Europe - Michel Arntz has joined Robe’s international sales team as key account manager for Europe.
He will be co-ordinating Robe’s activities in 18 countries across Europe including Ukraine, and his area will also include all of Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltic states, Austria, Switzerland and most of the Balkan countries. Netherlands-based Michel is already a well-known and respected industry figure in Europe.
In addition to sales, the scope of his work will cover product communication and marketing, plus relationship building with the distributors and end users.

UK - AV and system integrator specialist Lucinda Faucheux has launched LuFau Consulting, an independent consultancy that specialises in transforming tech businesses by helping them ‘achieve their goals of driving lean, efficient and reliable supply chains while optimising workflows and driving down costs’.
“My time spent in the AV industry illuminated a clear gap in the market,” explains Faucheux. “It’s a common theme that many system integrators do not employ someone who is specifically focused on supply chain management. It is difficult to find candidates with the re

USA - Fulcrum Acoustic has welcomed Zuo ‘Rambo’ Zhao as the newest member of its engineering team. As acoustic engineer, Rambo works on developing new technologies and designing new products. He comments, “I’ve always wanted to work with Dave Gunness and know I will learn a lot from him. “However, what made my decision to come to Fulcrum is that they really invest in technology. I’ll have the opportunity to focus on the research part of R&D and look forward to contributing to the next generation of loudspeakers.”
“Rambo’s passion for loudspeakers and related

Singapore - KV2 has announced the appointment of Robert Tan to the post of director of sales, Asia. Based in Singapore, Tan brings over 20 years of experience as an AV consultant in the hospitality and events industries before moving into systems integration. Tan specialises in designing systems for acoustically challenging environments, be it in the live events or installed sound sector and is also a skilled business manager.
“It’s an honour to be representing KV2 in the APAC region,” says Tan. “I’ve long admired their technology and their approach to acoustics which, i

Italy - Sadly, we report the death of pro audio consultant and journalist Mike Clark, who passed away on 30 December at the age of 77.
Mike, Scottish by birth, arrived in Italy at the end of the sixties as a sound engineer for a band. He fell in love with the country and decided to live there.
He always worked in the field of music, first as a DJ in the leading discos of the Riviera, and then as a music expert in one of the largest shops in Italy, Dimar in Rimini.
A specialised journalist and correspondent for entertainment industry magazines including LSi, he also col

UK - As Entourage Pro, the freelance crew network and technology insights company, celebrates having successfully placed hundreds of crew on tours and gigs across the globe this summer, co-directors Joel Perry and James Stanbridge have announced the appointment of Harvey Goldsmith CBE to the Entourage Pro board to further expand their standing in the industry and help communicate the site’s suite of services to the global sector.
Goldsmith is one of the best-known names in the industry. He has acted as promoter for Live Aid and Live 8, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Jam, Teena

France - Following the recent announcement of a new global sales and business development organisation, L-Acoustics has introduced the new business development team.
Under the general management of L-Acoustics CEO Laurent Vaissié, the new team is spread across three divisions: Sales and Sales Operations focusing on developing regional sales channels; Business Development concentrating on developing commercial expertise and end-user outreach in key vertical markets; and Strategy leadership developing mid- to long-term go-to-markets strategies and key partnerships as well as manag

Germany - Peter Lawo, founder of the company for broadcast and media technologies named after him, passed away on 24 November 2022, at the age of 85. The committed engineer and entrepreneur founded today’s Lawo AG in 1970 and laid the foundation for the company’s worldwide reputation and economic success with innovative audio products and uncompromising quality standards.
In the 1970s, Peter Lawo developed an electronic sound processor for the music of contemporary composer Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, which strongly influenced the compositions of ‘New Music’. His contacts with

UK - Wharfedale Pro has announced the appointment of experienced audio expert, Jay Cresswell, to their UK team. Cresswell takes up the new role of applications and solutions specialist, with a focus on growing the brand through application expertise and product training.
With over 20 years of experience in system design, support and audio project management, Jay Cresswell brings his expertise and real-world knowledge to the team. He will work alongside UK sales manager, Jeremy Adkins.
“Customers need to know that we are here to support them, especially with the more advan

UK - This year, the Association of British Theatre Technicians took the opportunity at its Members’ Christmas Party on Friday 2 December, generously supported by ETC and LW Theatres, to present honours to two of its members.
Howard Potts, recently retired technical director at Warwick Arts Centre, and Matthew Freeman, currently working as an associate project manager at TAIT, were both appointed Honorary Members of the Association.
At the start of the event Robin Townley, CEO of the ABTT, welcomed everyone gathered at the Gillian Lynne Theatre thanks to the generous hospi

Canada - CAST has appointed Stuart Green as their new CEO. Green will succeed CAST’s founder and CEO, Gil Densham.
Densham, who has been CAST’s CEO for 28 years, is retiring, as well as moving to an advisory role within the company. “I am thrilled to become the new CEO of CAST and to oversee the exciting innovative progress we anticipate in the years to come,” says Green. “I, however, feel that this is the right time to express on behalf of all at CAST and within the community our sincere gratitude to Gil for his industry-changing contributions, being visionary, and his p

Israel - Pixellot has announced the appointment of Ronen Tanami to the Pixellot management team as chief operating officer.
Tanami is an experienced executive, with 30 years of comprehensive achievements across the information technology and communications industries.
In his most recent role, Tanami served as senior VP at Amdocs, managing Amdocs’s quality engineering and head of revenue guard business unit.
“With Pixellot’s ongoing, strong growth worldwide, we felt it was both important and the right timing for enhancing our organizational structure to facilita

UK - Alex Barrand has been appointed sales manager EMEA at Optimal Audio. An experienced audio professional with an impressive background in audio engineering, design and installation, Alex cut his teeth on a number of large-scale festival installs before taking up the position of head of production at the Ministry of Sound.
During this period, he co-designed the main room sound system with Martin Audio and gained valuable experience in the management of technical requests and budgets. In 2011 he moved to take up a global management position with Pioneer Pro Audio.
“Opport

France - L-Acoustics has announced the creation of a new sales organisation focused on sales strategy, business development, and building territorial sales channels.
Under the general management of L-Acoustics CEO Laurent Vaissié, the team will be spread across three divisions: Sales and Sales Operations will focus on developing regional sales channels; the Business Development team will concentrate on developing commercial expertise and end-user outreach in key vertical markets; and the Strategy Leadership team will develop mid- to long-term go-to-markets strategies and key par

Mexico - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has announced the addition of Rafael Covarrubias to the LATAM team as regional sales manager. Covarrubias is responsible for developing new partners and managing existing EAW partners in the region south of the U.S. border.
“We are ecstatic to welcome Rafael to the EAW team,” says T.J. Smith, president of EAW. “He brings with him a thorough understanding of the industry that will assist him in furthering EAW’s goals of being a driving force within the LATAM market.”
Covarrubias comes to EAW with an impressive skillset accumulat

USA - Bandit Lites founder and Chair Michael T. Strickland was honoured with the CMA Foundation Humanitarian Award on 9 November at the 56th Annual CMA Awards live on ABC television.
The seldom given award is provided to “an individual who has served as a humanitarian through community leadership, financial support, personal volunteerism and advocacy.” Previous recipients include Kix Brooks, Vince Gill, Randy Owens, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton.
“I am indeed humbled to be honoured in this way,” said Strickland. “To be mentioned in the same group as the previous honou

USA - The American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) mourns the loss of long-time member and Fellow, James “Jim” Read, FASTC, who passed away on November 2, 2022.
Read served as a president of the ASTC and was a constant presence at organisation events. Even as he retired from consulting and moved to emeritus status, Read was often present online or in person, always contributing observations and information.
Read was born in Fulton, KY in 1933, where he built his first theatre in his basement, complete with a stage, screen, footlights, and a control booth, in 1948.

USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced the appointment of Felicia Lopez, Derryl Webb and Marisa Lainson as trade show & personnel coordinator, customer service manager and marketing manager, respectively.
“As we continue to strengthen our team, we are excited to have the opportunity to work with these dynamic individuals,” said Monika Smetona, president, Renkus-Heinz. “As a 40+ year old company, we are aware of the necessity to bring on board passionate people with new and diverse ideas.”
Felicia Lopez joins the company as trade show & personnel coordinator with

Europe - Nearly 45 years after founding Belgian event staging pioneer Stageco, Hedwig De Meyer is stepping down from his leadership role, and has named Hans Willems as Stageco Belgium’s new executive CEO, effective 1 January 2023.
The move, says De Meyer, 68, was intended to take place two years ago but was delayed due to the pandemic lockdown. “Now that our business has begun to stabilise after a very busy summer, the time feels right to pass the baton to Hans, who gave us every confidence that he was the most logical choice of successor,” he explains.
Formerly head

USA - The seventh Paky Award will be presented to Tony Award-winning lighting designer Donald Holder by Claypaky CEO Marcus Graser at LDI 2022 on Saturday, 19 November in Las Vegas. Sponsored by Claypaky, the award honours an individual who has made a major contribution to the lighting industry, in terms of design or technology.
The Paky Award was created in 2014 and named for Pasquale ‘Paky’ Quadri, founder and former president of Claypaky, who passed away that year. Previous winners include ETC Lighting’s Fred Foster, High End Systems’ Richard Belliveau, Barbizon’s Jon

UK - The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has hired Royal Albert Hall executive Ollie Jeffery as director of event operations and technology. Jeffery spent over 18 years with the Royal Albert Hall, most recently as head of production and technical.
Jeffery’s experience at the Royal Albert Hall included developing the venue’s lighting and audio services, establishing an apprentice scheme, and supporting the delivery of around 400 events a year.
EICC CEO Marshall Dallas comments: “As we aim to further establish the EICC as a globally-recognised conference

Germany - After industry expert Dirk Möhlenbrock joined the HOF sales team at the beginning of the year, the HOF team has now gained another event technology expert in Dominik Rieskamp.
Dominik has been working in the industry for over 13 years and is already very familiar with HOF's portfolio. As key account manager, he will look after HOF's major customers in the German-speaking countries.

Finland - Genelec has appointed Kati Pajukallio as AV business manager and Sami Mäkinen as AV sales manager for Finland. These new appointments will bring Genelec even closer to its key customers and help drive continued growth in both international and domestic AV markets, says the company.
Pajukallio joined Genelec last year, bringing with her a wealth of AV industry experience, having previously worked in marketing communications roles for Electrosonic and Audico Systems, both highly regarded integrators. As AV business manager, she will now lead Genelec’s global AV Installa

Germany - d&b audiotechnik has announced the appointment of Jan Biermann, head of research and development at d&b, to the Board of Directors of the Open Control Architecture (OCA) Alliance. The OCA Alliance is a non-profit corporation formed to promote and support the AES70 standard for Open Control Architecture as a system control standard for professional applications.
The Alliance, which was founded in 2011, supports the development and evolution of the AES70 standard and promotes its adoption through marketing, education and training. In addition, the Alliance develops

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