UK - dBS Solutions has recently appointed Matt Chisholm to the role of project and development manager.

Matt is the former senior sound technician at the Arena and Convention Centre, Liverpool and is looking forward to the new challenges of a busy rental company.

Responsible for managing the company's larger projects and assisting with the ever-growing rental stock, Matt brings a wealth of experience to the team.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The green generators of Film & TV Services are a familiar sight on many events and are responsible for powering the location shoots and OBs of countless TV shows and sports matches across the country and around the world. It was started by Eddie and Julie Fegan back in September 1977, their first job being the fire services annual conference in Bridlington, which they lit for BBC News. The work for the BBC grew and they took on two part time staff and a transit van loaded with a couple of redheads and blondes, which ran around doing reactive news and conference work all over the country.

Around 1995, during their early years of the European Golf Tour, Julie and Eddie had been in talks with Barry Johnson from Carlton TV about building their first broadcast twinset. In conjunction with specialist coachbuilders A Smith of Great Bentley and sales manager John Evans, they built

Spain - Jose del Arco has been appointed by Fenix Stage, reinforcing the company's Export Department, as export area manager. Throughout Jose's professional career he has always been involved with international business. He says: "I have always tried to contribute with effort and passion everywhere I have been working, as purchasing analyst, buyer or trade advisor in many industries. Now I have the chance to work on the other side, on the sales department, and Fenix Stage offers me the opportunity and the confidence to begin this new challenge . . . The complete trust in our products is a key point for me."

Fenix Stage is a relatively young company (as its name suggests, it was reborn from its ashes in 2005), with a team with more than 20 years of experience mixed with young professionals. "The result of this is a great combination of knowledge and dynamism, with

USA - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has announced the return of Frank Loyko as vice president of North American sales. Loyko began his career at EAW and was instrumental in establishing EAW as a world class brand. In addition to his time with EAW and then as vice president of worldwide sales for Loud Technologies, Loyko broadened his skills and accomplishments with similar roles at TC Group Americas and Digidesign/Avid Technologies.

On Loyko's appointment, president Jeff Rocha said: "To build on EAW's strong growth in the North American market, it is critical that we have someone of Frank's calibre and experience to lead our domestic sales team to the next level and support the broad adoption of our market leading technologies. Frank was at the core of EAW's original success. It is very exciting to have him back on-board now as EAW grows to the next level."

Commenting

UK - Miltec Distribution has appointed Greg Oliver as audio sales manager. Greg brings over 20 years of professional audio industry knowledge to Miltec, having previously worked for RCF, EAW and KV2 Audio.

"This is a great time to be coming on board at Miltec Distribution and being an integral part of the company," says Oliver. "Especially with the recent Pioneer Pro Audio announcement and the other great audio brands that Miltec Distribution has on board."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Fresh from the recent re-branding of Milos to Area Four Industries, the UK operation continues to strengthen its position with the recruitment of Adam Beaumont as UK Brand Manager for LITEC, JTE, TOMCAT & EXE Hoists & Controllers.

Beaumont joins from ACTUS Industries with a wealth of experience in Rigging & Automation. He explains: "For over 15 years I have worked closely with LITEC and most recently at ACTUS we assisted with the development of the new range of EXE Hoists & DST systems. To be finally working within the team is a great opportunity and I am extremely excited for the future with the strength of all our brands "

Sales & Marketing Director, Glen Brown adds: "The timing with Adam is perfect with so many changes in our organisation and industry. Our new motto is 'You know What, We know How' in reality our aim is to know HOW & WHAT with new experti

UK - Marquee AV has announced the appointment of Ed Allday as project manager. An experienced engineer and project manager, Allday's previous career includes positions with SLR, AT&C and, most recently, Twisted Pear Consultancy.

"This is an additional position that expands our capacity for managing our increasing portfolio of projects", said Mark Brown, MD of Marquee AV. "Ed has a lot of experience and works to the standard of quality we expect, and he has the enthusiasm and sense of humour to fit in well. We're pleased to welcome him to the team."

"I'm very excited to be joining Marquee AV", adds Allday. "It's a company I've always respected, with a great ethic and atmosphere. The projects they handle are varied and substantial, giving me the opportunity to be involved in a key role and make a valuable contribution to the continued success a

UK - The industry is mourning Max Lindsay-Johnson, director of international sales at Community Professional Loudspeakers who passed away suddenly in France last Thursday, 21 May.

Steve Johnson, Community's CEO said, "We are all deeply saddened by the loss of Max, who was one of the audio industry's most respected members. He was a true professional and had a smile for everyone, with the warmth of personality that made him a good friend to those he worked with."

Community's founder, Bruce Howze, also shared, "Max was a special person and a joy to work with. He became a friend and I will miss him greatly."

Max Lindsay-Johnson started his audio career by training as a sound engineer at the School of Sound Recording in Manchester, England. He moved to the sales side with A1 Music Centre, developing his career with Sound Technology, Arbiter and Harman. His pr

UK - Lighting and visual production and rental company HSL has announced that John Slevin has joined their management team based in the Blackburn HQ - as technical support manager (projects).

John brings his wealth of experience, great personality and excellent communication skills to HSL on a full time basis - having worked for the company as a crew chief and lighting technician regularly over the last 13 years.

Says HSL MD Simon Stuart, "It's fantastic to have John on-board. We've known him for many years, he shares our ethics, visions and ambitions for the future and is a perfect fit as we embark on a new phase of expansion."

John will be working closely with HSL's busy - and growing - project management team offering technical support and sharing his knowledge and infectious enthusiasm on all projects. He will divide his time between being on-site visiting show

USA - The Media Networking Alliance has announced the appointment of chairmen for its Technical and Marketing Working Groups, nominating Kevin Gross and Will Hoult to the respective positions.

Kevin Gross is founder of AVA Networks and a leading independent consultant to AV equipment manufacturers and systems designers. He is a pioneer in media networking, having previously conceived and developed the CobraNet transport protocol for high-quality audio over Ethernet networks. He also helped build the first configurable DSP system and developed early DAW products.

On taking up the chair of the MNA Technical Working Group, he stated, "The technical activities of the MNA, as with everything the MNA does, will focus on adoption of AES67. Technical activities that can improve adoption include development of implementation resources, technical education initiatives and technical

UK - Electrosonic, an international audio-visual systems integration and service solutions company, has appointed Gary McQueen and Douglas Walker to join the service team based in the new Aberdeen regional office. The new recruits, both with substantial oil & gas industry and audio-visual experience, will enable Electrosonic to offer an enhanced service to local clients in and around the Aberdeen region.

Douglas Walker, small projects engineer, and Gary McQueen, senior field services engineer, will be working alongside each other to deliver effective service solutions. While Douglas's key focus will be to coordinate the delivery of small works projects, Gary's core responsibility will be to provide support and maintenance for audio-visual systems at client sites.

Walker has been working in the events industry for almost eight years. His last role as a project manager for Full

UK - Sound Technology, Harman distributor in the UK/ROI, has announced the appointment of Stuart Strachan to the newly established role of live sound project engineer.

With a remit to demonstrate and develop awareness of Harman's new generation of JBL, Soundcraft, AKG, Crown, Lexicon and dbx products for the professional live sound industries, the appointment strengthens Sound Technology's technical team, bringing specific industry technical knowledge in-house, and providing local UK support in addition to Harman's European and Global teams.

Stuart brings experience of live sound projects at some of the UK's most famous venues including Wembley Stadium, Wembley Arena, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park. His breadth of experience includes music gigs, corporate product launches, West End theatre, sports events and large-scale orchestra

UK - Marquee AV has announced the appointment of Paul Day as business development manager. Day joined the industry with PRS, progressing his career as regional sales consultant with Bose where he has enjoyed the last seven years. The position of business development manager is an expansion for Marquee AV and Day will work alongside the existing sales team.

"I've known Paul for many years and always admired his professional approach, enthusiasm and good humour," said Marquee AV's MD, Mark Brown. "He's one of those few guys always in the back of your mind as someone it would be good to employ if the opportunity arose. With our expanding business that opportunity became reality and I'm pleased to welcome Paul to Marquee AV. I'm sure he'll fit in well and help us achieve our future goals."

"The opportunity to join a company with the background and pedigree

UK - HHB Communications has announced the appointment of Andy Copeland to the role of technical sales support engineer.

Andy is a graduate of the University of Huddersfield's Music Technology programme, where he completed work experience as an Avid Pro Audio sales advisor and qualified as an Avid Certified Support Representative (ACSR PT400). He joins HHB's award-winning Technical Sales Support Department in delivering first-line support for Avid Pro Tools customers and will help provide product configuration and installation, after-sales support, repairs and training for Pro Tools and other MAC and PC based DAWs.

HHB group sales director Steve Angel comments, "We welcome Andy in joining the most experienced team of professional audio support engineers in the industry. He came highly recommended from Avid and his experience will further increase our efforts to provide exp

UK - RCF has announced a significant expansion of its UK operation, which will "add new efficiencies and impetus to the company's sales drive, as it continues to penetrate new market segments".

Central to the change is the appointment of industry stalwart Miles Brooke - who brings 20 years of experience in pro, commercial and consumer audio within the D&M Group.

Taking up the newly created position of regional sales manager (south) he will focus on installed sound/commercial audio and rental & touring customers, while Mick Butler will continue to represent RCF in the North of England and Scotland.

After a career dedicated to brand building Denon and Marantz - latterly as national sales and marketing manager with D&M Group's professional division - Miles Brooke previously worked with Denon distributors Hayden Laboratories, a company he joined in 1994. "RCF's di

Germany - ASC has expanded its maritime projects business area with the arrival of Dirk Schmerschneider to cover the yachting/residential sectors.

Dirk Schmerschneider has been responsible for the newly created yachting/residential business area since December 2014 as key account manager at ASC. He reports in this position directly to ASC's management. With his experience as a project manager for entertainment systems on luxury mega-yachts, he has added to the Hamburg-based system integrator's expertise in the field of Maritime Projects and has extended it strategically to encompass a target group made up of exclusive private clients.

Leif Witte of ASC management, comments, "Dirk Schmerschneider represents the next logical step in the expansion of our maritime projects business area. We have had repeated enquiries from private ship owners during our activities as a system

USA / EMEA - NanoLumens, a leading manufacturer and marketer of visualisation solutions, has appointed Simon Deary as regional sales director EMEA, reporting directly to David DaCosta, NanoLumens' managing director EMEA. Deary will be absed in the company's Bath, UK, office.

"As NanoLumens continues to expand throughout the EMEA region, we need to have someone of Simon's experience join our team," DaCosta said today. "Through his unique background in lighting design and LED engineering, Simon has a well-versed understanding of the industry, and will be able to show a variety of businesses how our solutions can help them to achieve their customer engagement goals and objectives."

Before joining NanoLumens, Deary founded Son Et Lumiere, an LED design firm specialising in high-end events. Deary worked on projects such as the Expendables 3 premier in Cannes and

UK - Shannon Harvey has joined Backstage Academy as course leader on the BA (Hons) Visual Production degree. Harvey previously worked as account manager at d3 Technologies - one of the course's core supporters - and will now be responsible for running the degree and ensuring it delivers against the industry's current skills requirements and technology.

Harvey's experience covers the architectural, theatrical and entertainment industries, working with lighting, video, projection and special effects projects on a wide range of applications.

Said Backstage Academy's Sara Gleadhall, "Shannon Harvey is a huge asset to the course and brings with him a wealth of knowledge on video and lighting system design as well as a unique creative vision which means he is an all-round inspiration for the students.

"Entertainment technology is evolving so rapidly that we need to draw

UK - Blackburn-based lighting and visuals rental specialist HSL has appointed Mick Seddon as group financial director and strategist.

Working closely HSL's MD Simon Stuart, he will play a key role in HSL's active expansion over the next five years, and is one of a number of high level appointments to be announced by the company in the coming months.

HSL and Mick's accountancy practice have already been collaborating for several years. During that time, Mick has been instrumental for the management and co-ordination of several acquisitions by the HSL Group, including the purchase of Playlight, The Lighthouse and Production Services Ireland.

Simon Stuart states, "We welcome Mick to his new role at HSL. His combination of foresight, financial savvy and imagination will help shape our future and ensure that HSL remains a major force, as well as an adaptable and efficient bu

France - Matthias Larrieu, a leading member of the Nexo design team has died in a road accident. He was just 30 years old.

The Nexo family is mourning the loss of one of its sons, the talented young loudspeaker designer Matthias Larrieu, who lost his life in a car accident in June, writes Ginny Goudy. In his six years at Nexo, Matthias left a truly impressive mark. A core member of the design team that brought the company's flagship STM Series modular line array into existence, he was also instrumental in the development of other ground-breaking Nexo products, notably the 45°N-12 inline stage monitor and the hugely popular RS subbass cabinets.

His last project for Nexo was the STM M28 compact line array, which, in its first year on the market, is already set to become one of the company's best-selling PA systems.

Nexo's gentle giant, Matthias balanced his genius w

UK - Scrub, a division of HHB specialising in post production, is announcing the appointment of Stephen Jones to the newly created position of sales administrator.

The UK's leading supplier of Avid Pro Tools, Scrub has expanded the team to meet the demands of significant growth in the sales of Pro Tools and the S6 control surface. Leading audio post facilities like Envy, The Farm Group, Encore, LipSync, Angell Sound and many others have chosen Scrub to upgrade to the S6.

Stephen will support Ben Scully and Devin Workman from Scrub's office and demo facilities on Berwick Street in the heart of Soho's post community. He began working with HHB in 2012 after graduating from Coventry University with a degree in Music Composition and has been promoted to help in providing first-line support for Avid Pro Tools as well as other MAC and PC-based DAWs.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Jigsaw24 has hired Andy Brooks as head of business development for pro audio and Ian Duncan as senior pro audio consultant as part of efforts to boost its share of the pro audio market sector.

Jigsaw24 chief executive Martin Balaam said, "Following on from our recent major investment in our flagship premises in Golden Square, Jigsaw24 has ambitious plan to expand its capabilities within the media and entertainment sectors.

"Andy and Ian's remit, following Jigsaw24's accreditation as an Avid Elite S6 partner, is to drive the Pro Audio business within the traditional Soho sector and within the wider media and entertainment market."

(Jim Evans)

USA - Outline North America has announced the appointment of Joseph 'Joe' Fustolo as senior sales engineer/product support specialist.

"We are pleased to make this announcement at InfoComm 2015 as yet another facet of the continued growth and development of Outline in the US", said Tom Bensen, Outline North America's Sr. V.P. and managing director. "Joe is a great addition to the team with his experience and talents. We are confident that his impact will be immediate, and that he will hit the ground running."

Joe joins Outline with over 20 years experience in the audio industry. "It is truly an honour to be working for such a passionate company. With the best in Italian quality, along with a very innovative approach to their product design and engineering, I am ready to do my part in taking Outline to the next level here in the US Market. I look forwar

UK - Event technical delivery expert FIX8Group has appointed Helen Marenghi as project coordinator.

Helen's role will be predominantly to support FIX8's existing project managers across all current and future events/projects and other company related work. It will also involve implementing and managing various operational processes and software that will help the company manage its time and equipment more efficiently as the company continues its rapid growth.

Helen brings a wealth of experience to FIX8. Her recent roles have included senior events manager at Cuffe and Taylor Ltd and working on prestigious shows such as the Rod Stewart Tour 2014 and Lytham Proms Festival. She has also worked as assistant video and graphics producer for WorldWide Shows (WWS) on the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Closing and Paralympic Opening Ceremonies and lighting and content viewing room assistant

Latest Issue. . .