Last week was a busy one in the Pro AV world. Companies like MultiDyne and Midwich Group had some restructuring with multiple hires, Absen opened a new showroom, and more partnerships were made.
Get caught up on what you missed below!
People News
Ampetronic | Listen Technologies Promotes Kim Franklin to Chief Marketing Officer
Listen Technologies and Ampetronic have promoted Kim Franklin to chief marketing officer. In this role, Franklin defines and drives global marketing strategy across Ampetronic and Listen Technologies. The brands create assistive listening solutions that make clear audio accessible in any environment or setting.
Franklin joined Listen Technologies in 2014 and most recently was global vice president of marketing. Franklin has formulated and implemented strategic marketing initiatives that have helped Listen Technologies increase brand awareness and revenue.
EAW Welcomes Chris Wilson as Education and Training Engineer
Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) appointed Chris Wilson as education and training engineer. In his new role at EAW, Wilson will lead both in-person and virtual product certification sessions while also developing general education trainings on audio fundamentals including system design, the physics of sound, and loudspeaker technology.
Wilson brings over two decades of experience as an audio engineer, trainer and product specialist, with a career spanning live sound, system design, electroacoustic development and technical education. Most recently, he served as a training engineer for Allen & Heath, where he delivered in-person console trainings across the country.
Wilson has also held roles with Live Nation Entertainment, Tectonic Audio Labs, Beyond LD, Six Flags Over Texas, and serves as chief technology officer at Wilson Design Labs and Rox Box Speakers, where he focuses on electroacoustic design. His wide-ranging expertise makes him uniquely equipped to bridge the gap between advanced audio technology and practical customer application.
Gérald Yven Appointed Global Real Estate Director for L-Acoustics
L-Acoustics has established a new global real estate division under the leadership of Gérald Yven as global real estate director. This strategic initiative ensures that L-Acoustics’ facilities match the excellence of its renowned audio technologies, creating inspiring environments that support innovation and collaboration for sound professionals, corporate partners, team members, and visiting artists across the company’s expanding international operations.
The real estate division will oversee L-Acoustics’ substantial investments into its global corporate and industrial real estate portfolio, coordinating major real estate projects from site acquisition and renovations to the design and construction of specialized L-Acoustics spaces such as creative studios and showrooms. This centralized approach ensures consistent implementation of L-Acoustics brand identity and operational standards across all global locations.
Yven brings extensive finance and project management expertise to his role, with previous experience in facility management at Generali and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. His team includes Nassieba Adref, head of maintenance operations, who ensures the smooth daily operations of facilities worldwide with in-house teams and local facility management partners, and Camille Bertrand, real estate project manager, who pilots major renovation projects and new space development when L-Acoustics acquires or leases new locations.
Andrew Goulson Named Strategic Account Manager for LEA Professional
Aligning with its mission of constant and constructive team growth, LEA Professional appointed Andrew Goulson as strategic account manager. At LEA, Goulson supports LEA's sales and expansion efforts, working closely with the team to represent LEA’s technology catalog.
Goulson has nearly 20 years of experience in the AV industry, specializing in live sound and recording engineering. He will leverage this extensive experience by collaborating nationally with LEA’s outstanding representatives and dealers.
Midwich Group Restructures for North American Operations
Midwich Group today announced a reorganization of its North American leadership structure, designed to better leverage the combined strengths of Midwich US and SFM (a Midwich Group company) while enhancing service and support across the US and Canadian markets. The new structure formalizes a holistic approach to regional leadership while maintaining the distinct business models, local leadership teams and operational independence that drive success in each market. Midwich US and SFM will be better positioned to strengthen partnerships, expand market reach, and deliver greater value to customers and vendors throughout North America.
Ghyslain Berger has been named chief executive officer for North America, assuming regional CEO responsibilities. Ghyslain has been part of SFM's executive team for over seven years, six of which as COO, and more recently as president. Chantal Baraniuk Morin assumes the dual role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer for North America. In this expanded capacity, all finance, HR, IT, and operations functions for both Midwich US and SFM will report to her leadership. She brings over six years of experience with the organization. Monique Rezaei joins as chief revenue officer for North America. A familiar face within the AV industry, Rezaei brings extensive channel experience from senior leadership positions at HP/Poly and, most recently, Microsoft. All sales, marketing, and services functions will report to Rezaei's leadership while continuing to be managed at the local level.
Tyler Brebberman has been appointed chief vendor officer for North America, taking on leadership responsibility for all business and brand Management functions across the region. He brings over 10 years of experience with Midwich to this role. Lastly, Randal Tucker transitions to the role of executive advisor to the CEO. In this strategic capacity, Tucker advises on matters of strategy and overall direction with particular interest in professional services and other strategic global business initiatives.
MultiDyne Strengthens Global Leadership Team with Key Executive Appointments
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems announces two additions to its leadership team that underscore its commitment to innovation, expanding globally, and taking on a customer-centric strategy. Broadcast industry veteran Neil Maycock joins the company as chief marketing officer on a fractional basis, while Sebastian Mucha has been promoted to EVP of sales and strategy.
Maycock brings decades of marketing and operations experience to MultiDyne, including executive leadership roles at Grass Valley, Pebble and other familiar broadcast brands. Maycock works closely with sales and executive leadership teams within MultiDyne, while also liaising with channel partners and customers to better understand the needs of these various stakeholders and engages with various industry bodies to generate market research and insights that will prove valuable to company growth.
In his new role, Mucha oversees global sales and business strategy, focusing on growth, product alignment, and expanding MultiDyne’s international presence. Based in Europe, he continues to support EMEA operations while taking on broader global responsibilities. He’ll work closely with sales, marketing, and product teams to keep all divisions aligned under a shared vision.
Alex Dunfey Promoted to CTO at OpenDrives
OpenDrives has promoted Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer (CTO) from his former position as SVP of engineering. The promotion coincides with the soft launch of Astraeus, OpenDrives’ new cloud-native data services platform that represents a significant expansion of the company’s capabilities, which was announced in September 2025.
Before joining OpenDrives in 2023 as VP of engineering, Dunfey served as an engineer and technical lead at EMC, VMware, and Simplivity, later sharpening his skills at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he built scalable, customer-focused solutions. At OpenDrives, Dunfey has guided the company’s transition from a traditional hardware-based storage model to a software-defined organization, aligning strategies to match an evolving landscape and consistently delivering projects on time and within budget.
Solutions360 Appoints Nate Gardner CEO After Strategic Growth Investment
Solutions360 has appointed Nate Gardner to chief executive officer, who brings extensive experience guiding software companies through stages of rapid growth and transformation. Gardner's background includes executive roles across operations, sales and finance in high-growth technology companies.
The move comes after a strategic growth investment from Northrim Horizon. With this investment, Solutions360 will accelerate the release of new artificial intelligence and automation capabilities, extend its platform into additional modules that address evolving customer needs, and broaden its network of technology and integration partners to accelerate innovation for customers.
Company News
Absen Celebrates Grand Opening of Los Angeles Showroom
Absen celebrated the grand opening of its Los Angeles Showroom, the latest addition to its network of Showrooms and Experience Centers worldwide. Absen hosted an exclusive grand opening celebration at the Los Angeles Showroom, welcoming partners, audiovisual professionals, and customer representatives. Attendees experienced first-hand the superior product quality and innovative capabilities of Absen’s cutting-edge LED technologies through live demonstrations and interactive activations.
Absen’s Los Angeles Showroom is designed to deliver hands-on demonstrations, technical training, and collaborative opportunities with key technology partners. The Los Angeles Showroom showcases Absen’s latest LED display technologies across a comprehensive range of applications, providing visitors with an immersive and hands-on experience of the company’s most innovative solutions.
The Los Angeles Showroom highlights Absen’s latest corporate and educational display solutions, including the Absen iCon Series. For high-end visualization, visitors can experience the Absen KLCOB V2 Series, which offers outstanding clarity, color accuracy and versatility for mission-critical environments. In addition, the showroom features the Absen Saturn Series, Jupiter Pro Series and Polaris Series, enabling dynamic and immersive installations that push creative boundaries. Together, these displays create a remarkable visual showcase of Absen’s products, allowing guests to discover solutions for virtual production, rental and staging, commercial displays, and more.
AVer TR335, PTZ231 and PTZ330UV2 Cameras are Certified for Microsoft Teams
AVer's TR335, PTZ231, and PTZ330UV2 cameras have obtained Microsoft Teams Certification. Delivering enhanced image quality, intelligent AI tracking, and seamless connectivity, AVer’s newly certified models enable a professional and engaging Microsoft Teams meeting experience, ensuring users stay connected and productive in any environment.
The TR335 features 4K resolution at 60 frames per second and a powerful 30X optical zoom lens, delivering cinematic image quality and precision for broadcasting, streaming and recording. The PTZ231 combines full-HD 1080p resolution with a 30X optical zoom in an enhanced design built for professional conferencing, streaming and live production. The PTZ330UV2 is designed to meet the evolving demands of professional AV applications.
Carousel, Moki Expand Strategic Partnership
Moki and Carousel have expanded their partnership to bring deeper synergies, broader market reach, and stronger value to customers deploying signage networks at scale.
The two companies first partnered in early 2021 to combine Carousel’s flexible, feature-rich CMS with Moki’s robust device management capabilities. In 2025, the partnership is being enhanced to include closer alignment between teams, cross-training on each other’s solutions, expanded co-marketing initiatives, and a joint go-to-market approach.
Together, Moki and Carousel empower organizations to deploy, operate, and scale digital signage fleets with confidence, delivering secure, compliant, and easily managed device networks while ensuring engaging, real-time content.
NSCA Releases 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry Report
NSCA released its 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry report. The report provides valuable, industry-specific information for systems integrators on key business fundamentals like markets served, systems and technologies offered, sales trends, labor breakdowns, and company financial health.
Drawing on insights from nearly 100 integration firms across 31 states, three Canadian provinces, and Puerto Rico, the 17th edition of NSCA’s Financial Analysis of the Industry report continues to deliver updated intelligence for integrators that want to refine their business models and stay competitive.
NSCA worked with ESG Professional Accountants, an independent research firm, to preserve confidentiality while developing this report. The firm helped collect data from the 99 integration firms that participated in the 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry survey. Register for your copy here.
Owl Labs, Lenovo Partner to Launch AI-Powered 360-Degree Microsoft Teams Rooms Solutions
Owl Labs unveiled solutions with Lenovo to launch Lenovo-powered 360-degree Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR-W) solutions. The collaboration combines Owl Labs' Meeting Owl 3 and 4+products with Lenovo’s ThinkSmart Core and Tiny Kit to create full-room solutions that are flexible, cost-effective, and meet the needs of both SMBs and enterprise customers.
The global room video devices market is projected to reach $7.8 Billion by 2029, according to Frost & Sullivan Video Conferencing Devices Market Report (March 2025), creating a significant opportunity for adoption of and innovation in hybrid collaboration. Owl Labs’ Meeting Owl 4+ recently completed Microsoft Teams certification, joining the Meeting Owl 3 and Owl Bar in meeting Microsoft’s rigorous standards for seamless operation and integration. This joint offering brings Microsoft Teams-certified, modular solutions to existing Owl Labs’ customers and customers of all types including SMBs looking to upgrade from basic setups, as well as to enterprises seeking easy-to-use, scalable room systems. With MTR-W devices built on a more secure, update-ready operating system, organizations gain a future-proof foundation for long-term collaboration.
