It is InfoComm 2025 week! Before you hit the show floor, get caught up with last week's Pro AV's people on the move, new partnerships, and yes, more acquisitions.
Acquisition Roundup
CTI announced its acquisition of Candeo Vision of London, U.K. The company is known for its expertise in AV integration, and its locations in London and Nottinghamshire mark CTI’s first presence in the U.K. CTI currently serves customers worldwide and across the United States as a member of the PSNI Global Alliance. We covered it in full here.
NETGEAR announced a definitive agreement to acquire Exium, a cybersecurity company, as part of its continuing investment in cloud-based solutions for advanced business connectivity. The acquisition builds on the company’s goal of delivering next-gen networking solutions that provide simplicity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness to small and medium enterprises. Exium’s products and expertise will help to add an integrated Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform to NETGEAR’s robust network offering. This solution will offer the first, completely integrated, network and security solution, purpose built for MSPs and SMEs. You can read more on that here.
Now, on with the show.
People News
FOR-A America Appoints Satoshi Araki as Product Manager, IP
FOR-A America has announced the appointment of Satoshi Araki to the newly created position product manager, IP. Araki comes to FOR-A America from the FOR-A Corporation headquarters in Tokyo, where he was an instrumental member of the company’s systems integration division, leading the teams’ integration efforts of all IP-related products.
Araki focuses his efforts on the new FOR-A IMPULSE, a software-based production platform that consolidates functions provided by FOR-A products (and other vendors) into one host machine; Hi-RDS, a multi-vendor resource sharing software solution; and the FA-1616 multi-channel processor. With SMPTE ST 2110 and ST 2022 interfaces, the FA-1616 multi-channel processor is a gateway between SDI and IP as well as IP to IP and SDI to SDI.
HARMAN Professional Solutions Names Jason Bethune as Business Development Leader for Themed Entertainment
HARMAN Professional Solutions appointed Jason Bethune as business development leader for themed entertainment. Bethune will focus on driving growth in the global themed entertainment market, with a special emphasis on developing relationships and opportunities with major players such as Disney, Universal Studios, Six Flags, and other leading theme park operators.
Bethune has more than 20 years of experience across business development, sales, and operations in the Pro AV industry. His expertise spans strategic planning, system integration, and AV technology solutions for complex environments.
Most recently, Bethune served as director of business development for themed entertainment and cruise ships at PSX, where he drove growth strategies, developed key partnerships, and managed a range of high-profile entertainment accounts. His prior roles include executive leadership positions at The Integration Factory, Bose Professional, and Music Group, where he oversaw market development initiatives across large venues and hospitality. He also spent nearly a decade at Dobbs Stanford Corporation representing HARMAN Professional brands earning multiple awards for outstanding performance.
IABM Boosts Member Engagement and Growth
IABM, the International Trade Association for Broadcast and Media Technology, is underlining its focus on engagement and community with three new appointments. Ana-Claire Bernardes is promoted to the newly created role of global head member engagement; Michelle Kelly joins as IABM head of member engagement and growth for North America; Sushant Rai takes the same role for the Asia-Pacific region.
Bernardes initially joined IABM as an analyst nearly three years ago, before moving to lead IABM’s Global Engaged Partner Program (GEP). Focused on strengthening relationships, growing the global community and providing the real needs of members and the wider industry.
Kelly joins IABM after a long career at NAB as SVP of NAB Show where she was responsible for marketing and insight around events. Deeply immersed in the media industry, Michelle brings an intimate understanding of the challenges faced today. Rai, too, brings the experience and understanding drawn from a long career in media to this new appointment. In building strong teams across the region, and achieving significant sales success, he is a very well-known figure on both sides of the supply chain, with excellent contacts and market knowledge.
TSL Welcomes Erkan Altan as Senior Software Engineer
TSL named Erkan senior software engineer, reinforcing its strategic focus on innovation and interoperability.
Altan brings more than two decades of embedded systems and software engineering experience from leading-edge projects spanning air defense, communication and broadcasting equipment, and medical devices. Most recently, he undertook a two-year professional development sabbatical in Switzerland, acquiring several certifications.
Previously, he spent over a decade at DNF Controls, where he helped with the development of Flex Control processors and embedded control solutions used by major broadcasters, including CNN, NBC, and FOX.
Vislink Appoints William J. Bender, USAF, Lt. Gen. (Ret.), to Its Board of Directors
Vislink Technologies has appointed William J. Bender, USAF, Lieutenant General (Ret.) to its Board of Directors.
Lt. Gen. Bender brings to Vislink a distinguished record of leadership in the technology, cybersecurity, and defense sectors. With over 34 years of outstanding service in the United States Air Force, culminating in his role as chief information officer, Bender has deep expertise in strategic IT planning, cyber operations, and governance. His post-military career has included executive leadership and board positions at major technology and defense firms, including his tenure as SVP at Leidos and current board roles at Anametric, GrammaTech, and Tangram Flex.
Bender has held senior advisory and consulting roles with several firms in the defense and technology sectors, including ManTech Corp, Varonis, IT Cadre, Electrosoft Services, BYOS, Keeper Technology, and Smartsheet. He also served as Board Chair of AFCEA International (formerly Armed Forces Communications & Electronics), a 34,000-member global nonprofit focused on communications, IT, intelligence, and global security, and as a member of the Board of the National Defense University Foundation, where he chaired the Financial Committee.
Winsted Appoints Quint Andrae as Senior Vertical Market Manager for Public Safety
Winsted appointed Quint Andrae as senior vertical market manager–Public Safety. A seasoned industry professional, Andrae brings more than 30 years of experience from Watson Consoles, where he held leadership roles in enterprise solutions, sales, and product design. Throughout his career, he has driven innovation through product development, customer engagement, and go-to-market strategy. His deep expertise in console design, operator-centric control room planning, and public safety operations uniquely positions him to support Winsted’s strategic growth in this vital sector.
In his new role, Andrae will focus on building relationships with PSAPs, 911 Centers, RTCC (Real-Time Crime Centers), and public safety agencies, ensuring Winsted’s operator-centric approach is aligned with the evolving demands of emergency response teams. He will also lead outreach efforts to specifiers, operators, and systems integrators, with a focus on delivering thoughtfully designed environments that enhance operator productivity, support ergonomic health and wellness, and streamline technology integration.
Company News
AVPro Edge Appoints Audio Biz Commercial Rep
AVPro Edge has appointed Audio Biz, an independent sales firm aimed at increasing brand visibility and market penetration to commercial AV integrators in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana.
Founded in 1991, Audio Biz is an award-winning independent sales firm representing the most respected brands in audio, video, and lighting. Based just outside of Chicago, their knowledgeable team provides sales, marketing, and system design services as well as education and training support. In addition to AVPro Edge products, Audio Biz will also represent AVPro brands Bullet Train (cables) and Murideo (video test and calibration solutions) in their territory.
Bluesound Professional Partners with OpenAV Cloud
Professional audio streaming experts, Bluesound Professional, is a launch partner of OpenAV Cloud, which you can read more about here. This major new initiative is a collaborative effort among multiple manufacturers to host their public APIs in the cloud, enabling seamless cross-product integration.
According to Graeme Harrison, VP and GM at Bluesound Professional, “As our BluOS operating system, used in Bluesound Professional products, forms a link from control input to music services, the possibilities available to us using an MCP server are very exciting indeed.” As a brand that’s dedicated to delivering future-ready audio distribution systems, Bluesound Professional are thrilled to be involved in such a groundbreaking project, one which has the potential to transform the professional audio streaming industry.
Powersoft and Midwich Announce Strategic Distribution Partnership
Powersoft and Midwich announced a new distribution partnership aimed at strengthening Powersoft’s presence in the United States and enhancing access to its product portfolio for U.S.-based audiovisual integrators.
Through this collaboration, Midwich will offer Powersoft’s award-winning amplifier platforms and technologies to integrators across key vertical markets including corporate, hospitality, education, transportation, themed entertainment, and the performing arts. The partnership brings together two organizations committed to delivering exceptional performance, innovation, and support to the professional AV channel.
QuickLink StudioPro and StudioEdge Become NDI Certified
QuickLink's StudioPro and StudioEdge platforms are now NDI Certified. As NDI Certified solutions, StudioPro and StudioEdge can now provide true interoperability and seamless performance within the NDI ecosystem.
As part of the NDI Certification, StudioPro and StudioEdge were tested by the NDI team to analyze interoperability, glass-to-glass latency, image compression and quality, NDI formats, user interface experience and more.
QuickLink StudioPro delivers a true-to-life ultra-low latency production experience without the complexity of legacy systems. With QuickLink StudioEdge, AV professionals, broadcasters and production teams can seamlessly introduce remote guests from every major video conferencing platform, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and StudioCall into productions, optimized with AI technology.