A week has surprisingly passed without a Pro AV acquisition, but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of headliners to go around. AVIXA has some new board and LSC members, AVPros has a new name, and places like Sharp and Follow-Me had people on the move.
[SCN Installation Showcase 2025]
Get caught up on what you may have missed last week below.
PEOPLE NEWS
AVIXA Announces 2026 Board of Directors
AVIXA has named its 2026 AVIXA Board of Directors and Leadership Search Committee.
John Bailey, SVP, technology and innovation, AVI-SPL, has been elected as secretary-treasurer of the Board by AVIXA membership. AVIXA members also elected to the board Loubna Imenchal, managing director, Middle East, Turkey, Central Asia, and Africa (MEA) at Axis Communications; and Cristiano Mazza, CTS, partner, Grupo Discabos.
The AVIXA Leadership Search Committee (LSC) has appointed Ilya Bukshteyn, corporate VP for Microsoft Teams calling, devices, and premium experiences; John Joseph, co-founder and managing director, Blue Rhine Industries; and Christine Schyvinck, president and CEO, Shure, to AVIXA’s board of directors.
Carolina Sosa, CFO of Integración AV, has been elected by AVIXA members to the Leadership Search Committee. In addition, Jatan Shah, chair of the AVIXA board of directors, has appointed Faye Bennett, founder and managing director of Faye Bennett Consultancy Services, and Christine Rogers, VP of XTG, AVI-SPL, to the Leadership Search Committee (LSC).
A complete listing of the 2026 AVIXA Board of Directors appears below:
LSC chair: Jatan Shah, QSC
Chair of the board of directors: Tobias Lang, LANG AG
Vice chair: Mradul Sharma, 3CDN Workplace Tech
Secretary-treasurer: John Bailey, AVI-SPL
Directors: Kristin Bidwell, Audiovisual Consulting Team; Ilya Bukshteyn, Microsoft; Nicholas E. Cox, Sr., Mizuho Americas; Loubna Imenchal, Axis Communications; John Joseph, Blue Rhine Industries; Cristiano Mazza, Grupo Discabos; Christine Schyvinck, Shure; and Tom Shen, Shen Milsom & Wilke.
Follow-Me appoints Menno Appelhof as Technical Sales Specialist
Follow-Me has appointed Menno Appelhof to the role of technical sales specialist. With 35 years of experience spanning lighting design, operations, and sales across the live entertainment industry, Appelhof plays a pivotal role in expanding Follow-Me's global distribution and sales partner network while supporting both partners, designers, and end users with technical expertise. His focus is on streamlining operations for partners, designers, and end users to ensure Follow-Me continues to deliver its performer tracking technology and support in the industry.
Appelhof's extensive career began in the mid-1980s, when he started building shows and pushing flight cases at just 15 years old. His journey evolved through lighting design and programming to sales, where he established his own distribution company representing lighting brands. Throughout his career, he has worked with companies including Avolites and Elation, gaining deep expertise in control systems and lighting technology.
Neutrik Americas Appoints Stacy Kaskonas Director of Key Accounts and Systems Integration
Neutrik Americas has appointed Stacy Kaskon as director of key accounts and systems integration. In this newly defined role, Kaskon leads strategic partnerships and engagement initiatives with Neutrik Americas’ customers across the Americas, focusing on long-term collaboration, systems integration, and customized connectivity solutions within the professional AVL (Audio, Video, Lighting) market.
Kaskon joined Neutrik Americas in May 2011 and has since held several leadership positions in sales and business development. Throughout her tenure, she has played a pivotal role in building trusted relationships with key accounts, driving growth in core product lines, and supporting the company’s expansion into new solution areas.
Sharp Names Robert Davis VP of Services and Solutions
Robert Davis has joined Sharp's professional display business as VP of services and solutions. In his new role, he works across the professional display organization to drive Sharp's commitment to delivering an enhanced customer experience for end users and dealers. In addition, his leadership and experience is critical to scaling Sharp's LED business.
Throughout his career, he has focused on building high-performing teams and developing the next generation of key decision makers. Known for transforming service organizations into strategic growth engines, Davis brings a unique ability to align customer experience with long-term business value. His stewardship has supported innovation, operational efficiency, and recurring revenue growth across diverse industries, with companies such as Fifth Third Bank, Convergys Corporation, ADT, Johnson Controls, and Samsung.
COMPANY NEWS
AVPros Rebrand to Tecnetics
AVPros has rebranded to Tecnetics. The new name reflects the organization’s expanded capabilities beyond audiovisual integration, encompassing low voltage infrastructure, physical security, and managed IT field services designed to deliver complete, measurable outcomes across every layer of enterprise technology.
Under the leadership of two industry veterans, Ciaran Hamilton and Giovanni Agramonte's shared vision, complementary expertise, and passion for innovation, will define the company’s approach to technology integration. Hamilton leads with a consultative mindset—bridging engineering precision with strategic insight to help organizations adopt solutions that enhance the way they work. Agramonte, a seasoned AV and IT professional, brings extensive experience in system design, implementation, and operations management, ensuring each project is delivered seamlessly from planning to post-support.
The name “Tecnetics” encapsulates the company’s focus on technical precision, connectivity, and integrated delivery. While the company’s guiding vision, “Connecting Technology to Business Outcomes,” underscores its mission to deliver measurable, scalable, and secure technology ecosystems that directly support operational goals.
Sean Wargo, Lee Dodson Partner with Jetbuilt
Jetbuilt has partnered with industry veterans Sean Wargo and Lee Dodson of the newly formed Apogee Insight to advance its market intelligence initiatives and deliver insights to the professional audiovisual industry. The partnership combines Jetbuilt’s ecosystem with Wargo and Dodson’s decades of experience in research, analytics, and market strategy. Together, the team will develop a comprehensive data initiative designed to help industry professionals identify emerging trends, evaluate market potential and make more informed business decisions.
By applying advanced analytics to this real-world data, Jetbuilt’s new initiative will reveal how technologies are being specified, which markets are growing and where demand is shifting across verticals such as education, corporate, government and entertainment. Unlike traditional industry reports, which rely heavily on surveys or limited sampling, Jetbuilt’s dataset reflects verified project activity from professionals actively designing and delivering audiovisual systems. Jetbuilt’s direct connection to the market makes the data more accurate, current, and representative of actual industry movement.
The collaboration will extend beyond reporting statistics to interpreting the meaning behind those numbers. By combining Wargo’s background in data science and market methodology with Dodson’s operational experience as a manufacturer and marketing executive, Jetbuilt’s initiative will translate complex analytics into meaningful narratives.
Nanolumens, Noro Partner to Launch Portal for Human-Centered Hybrid Collaboration
Nanolumens and Noro, the company behind the Portal immersive communications system, announce a partnership to bring Portal to market, a platform designed to bridge the hybrid collaboration gap by making remote participation feel human, natural, and connected. Nanolumens and Noro will introduce Portal globally through existing Nanolumens and Noro integrator networks with configurations tailored for enterprise, education and command environments
Portal combines Nanolumens’ expertise in dvLED display technology with Noro’s leadership in life-size, immersive design and intelligent spatial camera systems, creating a seamless environment where remote collaboration feels natural, connected and truly in-person. Unlike traditional video walls or conferencing systems, Portal delivers full-scale, real-time presence with true-to-life proportions, spatial depth, and natural body language, no headsets, glasses, or complex interfaces required.
Salamander Designs Expands Partnership with NuTech Group across New York
Salamander Designs has expanded NuTech Group’s territories to now include New York Metro, Long Island, and Northern New Jersey to further support dealers with personalized support for Salamander products. As it has for over two decades, NuTech Group will continue to represent Salamander in Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.
With this expansion, Salamander Designs continues to strengthen its commitment in training, technical support, and service for its line of residential media cabinets, seating, and technology furniture solutions across the East Coast.
Utelogy, Canon Forge Strategic Partnership to Enhance Smart Workspace Integration
Utelogy announced its partnership with Canon CR-N Series PTZ cameras, further strengthening its growing ecosystem of supported devices.
As part of this strategic partnership, Utelogy has added support to the Canon CR-N Series PTZ camera line, CR-N100, CR-N300, CR-N500, and CR-N700. This new integration, delivered through the Utelligence Partner Program, enables organizations to take full control of their camera environments directly within the Utelogy platform.
Users can benefit from a comprehensive range of remote management capabilities, enabling more efficient and scalable control across meeting rooms, classrooms, training spaces, and other environments.
