030 INTERVIEW
Stefano Cantadori of Audio Link Italy and Jaap Pronk of TM Audio flank Marc at the DiGiCo launch of the SD-11 in Scotland.
Flashlight Group] having ideas. All these ideas were passed to people here who are more knowledgeable and those ideas then turned into products, like the XLNT CyberHoist,” explained Marc. Other products that have been developed by Event Acoustics - the audio consultancy, engineer and software development arm of Ampco Flashlight Group - include Engineer, a digital management processor sold by Martin Audio and MeTrao an intelligent network management system that is used to measure sound spillage. The latter is a notable success, as it’s not only used by Ampco Flashlight projects, but sold to other companies for their own use. Marc detailed the product further: “It’s a system that is used at a lot of festivals. You have a MeTrao listen post at every FOH position but also five miles away at the first residential area. The systems talk to each other comparing notes and data, so if the preset values of sound spillage are superseded then the system will send a warning to the FOH engineer or whoever needs to know that the level needs to be lowered and it will also write a report. “There are a lot of Government rules concerning sound spillage in The Netherlands and you really have to adhere to them. You have to be able to prove that you are staying inside the sound barriers, and MeTrao is capable of that so we rent it out a lot to larger festivals in Belgium and The Netherlands. We’ve also sold it to clubs like Paradiso, which has a problem with sound engineers wanting to overdrive the system, so they want to have records and a clear warning for the sound engineers.” As well as pushing new technology ideas forward and overseeing the running of the sales companies, Marc is part of the original management buyout team, making him a shareholder of Ampco Flashlight Group. In the beginning Ampco and Flashlight were two completely separate companies that shared the same building in Utrecht. The early ‘90s saw the Nederlands Omroepproductie Bedrijf (NOB) purchase both companies as part of a movement to privatise Dutch broadcasting companies. However, soon after the NOB decided to focus on its core activity and as a result Ampco and Flashlight were sold by the NOB. Despite the ownership of the company going through a number of changes over the years, something that is stable are the relationships with manufacturers Marc has worked with for many years. “Most of the relationships with manufacturers stem from a long time ago. In lighting with ETC, the relationship is from within Flashlight so I didn’t become involved until a later stage but that relationship is approximately 30-years-old. ETC is a good example because the management hasn’t really changed so the relationship is long-standing and has remained strong. “However, even with Martin Audio, a company where the management has changed, the relationship is still a very long one. In fact I think we were one of the first companies outside the UK to purchase Martin Audio equipment from Dave Martin at the time. The same applies to Crest, which is now owned by Peavey; and
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Allen & Heath, I think we were one of its first distributors during a time when its products were still distributed by exporters like Expotus.” Marc continued: “More recently we were also one of the first DiGiCo distributors, because we had been dealing with Bob Doyle and Dave Webster when they were still working at Midas. We’ve been dealing with Renkus-Heinz for maybe 25 years and XTA has been with us a long time too, we’ve been involved from the start, we bought its first product. “The best relationships are a combination of business and good friendships,” said Marc. And having spoken with a small selection of the companies Marc works with regularly, it seems the feeling is mutual. DiGiCo MD, James Gordon said: “Having worked with Marc for over 10 years he has become more of a personal friend, as well as one half of the dynamic duo. He’s a hard working fun gentleman.” “We share the same ideals of an open, honest and straightforward business with a hefty dose of underlying fun and humour. With Marc you can quickly see past the stoic cloak to the twinkle of mischief in the corners of his eyes, which requires little encouragement to be set free. There are certain people in our industry that embody the values that make it the best to work in and Marc is one of those pillars. At Martin Audio we simply regard him as a friend,” commented MD of Martin Audio, Anthony Taylor. While Tim Stokholm, ETC’s Regional Manager for Northern Europe, said: “I’ve known Marc for 10 years and have worked with him on some of the most complex and challenging projects possible. One project that we’ve worked on together recently was the Ziggo Dome project in Amsterdam and, as is often the case, time was against us. But despite pressure and the stress, he always maintains his composure and sense of humour. Over the years I have learned he is not only determined in his work life but also in his sport life - such as when he did a very rainy 300 km road bike race around a lake in Sweden. Many people didn’t complete the course, but Marc did.” There are a lot of crossovers between brands for the sales and rental side of the company but it’s not mandatory. Brands such as DiGiCo, Martin Audio, Vari-Lite, ETC, Clay Paky and High End Systems are used intensively and they are heavily stocked in the rental warehouse. It works out well in terms of buying stock as it’s usually purchased at higher volumes meaning a better price can be negotiated. Customers also benefit if, for example they want to purchase a sound system from TM Audio, but might be in need of additional equipment from time to time, Ampco Flashlight Rental can offer that part of the deal. “With certain customers there’s an even more advanced plan in place, where Ampco Flashlight Group participates in the design, engineering, supplying, and
Photo by Gasoline Media
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