guides in addition to advising the global marketing team on graphics related projects. Fluett joined Neutrik Americas in January and is stationed at the company’s Charlotte, NC office.

Lateek Williams and Bryan Mayes

With the recent expansion of its territory to include North, Central, and South America, the Neutrik Americas team added these two gentlemen to increase their warehouse efficiency. Hence, both Williams and Mayes are part of the group responsible for shipping and receiving the myriad of parts, materials, and other goods that contribute to the company’s wide range of items that move through the organization. Both Williams and Mayes are stationed at the company’s Charlotte, NC location.

QSC announced the promotion of Ronda Ross to vice president human resources. Ross replaces Vicki Arnold who has retired after leading HR for 16 years.

“First, we’d like to thank Vicki for all she has done for QSC. Her contributions in building our HR team and capabilities have been immeasurable and we appreciate the dedication and care she has always given the organization and our employees,” says Joe Pham, chairman of the board and CEO, QSC. “We are thrilled to have Ronda fulfill this position as she has already made such a large impact over the last five years by delivering many improvements and laying a solid foundation to support the growth of our organization.”

[David Angress to Lead QSC Pro Audio Team]

Ross joined QSC in 2017 as director of HR operations and was promoted to senior director human resources in 2021 where she focused on advancing the strategic partnerships between human resources and business outcomes. Ross brings over 20 years of strong business experience in both human resources and information technology companies including Arbonne International and the Irvine Company.

“QSC is a growing organization with our employees at the heart of who we are and how we will continue to drive innovation,” said Ross. “Through her tenure, Vicki has created a solid foundation, and I look forward to continuing those values and elevating the company to the next level with the right programs and systems to provide our employees, customers and partners a healthy and productive environment.”

 [AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Key Digital announced the appointment of AV industry sales veteran Robert Taylor to the position director of distribution channel sales. The announcement was made by DeWayne Rains, Key Digital vice president of sales, and underscores the company’s ongoing growth.  

“I have followed Key Digital for many years, and I am honored to work with Mike Tsinberg, "Father of the DVD" and holder of over 40 high-definition video patents," Taylor said. "And Key Digital’s sales force is highly effective, as DeWayne Rains has built up a solid dealer base in the U.S. I am looking forward to expanding our relationships in the U.S. and abroad, and I am excited to be on the leading edge of video technology.” 

In his new position, Taylor will be responsible for leading and growing Key Digital’s distribution business, both domestically and abroad. Previously, Taylor held sales positions with manufacturers BIAMP Systems and TOA Electronics; served as regional manager for manufacturer’s rep firm Southeastern Communications (SECOM); and ran his own design/installation firm, Audio Concepts.  

“We could not be more delighted to have Robert join the Key Digital family—completing a circle, as he actually introduced me to Key Digital more than a dozen years ago when I was an AV dealer and he was with our independent manufacturer’s rep firm Southeastern Communications. Robert brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Key Digital, and we look forward to his contributions to our expansion.”  

QSC announced that David Angress has joined the organization as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s new Pro Audio division.

“Throughout the years, I have always had the greatest respect and admiration for QSC—its people, its culture and its portfolio of innovative, market-leading products,” said Angress. “The Pro Audio division is gearing up for an incredible phase of transformative growth and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to serve as its leader going forward.”  

Meet the New (but AV-Veteran) QSC Pro Audio Leadership Team

Angress, a seasoned veteran of the music and pro audio products industry, brings a wealth of experience in senior executive leadership with roles at preeminent brands including ADAM Audio GmbH, Guitar Center, Harman, and AKG. As principal at Angress Consulting for the last 12 years, he has utilized his extensive international experience in marketing, product management, and international distribution to develop business relationships for its clients throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

“We are thrilled to have David Angress take the leadership of our Pro Audio division,” stated Jatan Shah, president and chief operating officer, QSC. “David’s decades of experience in the MI and pro audio industries—in retail, manufacturing, and as a trusted and accomplished advisor to a number of organizations—makes him the ideal individual to take the helm of our Pro Audio business. Our leadership team of Perry Celia, David Fuller, Ray van Straten, Linda Lee, and now David Angress, will most certainly guide our business to great success in this next, exciting period of growth and innovation.” 

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Angress will oversee the division working from the company’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA, as well as from his remote office in Portland, OR.