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Creative Technology has expanded its management infrastructure with three new appointments. Announcing the changes, managing director Mark Elliott said the move will place CT in a firm position for the development of new business in both domestic and international markets, while further enhancing client and project handling at a high level.

Formerly with Gearhouse (and later MCL Birmingham), Chris Cox takes up a newly-created role as business development manager. He will liase closely with other CT offices worldwide and raise awareness among domestic blue chip companies operating in the exhibition and conference markets.

Another returning to the Avesco camp is account manager, Charlie Whittock. He formerly worked as a project manager with CT before moving to the United States seven years ago. While there he pursued a successful career as a freelance production manager, often working

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Alistair Smyth has been promoted to sales manager for Central Europe at the London office of automated lighting manufacturer High End Systems Inc. David Catterall, managing director of High End Systems Europe, commented: "I am delighted that Alistair has successfully made the transition from technical support to sales. He brings a wealth of knowledge and existing customer relationships to his new position and this represents a very sound base for growth for him and the company in the future."

(Lee Baldock)

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Screenco have strengthened their position in the concert touring market with the recent appointment of Richard Shipman. Most recently with event video production specialists Black Pig, whom he left in June, Shipman was working in a freelance capacity with Oasis before joining Screenco this month.

Commenting on the appointment, Screenco director and general manager, Graham Filmer said: "Richard represents a significant addition to the company. As senior project engineer, he will boost our concert touring expertise - a sector of the industry in which he commands enormous respect - introducing a comprehensive skill set in video graphics, screen displays and projection technology, which will add a new dimension to our touring services." Richard said he was relishing the opportunity. "I will be bringing all my experience from touring and broadcast to the source of the image S

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Stage Electrics has appointed Chris Wroe as business development manager for television. Wroe brings with him a wealth of experience from his 14 years with Playlight Hire Ltd where he began his career as hire manager, subsequently rising through the ranks to become a part of the management team. He has an impressive portfolio and has taken to Stage Electrics an experienced technical team who will continue to support and fulfil projects from previous commitments.

The new appointment is part of a busy summer for Stage Electrics - it recently opened its tenth branch in Newcastle following its acquisition of the northern arm of Lighting Technology. Andy Elsegood and Davie Bell joined the company from Lighting Technology to work with customers based in the north of England.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Pixeon (formerly Bright Lighting) has announced that Claas Ernst has joined the company as the general manager of European Operations. Ernst's first days on the job were spent at the PLASA show in London, where the company's debut product, Color Stream, was launched to widespread acclaim and received a PLASA Award for Design Excellence.

Nils Thorjussen commented: "I'm thrilled to have Claas join our team. He's an outstanding individual and I couldn't think of a more qualified person to lead the charge in Europe. Based on the response at PLASA, I think he'll be quite busy!" Prior to joining Pixeon, Ernst spent seven years with High End Systems. Based in Pixeon's German office, his main goals will be the establishment of distribution channels for Pixeon's products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the building of relationships with lighting designers and consult

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Wlodek Sielski, director of business development with Digigram SA, is expanding Soundbits, his business development and marketing consultancy for the pro audio and broadcast industries, to cater for the converging and expanding world markets. To aid this expansion, he will leave his permanent position from 1 January 2003, while remaining as a key consultant.

Digigram’s co-founder and president of the executive board, Philippe Girard-Buttoz, commented: "Wlodek has been with Digigram for 15 years, and his extensive knowledge of the industry and understanding of the worldwide markets has been invaluable. He commands great industry respect and we are delighted to keep Wlodek/Soundbits as an important consultant. However, I understand his need to expand his own operation, and he is just the man to cater for the changes and needs of our fast-moving industry."

In the last

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Derek Power, the former general secretary of BADEM, died on Tuesday 22 October. As General Secretary of BADEM (the precursor to PLASA) at the end of the 1970s, he gave a collection of disco equipment manufacturers the self-belief to take their wares onto an international stage, and knock on the right government doors for funding and subsidy. He forged links with the British Overseas Trade Board, organized the first export missions, and as exhibition organizer, put the early BADEM Shows on a firm footing. Sartorially dressed in pinstriped suit and bowler hat, he had a fierce legal brain and wore the persona of the diplomat. This was hardly surprising. For 29 years, Power was a regular army officer, active in various parts of the world, including Korea in the 1950s. Gaining an army exhibition scholarship to Oxford, he read Equity and Jurisprudence, and on retirement planned to go to the Ba

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ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) presented its 2002 Eva Swan Award to Bill Groener, north-east regional vice-president of PRG, for his remarkable service to the Association over many years. The award was presented at ESTA’s Annual Dinner on Thursday, 17 October in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the LDI show.

The Eva Swan Award is presented to a member who has contributed exceptional efforts in time, expertise and personal resources on behalf of ESTA and who has been instrumental in shaping and promoting the direction of the Association. The 2002 Award was presented by Paul Vincent of Vincent Lighting Systems (a former Swan Award winner) who commented: "Bill became involved with the development of the Technical Standards Programme in its early days. Through his work on the Budget Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee, Bill helped raise funds t

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Eric Hanson has joined PRG as the director of business development, based in Chicago. Jere Harris, chairman and CEO of the Group, has welcomed the appointment: "Eric brings to PRG a wealth of experience serving trade show and corporate event clients. PRG currently serves a lot of trade show clients in that market, but we believe we have many additional opportunities for growth there. Eric will be leading our growth efforts." Hanson was formerly with Vari-Lite Production Services where he was a national sales manager responsible for trade show and corporate event clients.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Dave Rice has been appointed president of Cerwin Vega and KRK Systems. The appointment follows the Stanton Group’s successful bid for Cerwin Vega last month, and Mr. Rice will report directly to Gerard Cohen, president and CEO of the Stanton Group.

Immediate priorities will be to review the current business operations, establish the overall direction of the organizations and implement business programs and procedures to obtain maximum profits. Rice commented: "Cerwin Vega has been a household name for many years, synonymous with value and bass. It has broad brand recognition in just about every speaker category - mobile/car, hi-fi, multi-media and pro - but has limited market share. This is because during the last few years the company has not reverse engineered products that consumers were asking for, nor at the prices they were willing to pay."

He is confident that

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After many years with Trantec, Tim Riley has left to form his own company - Richmond Unicorn Ltd - with the aim of marketing and selling what he describes as "the value for money option in many market areas".

Riley has his venture with Smartwireless. "After so many years in the radio mic business, it's clear that there is a large chunk of the market that is never likely to be as brand aware as the large radio mic companies would have us believe." he says. "Certainly there are end users the world over that will settle for nothing less than the market leader but I'm hoping to exploit the vast section of pro audio consumers, schools and colleges, churches, pubs, clubs, karaoke, DJ, aerobics and countless others that will rarely if ever be influenced by the hundreds of thousands of pounds of marketing money spent on them." He continues: "These people neit

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Following our news story last week on the death of Derek Power, we now understand that his funeral will take place at midday this coming Friday at St Mary's Church, Callington, Cornwall. Flowers have specifically not been requested in favour of a collection at the service for the benefit of the church itself.

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Rafael Anaya has joined TMB's LA sales department. Anaya, originally from Mexico, has an associate’s degree in electronics with a wide background in the repair and maintenance of electrical/optical/mechanical equipment of all kinds. Beginning in the medical equipment industry, his career eventually led him to the position of chief technician, then South American sales director for MoboLaser, which allowed him to develop a relationship with TMB: "I spent a lot of time with The Three Amigos [Colin Waters, Tommy Stephenson and Jaime Duarte] out on the tradeshow circuit. They really are great guys." When Rafael sought new challenges in his career, TMB seemed the perfect fit.

"Rafael proved himself to TMB as a vendor; working with all kinds of technically complex products and helping us take really good care of our customers. Once the discussion about him joining us sta

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Veteran entertainment industry writer, photographer, publicist and designer, Cat Strom (Forcer), has announced the launch of a new entertainment technology service: Catriona Strom Design. The company aims to deliver a complete design, content and production package, including graphic design, web design, editorial content, photography and website maintenance, or any one of those services as required.

Should you need a media release, photographs of your project or production (digital or traditional), web site design or content updates, a newsletter (electronic or printed), a product brochure or a magazine ad, this new venture offers a comprehensive range of highly-integrated publicity and promotion services for entertainment technology businesses - from someone who knows the industry.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Michael J. McGinn has joined Shure Incorporated as the company's executive vice-president of global marketing and sales. With over 25 years of international experience in both consumer and business-to-business marketing and sales at Ecolab and Eastman Kodak, McGinn has held a number of executive-level positions around the world. As part of his new responsibilities at Shure, McGinn will lend direction to product marketing, marketing communications, artist relations, market development, and sales around the world. He will additionally oversee customer service, credit, product distribution, and service operations, all on a global level as well.

McGinn's goals in coming months include continuing to build sustainable and profitable growth for Shure and giving unified structure to sales and marketing efforts around the world. "This position is exactly what I was looking for," he pr

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The Music Managers Forum (MMF) has appointed John Glover as its new chairman. He replaces outgoing chairman Keith Harris and will be assisted during his tenure by Phil Nelson, who has been re-appointed vice-chairman. The announcement comes after a successful AGM, which was held in early November at the offices of Willott Kingston Smith in London's Regent Street.

As a well-known and respected music industry manager, John Glover brings a wealth of experience to the role of MMF chairman - a position he last held four years ago. A manager for over 30 years, Glover has been involved in the careers of Free, Mott The Hoople, Jim Capaldi, Joe Brown, Paul Kossoff and, more recently, Victoria Beckham. His company, Blueprint Management currently represents Tony Hadley, Go West, Beverley Craven, Alison Limerick and Outbreak. He is also a board member of the British Music Centre and sits on the boa

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5 Star Cases, the Cambridgeshire-based flightcase manufacturer, has expanded its sales team with two new members. As from 1 November, Andy Harford has been appointed to look after all 5 Star's retail sales. This is Harford’s second spell at the company, having previously worked for 5 Star as a sales manager on the road. Harford will be mainly office-based, but is available to make visits to customers if required. Harford has a wide knowledge of the DJ Market, being a part-time DJ himself.

The latest addition to the sales team is Dave Peacock: based in Manchester and starting on 6 January 2003, Peacock will become 5 Star's North West sales manager. With 14 years’ experience in every aspect of the flightcase industry, having worked for BSH Transit cases and Condor, Peacock will aim to improve service and support to 5 Star’s existing customers whilst developing new conta

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Scott Church joins Selecon Performance Lighting from December 2002, as regional sales manager, based in an office near Baltimore, Maryland. Church comes to Selecon with extensive sales and lighting industry experiences. His most recent position was sales manager for Baltimore Stage Lighting Inc, where he spent more than 15 years. He has also held positions in the past with Scandinavian World Cruises, US DOD/USO (Department of Defense/United Service Organization) tours and many other technical and entertainment positions.

Church said: "The innovative products, knowledgeable factory staff and excellent growth potential made it an easy decision to join. I hope to create long-term relationships with our dedicated dealers, architects, designers and many others."

Selecon's Jeremy Collins commented: "Scott joining the Selecon team is a further step in bringing to the US marke

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Coe-tech/Robe UK's active sales team continues to expand with the addition of David Linger as sales manager. He will be based on the road and at Coe-tech's HQ in Northampton. Linger has worked in the moving light business for the past decade, most recently as sales director of one of the UK's leading manufacturers - MAD. Previous to that, he was at Coe-tech, and brings his considerable technical and industry experience back to familiar territory.

At Coe-tech/Robe UK, Linger will be working with the extensive Robe Showlighting product range, for which Coe-tech is the exclusive UK distributor. The Robe range was instrumental in Linger's move: "I saw the fixtures at PLASA and thought they were excellent in every way," he commented. "I knew this was the right company and the products into which to plough my energy, and I'm very pleased to be back on board with Coe-tech.&quo

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After a busy 12 months which has seen Total Fabrications Ltd (TFL) provide stage sets for artists including Kylie Minogue, S Club 7 and the Commonwealth Games, to name just three, the time has come, say the company, to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of one Neil Darracott.

"Technical Director is a role of increasing responsibilities," said TFL’s managing director Chris Cronin of Darracott’s new appointment, "one that requires both qualifications and understanding. TFL has always striven to place safety at the core of everything we do, from manufacturing process through to utilization of the finished product. Since Neil first came on board to develop T2 as an entirely new concept for the trussing industry, he has contributed heavily to establishing standards in unique areas. He’s simply the ideal man for the job."

Darracott, besides being a we

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Audio-visual supplier, Music Marketing Services Ltd, has made a new appointment within its sales team. Alex Peacock, formerly the founder of technical support company, Capital Service, is to head up Music Marketing’s new specialist division which deals exclusively with the Health and Fitness industry.

In his previous role as operations manager with Capital Service, Peacock gained extensive experience in providing entertainment products to the health and fitness sector, managing the installation and service of complete systems for many of the largest operators in the marketplace. In addition to the wealth of specialist knowledge he brings, he has also secured dealership agreements for Cardio Theater and PumpStation products which Music Marketing Services is offering alongside its existing range of audio visual equipment.

The new Health and Fitness Division constitutes a natural

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Jonathan Adkins has returned to Lighting Technology Projects Ltd (LTP). Terry Reeves, general manager of LTP stated: "Jonathan’s departure from LTP, in advance of its acquisition by the PAI Group, left a void in the organization’s skill base. Everybody within the PAI group and Jonathan’s customers are extremely pleased he has chosen to return to the fold." Paul Adams, chairman of the PAI Group, added: "We are pleased to have Jonathan joining us, and know that he will prove an invaluable asset to both LTP and the PAI Group."

(Ruth Rossington)

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Owen Wynn-Jones has joined HW International as sales and technical co-ordinator. He was previously employed at the London branch of LMC Audio Systems, where, during his five years with the company, he reached the heady heights of assistant sales manager. At HW, he will be acting as a support between the sales desk and the area sales managers coordinating his skills and knowledge of various markets and applications.

(Ruth Rossington)

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The Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) has announced the election results for its 2003 Board of Directors. The new directors are: Mark West, re-elected as Affiliate Vice President (President, Downhome Productions); Rick Rudolph, re-elected as Dealer Director (Vice President, Stage Equipment & Lighting, Inc.); Fred Mikeska, elected as Manufacturer Director (Marketing Manager, Creative Stage Lighting Co., Inc.); and Greg Meeh, elected as Affiliate Director (CEO, Jauchem & Meeh, Inc.).

In addition, Cindi Manning of Vincent Lighting Systems has been appointed to fill the recently vacated position of Dealer Vice President and Patrick O’Rourke of Big Apple Lights has been appointed to fill the remaining two years of Cindi’s previously held position of Dealer Director. ESTA has also paid tribute to two long-time and highly effective Board members - Beverly In

  1. Mark Frihagen is appointed Jem international business development manager
  2. Blitz Vision appoints Rob Piddington as sales manager
  3. Key staff changes at ATI Group
  4. Dick Titus promoted to President of ETC
  5. John Oakley appointed at helm of Klark Teknik Group
  6. Owen departs PSA
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