Italy - Clay Paky has achieved extraordinary sales results throughout the world in recent years, thanks to luminaires like the Sharpy and the B-EYE, which lighting designers and rental companies have appreciated for their innovation and profitability. This however does not mean Clay Paky may now rest on its laurels. Quite the opposite. Pio Nahum, the company's sales and marketing director, has decided to give a new boost to promotion activities on the field and work with greater commitment to support end-users and distributors.

To achieve this goal, a new position has been created - head of international sales. The job has been assigned to Alberico D'Amato who, as from 1 July, will be responsible for coordinating all internal area sales managers and external regional sales representatives in their dealings with distributors and customers.

Alberico D'Amato has worked as a Clay

Germany - Lawo, German manufacturer of audio and video broadcast solutions, has appointed Ralf Schimmel as director of global sales. In his new post, he is responsible for the strategic orientation and coordination of worldwide sales activities for all products, systems and solutions from the Lawo Group of companies. His appointment coincides with the expansion of Lawo's international activities, as well as an expansion of the company's audio, video, software, and IP networking technology product portfolio.

"I am looking forward to my new role with Lawo. I am joining at an important time for an expanding company, with exciting opportunities for the future opening up," says Schimmel.

"In our new market position, it is important to co-ordinate the worldwide sales of individual Lawo companies for an effective market-driven strategy. We are delighted that Ralf Schim

UK - Rosco, a leading manufacturer of products for the entertainment industry has welcomed a new member to its EMEA sales team. Canna Gray has been appointed Senior Account Manager focusing on the UK Photographic Market as well as key accounts in the Balkans, Cyprus, Malta and Moldova.

Gray comes with 20 years' experience within the live entertainment, film/TV and photography industries. Originally from Pretoria in South Africa, she started her career in the early '90s touring with various rock and roll, dance and theatre productions in South Africa and Holiday on Ice and Disney on Ice internationally.

During that time, Canna gained tremendous experience working in several areas of the production industry, including: stage and production management, lighting and pyrotechnics. Most recently, Canna spent the past five years successfully looking after business development for the

UK - Le Mark has produced a video with no product info or sales incentives, "just a great video to help promote a charity which aims to rid our lives of a disease that has affected so many of us, either through our own personal experiences or when supporting friends & family".

The girls at Le Mark, determined as ever, teamed up and do their bit to help the fight against cancer and the company is supporting them all the way. If you can, please support the girls at Parker's Piece in Cambridge on 20 July 2014 at 11am.

Donate: justgiving.com/peasinapod Video Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKkEareaB0

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Loudspeaker system manufacturer d&b audiotechnik has appointed Amnon Harman as CEO effective 7 July 7, 2014. In this newly created position, Harman will drive the continued success of the German premium provider, taking responsibility for the further development and implementation of the company strategy.

Prior to joining d&b, Harman was an independent consultant. From 2006 to 2012 he served as chairman of the management board of Augusta Technologie AG, an international technology company focused on niche markets for optical sensor technology and digital image processing. Previously, he was a member of the management board and COO at Suse Linux AG, where he took over the position as vice president and COO of the EMEA region after a sale to Novell Inc., a specialist for network and internet software products.

Harman holds degrees in industrial engineering and aeronaut

UK - Following a period of reorganisation at Yamaha Commercial Audio's UK operation, the company has confirmed its new sales and technical support team.

Mixing long-term experience with 'new blood', the team is headed by Robert Webster, Yamaha Commercial Audio UK's new divisional director, who has been with Yamaha for 30 years. Previously in charge of both the Electronic Keyboard and AV Divisions, Robert's intimate knowledge of Yamaha, its products and customer base makes him the ideal leader of the new team, says the company.

Working closely with Robert is Karl Christmas, who occupies the new position of sales & marketing manager for UK and Ireland. Karl has been a very familiar face to Commercial Audio customers for over two decades and he will continue to be very 'hands on' with dealer and end-user relations.

Meanwhile, Northern and Southern regional sales will be handled

Europe - Meyer Sound has strengthened its European technical services with the appointment of Oskar Meijer as senior technical support specialist. Meijer brings a wealth of field experience working with Meyer Sound products, including the newest Leo family of line array systems.

In his new position, Meijer will support Meyer Sound's European customers in the design and optimisation of loudspeaker and digital audio systems, on-site project commissioning, and after-sale customer training. He will work closely with the technical support teams in Europe and at the company's Berkeley, California headquarters.

Meijer has more than 20 years of experience in the design, configuration, and commissioning of complex audio systems, and has worked as a stage technician, ground rigger, and project manager. He has served as a lead systems technician at major European festivals such as Way Ou

UK - With Green Hippo's internship programme in full swing and going from strength to strength, the company recently had the pleasure of having second-year student Norvydas in the office, helping out for a month.

Says the company: "We are honoured to be able to give potential future designers, programmers and operators the chance to explore the industry and its products hands on, hopefully helping them to explore previously unknown territories and strengthen their skills."

Norvydas Genys is studying the 'Theatre Lighting Design' course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He says: "I was fortunate to have a lighting designer around my house, my father, whom I used to help and share my ideas with, as well as study his way of working in the industry. I grew up surrounded by lights and music and it helped me to realise very early on that this will be a

UK - The continuing growth of the JHS pro audio division has led to the appointment of Chris Walton to handle in-house demos and provide detailed technical advice on the firm's pro audio portfolio consisting of HK Audio, Lab.gruppen, LA Audio, Lewitt, Cymatic and more.

JHS exec sales & marketing Alan Smith said, "We often have trade customers coming to our head office demo facilities in Leeds and it's not always convenient to pull our field based pro audio managers in. Chris has the knowledge and expertise to advise, rig and demo the gear as well as providing additional telephone and email support."

As an industry stalwart, Chris Walton joins with many years' of pro sound industry experience. The last 22 years have sent Chris around the land facilitating both live and install audio solutions as well as music production and design. Chris has worked extensively with Yo

UK - Sennheiser UK has announced that Simon Holley has been appointed to the position of commercial sales manager for its Pro Systems division.

Simon joins from his previous position as sales manager at Bose UK and will work closely with and manage Sennheiser UK's extensive pro audio sales team. Simon will also liaise with key accounts and partners in each sector, helping to serve them and, in turn, Sennheiser's end users better.

"Originally coming from a background of B2B and B2C sales in the aftermarket automotive industry, and then spending the past seven years in the pro audio industry heading up the professional systems division for Bose UK, has given me a wealth of experience in sales and sales team management," says Simon. "My experience in the Pro Audio market spans a multitude of market segments and customer/account types. I will draw on this experience

UK - POLARaudio, as part of its ongoing internal restructuring, has promoted technical support engineer Liam Richards to the role of technical support manager. Appointed to his original position in 2010 from a background in stage management and live sound, Richards has played a key role in delivering a very high level of customer support across POLARaudio's extensive range of brands.

As POLARaudio continues to expand its operations, its restructuring demands that the abundant talents of its staff continue to be employed specifically and insightfully towards offering the best possible service to its customers - a theme taken up by managing director John Midgley: "Whilst we have sought to strengthen our team by bringing in some new faces, I believe it is crucial that we are careful not to overlook the strengths we possess in-house. Liam came to us with a wealth of knowledge a

UK - As a direct result of an increase in business and market share within its sub distribution network, Sennheiser UK has announced a significant change to its sub distribution model in the UK.

"The growth we are experiencing has been achieved across the whole Sennheiser portfolio, and will continue as Sennheiser and its partners introduce a raft of new product innovations later in the year," says channel sales manager Simon Druce. "We now have Sennheiser specialists within each of our distribution partners and they will receive on-going training from Sennheiser and our manufacturing partners."

The change has also dictated the need for dedicated internal sales person, with David Atkinson, who has over 15 years experience in the pro audio market and joins from his previous position at Avid, taking up the position of order management co-ordinator.

"We

UK - PRG Nocturne which provides LED video and projection support to the concert touring, festival, and corporate event markets, has expanded its operations in the UK.

"We are now heading into our fourth year with PRG," says Bob Brigham, president of PRG Nocturne. "One of the deciding factors in joining the PRG team was our dream to expand into the UK/European markets. The expansion of our UK operation allows us to fully support the rapidly growing demand with an experienced team of people and quality gear that our customers expect of PRG Nocturne US and UK."

In 2014, the UK operation has supported numerous tours and festival appearances including The Eagles, Katy Perry, Metallica, Skrillex, Franz Ferdinand, Bastille, Linkin Park, and The Rolling Stones. They have also worked with a roster of corporate clients which included 3D projection mapping for the la

UK - Cadac Audio US and Canada has secured premises for its sales, distribution and service operations in Hoboken NJ.

The new premises, looking out across the Manhattan skyline, will house Cadac's new North American division's sales, distribution and service operations, headed up by general manager Paul Morini. Currently under refurbishment, the new HQ will come "online" by the end of August.

At the same time the company has announced the appointment of industry veteran console engineer Mitch Mortenson as technical support manager. Mitch is a renowned pro audio industry personality in the US, having spent some 20 years in the industry, in recording studio and sound touring engineering, and technical sales, including nine years in front line technical support roles for Midas consoles in North America.

Welcoming Mortenson, Morini, who worked alongside Mortenson at Mi

UK / Ireland - uTRAC has bolstered its drive to become the go-to workforce management application for events with the appointment of Kate Connolly as director.

In her previous roles as a consultant at Deloitte and a lecturer of engineering in Trinity College Dublin, Kate's experience includes the development of new technology, marketing, globalisation and supply chain management.

uTRAC is an online service that allows various event suppliers and venues to manage their personnel from recruitment all the way to payment. Its comprehensive solution improves efficiencies in all aspects of managing labour for an event, with operations managers finding an easier way to co-ordinate their crew and financial administrators finding a quicker way to process billings and payments.

Kate will oversee uTRAC's growth into targeted areas beyond the UK and Irish events sector, saying, "It

UK - Martin Audio has appointed a new managing director, Luke Ireland, with immediate effect.

An experienced business leader for a number of global businesses, with a passion for technology and music, Luke Ireland's remit will be to lead Martin Audio to ensure its success well into the future by developing reliable business structure and scalable process capabilities to increase the velocity of innovation and reliability of supply, says the company.

With a Masters in Business Administration and a 24-year career spanning multiple sectors of technology, IT and media, Luke is well versed in product development, manufacturing excellence, sales and marketing. He believes that building exceptional client relationships is the only way to achieve success.

On his appointment, Luke Ireland remarked, "Excited would be an understatement. Martin Audio has enjoyed a period of great s

USA - Production Resource Group has announced that Jeremiah J Harris, chairman and CEO, has promoted Stephan Paridaen to the role of president and chief operating officer. Paridaen has served as PRG's chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa since 2009.

In his new role, Paridaen will apply his management expertise and services to supervising the global operations of the company, the delivery of new technologies and services offerings, and the further development of PRG's efforts in the corporate and global special events markets.

"Along with attracting world-class talent to the company, one of my top priorities is recognizing and developing PRG's existing leadership team," said Harris. "Stephan has demonstrated exceptional operational leadership in Europe. He has earned the respect of the entire PRG team, our customers and our partners. This

UK - Lifting equipment specialists Hoist UK are continuing with their structured growth, this time expanding the engineering and installation side of the business, Geoff Cromwell joins them as their new lifting equipment engineer. Geoff brings with him over 40 years of experience within the lifting equipment industry, having being previously employed with Aabacas Cranes, Fellow Stringer, Pfaff Silberblau / PCM and most recently with LTM.

"Feeling part of a team is sometimes daunting when you start with a new company" says Hoist UK director Paul Jordan, "but Geoff has worked with some of the team before, he was at Aabacas with Wayne Ridgeley for six years and worked alongside Tony Dickson for 10 years at Pfaff and PCM and I have known him for several years myself, he has already fitted in and is a valued member of the Hoist UK team."

Geoff will be heading th

USA - Brian Wiser has been named president of sales - North America for Bosch Security Systems, Inc. In this position, he will lead the sales, support, training, customer service and marketing organizations in North America.

Joining Bosch in August, Wiser will replace Jeremy Hockham, who will take on a new assignment for Bosch in Europe, effective 1 October, 2014. In the interim, Wiser, Hockham and the Bosch management team will work together to ensure a smooth transition for customers.

Wiser joins Bosch with more than 25 years of channel sales and marketing experience. He most recently served as a senior vice president for specialty, direct and consumer markets in North America for technology distributor Ingram Micro Inc. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly delivered accelerated growth and increased profitability for the divisions under his leadership.

"Brian is a

UK - Martin Audio was awash with emotion as the company recently said goodbye to the long-serving Martin Kelly, EMEA account manager, who retired at the end of July.

After 23 years at Martin Audio, and having witnessed huge change encompassing the final year of David Martin through to the breakthrough of MLA, it was time to pay homage and celebration to the man that has been one of the company's most ardent evangelists. Consequently, a special event with surprise guests took place at Martin Audio's headquarters and later offsite.

An informal gathering took place in the afternoon with Kelly being presented with an iPad, a retirement survival kit and a trip down memory lane courtesy of tales from colleagues and a photographic montage from across the years. This was then followed by surprise guests, as enter stage left came many of Martin's customers from across the years that ha

UK - After working together for several years, Hall Stage is delighted to announce that Steve Shortt is joining the business as Head of Design. His appointment is part of Hall's ongoing plans for growth in new product development, and projects and installations.

Steve has been working in the US & Canada on Hall Stage products with US partners Thern Stage Equipment, Hall Stage North America, Epic Production Technology, Gridworks and many others.

He has over 30 years' experience including theatre and entertainment rigging & engineering. Having hammered out many custom rigging designs, some notable projects include kit-out of the new "Tonight Show" NBC TV Studios in Hollywood, the "LA Live" plaza pixel wall and AEG Broadcast Studios in Los Angeles.

Commenting on the move, Steve highlights his historical links with Hall Stage, having worked in countless theat

UK - Martin Audio has recently appointed two key sales roles. Firstly, Andy Duffield has taken the position of APAC account manager, whilst Roland Morcom has replaced the long serving Martin Kelly as EMEA account manager, who retired at the end of July.

Andy Duffield has over 30 years of experience in the Pro Audio industry and will take charge of a growing region both for touring and installation. As Simon Bull, International sales director, said, "China, Japan and Australia are critical territories, and there is opportunity to grow in such countries as Korea, Vietnam and Singapore, so Andy has a great opportunity to build Martin Audio's presence and I'm delighted to have such a well-respected manager dedicated to the region."

Roland Morcom again has depth of experience in Pro Audio and will take on selected countries in EMEA, shared with Andy Weingartner who joined

Denmark - Elation Professional EU has announced the hiring of Allan Bagger as the company's new sales representative for Denmark. As one of the founders of Music Group Denmark, a supplier of lighting and sound equipment that he helped build up since 2011, Allan comes to the new position at Elation with extensive experience and knowledge of the Danish lighting market.

Allan, who started in the new position on 1 August working from an office in Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus, is tasked with support and training of Elation's Danish customers, as well as growing Elation's presence in the rental, theater, stage and installation segments.

Allan commented on the new position, "I have worked with Elation products as the Danish distribution partner since 2011, so I know the brand well. Here in Denmark, it's primarily about getting the industry to know the Elation brand and

UK - Keith Williams has re-joined Impact Products (Europe) Ltd as general manager, strengthening the highly successful Northampton based team. Williams had been instrumental in the early growth of Impact in 2008, one the leading businesses in the pro audio and lighting distribution sectors.

Williams grew sales of the LANTA LED lighting range and was instrumental in the development of Brooke audio products INH range, both now prolific in the installation markets. He championed Impact's own brand of flight cases, Rhino - now one of the best selling flight cases in the UK. Earlier this year Prolyte European distributor of the year award was awarded to Impact for outstanding sales and customer service to truss and staging customers.

Group managing director Grant Lester said, "Keith is one of the most popular and charismatic characters in the industry. He brings an incredibly

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