Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

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Mexico - SGM has appointed one of Spain's most prominent lighting designers as its new representative in South America.

Ben Diaz takes up the position of area sales manager with immediate effect, in a role that also includes product training on the Continent.

Since 2000, Diaz has been involved in many creative roles within the entertainment industry, including lighting / production design and operation, video programming for media servers, cinematography and technical education.

He has worked in 16 countries as a crew member, including Europe and America, and has a deep and comprehensive understanding of all technical matters relating to show business worldwide.

Ben Diaz has spent the last 10 years touring as a lighting designer, programmer and operator, and creating visual shows for TV.

It was during one such tour - with Latin pop-rock artist Rosana - that he first met

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UK - Following a busy and successful first six months, VER Live has announced the appointment of Jonny Hunt as project manager. Hunt brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the television and entertainment industry to the role and has hit the ground running. On arrival, Hunt managed his first television show for VER Live, ITV's A Funny Old Year for production designer Paul Houston. Hunt stated, "I'm pleased to be a part of this exciting new venture."

The expansion follows a string of successful and high profile video productions delivered by VER Live since its inception in August 2014. In that short time, VER Live has supplied to televised spectaculars such as StandUp2Cancer, the Royal Variety Performance, Children in Need and BBC's The Voice.

VER Live's Adrian Offord, commented, "Jonny has already become a worthy asset to our stron

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UK - Doughty Engineering has appointed Candice Robinson as the newest member of its UK sales team. Candice joins Doughty with a wealth of experience, previously working in sales for Honeywell and as head of administration in the dispatch department at Kondor.

Speaking of Candice's appointment, Laurence Dyer, Doughty's sales and customer services manager, said, "In the short time that Candice has been with us, her enthusiasm, efficiency and initiative has been impressive. She took the reins on day one and has demonstrated excellent customer service skills, and a good technical know-how. Candice will be a real asset to the UK sales team and to our customers too."

Candice, who will deal with all UK orders, customer queries, invoicing and dispatching, said, "Although it's early days, I feel as though I've been at Doughty for months. The entire team made me feel welc

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Singapore - Creative Technology (CT) has announced the recruitment of Tom Casey to its Asia Pacific operation on 12 January 2015.

Tom will join CT's Singapore business as Project Manager reporting directly to managing director Chris Burke and will cover the Asia Pacific region.

An Australian citizen, Tom has previously worked in the UK, the Middle East, Australia and Singapore and is well versed in the business culture of the Asia Pacific region.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Electrosonic has promoted Bryan Hinckley to head of the worldwide entertainment business, which includes the museum, theme park, visitor centre and retail markets. The post was previously held by Chris Conte, who was recently named head of the new US Business Development team.

Hinckley has been managing Electrosonic's themed environments and attractions business in the US, where he was responsible for maintaining and growing the business as well as managing and supporting its US-based sales team.

"Bryan's promotion to lead the entertainment business comes at a very exciting time for Electrosonic and for the AV market as a whole," says Jim Bowie, president of Electrosonic Group. "As one of our key talents, Bryan is assuming new responsibilities at which I believe he will excel and help move the company forward."

Hinckley says, "As Chris Conte mov

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UK - London-based audio consulting firm, RH Consulting, has strengthened its team and widened its services with the addition of former PLASA Technical Resources Manager, Ron Bonner.

Ron has served with PLASA for 13 years offering health and safety advice, regulatory compliance information, technical advice and support in product compliance and environmental regulations. He offers services to many parts of the entertainment industry and continues to provide technical resources to PLASA as a contracted supplier. He offers additional services exclusively for the audio industry through RH Consulting.

Ron has played a key liaison role for Government and Regulatory agencies along with managing representation for the drafting of international, European and national standards that affect the entertainment and architectural installation industries.

He is a chartered health and safety

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Spain - Creative Technology's operation in Spain has recently recruited Sander Meijer as audio visual sales manager. Sander will be responsible for the Cannes, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon regions.

Having worked in the audio visual rental industry since 1988, Sander brings with him a wealth of expertise having worked for several major international AV companies worldwide. With experience with AV systems on conferences, corporate events and trade shows, Sander has also been responsible for his own international productions and has previously been a client of CT's in their London, Holland and Spain regions.

Sander was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands but has lived in Barcelona since 2000. He also speaks five languages.

(Jim Evans)

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Singapore - Martin Professional has announced that Glenn Loh has joined Martin's Asia & Pacific team as key account manager, effective immediately. Loh will be based in Singapore and will report to Alfonso Zarate Takano, architectural manager for Martin's Asia & Pacific team.

"Glenn's skills make him a valuable asset to the Asia & Pacific team," said Alfonso. "He brings with him vast marketing experience and we're confident he'll seamlessly integrate with both the team and our existing business partners in the region."

Before joining Martin, Loh worked as a key account manager for Philips Lighting in Singapore. He is highly experienced in account management, project sales and developing and setting up new business models.

Commenting on his appointment, Loh stated, "I'm looking forward to establishing strong relationships with Martin's solid customer

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Canada - Adamson Systems Engineering has expanded their support team with the addition of Jeremiah Karni. The new applications engineer will assist customers with system design and provide product support and training. The announcement was made by James Oliver, director of marketing and sales.

"We have experienced a tremendous amount of growth in the last year," explains Oliver. "With this expanding client base, it is essential that we maintain the high level of education and support that Adamson clients are accustomed to. Jeremiah fits the mold for the type of character and skills needed to grow our team."

Karni attended Southern Cross University in Australia where he received a bachelor's degree in music with a major in music production. During his time at the University he became involved in the local live sound scene, ultimately becoming a house tech at

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Germany - Loudspeaker manufacturer Fohhn Audio AG has added a new face to their International sales and distribution team. Gauthier Dalle takes over the position of head of international business development, his responsibilities being to strengthen and develop Fohhn's international relationships.

"Mr. Dalle is a very dynamic and creative business developer with profound experience and deep understanding of the audio industry. We are very happy to welcome him in the Fohhn family" says Uli Haug, executive board marketing & distribution, Fohhn Audio AG.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced the appointment of Steve Young as director, North American sales. Young brings over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and management to Community. He comes to Community from the Music-Group where he was manager of business development for all Music-Group professional brands including Midas, Klark-Teknik, Turbosound and Eurocom. Previously, Young was vice president of sales and marketing at Mitek (Atlas Sound).

"Community offers their customers a level of integrity that is simply unparalleled," said Young. "Our products not only sound phenomenal, but they are also backed by leading edge engineering and the best applications support team in the industry. Customers certainly have a lot of choices today, but when they choose Community vs. the competition, they will experience the positive differences whi

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Benelux - L-Acoustics has announced the appointment of Han Dohmen as sales manager to manage the Benelux market. The newly created position reflects the company's commitment to European markets, which continues to represent growth for the brand.

Dohmen, who holds an MBA in management, lives in the Netherlands and brings exceptional experience in the professional audio industry, having worked with Sennheiser in the Benelux region, as well as holding senior European sales and marketing position in companies outside the sound industry.

Jochen Frohn, director of business development at L-Acoustics states, "L-Acoustics has seen constant growth of around twenty per cent per year, and as this trend continues we felt the need to strengthen our support for installation and rental clients in this key domestic market. Han is the perfect fit to do this. He shares a common culture wit

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Sweden - LumenRadio has appointed Sofia Rösberg as purchase & supply chain manager.

Having a Masters Degree in retail, transport and supply chain management, Rösberg brings extensive experience during her positions at SCA Packaging, Din Sko and Intersport. In 2013, Rösberg was appointed CEO at Selector Solutions, a consultancy firm that has helped hundreds of companies improve their supply chain and to optimize purchasing.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the LumenRadio team. The true power of LumenRadio's Supply Chain lies in its flexibility and the added value that comes from a coordinated, highly motivated international team. I look forward to helping to build continued success as LumenRadio enters their next phase of growth. It's an incredible opportunity."

LumenRadio's CEO Alexander Hellström adds, "I first worked with Sofia whilst she was a

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USA - Ashly Audio has announced that industry veteran Scott Leslie will join the company as executive vice-president. Ashly and its parent company, JAM Industries, are committed to a new growth strategy and they are drawing on Leslie's vision, experience, and leadership to help execute it. In the newly-created position, Leslie reports to Ashly CEO and president Mark Wentling and oversees the R&D, marketing, and the North American sales divisions.

Leslie's roots are deep in the audio industry; his father invented the famed Leslie rotating speaker that has long been an essential component of electric organs. The younger Leslie earned his master's degree in acoustics from Georgia Tech and, after interning at Fender, took a position as a loudspeaker engineer at Altec Lansing.

From there, he pivoted to the computer and software industry with positions at Tektronix, Sun Microsystems

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Europe - After the appointment of AED Distribution as distributor for QSC Pro Audio in Germany and UK in addition to its BeNeLux distribution, and the expansion into the European continent for High End Systems products, the Belgium-based company is also expanding its team.

AED Distribution, with offices in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France & Belgium, has hired several people to support its future growth into these new markets. Hans Vanderheijden, managing director at AED Distribution HQ, comments, "Over the last couple of years we have build a clear strategy to strengthen and focus on a European Master Distribution model, which enabled us to develop our distribution network in Europe. Some markets were approached directly through our own setup, in others we went to market through selected partners. As a result of our expansion into these new markets, we felt the need

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USA - Apollo Design Technology has announced the appointment of Nick Picciuto as chief financial officer. In this role, Picciuto will direct the financial activities of the company including strategic planning, profit improvement initiatives, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and banking/debt management.

Prior to joining Apollo Design Technology, Picciuto worked as a CFO at InterStar Fleet Services and Duro Designer Company. His career spans over 30 years in the finance field.

"Nick is a great fit. He is able to jump between the details and the big picture. Nick brings a wealth of experience to the table with a side of Italian attitude thrown in." Mr. Joel Nichols said.

"I am very excited to join Apollo Design and support its growth and innovation initiatives. This company has an impressive track record and is positioned to continue that success wel

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Switzerland - Navori has announced the opening of a new office in Germany to support growing interest in its digital signage solutions across the German-speaking DACH countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company, which will soon unveil new branding, organizational strategy and products, has appointed Thomas Pollum to lead sales and business development from the new office, located in the City of Elmshorn.

Thomas comes to Navori with a history of success in director-level and management roles at BIS Germany (A Mood Media Company) and Samsung, among others. The Elmshorn office location will allow Thomas to drive closer customer intimacy, and develop deeper relationships with existing partners.

"The DACH region is one of the most important markets for Navori, and the establishment of a local office will increase our presence and brand awareness across German-sp

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UK - Cinelease has appointed Steve Smith as its Managing Director for the UK. Smith brings 30 years' of industry experience with him having formerly been the Group Managing Director of AFM Lighting and more recently Worldwide Managing Director of Panalux.

Steven M Ortiz (Cinelease global VP) comments: "We are delighted to welcome someone of Steve's calibre and proven track record to Cinelease. We view his appointment as a sign of our commitment to being the leading company in the UK. Steve Smith has a proven track record over many years that clearly identified him as being the perfect choice for this important position and we are proud that he has agreed to join Cinelease".

Steve Smith said: "I am very proud to start this new challenge with Cinelease. This has been a very important decision for me and I have been very impressed with the Cinelease team and their

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EMEA - Scala has appointed Mike Gopal as area sales consultant for the Middle East and Turkey. Reporting to Damon Crowhurst, VP, EMEA, Gopal started in January, 2015. He will be responsible for building on and further expanding Scala's digital signage position in this expanding market.

With deep experience in the AV sector through his years at AMX, and more recently working with ESCO Singapore, Mike joins Scala from WOW Vision where he served as the regional sales manager - GCC & Africa.

"I am very pleased that I was able to convince Mike to join us, and lead our growth in this strategic market," said Damon Crowhurst, VP EMEA. "His extensive local knowledge, complemented by his in-depth knowledge of all things AV and digital signage will ensure our local customers are able to have the highest quality of service and sales support.

"Scala has a great reputa

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UK - With Colette Carter having recently joined Stage Electrics as sales manager with responsibility for developing growth in hire, Colette has been swift to act by restructuring the customer facing hire team.

Based at the company's headquarters, Colette brings a wealth of experience to the Stage Electrics London and Bristol operations, having worked for more than 20 years within the engineering and distribution industries.

Previously, Colette was branch manager at Buck and Hickman, one of the UK's leading distributors of tools, maintenance and health and safety equipment. Prior to that she had moved up 'through the ranks', holding a number of key management positions.

On joining Stage Electrics she was tasked by Adrian Searle, head of technical & hire operations to re-focus the company's hire sales team.

"My background is predominantly in people management and develo

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UK - The Theatres Trust has welcomed Tim Eyles as its new chair, appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP.

Responding to the announcement, Tim Eyles said, "I'm genuinely thrilled to take on this role. It is a great privilege and a real honour. I'm also energised about working with such an excellent group of trustees who serve the Trust with such dedication and creativity. The Theatres Trust fulfils an important national purpose and I will give my best efforts to lead the Trust through the next exciting chapter of its evolution."

Tim Eyles is managing partner UK and international board member of leading international law firm Taylor Wessing, chair of The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, one of the UK's leading arts charities, and a director of the Jerwood Space. Taylor Wessing has strong cultural connections with the arts w

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USA - Audinate has announced that John Rechsteiner has joined the company as vice president of global sales and support. Rechsteiner brings over two decades of sales, marketing and customer support experience in the pro audio, broadcast and post production industries. John most recently served as vice president of sales, Asia Pacific for Avid based in Tokyo, Japan.

Rechsteiner will lead the worldwide sales and customer support teams as Audinate scales these teams in response to the growing number of manufacturers who have adopted Dante. Earlier in his career, Rechsteiner led the expansion of DigiDesign (now Avid) in the Asia Pacific region.

"We're excited to have John join our team as we expand rapidly throughout the world. John is the right person to further build, develop and inspire our talented sales and support team," said Lee Ellison, CEO of Audinate. "Joh

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UK - Stage Electrics has been delivering audio and lighting solutions for over three decades. But the company continually aims to improve and expand its service; to this end it has appointed Rob Collett to the position of audio hire manager. Rob's all round knowledge of audio and his attention to detail adds a further dimension to the hire division's offering.

Rob's background spans concert touring and corporate events, having started as a system tech with bands such as Boyzone, Westlife, Busted, McFly, and Coldplay. His career progressed into the role of monitor engineer for a number of artists including The Australian Pink Floyd Show, Emilie Sande, Matt Redman and The White Lies. He has worked with companies such as MCM Productions and First Network in corporate events and was a regular face on the Top Gear Live and Gadget Show Live Shows.

"Like most people that visit t

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USA - Syncrolite has announced the appointment of Paul Rabinovitz of PMRi LLC as its director of product sales and marketing. In his new position, Rabinovitz is responsible for managing Syncrolite's new product sales and marketing on a worldwide basis. Using a combination of public relations, the web, traditional and social media outlets he will oversee marketing efforts in addition to being the main contact for the sale of new and used products.

"I feel like I am coming home," remarked Rabinovitz. "After spending so many years, first at Xenotech and then at Strong Entertainment lighting working with high-intensity Xenon lighting products I could not be more excited to join Syncrolite and continue that tradition. Clearly, Syncrolite is without a peer in this field and if you will pardon the pun the future looks bright."

"Paul brings with him a wealth o

  1. Adams and Murphy join Behind the Scenes Ghostlight Society
  2. Unusual Rigging appoints operations manager
  3. Avolites Ai staff reshuffle as V8 launches
  4. Audiologic expands technical support team
  5. Harvey Goldsmith joins Access Sessions panel
  6. Stage Electrics & Northern Light strengthen board
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