UK - Wirral-based Lift Turn Move (LTM) has reported two of its apprentices have now joined the company as full-time staff members. Jonathan Street also joined as an apprentice on an engineering apprenticeship. Charmaine Pude came to LTM in 2016 to gain office experience and work towards her NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration. She has recently passed her NVQ and subsequently been given a full-time job at LTM as a sales and purchasing assistant. Joshua Field-Baines approached LTM in 2015 wanting to work in engineering. He has since completed his apprenticeship and is working towards his advanced apprenticeship qualification in BTEC HNC in Engineering which includes an NVQ Level 4 and he is also doing his LEEA foundation training. John Jones, MD of LTM, comments: “We are very lucky to have gained two valuable team members at LTM. We know how important it is
UK - The International Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference has confirmed its final keynote speakers. Joining the array of confirmed speakers from around the world is founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), Elizabeth Diller, whose New York-based design studio practice spans the fields of architecture, urban design, installation art, multi-media performance, digital media, and print. Her appearance on Monday, 4 June 2018 will be complemented by co-founder of the Bridge Theatre and former National Theatre executive director, Nick Starr CBE, on Tuesday, 5 June 2018. (Jim Evans)
USA - QSC has announced the appointment of Aravind Yarlagadda as chief technology officer and executive vice-president (product development). He will oversee all aspects of product development for QSC. Yarlagadda has over 25 years of product development experience and joins from Schneider Electric, where he held senior executive roles in product management, research and development, marketing, strategic partnerships and new business initiatives. He also held senior leadership roles at Invensys, Tyco and Quest Software. Joe Pham, president and CEO of QSC, comments: “Over the past years, we have continued to make large investments into our product development organisation, and as a result, we now have a sizeable organisation poised for continued innovation. Aravind’s new role will allow us to organise product development as its own major function under one senior ex
Europe - AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association, has announced the appointment of Chris Lavelle to the position of senior director of development Europe. Lavelle takes on the role having spent nine years as regional director for UK and Ireland. He will lead the team based in Munich and the UK. “It’s a real pleasure to be given this exciting opportunity, and I look forward to getting started in my new role,” says Lavelle. “There has been some fantastic work done by our team in Europe, and there is a strong desire and commitment from AVIXA to do even more to deliver our message, liaise closely with our existing members and further drive membership growth.” The move will be effective 1 June. Current senior director of development Europe, Pam Taggart, will be moving into a global position with AVIXA as senior director of strategic relations
USA - GLP US has strengthened its team with two new members. Brandon Jeffrey takes on the role of central regional sales manager and Brad Haynes joins in the newly created position of SceneX Lighting brand manager. GLP US president Mark Ravenhill comments: “Brandon has a fantastic combination of skills and energy that will really support our customers and their projects in a very solid way. We can’t wait to get him fully embedded into his new position.” Jeffrey adds: “I am excited to begin work with the great team that GLP is putting together, I can’t wait to hit the ground running and help the company grow within the central territory.” Haynes joins GLP in a newly created position to promote and strengthen the company’s SceneX brand of LED solutions that it promotes in the North American markets. A 20+ year industry veteran, Brad will add his
UK - Flashlight has appointed David Manister to a directorship role within the company. Manister joined Flashlight in 2013 and had since spearheaded its business development. He comments: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to play my part in the continued growth of Flashlight. I’m lucky to work with a great team of highly motivated, industry professionals who help us to make sure we continue to deliver the highest level of service expected by ourselves and our customers." Flashlight founding directors Andy Dodd and Rob Williamson comment: "We're delighted with David’s progress within the company. His enthusiasm allows us to continue to be in front of end users and support new business with a strong presence." Flashlight supplies lighting equipment to the broadcast, motion picture and theatre industries from its Manchester and London bases. The comp
USA - Ashly Audio has appointed Noel Larson to serve as vice-president of marketing and business development. With over two decades of experience in the industry, Larson will work with Ashly engineers and strategic partners on new product development and will report to Ashly CEO Jim Mack. Larson most recently served as Harman Professional’s global director of retail solutions - signal processing, mics, and connected PA. At various points, Larson had oversight of the dbx, Lexicon, BSS, Digitech, AKG, and Soundcraft brands during his seven years there Larson said. “I was looking for an opportunity where I could make a real impact at a company that’s ready to grow fast and that has a management team that fully supports that vision. Ashly has CEO Jim Mack and a cast of talented people, and Jim has successfully piloted rapid company growth in his past endeavours and n
Asia-Pacific - Adamson Systems Engineering has announced the appointment of Ayumi Hanano as education & support coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region. In her new role, Hanano will be assisting Adamson’s APAC team with technical support and is now the first point of contact for all training inquiries and initiatives in the region. “Ayumi has already proven herself to be a valuable addition to our diverse international team,” says David Dohrmann, Adamson’s technical director for the APAC region. “She’s incredibly smart, a strong brand ambassador, and will be a major asset as we continue gaining traction in the Asian markets and increase our global focus on education and training.” Hanano has already overseen the delivery of Adamson’s Applied Certification training for hundreds of attendees in several countries and will soon begin presentin
Europe - Elation Professional B.V. has announced that lighting control specialist Menno Appelhof has joined the company with the aim of growing the M-Series brand of lighting controllers in the European market. Elation acquired the M-Series range of entertainment lighting controllers from Harman Professional in March. Menno has been a lighting console specialist since 2004 and has developed a wealth of relationships and valuable experience since joining the entertainment technology industry in the early 1990s. His position at Elation encompasses maintaining contact with the current M-Series customer base while growing the M-Series network of users and partners in Europe. He is a familiar face in the lighting controller milieu and comes to Elation from a similar position at Fairlight, the Dutch sound and lighting company that also distributes the M-Series. "After worki
Canada - The President and CEO of Groupe Solotech Inc. (Solotech), Martin Tremblay has announced the appointment of Mickey Curbishley as president of Solotech’s US rental division. This appointment will be effective as of 3 June. Mickey has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, working with the largest and most successful global acts. In recent years, he has helped the production needs for the likes of Madonna, Prince, Lady Gaga, Roger Waters, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi and The Eagles. Curbishley began his career in the mid 80s touring with some of the biggest bands of time. In 1994, Mickey was part of a team that proceeded to the acquisition of Light and Sound Design (LSD), where he played a strategic role in LSD’s international expansion. Following PRG’s acquisition of LSD in 1998, he filled leadership roles for PRG’s concert touring divisi
USA - Lawo has welcomed Browning McCollum, David Desrochers, and Stanley Pan to its growing North American team of customer support specialists. “Lawo’s growth in the U.S. and Canada just keeps accelerating,” says Sam Schauland, technical director, Americas. “More and more broadcasters and audio production professionals are realising that true standards-based audio and video routing and mixing are the only way to go. That’s awesome, for the industry and for us. We’re adding more positions all the time.” Browning McCollum joins Lawo after a successful tenure with Viacom, Nashville, where he held the position of remote engineer in charge. McCollum, a 2016 Emmy Award winner for his work on Grease Live, also holds the distinction of having installed the first two Lawo mc296 mixing consoles. His role at Lawo will be as a broadcast technology specialist.
Denmark - Continuing its accelerating pace of expansion, Pascal, the provider of pro audio amplifier electronics, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Michael Munch to the newly created position of product manager. Munch’s extensive and diverse career in professional audio spans more than 30 years, encompassing sound engineering and international touring, production management, product management and business development. He has held product management leadership roles at TC Electronics, Lab.gruppen, Tannoy, TC Group and Dynaudio, and brings a wealth of experience, industry knowledge and personal contacts to his new role at Pascal. (Jim Evans)
Canada - Systems integrators, Solotech’s integration division is targeting considerable growth in its Canadian market share in the next few months. As part of its action plan, four new appointments have been announced recently: Peter Chartrand becomes business development representative in the greater Ottawa region. New at Solotech, Peter will be in charge of developing new and existing business accounts in the corporate, sports arenas, government and theatre segments. Alexandre Piquette as business development representative in the greater Quebec City area. will be responsible for developing new and existing accounts in the educational, recording studios and musical instrument (MI) segments. Philippe Giron as business development representative in the greater Montreal area. will be responsible for developing new and existing accounts in the corporate, governm
USA - Paul Vincent, president of Vincent Lighting Systems, has accepted an invitation to join the Behind the Scenes Foundation board of directors. Paul, who founded VLS in 1978, brings a wealth of industry experience to the Board. He is a past president of ESTA and the recipient of its highest honour, the Eva Swan Award. Paul has been an ardent supporter of Behind the Scenes since its inception: VLS employees have participated in a company sponsored Behind the Scenes Workplace Giving Campaign for the last 12 years, Paul has generously leant staff member, Kim Craigie, to work the BTS booth at trade shows for many years, and he has frequently donated prizes for BTS raffles and auctions. Paul comments, "I appreciate the vision of the Behind the Scenes Foundation, and the important support provided to people in our industry who are in need of a helping hand. I accepted th
UK - Peerless-AV has announced that Matt Nixon has joined the UK professional division as distribution channel sales manager. Matt is responsible for developing and implementing the long-term business strategy, broadening sales opportunities, managing distributor relationships and providing support for the ongoing growth of key accounts. “Matt is a great asset to the UK team, with the motivation, commitment and people skills needed to successfully manage and develop our distribution network,” comments Keith Dutch, managing director - EMEA, Peerless-AV. “He has demonstrated strong customer relationship skills and has a thorough understanding the AV and IT industry. His energy and experience will help us maintain our UK market leading position and explore new routes to market with our expanding portfolio.” Prior to Peerless-AV, Matt was a commercial consultant at
Europe - Lawo, the German manufacturer of IP-based AV systems and control solutions, has appointed Craig Newbury to the position of director of sales and operations in the UK and Ireland. Newbury brings with him over 18 years of broadcast related experience across a range of technical, operational and commercial roles. After several years of experience in senior sales management positions across the UK and Europe, he most recently held the position of vice-president of sales and marketing for Wohler. Newbury comments: “Lawo is a progressive, engineering led company which holds values of innovation, quality and reliability at its heart. The company’s unique selection of solutions allows it to offer its customers a complete IP-based broadcast workflow across audio production, video infrastructure, control and analysis. Lawo’s technological innovation, future-orien
UK - Following a three-month business review, specialist LED lighting manufacturer GDS has announced management changes at its Bristol HQ, “to assist in the long-term growth of the business”. Richard Cuthbert will take on the role of managing director, whilst Matthew Lloyd will now occupy the position of sales director for entertainment. Ian Colquhoun will continue in the role of finance director. Lloyd comments: “During the 14 years of the company’s history, Richard and I have overseen the growth and success of ArcSystem, BluesSystem, CueSystem, GDS-Korea and the business as a whole. I feel now that Rich should take GDS forward with his strategic view, allowing me to focus on the sales and international business so core to our roots.” Cuthbert adds: “It has always been a pleasure working with Matt to create great solutions for the industry and we wil
UK - Details for the funeral of late sound engineer Barry Bartlett have been released. The funeral service for Bartlett, who died peacefully on 30 March, will be held at 11.20am on Monday, 23 April at Mortlake Crematorium, Kew Meadow Path, Richmond TW9 4EN. The family also invites Bartlett’s friends, colleagues and associates to join them for a reception after the service at 12:00pm at Putney Town Rowing Club. Parking will be available at either location while nearest stations are Mortlake and Underground or Overground Kew Gardens (both a 15-minute walk). The family has asked for family flowers only while donations can be made to Woking & Sam Beare Hospice - www.wsbhospices.co.uk/support-us/remembrance/in-memory-donations/ Those
UK - Unusual Rigging has appointed four new directors to the board in response to the company's exponential growth over recent years. The new directors, all current employees at Unusual will, in time assume specific leadership roles within the company. Senior project managers Steve Porter, Simon Stone and Simon Tiernan, together with Tom Harper, Unusual's sustainability coordinator, have accepted positions on the board. Alan Jacobi, managing director at Unusual, comments: "Unusual has grown at an unprecedented rate in recent years and now has responsibilities in very defined but different sectors where the clients expect to deal with officers at the highest level. This, together with the ever-increasing compliance requirements meant that we had to take measures to ensure the board is not overstretched." He adds: "We needed to regenerate the thread of continuity
UK - Richard Black has joined stage track and engineering specialist Triple E in a newly created technical sales and marketing role. Previously the projects manager at Flint Hire and Supply, Black’s new job will utilise his 10 years’ experience in scenic construction and rigging with a focus on client relationships, training and marketing Triple E’s expanding portfolio. David Edelstein, managing director, says: “We’re delighted to have Richard on board. He’s familiar with our products and ambitions and fully equipped to communicate the company’s product solutions.” Richard Black comments: “I’ve admired Triple E since I started working in this business. David wants people in tune with his designs, who recognise their merits. The tech sales and marketing position is a perfect fit for me and I’m looking forward to exciting challenges as Triple
UK - Gary Makein has joined Blitz in the newly created role of general manager with a brief to head up the company’s expanding warehouse team and the new set and staging workshop facilities at the company HQ in Elstree. He will also support the company’s satellite offices - based at five major venues across the UK - where Blitz are the in house, preferred AV supplier. Makein has a long pedigree in the AV and broadcast industry. He joins the company from VER, where he was head of operations, prior to which he spent 18 years as co-founder and operations director at Show Presentation Services. He will also take a lead role on the health & safety committee and reports to operations director, Ali Sumar. “As Blitz continues to grow, we have made substantial investments in cutting edge technical equipment and improved stock availability. Combined with
UK - It is with great sadness that we report that Barry Bartlett died on Good Friday, 30 March after a year-long struggle with cancer. He died peacefully surrounded by his family. Britannia Row Productions, where Barry worked for many years, issued the following tribute. Barry had been a freelance sound engineer all his working life and had worked as such for Britannia Row Productions for many years. In 2012 he became the course director for Britannia Row Productions Training, a post he held until his passing on Friday. At the end of 2017, Barry also took up the part-time post of training manager for Britannia Row Productions. Britannia Row said in a statement: "Barry was driven by a few key passions. He was passionate about music in all its forms and in its history, live audio, passing on his vast knowledge to others through his course writing and editing and tutoring
USA - Atlona has expanded its residential AV sales team with the appointment of Joshua Trujillo as regional sales manager, west residential. Reporting to Victor Baut, national sales manager, residential, Joshua will cover a vast territory across Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. He will work closely with systems integrators, rep firms, consultants and end users to expand regional visibility and market share for Altona in the residential AV market. Joshua comes to Atlona with 15 years of AV industry experience, most of which was with Logic Integration, a commercial and residential AV dealer and integration firm based in Denver. (Jim Evans)
UK - Ohm has appointed James Jewry as director of technical integration, heading up the new tech integration department. Jewry is an experienced system design technician working with artists such as Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones and the London Symphony Orchestra. Having been involved in audio for nearly 25 years, he has worked with major tour and festival companies, designing and calibrating some of the largest audio projects around the world. Gareth Coleman, director of international sales, comments: “Ohm is focused on building a strong core team, with the imminent release of state of the art DSP software & hardware, the creation of a new technical integration team will ensure our new products have both pre and post sales customer support.” Jewry adds: “I’ve seen and heard some amazing loudspeakers built at Ohm, with over 39 years’ experience behind th
