Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

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UK - Nexo has announced the appointment of Rich Soper to its UK team, where he assumes special responsibility for the company’s sales activity in the tour sound and audio production rental markets.
Soper began his career as a freelance sound engineer and has spent many years at the sharp end of the business, notably as a system tech and FOH for well-known artists. He further developed his hands-on experience with an operational role at Disney Cruise Lines, running ship-wide audio and AV systems, before moving into technical sales for several successful pro-audio distribution companies, including Yamaha Commercial Audio.
For the last four years, he has been in charge of business development at Allen & Heath and, most recently, at Adlib Audio. In these roles, he was instrumental in developing training and technical support packages for his clients, building strong

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Germany - Fibre network specialist, Optocore, has announced the appointment of Márton ‘Marci’ Sós, as its new technical support engineer, with immediate effect.
Sós, who will take up the same role with sister company, BroaMan, hails from Budapest and is multi-lingual. He has wide experience in both system integration and sound engineer roles within the theatre world and as a freelance, and is proficient on many industry leading digital platforms, including Optocore partner DiGiCo, as well as Focusrite Pro and Dynacord.
Of his appointment, he says, “I met Optocore’s former support team a short time ago and was impressed with their immense level of knowledge, so I know I have big shoes to fill. The challenge therefore is to move into the role seamlessly so that clients don’t notice the personnel change.”
He says the move to the German company is a lo

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USA - ACT Entertainment, the new entity formed by the ACT Lighting, RapcoHorizon and AC Power Distribution brands, has announced the appointment of David Johnson to the new post of senior vice president sales. Johnson is well known for managing the Live Design International (LDI) franchise.
“When we rebranded as ACT Entertainment, it was clear that we needed strong leadership in the sales department to bring all our world-class sales forces together across the organization and ensure their continued success and the high level of customer service for which we’re known,” says Ben Saltzman, CEO of ACT Entertainment. “David has 30 years’ experience in the industry and is a proven team leader. He’s well liked and has a broad knowledge of all the disciplines in which ACT Entertainment operates in. He knows the business front-to-back and side-to-side and understands the

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UK - Bradford-based Pro Audio Systems has announced the recruitment of Peter Butler and Callum Hall to the posts of business development director and audio sales respectively. For more than 30 years, Pro Audio Systems has supplied professional audio for sales, hire and installation, offering bespoke system design and comprehensive technical support to a wide variety of clients. As the company emerges from the turbulence of the Coronavirus pandemic, demand for its services remains stronger than ever.
Peter Butler joins as business development director in a role dedicated to improving efficiency and profitability, identifying new opportunities in the marketplace, and addressing potentially beneficial additions to the company’s portfolio. Peter began his career in a retail position at JSG music in Bingley. Moving into audio sales and hire at The Music Company (TMC), he enjoye

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Norway - Pixotope has appointed Sam Leadsom as its VP for global business development in sports. A senior executive with 30 years’ experience in delivering editorial and commercial success across the media industry, Sam’s career is deep rooted in sports broadcasting. His previous roles have included positions at IMG, Fox Sports, and Sky Sports. Most recently, Sam acted as broadcast director at Sail GP, where he oversaw the media strategy and commercialisation of the sports championship, leading broadcast content, sales and distribution operation.
At Pixotope, Sam will be responsible for driving global and integrated new business opportunities in the sports broadcasting marketplace, working closely with sector leads and partners to further improve the delivery of Pixotope’s services across the live sports industry.
He says, “This new role opens up a whole new b

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UK - Bob Bohannon has joined the management team of the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) in the role of head of academy and policy.
“This is a key role for the LIA and will provide strategy and leadership in the academy, as well as enabling a forward-looking handover, of Peter Hunt’s excellent work in his role as Chief Policy Officer,” says the organisation.
Bob will oversee and coordinate all those supporting policy within the LIA, head up many of the key relationships, create wider and effective cross-industry links and work closely with the newly created Government Affairs committee, chaired by Dave Ribbons.
Bob brings a wealth experience to the LIA, the immediate past president of the Society of Light and Lighting, he had 20 years in manufacturing working on major projects such as St Pancras Station and Heathrow T5, before returning to lighting desi

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USA - Main Light has announced the appointment of Dave Pretz as asset manager. Working from Delaware, Pretz’s role will cover both Main Light East in Wilmington and the soon-to-open Main Light West facility in Las Vegas. His responsibilities include inventory oversight and new equipment acquisitions company wide.
Prior to joining Main Light, Pretz was the cross-rental manager at 4Wall Entertainment, where he had also worked as operations manager and their returns manager. His move coincides with Main Light’s West Coast opening.
“It’s a team effort, especially as we spin up Las Vegas with an all-hands-on deck mentality, which I enjoy,” says Pretz. “It’s a good fit, and I am really pleased to be part of it. Being responsible for both locations’ inventories and purchasing is a fun challenge as I get to help ensure that we have the right balance of equipm

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UK - Audiologic has announced the expansion of its application team with the hire of Amber Jones, who joins the company as junior application support engineer.
Jones joins the company as the fourth graduate hire from the University of Hertfordshire after studying Audio Recording and Production.
The role reports to Ben Spurgeon, senior application engineer who comments: “Even throughout the pandemic we’ve seen a continuous rise in the demand for support from our application team. After the fantastic roles we’ve managed to shape with Anna and Kamil through our graduate hiring scheme, we decided once again to work with the University of Hertfordshire for this new position. Amber’s hire takes us to a team of six, once again proving how vital the technical offering is to Audiologic.”
Amber Jones adds: “Having recently graduated, I was eager to get into the

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UAE - Tom Warneke has joined Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) as a senior project manager for the live events division. He has over 15 years of experience in the live events industry across Australia, Asia and the Middle East.
Warneke has successfully planned and executed technical management across multiple high-profile projects such as Diriyah Season, Dubai Burj Khalifa & Sydney Opera House New Year's Eve Celebrations, World Skills Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the United Nations World Urban Forum.
“I’m really excited to be joining such a world-class team as CT and work on some of the most exciting projects across the region, particularly as we expand into offering that same level of service and quality in a full-service way for not just video but complete technical delivery,” says Warneke.

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Denmark - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Ben Lund as its new regional sales manager for Crestron in Denmark.
Representing Crestron's portfolio of commercial solutions, Lund's responsibilities will include assisting integrators, specifiers and end-users in deploying fully integrated, futureproof smart spaces with Crestron technology.
Stein Ramsli, TIG's regional sales director for Crestron in the Nordics, comments: "We're very excited to welcome Ben to the team. From his 30 years of experience supporting integrators and specifiers in the AV industry, Ben brings invaluable sales leadership skills, an advanced technical knowledge and superb project management skills. This ties in perfectly with our strategy of remaining the No.1 end-to-end AV and IT solution portfolio provider, preferred by the majority of ver

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Norway - Pixotope has announced two senior promotions and a new hire within its leadership team. The appointments follow the continued expansion of the company’s global staff.
Ian Puszet joins Pixotope as its chief customer success officer after a decade working at Avid, where as vice president he led the global customer care team. Ian will drive customer success initiatives, align departments with a customer-centric culture and continue to construct relationships between Pixotope and its current and potential customers.
Already a key player at Pixotope, Karoline Storbråten has been promoted to regional sales manager for Southern Europe. Karoline’s new role will oversee the daily and long-term sales operations across key European hubs such as France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Another Pixotope veteran, Joachim Ringstad celebrates his fifth year in the compa

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UK - Technical solutions distributor Visualization has announced the appointment of James Belso to spearhead its end user and consultant activity. Belso will be charged in developing Visualization’s business and grow its partner network.
Having worked for Christie Digital Systems for over a decade, Belso has recently been focusing on the consultant community and key end users. With both a deep technical expertise and strong commercial focus, Belso was instrumental in some major wins including the London Stock Exchange digital transformation.
Prior to Christie, Belso has worked with Panasonic and Cabletime (now MediaStar Systems) in sales focused roles.
Visualization managing director, Nick Pidgeon, comments, “James’ pedigree and experience precedes him. His relationships and industry experience will further help Visualization expand its offering to our chan

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UK - CFE Lighting’s business development manager, Amanda Speight, has been elected onto the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) council.
In her new role on the 20-strong Council, Amanda will act as a representative for commercial luminaires, championing the UK’s lighting manufacturers and suppliers and ensuring their voice is heard on a range of key industry issues.
Amanda is one of three women to be elected to the LIA council, with the association keen to improve the diversity of its members. The council, which typically meets five times a year, serves to represent the different sectors within the lighting industry, with the LIA playing a key role in shaping and influencing policy, legislation, quality and supply chain behaviour.
Commenting on her election, Speight says: “This is a real milestone moment for me in my career and I’m delighted to have the o

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USA - Christie has announced the appointments of Francois Godfrey and Maz Zaeefjou to the Professional Services team as directors of sales and business development.
Christie Professional Services helps partners across the globe to prolong the life of their AV systems and get the most from their investment by proactively maintaining, troubleshooting, and resolving critical system issues. Francois and Maz will be responsible for new business development opportunities and partnerships across the Professional Services portfolio, which will be expanding to encompass a broader range of vertical markets, including largescale attractions, government and more.
“We’re excited to have both Francois and Maz join our Professional Services team,” says Josh Kolbeck, senior director, NOC and business operations, Professional Services, Christie. “Both are seasoned sales

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USA - Xytech has announced Tanya Kelly as managing director for APAC. This appointment follows the closing of Xytech’s acquisition of ScheduALL from Net Insight in April. Kelly’s appointment is effective immediately.
For over six years, Kelly served as a sales and solution consultant for ScheduALL’s broadcast and broadcast service provider customers in the ANZ region. Her background includes technical operations, where she spent nine years as head of studio operations at Fox Sports Australia, as well as a stint at Deluxe as head of bookings
“Tanya has an understanding of the industry and region and has ties to Xytech and ScheduALL reaching back through the years,” comments Greg Dolan, CCO of Xytech. “APAC is critical for Xytech as we move forward to the next phase in our growth. We know with Tanya at the helm our customers are in great hands and her strateg

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UK - Martin Audio has recently promoted from within to create two new director roles for its R&D department.
Phil Anthony has been promoted to associate director of design, while Ambrose Thompson is now research director, and together they will lead the R&D department.
Phil Anthony commented, “It’s a great responsibility to continue the legacy of Martin Audio products and one that I relish and look forward to. We have made great strides in recent years in the number of products we have brought to market and I’m confident that by investing in new tools, developing improved processes and pro-active communication across departments, that Ambrose and I will bring genuine customer value with our product roadmap.”
Ambrose Thompson added, “I’m looking forward to helping drive a more even balance between technical, design and marketing strands of the

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USA - Altman Lighting has hired two new sales representatives. Jon Hyrkas will serve as the new Western regional sales manager, and Jake Rhodes will serve as product sales specialist.
As the Western regional sales manager, Hyrkas will be representing sales in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
“I’ve been working in theatre and entertainment for 15 years. I’m really excited to connect people with some of the new exciting products we are launching,” says Hyrkas.
“I want to make sure I get the right product in front of the right people, for the right purpose,” says Rhodes.
"As the industry begins to emerge from a very difficult time, we are working hard to ensure that we are hiring sales leaders

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South Africa - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Dewald Adendorff as technical support engineer for Crestron in South Africa.
Dewald will be responsible for providing technical advice to Crestron customers, ensuring their exact needs are firmly met, as well as assisting the regional sales team.
Rupert Denoon, TIG's regional sales director for Crestron in Southern Africa, comments: "Congratulations and welcome to the team, Dewald! We're excited to benefit from Dewald's experience, technical mindset and results-driven approach, and to pass this on to our valued customers here in South Africa."
Dewald adds: "I am extremely excited to join such a world-class brand. No matter where I've been, Crestron has always been part of conversations, and now I am ready to start the journey here and contribute to the success story in South Africa."

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USA - Pixotope has announced three senior additions to its global staff.
Juan Rubio, is joining the team as a new product specialist and evangelist. Based in the US, Juan's career has spanned across feature film VFX, AAA Games, and enterprise, having worked on movies like the Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, The Day After Tomorrow and The Watchmen.
Rubio said, “Having first-hand experience of being the customer, and being in the driving seat of a number of productions, it’s promising to see mixed reality’s popularity and offering growing in abundance. I’m joining the Pixotope team with a vision of delivering what our customers really need when it comes to virtual productions.”
LA-based Brad Rochon is Pixotope’s new vice president of sales and marketing. His move follows a 23-year stint at Ross Video, where he held various positions i

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Europe - Neutrik UK has announced the appointment of Karl Cowing as its new sales manager. Cowing comes to the position with an extensive 22-year career in engineering, and engineering sales, support and key account management roles within the electronics, automotive, transport, aerospace and defence sectors, including with Formula BMW, Varta, Aerco, Molex and Smiths Interconnect.
His experience includes responsibility for electronic interconnect solutions into strategic aerospace and defence customers, helping them adapt to rapidly changing technology requirements within the radar and electronic warfare sector, and positioning high reliability RF electronic connectivity solutions, including fibre optic technology, to help customers address future bandwidth issues.
Commenting on his appointment, Cowing says, “Over the years I have known of Neutrik connectors as best

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Canada - Following Audio-Technica Canada’s recent announcement of its decision to streamline processes for its professional audio distribution operation, ATCA has revealed further consolidation with a move to new office facilities. This coincides with the appointment of permanent general manager, Kenji Yamabe.
Yamabe – who comes from Audio-Technica Europe – takes over from Susanne Seidel, a business consultant who has been acting GM since June 2019.
Commenting on her time at ATCA, Seidel states, “It has been my absolute pleasure to serve as ATCA’s interim GM; overseeing the development of a proficient organization that is ready for the next step of business growth”.
She continues, “Although the circumstances created by Covid have not been ideal for anyone, I am proud of what we have accomplished as a team and delighted to be able to leave the comp

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UK - Production designer Tim Dunn has joined the UK’s nvisible Agency, a group of independent live production professionals offering a dynamic range of project management and creative production services for events worldwide.
The nvisible Agency’s other core team members include some true entertainment industry mavericks! Founder and MD Mark Bustard and chairman promoter Harvey Goldsmith are joined by show and event producer Jim Baggott, technical director Tim Spears and project director Luke Carr.
For 24 years, Tim was based in South Africa and worked extensively throughout the African continent, Asia, and the rest of the southern hemisphere on some of the highest-profile and most interesting productions, including dealing face-to-face with governments, politicians, and world leaders.
These include the 2010 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony, multiple SEA Ga

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France - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Alexandre Martin into the role of residential sales engineer in France.
Reporting to Christophe Malsot, TIG's director of hospitality, leisure and retail, Alexandre will be the go-to technical specialist for system integrators and smart home customers, working closely with the expert regional sales team.
Christophe Malsot comments: "Alexandre is a Crestron certified programmer and will therefore make a superb asset to the team, thanks to his perspective acquired from past roles as System Integrator and Automation Programmer. He brings a technical mindset and vast industry knowledge to help us ensure our continued, exceptional customer service for the Residential market."
Alexandre adds: "I feel so happy and proud to join such a talented team and recognised brand. Crestron offers system integrators and h

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USA - After more than 30 years with console manufacturer API, Dan Zimbelman has moved to loudspeaker manufacturer PMC where he is now senior export business development manager.
Based in the US, Dan will be working closely with PMC partners and resellers around the world to ensure that they have all the training and support they need to grow sales in their local markets and understand new formats such as Dolby Atmos for music mixing.
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Dan has held many key positions within the professional sound industry, including recording engineer and recording studio owner. During the mid-1980s, he spent three years helping Rupert Neve launch the Focusrite brand of signal processing equipment in the USA, before moving to console manufacturer API where, as director of sales for nearly 30 years, he consistently exceeded sales targets and helped AP
  1. Duncan Bell joins Shure in consultancy role
  2. Altman Lighting promotes Tom Casazza
  3. Penguin appoints MD, opens London warehouse
  4. Heff Moraes joins PMC in development role
  5. Genelec appoints customer experience specialist
  6. Remembering tour director Ken Watts
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