UK - Pharos Architectural Controls has announced the appointment of Paul McLean as sales manager for Southern Europe and the Middle East. McLean will be the main point of contact for our distribution partners and key specifiers in these regions.

McLean has over 20 years experience in the industry and spent over a decade in Greece with Telmaco, Telvin and later EVC providing design and project services for many major installations in Greece and the Middle East and product support for a wide range of manufacturers including Flying Pig Systems, High End Systems and ADB, as well as design

USA - Prompted by the growth of its digital product line, Meyer Sound has announced promotions for two key design services team members. Todd Meier, formerly director of design services, has been promoted to the newly created position of digital products manager. Meanwhile, Michael Creason, who had served as a design services associate since 2008, is taking over duties for Meier as design services manager.

"Our engineers have pushed the boundaries of digital audio since as early as 1984 when the first SIM audio analyzer and CP-10 equalizer set a new standard for acoustical measur

USA - J. R. Clancy has announced the return of Andrew J. McArthur to the company in the position of sales manager.

McArthur brings extensive project management and sales experience in his return to J. R. Clancy, where he served as a senior project manager in the 1990s. For the last 11 years, he has been the president of ECCS, Inc., in Las Vegas, where he served as principal consultant on projects including the showroom at Beau Rivage Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, MS; Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego; MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in LasVegas, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church in L

UK - Black Light reports that Craig Collin has taken over as its installation and project estimator.

"I'll be looking at the overall service we offer and the processes we use and I'll will be refining and improving both," says Collin. "It's an exciting new challenge for me to get my teeth into and I relish the opportunity to get involved in projects from the design stage."

In his new role, Collin will lead the team designing, specifying and estimating Black Light's new-build and refit installation projects.

Collin has worked for Black Light for over four years.

UK - POLARaudio has announced the appointment of Stuart Leader as business development manager for the AV and Integration markets.

With over 16 years' experience in the Audio Visual Industry, Leader has worked for some of the foremost AV companies including Sanyo and Crestron, spending much of his career working on large projects with end-users, consultants and specifiers. Leader has been brought in to the company in a business development capacity and will be responsible for supporting POLARaudios' existing client base, developing new business and taking new technologies such as Biam

UK - After a busy and successful 2011 - and looking ahead to an even busier 2012 - Northern Light has made a key appointment to compliment the company's business growth strategy.

Colin Cuthbert, Managing Director of Northern Light, said: "I'm delighted to announce the arrival of Ed Gamble, who recently started at Northern Light as a Business Development Manager. Ed brings with him a wealth of experience and is already well known throughout our industry."

Ed will head up the company's sales and service team and will be working across the UK to deliver advice, equipment sale

South Africa - Gareth Chambers has joined DWR Distribution to assist with technical support.

Chambers worked at AV Tech for nine years where he was in charge of the lighting department and managed the crew. In October last year he started freelancing.

"I enjoyed the lighting aspect of a show, the creativity involved," said Gareth. "But I'm looking forward to being in an environment that's a bit more structured."

Meanwhile, DWR Distribution bids farewell to JC Du Plessis who has joined Multi-Media.

(Jim Evans)

South Africa - Nick Barnes has joined DWR Distribution in Durban. From 2006 to 2008, Barnes studied Entertainment Technology at the Durban University of Technology, and often helped out at Black Coffee during this time. In his final year he got involved with Gearhouse Durban and proceeded to join the company as junior lighting technician and lighting workshop manager. He was only 20 years old at the time.

"I got behind Jason Fritz who was then at Gearhouse, and he and Simon Hampton mentored me," recalls Barnes. "I obviously learned all I could about lighting, rigging an

UK - The law has come to J&C Joel in the form of qualified solicitor Oliver Marns, who has joined the company as sales office manager.

Marns joins J&C Joel after six years working as a commercial litigation and sports lawyer. He has also worked as a UK area manager for a major international supermarket chain.

A decorated sportsman, Marns has played professional rugby for the Halifax Blue Sox during their time in rugby league's Super League and has represented Great Britain at junior level. He currently plays semi-professional rugby union for Hull Ionians.

Marns will manage J&C Joe

UK - Electrosonic has announced the promotion of Rob Smith to sales manager of the Cultural Entertainment and Leisure (CEL) business for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Smith joined Electrosonic in 2010 as client account manager for the CEL team, acting as the single point of contact for clients. His ability to continuously exceed expectations has led to his current promotion from Account Manager to Sales Manager.

"Rob brings new ideas and fresh thinking to Electrosonic. His management roles throughout his career made him a perfect choice for this newly developed position

UK - Paradigm Audio Visual has undertaken a major internal restructure following founder Greg Jeffreys' decision to return to the coal face, taking over the day-to-day running of the company as Managing Director.

Jeffreys' immediate strategy has been to divide the company into autonomous focused divisions, promoting Susan Hall, who has been with Paradigm for 10 years, to operations director for the whole group. Fresh from securing another successful ISO 9000 audit, she will now take charge of all logistics, while joining her as assistant is new recruit Amanda Goggins.

At the same ti

USA - Lee Dodson has been appointed vice president of business development for both TV One and Magenta Research, two Nortek, Inc. companies in the Pro AV market.

Dodson, a 25-year veteran of the Pro AV industry, joins Nortek from Premier Mounts, where he served as president. He has served as the elected chairman of the InfoComm Manufacturers Council for two terms, and also served on the InfoComm Leadership Development Committee, twice as Chairman of the InfoComm Exhibitors Committee.

"I am delighted to join this respected group of AV manufacturers," said Dodson. "TV O

USA - EAW has appointed Steve Davis to the position of EAW service manager. A longtime member of the extended EAW family, Davis for many years held this same position, before shifting his focus to his company Performance Audio of New England (PANE), where he continued to contribute with his service expertise.

Coincidentally, PANE has been located in the same mill complex where EAW designs and manufactures its loudspeakers. The announcement was made by Jeff Rocha, EAW president, and reflects the company's dedication to enhanced communications and direct access to resources for greater

Denmark - DPA Microphones has appointed Susanne Seidel as executive VP sales and marketing. Seidel joins on 1 March from Sennheiser Electronics, where her most recent position was president of global marketing.

"A large part of the market for microphone solutions is cornered by better and smaller microphones to meet the continuously challenging conditions of sound reproduction," says Seidel. "I have been watching DPA Microphones closely for many years and I'm confident that DPA has great market potential with its innovative technology and products.

"The market co

Canada - CAST Software of Toronto has announced the promotion of Jim Hutchison, creator and editor of the internationally renowned JimOnLight.com, stepping up to assume the role of product manager for CAST Software's wysiwyg as well as for Vivien Virtual Event Designer, the CAST software suite for the special events industry.

Hutchison has been contributing marketing and technical copy for CAST Software as their social media manager since early 2009, in addition to writing various articles for the company's newsletter, The Plan.

"I'm beyond thrilled to be leading the ama

UK - Electrosonic has announced the promotion of James Sharp to account manager for corporate solutions. Sharp joined Electrosonic's Edinburgh office in 2005 taking on the position of internal sales support. During his six years with the company, Sharp has worked within the corporate, entertainment and operations teams in both a sales and technical capacity.

Colin Lemmings, vice president of corporate solutions commented, "James has been and continues to play an instrumental role in the success of the corporate solutions team. Having worked in both sales and technical roles throu

UK - Jotham Jackson has joined LMC Birmingham's technical sales team.

Jackson joins LMC following a period of employment with HSBC Bank. He comments, "I was trained in sales and then worked in the PPI claims department which gave me really worthwhile experience in delivering meaningful customer service."

In his spare time Jackson engineers for a number of bands in his local area, often playing to crowds of between 200 - 600 people. He also plays both the bass and electric guitar.

James Lawford, sales manager at LMC Birmingham says, "LMC's customers enjoy a personal

UK - GDS design engineer, Richard Dyer, has been named Technical Engineering Apprentice of the Year 2011 in a recent ceremony held at Wiltshire College. The award for outstanding achievement was presented by Duncan Haynes, Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham.

Dyer has been working for UK manufacturer GDS since 2007, when he was taken on as a full-time employee after enjoying work experience with the company. His BTEC apprenticeship in Technical engineering, combined with a workplace NVQ qualification was sponsored by GDS and completed last year.

Currently in the position of design en

USA - Staging Solutions, a nationwide event design, production management and media company, has hired Andy DiRaddo as senior producer.

DiRaddo brings almost 40 years of event production and audio/visual expertise with him to Staging Solutions where he will join their executive management and leadership team.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Andy for over 20 years on a variety of great events from Power of Houston to Compaq Sales Conferences in Hawaii and Las Vegas," said Bill Fitch, president and owner of Staging Solutions. "Andy has always impressed me with

USA - Rational Acoustics LLC has announced the addition of Chris Tsanjoures in the role of applications support specialist. In his new position, Tsanjoures will oversee all application support functions at Rational including the creation and dissemination of customer support materials regarding application & use of Rational Acoustics' products.

He will also provide application-based customer phone, e-mail and web support, work with partner companies to create integrated Smaart Measurement Technology based solutions and provide tradeshow support & external training support.

"Thi

UK - Fisher Productions has appointed Kelly Yeomans as its Venue Relationship Manager. The role will see Kelly developing and nurturing close-working relationships with Fisher's large portfolio of venues to ensure an efficient, safe and consistent level of service.

"Fisher Productions has undergone rigorous assessment of industry codes and practices to achieve accredited supplier status at the majority of the big museums, galleries, historic houses and palaces in London and the Home Counties. Kelly's previous role, as Logistics Manager for Fisher, provides her with a perfect plat

Denmark - Matrix Group has appointed Kenneth Bremer as CEO. Since 2009, Bremer has worked in Italy, most recently in strategic marketing and PR with loudspeaker manufacturer RCF, based in Reggio Emilia.

Matrix Group's stated mission is to become one of the most important players in the market segment of solutions and product supply to the entertainment industry. With a strong line-up of companies within the group, Matrix Group is an attractive partner towards sales, installation and distribution of professional products to the industry from 'day to day' distribution business to comple

USA - EAW has appointed pro audio veteran Alex Schloesser to the position of EAW Asia-Pacific sales director. The announcement was made by Jeff Rocha, EAW president, and reflects EAW's ongoing commitment to growth in the Asia-Pacific region. In his new capacity, Schloesser will report to and work closely with Davwinder Sheena, LOUD Technologies' Asia & Pacific-Rim managing director.

With more than 20 years in pro audio in and out of his native Germany, Schloesser has a wealth of experience from his past positions. He is fully versed in audio technology, including acoustical simulation

USA/Singapore - High End Systems has announced the addition of Jamie Boey as a regional sales Manager for APAC. Boey comes to High End Systems after spending the last two years working as an area sales manager for Robert Juliat where he established and managed the sales activities in Asia regions. In his new role at High End Systems, he is responsible for sales within territories throughout Asia and the South Pacific.

Boey says, "I'm delighted and extremely excited about being part of High End Systems family. HES is always perceived as an innovation company with quality lighting

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