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Soundcraft’s worldwide headquarters in the UK has promoted Ian Staddon to the position of product development director, a newly-created role at the head of a team of experienced product managers. Staddon assumes responsibility for Soundcraft’s strategic product development activities, including market research, new product definitions and specifications, project management and new product introductions.

Staddon, who has been with Soundcraft for more than 10 years, has worked in purchasing, project management, production and sales, where his most recent role had been regional sales manager for Asia and South America. Prior to joining Soundcraft, he started his pro audio career at Bandive over 16 years ago, where he moved up to production manager for the last SECK range of mixers.

"This job calls for someone with knowledge of product and market application, as well as

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Simon Sinclair, who for the past five years has been heading up the TC sales operation in the USA, is joining Tannoy as sales director. He replaces Derek West who is leaving the company after 10 years. West’s decision to leave coincides with the TC Group's commitment to Tannoy, which requires all senior management personnel to be based within easy reach of company headquarters in Scotland. "After 10 years, the commute between Oxford and Glasgow has begun to lose its appeal," says West. "I've been thinking seriously about a change in career path, so, as I wasn't keen on re-location, it seemed the right time to make the change. However, after such a long association, I shall be sad to leave my colleagues at Tannoy, but I know the success we've enjoyed will continue in Simon's capable hands."

(Ruth Rossington)

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Following four successful year's service with AC Lighting, José Joao has been promoted to the position of senior account manager in the Export Sales department. Being fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and with 17 years’ experience in the entertainment lighting industry, Joao strengthens AC Lighting's export drive into the Latino market.

Trying to stay customer focused when exporting to over 90 countries can be very difficult, however, AC Lighting have found Joao's experience and attention to detail to be a valuable asset. The significant growth achieved in his territories is a testament to his success. Export sales manager Cally Bacchus commented: "We are very pleased to have José on the team. He has been central to the significant growth that AC Lighting have enjoyed and we wish him every success in his new role."

(Lee Baldock)

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BML Stage Lighting & Productions Inc, located in Raritan, New Jersey, have recruited Marc Malamud as Rental Account Manager. Marc, formerly with BASH and PRG, brings a wealth of Broadway, off Broadway and industrial experience to the BML team. His duties will include overseeing the expansion of the rental department, in addition to his sales function.

(Ruth Rossington)

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High End Systems has announced the addition of two key new positions to its executive management team based in Austin, Texas. David Parks joins High End in the role of senior vice-president, product development. With his diverse background in engineering, operations and finance, Parks will focus on maturing the organization's development processes, delivery and design for manufacturing. He will partner closely with Rick Thompson, vice-president of operations, in building cross-functional project management teams.

With Parks in place, HES R&D's vice-president of engineering, Mike Wood, takes on the new role of chief technology officer, focusing on the strategic planning, advanced engineering and selection of all new products and technology platforms. Wood will work closely with High End's Product Development Committee, which drives the direction and product selection of the development

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FX Music Control, the equipment sales arm of the FX Group, has appointed James ‘Woody’ Woodburn as its London sales manager. Woody joins the company from Serious Audio where he was sales manager for two years until the company’s closure at the beginning of 2002. He is now based at the FX Group’s headquarters in East Acton and is responsible for handling all recording and post production sales enquiries in London and the South East.

FX Music Control’s managing director, Emma Brown, told us: "Woody is highly regarded within the pro audio industry, particularly for his expertise with Pro Tools, which is an increasingly important part of our business. In recent months we have witnessed a large increase in orders throughout the country and we wanted to ensure that all customers received the same high level of service regardless of where they are. By appoin

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David Mitchell, the founder and former owner of SIS in Northampton, died recently from cancer of the liver. He was in his mid-fifties and had been out of our industry since the early 90s.

Mitchell started SIS in the 70s as a manufacturer of NAB ‘jingle’ machines, but moved into disco lighting manufacture in the early 1980s, as well as wholesaleing for other manufacturers. Ian Brown, now of Coe-tech, was SIS’s sales director in this period, but moved on when SIS’s success enabled it to move to larger freehold premises. Unfortunately, higher overheads and bad debts led to the failure of the company only a few years later. David was well-known and respected. He was likeable, with a mischievous sense of humour. Many of his friends in the industry will regret, as I do, that his relative obscurity in recent years meant that they could not easily keep in touch with hi

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As part of the second phase of key changes in the strategic direction of the iLight group, Peter Brooks, co-founder and managing director of Zero 88 Lighting, is to pursue other consultancy interests and charity work. He will, however, remain as a director and shareholder in the group. "I have very much enjoyed building Zero 88 over the years and seeing it become part of a group with a multi-million pound turnover and over 100 employees," comments Peter. "Undoubtedly, merging the company with iLight Limited made good commercial and strategic sense."

It was just 18 months ago that Peter oversaw the successful merger of Zero 88 and iLight after recognising the synergy between the two companies. From jointly founding Zero 88 in 1972, Brooks initially set up a satellite manufacturing operation in Wales before moving the whole company there in 1992. He has been a pivotal

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Software provider Stardraw.com has promoted Rob Robinson to the position of marketing director. According to managing director David Snipp, Robinson's appointment was "a natural progression of his duties and reinforces an already strong management team at Stardraw.com.

"Rob has been doing a great job over the last year," continued Snipp, "and it was a logical step to have executive representation of the marketing function at board level. As well as many years experience in this field, Rob also has comprehensive knowledge of the company, our products and the markets in which we operate."

Robinson’s new role will see him involved in new business development. "In addition to building on the established successes of our existing design and documentation products, I'll be growing the new business sectors which arise from our introduction of new internet

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London-based sound, lighting and video installation and consultancy company, Live Business International, has just added a new member to its team and re-united the duo that ran the sound at the Millennium Dome.

Almost a year to the day after completing his contract at Greenwich, Gerry Logue has joined technical director Roland Hemming to become Live Business International’s technical project manager. Hemming comments: "I’ve been trying to get Gerry on board for ages, but distractions such as his consultancy for the Commonwealth Games and work managing a large video conferencing project have prevented us from working together until now. I'm glad he has finally seen the light and come home."

During his 20-year career, Gerry has established himself as one of the best audio-visual project managers in the industry. He coordinated the sound at Madame Tussauds and Rock

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Lighthouse, designer, manufacturer and installer of giant LED video screens, has recently appointed David Thilwind as project sales manager for the Asia Pacific market. David will be responsible for a variety of areas including major project sales, sales promotion to both end users and architects, technical sales support for regional system integrators and project management.

David joins Lighthouse from Pilkington Micronics Ltd, where he spent three years as regional sales manager and brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the region and its markets. His past projects include Hong Kong Airport, Kuala Lumpur Airport, the LG Kangnam Tower in Seoul SK, the Peak Tram Redevelopment in Hong Kong, Café Deco in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Jockey Club and the South China Morning Post building in Tai Po (Hong Kong), and while in the LCD field he also worked with the likes of Philips, Variatronix, Ye

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Color Kinetics’ co-founder and chief technology officer Dr. Ihor Lys has been named one of the top technology innovators under the age of 35 by MIT Technology Review Magazine. He is one of 100 people from around the world selected for the magazine's second ever TR100 list, which recognizes young individuals whose work in business and technology has a key impact on today's world. Ihor was selected for his role in the development of Color Kinetics’ intelligent LED-based Chromacore technology.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Ned Jackson, President and CEO of Telex Communications Inc has announced that Telex EVI audio managing director Mathias von Heydekampf has been named President of the Pro Audio Group worldwide. Von Heydekampf, currently resident in Germany where the European headquarters are based, will remain responsible for sales and management in Europe, as well as Pro Audio worldwide.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Klark Teknik Group has announced the departure of David Webster and Bob Doyle who have left to pursue other interests within the professional audio field. According to Telex EVI's Mathias von Heydekampf, recently promoted to President of the Pro Audio Group worldwide (see separate news piece), the pair will be missed, although they leave a strong and thriving business behind them.

"Webby and Doyler certainly had a very charismatic approach to business, and long, successful careers within the Klark Teknik Group and the Telex corporation," commented von Heydekampf. " Although we are very sorry to see them go, we are pleased to report a fantastic first quarter which represents over 30% growth on the same period last year, with the trend set to continue. Midas is amazingly successful with all their current ranges, and Klark Teknik is also on the verge of introducing exciting

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Stardraw.com has welcomed two new members to its team - Frank Walker has been appointed to handle technical sales in the US whilst Francesco Marcolini takes on the role of web developer.

"Our business is expanding daily," said Randell Green, president of Stardraw.com Inc, "so it is important that we have the right infrastructure in place to support growth. Frank Walker has a proven track record within the industry and a high level of technical expertise and we're glad to have him on board." Francesco Marcolini, meanwhile, will develop the company’s web presence. "The Internet is an integral part of our business and will be central to everything we do. Custom-developed, web-based tools represent an important part of that and we aim to deliver world-class products," explained managing director David Snipp. "Francesco is a highly skilled and experi

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Rycote Microphone Windshields has appointed Derek West, formerly sales director with Tannoy Ltd, as head of sales and marketing and research and development for both its Rycote and Lightwave brands. The company, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, together with sister company Lightwave Audio Systems, based in Vista, California, is a world leader in microphone windshield and shockmount products for both professional and semi-professional use.

Commenting on the appointment Rycote MD, Vivienne Dyer, said:"I have known Derek for several years and, during this time, have wanted to bring his experience into the company. Following Rycote’s purchase of Lightwave last year, we needed to increase our strength in the areas of distribution and product development, and I am sure he will prove a valuable asset to the company."

(Ruth Rossington)

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SSE has announced the opening of a dedicated sales department, headed up by Julian Ward, who has been appointed to fill the new role of equipment sales manager. John Penn, Group managing director comments: "SSE’s core business has always been hiring sound equipment. We own a vast amount of hire stock, and it has been our policy to renew and replace it on a regular basis, so actually we have always been in the business of selling equipment. We came to the realisation that our customers like to buy equipment from us as it gives them access to the other areas of our business which can really help them in their own ventures. Then we have our manufacturing and electronics departments as a back-up, where we can custom-build anything from a flightcase to a multicore system. Add to that our reconing and service department, and we have the facilities in-house to deal with just about an

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Kip Whitehead has been promoted to the position of technical support/field service manager for Crown International. Whitehead reports directly to Mark Graham, Crown vice-president of marketing, who made the announcement. Whitehead now supervises Crown’s technical support department in addition to managing, supporting, and training the worldwide organization of Crown-authorized service centers. He replaces Don Peterson, who recently left the company and moved with his family to Florida to pursue new career opportunities.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Tom Back is to leave Dutch pro audio manufacturer Stage Accompany after six years as sales and marketing director. Back told PLASA Media: "I have worked with a lot of pleasure as sales/marketing director, together with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable team of colleagues, to give the brand ‘Stage Accompany’ the position in the pro-audio market it deserves."

Back says he has no plans for the immediate future, but will be considering a number of ideas and possibilities.

(Lee Baldock)

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The experience of commercial audio specialist Janusz Hawrot (MInst.S.C.E) will provide TOA with a valuable representative in the north of England. The newly-appointed technical sales executive will be based out of Manchester, enabling the public address and voice alarm specialists to divide up the country, with Ian Bridgewater acting in a similar capacity in the south.

Hawrot has dedicated his professional life to the public address industry, and the last nine years have been spent with Provoice, the audio division of security and fire alarm specialists, Protec. "This is very much a career move as it provides an opportunity for me to expand into a wider field of audio," he said. "I will not only be covering the same markets as I did with Protec but the position will allow me to broaden my horizons into other market sectors."

TOA’s marketing director, Brett D

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Vari-Lite Inc has promoted Richard Bratcher to vice-president of operations. The move comes at a time when the manufacturing and shipment of the new and highly popular VL1000 ellipsoidal reflector spotlight is at an all-time high, say Vari-Lite. "The success of the VL1000 ERS product line has been tremendous," said Vari-Lite President and COO Clay Powers. "As we continue to grow as a manufacturer, we want to ensure that the manufacture and assembly of all Vari*Lite products continues to improve to meet the expectations of a very demanding market. Continuous improvement of our assembly operations along with all company processes will allow us to remain competitive going forward."

Bratcher, a member of the Vari-Lite family since 1983, will oversee all manufacturing and assembly operations at the Vari-Lite headquarters in Dallas. In addition, Bratcher will continue to

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The Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS), has appointed Phil Dudderidge as its new chairman. Dudderidge, who owns Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd, takes over from Dave Harries who has served a three-year term as Chairman.

The APRS, which has been representing the recording services industry for over 50 years, has undergone significant changes in recent years. Technology and convergence between the various creative, entertainment sectors has changed the commercial landscape for all and the Association's priorities have also needed re-adjustment. Dudderidge's appointment at such a challenging time for the recording industry marks the first time for many years that an equipment manufacturer has chaired the Association. "We are almost unique amongst trade associations in that we represent both manufacturers and their customers," Dudderidge says, "but this ha

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US company Lightswitch has announced that Howard Werner, formerly of hwdesigns, has joined its design team, becoming a Principal Designer alongside original founders, John Featherstone and Norm Schwab.

Werner has over 20 years of lighting and projection design experience, having worked on an impressive number of projects. He is currently designing the lighting and multimedia for a new play, ‘Say Goodnight Gracie’ directed by John Tillinger, which is scheduled to open on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre in October. Other theatrical credits include the 2001 revival of ‘American Buffalo’, which premiered at the Donmar Theater in London, as well as designs for the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and the Atlantic Theatre in New York. His corporate credits include such clients as McDonalds, Toyota, Ford, GM, Anderson Consulting, Jack Morton Worldwide, Liz Claiborne

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Fuzion has appointed Gary Furman to its sales team. Furman will provide office-based support in handling sales enquiries and generating new leads to complement the activities of the three regional sales managers who are not office-based.

Sales director Paul Ward is pleased with the new development: "We now have an extremely positive sales scenario," he said. "We already have a very strong sales force out on the road who are doing a good job, despite the relatively tough climate. With Gary's appointment they now have the additional reassurance of knowing there is someone back in the office whose sole task is to handle sales enquiries, which leaves everyone else, including those of us based in the office, free to focus on our own particular role."

Furman has several years of pro audio sales experience in his native South Africa where he started in a telesales role b

  1. Lighthouse signs Alan Barber to AV team
  2. tsg adds Natalie Trivass to its team
  3. Jo Clarke heads up VDC’s new sales initiative
  4. Phil Pike leaves Tussauds
  5. Dick Tee splits from Hotcakes
  6. Honorary Doctorate for David Hersey
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