Industry Appointments

INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

ACT Lighting’s James Suit and Doug Mekanik; The Venuetech team; Audiologic’s Kamil Hamidou and Ayrton welcomes the Ampco Flashlight Sales team.

ACT Lighting has appointed James Suit as Northeast Regional Sales Manager. He will represent all of the brands distributed by ACT Lighting to clients in the Northeastern US, which comprises Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the New England states. At the same time, Doug Mekanik, former Eastern Regional Sales Manager for ACT Lighting, has been named Southeast Regional Sales Manager. His territory now extends from Delaware south to Florida.

“Doug has been with the company for many years and exemplifies success at ACT Lighting,” said Ben Saltzman, President and CEO of ACT Lighting. “Like Doug, James’ technical background, his values and his skills make him a perfect fit for the ACT team, our brands and the community we serve.”

As APG’s exclusive distributor in the region, Venuetech will cover the UAE, Saudi, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar and Bahrein. This partnership opens a new market for APG – and is in line with the company’s strategic expansion. After reinforcing its presence in France and European countries (including Spain, Denmark and Benelux), the French loudspeaker manufacturer successfully developed its brand in Asia with the opening of regional offices in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Grégory Dapsanse, APG’s Marketing & Business Development Director, explained: “The Middle East was for us the next logical step for our regional expansion, and this move further validates the strategic alliance with our sister company, Active Audio, who has been represented by Venuetech for

a number of years already. We are thrilled to welcome this amazing partner as our latest distributor.”

Audiologic has announced the appointment of Marketing Coordinator Kamil Hamidou. Recent significant expansion has seen the Harlow-based company engaged in a recruitment drive on all fronts of its business, adding personnel in its sales, technical and marketing departments. Hamidou joins Audiologic with a Music Industry Management degree, during the pursuit of which, he acquired hands-on experience of helping to organise and run marketing campaigns for a variety of artists and events. Hamidou also possesses a good understanding of the production side of the industry, having worked on a number of tours.

Ayrton welcomed Ampco Flashlight Sales as its latest exclusive distributor in its rapidly expanding international sales network. Based in Utrecht, Ampco Flashlight Sales will be responsible for the distribution of the entire portfolio of Ayrton products across The Netherlands, with immediate effect.

“We are happy to welcome Ampco Flashlight Sales to the Ayrton family,” said International Sales Manager for Ayrton, Jerad Garza. “Ampco Flashlight as an organisation proved to be top-notch, especially from our collaboration on Eurovision this year. The reliability and road-worthiness of Ayrton products were more than evident on the show, which was the spark of interest that led us to this point. We agree that Ayrton’s products are an excellent match for Ampco Flashlight’s sales division as well and are excited

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Biamp’s Sandra Kellerman; Ben Viro joins Chauvet; GLP US appoints Brian Dowd; Elation Professional’s Erich Meitzner and Green Hippo hires Juha Kiuru.

by what our further collaboration will bring.”

Biamp has hired Sandra Kellermann to support its sales channel throughout Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries. Kellermann will assume the role of regional manager responsible for driving sales of Biamp products within the region while providing channel partners and customers with system design assistance, technical support, and a regional understanding of how best to address the needs of the European market.

“Biamp is committed to growing its sales within Europe and is expanding its sales and support organisation to achieve that goal,” said Stephen Patterson, Sales Development Director, Europe and Africa, at Biamp. “The addition of Sandra to the team strengthens Biamp support in Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries and is the latest move in a longterm plan to significantly expand Biamp’s European sales organisation. These investments demonstrate that consultants and integrators can depend on us for the solutions and technical support needed for success with all of their projects.”

Ben Virgo has joined Chauvet as European Senior Product Specialist for the company’s Chauvet Professional lighting products. A 10-year veteran of the lighting industry, Virgo brings an extensive technological background to his new position, having previously served as Head of Technology at Factory Settings, where he was tasked with integrating technology into large-scale production projects. Prior to assuming that position, he was the European Technical Manager at Enttec lighting controls.

Virgo will work out of London but will be traveling extensively throughout the EU. “I’m very excited to interact with Chauvet customers and learn from them,” he said. “Chauvet has grown tremendously by understanding and addressing the needs of customers. I look forward to being part of this process with a very supportive and talented team of people.”

Event technology specialist D2i has appointed two new directors; James Clerke rejoins the business as Operations & Delivery Director and Matthew Wilson is promoted to Sales & Marketing Director. With operations in the UK and the Middle East, the bigger board will help D2i’s expansion plans and its long-term strategy to be the leading software company in the

event industry.

Matt Blain D2i CEO commented: “Both James and Matthew joining the board of directors further strengthens an already successful team; both bring excellent skillsets to our rapidly growing event tech company.”

Elation Professional confirmed the addition of Erich Meitzner to the Elation team as the company’s new Regional Sales Representative for Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Meitzner, who hails from Kansas, has a broad knowledge of the lighting world and brings with him a wealth of real-world experience as a touring lighting designer/director for acts like Grouplove, Walk the Moon, Liz Phair, and Bleachers, among others.

Elation National Sales Manager, John Dunn, commented on the hiring: “As an experienced touring professional, Erich brings important on the road insight to the position and knows what it takes to deliver a designer’s vision. He also has excellent hands-on product knowledge and is already well acquainted with the Elation product line. He will fill an important role in helping support our dealer and customer network and we are excited to have him onboard as a valued member of the Elation team.”

Brian Dowd has joined GLP US in a new position as Sales Director for the company. From an early start, building his first lighting rig at age 15, Dowd has enjoyed a career encompassing positions as electrician, rigger, designer and production manager. Through a subsequent illustrious career within the sales and marketing side of the industry, most recently as Sales Director for another lighting firm, Dowd brings an extensive combination of skill and knowledge to this new position.

With 40 years of experience in the industry, Dowd will be well equipped to move into the new position smoothly. “My role at GLP in the America’s is to create growth in the marketplace. Product innovation combined with world class support and the best team you could ask for, will fuel that growth. There are some very exciting opportunities out there, and I am looking forward to them all.”

Green Hippo unveiled the appointment of Juha Kiuru as International Sales Manager. Juha, who has been working in the lighting and video sector since 2000, will represent Green Hippo throughout northern European territories, including his native Finland.

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infiLED’s Ed De Lucy; Radial Engineering’s Craig ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson; Outline’s Patrick Wong.

Juha Kiuru said: “I am really pleased to join Green Hippo. I have always been thoroughly impressed with its range of award-winning media servers, and I look forward to helping the company continue its success all over northern Europe.” infiLED has announced the immediate appointment of Ed De Lucy as General Manager of its Sports Division. Joining from Techfront UK, De Lucy brings a wealth of industry knowledge and long-established customer relations, forged over 10 years in the LED industry. De Lucy’s new role as General Manager at infiLED will focus on launching a new arm of the business. Due to be announced in Q4, infiLED plan to revolutionise LED solutions for the sports industry.

“Ed’s unique experience and passion for sports, combined with the technical knowledge and market understanding, makes him an ideal asset for our team at infiLED,” commented Ben DaCosta, co-founder and Managing Director of infiLED. “Ed will be a crucial part of our expansion and growth and will contribute to building on our reputation as a leading provider of LED solutions.”

Patrick Wong has joined Outline as its Regional Sales Manager, APAC. This, the latest in a series of major recruitments within the company over the last few months, is a new position for Outline and has been created in response to the steadily increasing demand for their products throughout the region.

“Outline is a brand with great heritage and reputation in the industry,” Wong said. “My role will be to build upon this heritage while introducing our innovative loudspeaker systems and unique FPGA-based technologies to the APAC region. I will be heavily involved in product training and market development, engaging regularly with our current distributors, key users and commercial partners alike.”

Radial Engineering has announced that Craig “Hutch” Hutchison has joined the company as a Senior Design Engineer. In this role, Hutch will be working with the engineering team and product management to develop the next generation of Radial Engineering products.

“Like many working professionals, Radial has been on my radar for over 20 years. I’ve always respected the products and their quality. I took special interest in the company when I heard about the Key-Largo keyboard mixer and the new leadership of Mike Belitz. The company is propelling forward and I’m excited to be working with new products that leverage the latest technology while meeting the needs of professionals.”

TSL has announced the appointment of two of its highly experienced account handlers, Dominic Sheerman and Loz Wilcox, to its board of directors. The two respected event production professionals now join TSL’s founder and Managing Director Sam Tamplin in steering both the TSL and Blinding Light operations in their future growth.

Vanguardia has moved into its new London offices, representing a significant step for the business putting the company at the heart of the UK’s creative industry and follows the opening of a similar new office in central Manchester. As part of the world-famous Ministry of Sound, the cutting-edge facilities acoustically designed by Vanguardia mean the company continue to be at the forefront of delivering a bespoke client experience in a modern working environment.

Lohan Presencer, Chaiman of Ministry of Sound said: “We’ve worked with Vanguardia for a number of years and are delighted that they’ve chosen The Ministry as their new home, they will be a vibrant addition to the creative community that we’re building here.” TPi www.tpimagazine.com/category/industry-jobs/

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