Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

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UK - Lightware Visual Engineering has announced the appointment of Christopher Chandler as vice president of global partnerships. In his new role, Chris will be responsible for driving business growth within integrator customers and alliance partners globally, and he will report to Szabolcs Turi, Lightware’s executive director, business development.
Chris is an experienced audio and technology industry professional with a track record spanning more than 25 years in sales and management. Prior to joining Lightware, he worked at Biamp where he held various roles including sales director.
"Lightware is committed to providing the best integrated systems solutions to our customers, and we are excited to have Chris join the business to lead our global partnerships strategy," said Szabolcs Turi, "His extensive experience across the industry will make him an invaluable asset

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UK - Doughty Engineering has announced the appointment of two new directors. Dan Phillips and Mark Chorley will join the board with immediate effect. Julian Chiverton will serve as CEO, with Stephen Wright taking on the role of managing director. The new directors are current employees at Doughty and will, in time assume specific leadership roles within the company.
Dan Phillips has been a member of the Doughty team for more than 15 years, originally joining the company as a sub-contractor in assembly. In his most recent role as special projects manager, Dan has built strong client relationships as well as working within R&D to bring new and innovative products to market. “I feel very privileged to take on this role. After the past few turbulent years brought about by COVID and Brexit, the future is looking bright and I’m delighted to be joining the board at such an

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USA - RatPac Controls has announced that founder and chief innovation officer Craig Brink is stepping down after 12 years with the company.
Since its inception in 2011, RatPac Controls has experienced tremendous success with its innovative approach to lighting controls. RatPac Controls has expanded its portfolio to over 25 products, including silent dimming, data distribution, and wireless DMX control products. Craig Brink's contributions helped change how gaffers rig and control lights on film and TV sets and earned RatPac Controls its reputation as an industry leader.
Before founding RatPac Controls, Craig Brink worked as a rigging gaffer, with credits including The Big Lebowski, The Fast, and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Fracture.
Craig Brink stated, "RatPac Controls has grown tremendously over the last 12 years. We've built a deep and

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UK - Ahead of International Women’s Day (8 March 2023), full-service technical production partner, JLL, wants to shine a spotlight on the gender gap within the production and events industry.
Currently only 31% of credited crew roles off screen are filled by women and just 5% of sound leads in the industry are female (Kindred Magazine, The Gender Gap Issue) and in JLL’s opinion this needs to change.
Addressing the issue, JLL is actioning change by paving the way for more female talent and a diverse workplace industry wide. Since 2015, JLL has increased female representation in the company by 300% and is continuing to encourage more women into the industry by opening new roles.
Going the extra mile, JLL offers employees access to a 24-hour, employee assistance programme which supports women, men and parents in all aspects of working life. Notably, this

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USA - Powersoft has announced the appointment of Thomas Howie as a business development manager in the US, to further support the company’s exponential growth in the region. Howie, a pro-AV industry veteran, will be responsible for new and existing clients, as well as global key accounts.
Howie brings a combined 40 years of experience in the AV industry to his new role. In his most recent position as vice president of sales and marketing at Glidecam Industries, he successfully led the department that developed, coordinated and conducted live and remote training programmes. Prior to Glidecam, Howie spent 15 years at CBS Broadcasting.
“I believe that my diverse experience in AV, broadcast, manufacturing and technical fields will be highly advantageous for our customers,” states Howie. “I am thrilled to join Powersoft’s innovative team and I am particularly ex

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USA - Chase M. Strickland has worked in and around Bandit since a very young age. Armed now with a degree in business management from the University of Tennessee, Strickland has assumed the role of business manager at Bandit’s headquarters in Knoxville. He is tasked with a wide variety of business functions as he expands his role, working closely with VP of operations Roth Edwards, CFO Sharon Draper, media relations coordinator Sharon Gross, VP of business and innovation Jake Tickle and chair Michael T. Strickland.
“I am incredibly excited to begin my full-time career at Bandit Lites,” said Chase M. Strickland. “I hope to build on past successes that have played a role in solidifying Bandit’s position as an industry leader, as well as provide a fresh outlook on opportunities going forward. I have grown up around this business and I am eager to see what lies ahead.

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UK - Long serving director of operations at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Mike Bradford, has joined Push The Button (PTB) as chief operating officer. Mike has been at the Birmingham Hippodrome for 21 Years and before that worked at Alton Towers as technical manager.
PTB managing director, Nick Ewins, says, “Looking ahead into 2023 and beyond, I am keen to ensure that we have the best possible standards in our business systems and operations which Mike will deliver. Mike’s arrival will also allow me to continue working with our customers, designing and delivering projects as PTB continues to grow.”
Mike adds, “I’ve worked with Nick and the team at PTB for more than two decades now, so I understand the business and I am delighted to be able to bring my experience to the company.”

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USA - ESTA has announced that Katie Jang is the new Protocol editor, taking over the role when Beverly Inglesby retires in April.
Jang (née McCulloh) has over two decades of marketing, communications, and advertising experience in the live entertainment industry working with Broadway venues, touring productions, traveling exhibitions, regional theatres, and more. Additionally, she worked for both ESTA as a marketing executive and Lighting&Sound America as a media executive.
“I am thrilled to re-join the ESTA team in this capacity and look forward to new opportunities within the publication while maintaining the core of Protocol for our dedicated members and subscribers,” says Jang. “And I am honoured to carry on Beverly’s undeniably enormous legacy.”
Erin Grabe, Executive Director of ESTA, notes, “I am very excited to work with Katie again

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USA - Richard Cadena, technical editor of Lighting&Sound America and Light and Sound International has joined the 3LR Design team as senior consultant. His focused discipline is lighting design, control systems, and electrical design and implementation, with a knowledge of multiple technical systems. His career has covered a variety of industry segments including concert/touring, television/film, theatre, architectural, and corporate events.
"As we continue to grow our global reach, we are absolutely thrilled to have Richard join the team," says 3LR Design global director of design, Joshua Allen. "His extensive experience and passion for design -- and guiding others through the design process - will be extremely valuable assets to our company and our clients."
In his role as senior consultant, Cadena will be collaborating in the design of architectura

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World - UK based A.C. Worldwide Group has announced a number of senior appointments as part of its strategy for continual growth.
In the UK, Phill Capstick, who has been with the business for 37 years, will step up to the role of CEO in UK based A.C. Entertainment Technologies and, following 25 years of success, Jonathan Walters becomes the company’s managing director.
In other UK news, Andy Dodd will be retiring from his executive role on the Board of Flashlight Ltd, but the Company says he has accepted a non-executive directorship so will still be helping the Flashlight team and their customers.
Across the Atlantic, the sales and distribution businesses operating as A.C. Americas (incorporating A.C. Lighting and A.C. Promedia) will be led by long-serving board member Phill Capstick who is appointed as CEO. Joining him on the board as president, after six yea

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USA - Elation Professional has announced the promotions of Eric Loader to global vice president of sales & marketing and John Dunn to director of sales – U.S.
ADJ Group President, Toby Velazquez, has worked closely with both Eric and John over many years in building the Elation brand. He comments, “Eric and I have a successful history spanning over three decades and John's contribution to Elation's ascent as a premier brand in the industry over the past decade has been extraordinary. We couldn’t ask for a stronger team to drive the company's growth and keep Elation at the forefront as an innovative, reputable, and leading brand in the industry.”
Eric Loader, with 17 years of dedicated service to Elation, has been instrumental in driving the company's growth and expansion. In his new role, he will continue to lead the company's strategy and growth vision th

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USA - Bandit Lites has announced the promotion of Mark Scherer to client representative. Scherer is the latest addition to the leadership team at Bandit where his recent adventures on the road will ‘offer a fresh perspective to clients as well as practical applications of the latest in lighting technology’.
Scherer joined Bandit Lites fresh out of college and quicklyestablished himself as a vital team member, working as a lighting tech on Chris Young, the dimmer tech for Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty Tour, crew chief on Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill Tour, dimmer tech on Shinedown’s Revolution Live Tour, and most recently as the lighting director on Maren Morris’s Humble Quest Tour, as well as many other roles over time.
“I am excited to step into the role of Client Representative at a company that has taken care of me from the beginning,” said

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USA - Pixellot has announced the appointment of Connor Thinnes as the vice president of sales in North America.
Connor brings considerable sales and marketing experience to Pixellot, with over 20 years of accumulated knowledge in these fields. He has worked in sales for 10 years and marketing for an additional 10 years. Prior to joining Pixellot, Thinnes held the position of VP of marketing at HomeTown Ticketing, a provider of digital ticketing services primarily for the high school market. In his new role, Connor will be responsible for leading both the club sales team and the Vidswap analytics sales team in the US.
"We are thrilled to welcome Connor to the Pixellot team," said David Shapiro, president of North America, Pixellot. "Connor's background in both sales and marketing, combined with his deep understanding of the High School and club sports market, make him

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UK - Lighting controls specialist Pharos Architectural Controls has announced the appointment of Simon Hicks as its new chief executive officer. Simon takes over from Chris Hunt, a founder of the company, who will continue to serve as chief financial officer.
Chris comments, “Simon is the right person to be leading Pharos into its next phase of growth. He has been at the centre of our product innovation and development for many years now, resulting in the expansion of the company’s product portfolio, which now includes our new Expert range, our rebranded Designer range and our remote management solution – Cloud. It’s an exciting time for the business, and with Simon’s appointment Pharos will be in the best possible position as it prepares for significant growth during 2023 and beyond.”
Simon’s extensive experience in the sector spans 20 years and has feat

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USA - ESTA has announced that Richard Nix is the new technical standards manager for the Technical Standards Programme (TSP). His predecessor, Karl Ruling, will stay on in a supporting role.
Nix’s involvement in the development of standards spans decades. In early 1994 he was already actively involved in the USITT Rigging Standards project when discussions began about the TSP and its mission. He immediately came on board as a volunteer and has been, as he puts it, “a rather hyperactive standards evangelist ever since,” having led multiple tasks groups over the years before joining ESTA as assistant technical standards manager in May 2019.
Former technical standards manager Ruling will now be senior technical standards manager. “I am stepping back so that Richard can step forward, and I am sure he will excel. Richard has been involved in the TSP for as long as

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Italy - To celebrate this current year as its 50th anniversary since incorporation, Outline has been working behind the scenes to restructure, resulting in the appointment of a new management team.
The new organisation stems from the retirement of Giorgio Biffi from his role of CEO, which he carried in addition to his head of sales function, since the passing of founder Guido Noselli, whom he had joined in 1976.
"Giorgio has undoubtedly driven Outline's success on a worldwide scale during his 47 year-long tenure – which is why it wasn't exactly easy to find a suitable candidate to replace him,” says Michele Noselli, majority shareholding partner together with his brother Stefano – who adds, "It explains how we came to appoint not one, but two younger guys, as a team, in order to keep up with Giorgio's own pace, willing to grow Outline to lead tomorrow's technolog

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USA - GLP Inc. has appointed Tyler Wise as its new director, sales & marketing (Americas). He brings more than 20 years of experience spanning the entire production management spectrum – in particular within the live events, integration and entertainment technology sector.
His knowledge of production lighting was honed during his time with prominent professional audio and lighting distribution company, Group One, where he was national sales manager of the lighting division, and as business development lead for Production Resource Group (PRG), the global service provider, which is where he first came into contact with GLP.
Wise’s experience in sales and marketing made him the perfect candidate for the position, as GLP Inc. president Mark Ravenhill emphasised. “Having known Tyler for many years, I am delighted that he is joining GLP to lead our sales and market

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UK - DiGiCo has announced the appointment of James Baker as senior international sales manager, and long-standing DiGiCo team members Jaap Pronk and Tom Williams from their present roles to international sales managers.
Baker previously served as a business development manager and international sales manager. “I wanted a new challenge where I could leverage everything I’ve learned over the years,” he explains. “I’m looking forward to making a longstanding contribution to DiGiCo, bringing my flair for communication and relationship building to my new position and to being part of the amazing pool of talent the company already embodies.”
Pronk and Williams, meanwhile, are familiar DiGiCo faces and have been part of the DiGiCo family for many years. Both are well known for their expertise, reliability and excellent customer-facing skills.
Pronk’s assoc

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USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced the appointment of test engineer Joel Enkhorn.
Enkhorn joins Renkus-Heinz with an extensive and impressive work history. Most recently, he worked for SpaceX in the Space Simulation Lab where he was a part of Avionics flight hardware and software testing. Enkhorn performed root cause analysis on failure modes and product defects utilizing Python scripting and hardware measurements.
Before his employment at SpaceX, Enkhorn gained experience acquiring, deploying and diagnosing issues with hardware and software across various platforms at Western Digital as a Cloud Server Quality Assurance Engineer. Here, Enkhorn worked to develop and troubleshoot automation scripts to assist with flashing product firmware.
“As a guitar nerd, I grew up with a love for music and the live audio atmosphere. It was an easy decision to be able to combin

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Europe - Leyard Europe has announced the appointment of Markus Korn to the position of vice president of sales. Korn joins the Leyard Europe team from Samsung Electronics.
“After my very enjoyable and fulfilling decade at Samsung, it was time for a new challenge,” says Korn. “And what better place to take on my next challenge than at Leyard Europe. The company is constantly pushing the boundaries of display technology and breaking into new and exciting markets. I’m very much looking forward to joining the team.”
As VP Sales for Leyard Europe, Korn will lead all sales teams across the organisation, reporting directly to CEO Thorsten Lipp.
“We’re delighted to have Markus join us at Leyard Europe,” says Lipp. “His knowledge and connections will be a valuable asset to us as we continue to explore new opportunities and consolidate our position in the

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UK - Bradford-based Pro Audio Systems has announced the recruitment of Martin Bailey to the post of projects director. Martin has enjoyed an international career that has encompassed every aspect of project and production management, system design engineering and integration.
From apprentice scenic painter at Bristol Old Vic, to live and studio freelancer, Martin graduated in 3D Design (Theatre) from Wimbledon School of Art. Further stints as a sound engineer at Good Earth and Sound Design studios in London (and regular work as theatre technician in the West End) preceded a move into the live sound arena working for a diverse range of artists including Motörhead, Fela Kuti, Nick Cave and Squeeze.
Leaving the road to take up the Technical Manager’s position at Phoenix Arts Centre in Leicester, Martin enjoyed a seven-year tenure, with responsibility for an extensive

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Spain - Creative Technology (CT) has announced the appointment of Alvaro Cantos as the company’s systems integration manager for Spain. Cantos will report to CT Spain’s managing director, Oscar Ramal, and oversee the growth of the systems integration division in the Spanish market.
With over three decades of experience working with high-level corporations and public bodies in Spain and South America, delivering audio visual solutions to theatres, meeting rooms, auditoriums, conference rooms, museums and exhibitions, Cantos now brings his knowledge of the systems integration market to CT.
“Completing many notable audio-visual projects in Spain allowed me to lead and take part in some of the most important projects in South America,” explains Cantos. “I had the opportunity and privilege to work on both the AV and scenotechnic design of prominent venues such as

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Europe - Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Richard Palmer to the role of sales director for the EMEA region, following the retirement of Nicki Fisher.
Richard’s prior experience includes over 10 years at Clear-Com, managing sales for Southern Europe and Africa, as well as several roles in sales for other leading industry manufacturers, including Audio-Technica and Solid State Logic. In his early career he spent time as a lecturer of music technology at various institutions, as well as serving as a recording engineer for CTS Studios.
Chris Willis, senior VP of worldwide sales, comments, “Richard’s deep understanding of the audio industry and his track record of growing even well-established channels made him a natural choice for this critical role, further strengthened by his strong interpersonal skills and wicked sense of humour.”
Richard’s ap

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USA - Elation has announced the addition of Nick Saiki to the company’s U.S. sales team as product application and customer experience specialist – PACE. With an MFA in lighting design and technology from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Nick brings extensive knowledge and experience from his previous roles in live event production and system integration, as well as five years as a field project coordinator at ETC.
As PACE specialist, Nick will be responsible for leading product presentations at trade shows, showrooms, and sales team demos. He will also bridge the gap between sales and product management, ensuring that all customers and sales staff are fully trained on Elation products, up-to-date on industry trends, and familiar with the latest standards and technologies. Furthermore, Nick will expand on the Elation Educational Experience (E3
  1. Sennheiser reveals executive management team
  2. In Memoriam: John Bilyk (1951 - 2022)
  3. Allen Deneau joins Bandit Lites
  4. Robe gears up for future expansion
  5. ARRI appoints head of quality management
  6. Aram adds senior production manager
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