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Exertis has announced the ap- pointment of Warren Lewis as Head of AV for Europe, re- porting to Niall Ennis, Exertis Group Managing Director. In this role, Lewis will focus on leading the overall sales and commercial proposition for the Exertis Group’s professional AV business by driving the vendor and customer strategy across Europe.


“As the geographical reach of Exertis continues to grow, it’s important that we leverage our combined strength, deliv- er solutions across territories and promote a strong message across the retail, home, educa- tion and public sector. Warren has the experience and knowl- edge to build and scale our Pro AV presence in Europe provid- ing benefits for our vendors and the right support for our cus- tomers.” said Ennis.


Lewis joins from LG Electron- ics where he held several lead- ership roles in a career span- ning more than 10 years with the vendor, most recently as VP Europe B2B – Information Displays. He has also worked in distribution.


Crestron has appointed Hamish Neale


as Residential Sales


Manager, Europe. With im- mediate


effect, Hamish will


be heading up the residential sales team to further strength- en Crestron’s position within this sector.


As a CEDIA board member, Hamish is no stranger to the residential technology market. He also held a previous role at Barco within high end residen- tial business development, and comes to Crestron with a wealth of


AV industry knowledge,


spanning almost two decades. “I’m thrilled to join Crestron


at an exciting time, as it con- tinues to grow and cement its position at the forefront of in- tegrated solutions for the resi- dential market” says Hamish. “With a background in the resi- dential market, I’ll be using my expertise to highlight the ex- ceptional user experience Cre- stron technology has to offer, as


Casio has announced the return of Alan Garratt to Casio UK, as he takes on the role of Business Development Manager for the pioneers of lamp-free projec- tion technology. With over 17 years’ experience in the AV in- dustry, Alan will lead the Casio UK team in its growth across the channel, focusing on the expansion of its projector divi- sion; a range which saw the in- troduction of its first 4K lamp- free projector in 2017. Alan’s AV career started with global education company Promethean, where he spent 7 years as Senior Account Manager, handling its exten- sive customer database and increasing sales within the UK. His subsequent move to Casio UK in 2009 brought with it the opportunity to manage the reseller accounts which he did


“Exertis impressed me with their passion and ambition to become the leading Pro AV dis- tributor in Europe. I am look- ing forward to the challenge of building a cohesive strategy that will enable our vendors to take advantage of a growing European footprint and ensure that our customers have access to an outstanding choice of solutions and the best techni- cal expertise in the Pro AV in- dustry.” said Lewis.


with the growth of 4K in recent years, our latest Large Venue Series more than meets indus- try demand.”


2017, serves as President of the Video Quality Monitoring and Analytics business unit. “As we get ready to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are excited to put in place a new structure that will support our ambitious


vision and growth


Alan Garratt returns to Casio UK as Business Development Manager


Telestream has announced a new corporate structure and the expansion of its senior leadership team with a number of new senior


appointments,


following the appointment of Scott Puopolo as CEO in Octo- ber.


Warren Lewis – Exertis new head of AV for Europe


well as continuing to establish relationships with new and ex- isting partners.”


The appointment of Hamish supports Crestron’s EMEA growth plans for the residential marketplace, and reinforces our commitment to this chan- nel.


The company is now orga- nized in two business units, supported by shared corporate functions in finance, opera- tions, marketing and HR. The company’s Media Workflow and Production business unit, un- der the leadership of its newly appointed President, Anna Gre- co, will focus on technologies that enable customers to man- age the scale and complexity resulting from explosive growth in live and file-based content production and workflows. The business unit includes solutions for live and on-de- mand encoding and transcod- ing, live streaming production, workflow automation and or- chestration. Greco is well- known to Telestream’s


global


Crestron has appointed Hamish Neale as Residential Sales Man- ager, Europe


successfully for 9 years. He re- turns to Casio after 12 months with BenQ, where he was re- sponsible for the management of its product portfolio and global customer database. Deputy Managing Director at Casio Tim Gould said: “It is such a pleasure to wel- come Alan back to Casio. His experience and knowledge in the sector is unrivalled and under his leadership the portfo- lio of lamp-free projectors will continue to grow in established and new sectors, thanks to the development of new technolo- gies at the top of our range.” Alan says; “It’s fantastic to be back at Ca- sio and I’m looking forward to working with the projector di- vision to accelerate expansion across the channel. Innovation is at the heart of Casio and


P22 AV News February 2018


customer base and has a deep knowledge of Telestream’s core technologies and business dynamics, having previously served as the company’s Vice President of Client Services. The Video Quality Monitoring and Analytics business unit will


plans for the future. With three significant acquisitions in two years and yet another year of strong organic business growth, Telestream is well poised to help advance the video indus- try at a time of major change. This expanded corporate struc- ture gives us the foundation and agility we need to respond aggressively to opportunities in front of us, so we can help our customers deliver the highest possible video quality to their viewers, on any device,” said Puopolo.


TPV group – the brand licensee for the manufacture, marketing and sales of Philips Profession- al Display Solutions – Chris Col- paert has assumed responsibil- ity for the development, sales and marketing of the products and service, as General Manag- er of the Business Unit Philips Professional Display Solutions EMEA, North America and oth- er key overseas markets Chris joins TPV from display technology company, Barco where most recently he was VP LED and Image Processing re- sponsible for product definition and development. Chris has a degree in electronics and elec- trical engineering, and holds a PhD in Applied Science in combination with an MBA, all followed by an extensive ca- reer in the display industry in- cluding a proven track record in general management, R&D management and product man- agement, with a focus on LCD/ LED screens, projectors and Image Processing in B2B mar- kets.


Commenting on Chris’s ap- pointment, VP Global Monitors and Professional Displays Nico Vernieuwe said: ‘I’m delight- ed that we are able to appoint such a highly accomplished and versatile executive as Chris, we are convinced that with his background he will bring a wealth of experience which will directly contribute to our further growth’.


Telestream’s Media Workflow and Production business unit, under the leadership of its newly appointed President, Anna Greco


focus on solutions which ensure that content is delivered at the highest quality, providing video data


Chris Colpaert said: “Philips displays is globally, one of the most respected and recognized technology brands with an out- standing heritage in the pro- fessional display sectors. So, I am excited by the challenge of leading a team that has successfully and consistently grown the business for high quality


Philips


acquisition and quality assurance across live, linear, and on-demand networks. Cal- vin Harrison, who was formerly Ineo Quest Technologies’ Presi- dent and CEO prior to its acqui- sition by Telestream in March


branded pro-


fessional displays. I believe my 20 years’ experience in visual- ization technologies will allow me to directly contribute to the team in developing and opti- mizing what is already the most complete solution available for the AV Industry. Our focus on quality, innovation and differ-


entiation will continue to be the engine for our further suc- cess and continued growth.”


BrightSign has announced that industry veteran Frank Pisano is joining the company as Vice President of Sales, overseeing all sales activities in the Amer- icas. Pisano joins BrightSign at a pivotal time when the compa- ny is poised to build on its mar- ket leadership position in 2018 and beyond.


“Frank brings an excellent track record of success to BrightSign, and we’re enthu- siastic about the energy he brings to our company,” said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign’s CEO. “We’re poised for success in the months ahead, and I’m confident Frank’s contributions will help BrightSign further cement itself as the digital sig- nage market leader.”


Pisano is a household name in the AV industry, having spent the past 15 years building long-term strategic relation- ships with key companies and individuals across the industry. Most recently, he was Direc- tor of Sales at Milestone AV Technologies. Pisano brings to BrightSign an enthusiasm for building strong sales organiza- tions, and a passion for the AV industry as a whole.


PLASA new chair and board members


PLASA has announced changes to its elected board including the appointment of Adam Blaxill as the new Chair. Adam Blaxill originally joined the PLASA Board as the Professional Services Represen- tative in 2012 and was elected as Vice Chair in 2014. He has been voted as the new Chair of PLASA through a simple ma- jority vote.


As a Director of Stage Electrics – one of the UK’s leading integrators and suppliers for entertainment technology – Adam Blaxill’s far-reaching expertise includes hire, sales, events, and installation, as well as testing and servicing operations at regional and national levels. Blaxill takes over from Ed Pagett who


has served as Chair for an extended seven years. During this time Pagett oversaw the demerger with ESTA with the support of an executive committee which included Blax- ill as Vice-Chair and Martin Hawthorn as Treasurer. This valuable work enabled the survival and growth of PLASA. Pagett will continue to serve as a non-executive director, contributing his extensive knowledge and expertise to advise and support the association as it continues its work in the industry. Peter Heath, Managing Director of


Adam Blaxill takes over at PLASA from Ed Pagett who has served as Chair for an extended seven years.


Frank Pisano, VP Sales – Ameri- cas, BrightSign


“This is an exciting time to join BrightSign. Digital signage is increasingly vital to the AV eco- system, and BrightSign is posi- tioned perfectly to capitalize on these market dynamics,” said Frank Pisano, BrightSign’s VP of Sales.


During the course of his 12-


year tenure at Milestone AV Technologies, Pisano held various sales positions and ultimately directed the sales- force for the past three years. Previous to Milestone AV, he held positions at Sennheiser Electronics and Philips. Pisa- no earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Virginia Tech.


PLASA, says, “We are very much looking forward to having Adam as our Chair and have faith in his knowledge and guidance. I would like to extend my thanks to Ed, who has been an extremely valuable Chair since 2011 - we are delighted he will con- tinue to work with us in his new role as non-executive director.


“PLASA has gone from strength to strength in recent years. We have made internal changes to ensure teams are all working from one location, as well as an incredibly successful 2017 for the PLASA Show, Focus shows, LSi and LSA maga- zines. The elected board continues to be a vital voice as the association moves forward.”


Other changes to the board include Martin Hawthorn, of Hawthorn, who has now become Vice-Chair, after serving as Treasurer since 2010, and Mark Surtees of Outback Rigging moves to the role of Treasurer after previously serving as the Production Services Representative. There are three positions available in the forthcoming elections on the PLASA Membership Governing Body: Production Services Representative, Professional Ser- vices Representative, and Rental Compa- ny Representative. Members are invited to put themselves forward for these roles which commence after the elections un- til December 2020. If you are interested, please get in touch: membership@plasa. org.


The elected members of the PLASA board represent the interests of the mem- bers, advise on budgets and policies, monitor targets and resources, act as am- bassadors for the organisation, and safe- guard the future developments of PLASA.


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