Some new partnerships and promotion highlight this week's Pro AV news. Here's a look at what you may have missed.
People News
USSI Global Promotes Amanda Flynn to CRO
USSI Global has promoted Amanda Flynn to the new role of chief revenue officer. Among her new responsibilities, Flynn will oversee USSI Global’s sales, marketing, customer success, and revenue operations.
[Pro AV Welcomes Women Back to the Workforce]
Working collaboratively with USSI Global’s operations and accounting teams, Flynn will help drive profitability for the company while building out its strategic plan for the coming years. Flynn started with USSI Global in 2008 working in business development and was promoted to director of business development and customer relations in 2018. In 2021, she was promoted again, this time to vice president of customer relations, where she was focused growing the company’s Digital Signage and Electronic Business and Consumer Solutions.
Planar Promotes Tom Petershack to Director of Media and Special Projects
Planar promoted Tom Petershack to director of media and special projects. In his new role, Petershack will lead the company’s broadcast and virtual production (VP) and extended reality (XR) team with a particular focus on providing products and customer experiences to help extend the group’s reach in various areas.
[Planar Powers Virtual Production Studio with LED Displays]
Petershack's appointment follows Planar’s recent reorganization of the company’s media team, which combines broadcast and VP and XR into one vertical. With this change, the media team can leverage synergies between the market areas to better assist with product development and deliver superior customer experiences from pre-sales to project execution and post-sales support.
Petershack has spent eight years with the company, including more than four years serving as a regional account manager for Metro New York. Previous roles also include project manager and project engineer.
Lone Star Communications Adds New CTO
Lone Star Communications has promoted Justin Bailey to the position of chief technology officer. Bailey has been with Lone Star Communications for 25 years.
In his new role, Bailey will be entrusted with defining and executing the LSC technology vision; managing the team of software developers, engineers, data scientists, and other IT specialties; designing the organization's technical architecture and infrastructure; aiding in the development of healthcare technology products and solutions; leading all research and development efforts; maintaining a robust cybersecurity infrastructure across the company's digital landscape; forging strategic partnerships with outside technology companies; and managing IT budgets and resource allocations.
Company News
Meyer Sound Acquires Audio Rhapsody
Meyer Sound has acquired Audio Rhapsody, a nascent startup founded by sound designer Jonathan Deans. With the acquisition, Meyer Sound strengthens its position of theater sound solutions, utilizing Deans’ expertise to develop software solutions to expand the company’s portfolio of integrated digital systems.
From collaborating with legendary sound designer Abe Jacob in 1980 to bring the UPA loudspeaker to Broadway to developing the new NADIA network-based digital audio platform, the company has continually created solutions that empower creators to deliver the ultimate sonic experience.
With multiple Tony and Drama Desk award nominations to his name, Deans has contributed to hundreds of productions spanning Broadway, the West End, and beyond and crafted soundscapes for 15 Cirque du Soleil productions. His relationship with Meyer Sound goes back to 1978 when he met founders John and Helen Meyer while working on a production of Evita using a Meyer-designed JM-3 loudspeaker. Meyer Sound acquired Deans’ company Level Control Systems in 2005, leading to an expansion of the company’s digital solutions.
The team will focus on developing the next generation of audio show control software for the NADIA platform, bringing fresh innovation to applications both large and small with a bold and intuitive approach.
ACT Entertainment Acquires Ambersphere Solutions
Ambersphere Solutions, a provider of professional lighting solutions in the U.K., has officially become a part of ACT Entertainment. This acquisition is a testament to the shared values and long-standing relationship between the two entities, especially in their distribution of MA Lighting and Ayrton products.
This development promises to leverage the strengths of both companies to deliver products, technical service and support to entertainment professionals worldwide. The transition sees the departure of Glyn O’Donoghue and Ken Sewell, with Lee House stepping up as Managing Director alongside Philip Norfolk, who continues in his role as Sales Director. The focus remains on preserving the company’s core values while leveraging ACT Entertainment’s resources and capabilities.
In related news, PK Sound has added Ranger Son Éclairage (RSE) to its global network following the company’s investment in a PK Sound T8 robotic line source system. Based in Greater Montreal, RSE is taking full advantage of T8’s patented multi-axis robotics to precisely tailor audio coverage to any venue or environment. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of PK Sound products in North America.
EAW Names Audio Source New Manufacturer's Rep for Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii
Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has partnered with Audio Source as its new manufacturer’s representative. Based in Moses Lake WA, Audio Source will serve the Pacific Northwest including Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Northern California, Nevada, and Idaho.
“We are very pleased to add a company of Audio Source’s caliber to our team," says TJ Smith, president of EAW. “Audio Source has an outstanding reputation for excellence in product knowledge, as well as a passion for helping its clients create world class audio systems.
With vast knowledge of EAW’s entire suite of products, a rich history in sales, and a dedicated focus to client relationships, Audio Source plans to grow EAW’s presence in their territory and beyond.
Grass Valley Completes $220 Million Strategic Refinancing
Grass Valley recently announced the successful completion of a $220 million strategic refinancing led by certain investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Private Credit. The strategic refinancing will both strengthen the company’s balance sheet and refinance existing debt, while further positioning Grass Valley to lead the reimagination of the future workflow for media through its Grass Valley Media Universe (GVMU) suite of solutions.
The refinancing serves to extend the momentum from an incredibly successful 2023, both operationally and financially, for Grass Valley. Operationally, the company completed its planned business transformation, having simplified the organizational structure, made key new appointments across the leadership team, optimized its global footprint, and focused the product portfolio to align with the changing media landscape. The business transformation allowed the company to further extend its significant investments in software and integrated hardware solutions as part of the most advanced cloud-native media platform in the industry. Through these investments customers are now realizing unmatched savings and workflow agility while producing the most watched content in the world.
Financially, the business delivered strong results in 2023. This included growing revenue, with its strongest year since 2020 for live production and networking infrastructure hardware, and a significant increase in recurring revenue with AMPP revenues nearly doubling over last year. In addition, earnings increased over 100% while the company hired nearly 200 employees globally and saw its patent portfolio expand significantly due to its continued investments in innovation.
Pro AV Overseas
This past week saw some international partnerships.
- LISTEN TECHNOLOGIES has selected Jands to distribute its products and solutions in Australia and New Zealand. Jands is an audio-visual distributor in Australia and New Zealand. The company has provided professional audio, lighting, and staging solutions since 1970. Jands offers audio and video products that support corporate, government, education, hospitality, and live production needs. Jands will offer the entire Listen Technologies portfolio including ListenTALK, Listen EVERYWHERE, ListenRF, and ListenIR.
- XILICA made some changes across its distribution network in the Nordics, appointing two new sole distributors: Matrix Sales ApS for Denmark, and Benum Sweden AB for Sweden.
Women In Sports April Event Focuses on Leveraging Strengths for Career Success
Continuing with the company’s Women In Sports Online Event, Daktronics is ready to welcome Jennifer Hammond as keynote speaker on Apr. 9 at 10:30 a.m. CT. Hammond is currently a sports reporter for Fox 2 News–Detroit with a strong history of working in sports journalism.
Hammond is the 2023 Michigan Sportscaster of the Year and boasts two Emmy Awards for her outstanding contributions to sports journalism. She is prepared to speak on her experiences including how to leverage your strengths to capitalize on opportunities for success in your career. She will also be giving advice for everyone to follow their own unique career path as well as building authentic relationships to help you along your way.
“Jennifer's longstanding career and energizing presence is guaranteed to be inspirational, and I am excited to hear her storytelling of the past experiences that have gotten her to where she is today,” said Val Ellens, services marketing for Daktronics. “I am also looking forward to hearing her speak on the landscape of women in the sports business world.”
