Management

Judge Sends Samsung CEO Back to Prison for 2½ Years

January 19, 2021 by Ted Leave a Comment

Samsung vice chairman Jay Y. Lee — [Photo: AP]

Who Will Run the Company with Lee Incarcerated?

On Monday, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong – also known as JY Lee, J. Y. Lee or Jay Y. Lee – was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for his role in a bribery and embezzlement scheme to influence the President of South Korea in order to increase his share and power in the company. This development is big news in Korea. Samsung Electronics, part of the Samsung family of companies that is the largest conglomerate in South Korea, by itself represents almost 20% of the entire value of all exports from Korea.

See this sensational Samsung…ah…stuff!

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CES 2021: Sony Evolves From Hardware Maker to Experience Creator

January 14, 2021 by Ted Leave a Comment

“Please join us in looking forward as we continue to evolve as a ‘creative entertainment company,'” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Chairman, CEO and President to kick off Sony’s presentation to the media on CES 2021’s press day this past Monday. It was a carefully crafted opening, with words of particular significance that contrasts strongly with previous company characterizations. Sony is changing.

Has the train jumped the tracks? Or has Sony hit the hyper-drive taking us to a new and exciting unexplored planet?

See more from Sony’s press presentation…

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AudioControl Names New Head of Customer & Technical Services

January 13, 2021 by Ted Leave a Comment

AudioControl announces appointment of Ashley Kay — *Is Ashley Kay Wonder Woman? Perhaps…[Click to enlarge]*

AudioControl announced this week that it has named Ashley Kay as its new Director of Customer and Technical Services. This is a newly created role at the company and represents a meaningful upgrade in customer and technical support capabilities at the specialty mobile and residential electronics manufacturer.

See more on Kay’s role at AudioControl…

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New Lessons in Leadership from Surviving 2020

January 8, 2021 by Ted Leave a Comment

For many, if not most of us, 2020 turned out to be one of the most challenging years we have ever faced. Blissfully unaware, we entered the year in January expecting a year much like those of the past. Little did we know that we were just eight weeks away from entering the topsy-turvy world of pandemic mania.

I recently ran across a great, thought-provoking article in the MIT Sloan Management Review called “Nine Leadership Lessons 2020 Gave Us” in which author Ally MacDonald spoke with several top leaders about 2020. Their question to these leaders: In what ways did 2020 test leaders, and what are the lessons to be learned.

See leadership lessons from 2020

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Long Time Crestron CTO Fred Bargetzi Dies

January 7, 2021 by Ted Leave a Comment

I’m sorry to report that we have some sad news out of Crestron today. On Tuesday, the company announced its long time Chief Technology Officer, Fred Bargetzi, has died. Viewed by many to be a key component of the success of one of our industry’s most respected technology companies, colleagues are said to be “in shock.”

See more on the passing of Fred Bargetzi…

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Thanks to Readers, Strata-gee Hits Stratospheric Heights in 2020!

January 7, 2021 by Ted 8 Comments

See What Drove Results for Strata-gee

I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but thanks to Strata-gee’s amazing readers, both long time subscribers and many, many new converts, Strata-gee had its biggest year ever in 2020! The data are clear and unequivocal, pageviews this year were not only greater than last year…they exceeded it by a margin far greater than I could have ever dreamed possible! And that’s just one example of surprisingly positive stats in Strata-gee’s 2020 results in the wake of a branding and web presence overhaul.

See more on this amazing result, coming out of a crazy 2020 year…

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Judge Approves Reorg Plan by AVDG Parent Guitar Center

December 30, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Photo of Guitar Center store in Albany, NY — [Photo: Gabby Jones/New York Times]

Company to Exit Bankruptcy Soon

The judge hearing the matter of the bankruptcy filing of Guitar Center, Inc., parent company of custom integration company Audio Visual Design Group (AVDG), has accepted the organization’s plan to reorganize operations in order to emerge from bankruptcy. With this move by the court, the stage has been set for Guitar Center to exit from bankruptcy proceedings soon, perhaps any day now.

See what the court’s action means for Guitar Center & AVDG…

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Annual CEDIA State of the Association Report Includes Some Drama

December 23, 2020 by Ted 4 Comments

CEDIA State of the Association opening slide

Nearly 600 Members Leave the Association in 2020

CEDIA held their annual State of the Association report for members today and, as usual, it was a well produced, glitzy affair more bent on selling the organization to all who choose to watch and listen. The Master of Ceremonies was Giles Sutton – no surprise for anyone aware of some of the inside actions taking place at the highly political organization. Sutton is the interim co-CEO of the trade group. But is it a trade group? Or is it something else altogether?

Learn more about what CEDIA said in their Annual Report to members…

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AKM Fire Update: Sony Admits It Faces ‘Severe Shortage’ of Key Imaging Models

December 22, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Most manufacturers in Tech have been reluctant to discuss the impact on the supply chain – and on the availability of their key models – as a result of the recent Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) factory fire in Japan. However, Sony – especially Sony Europe – has admitted to customers that it’s camera and video division, is “facing a severe shortage of key parts” for its compact cameras and video cameras. Although Sony did not specifically correlate their problem to the AKM situation, a large number of camera and photography media are saying that this is most likely the cause of the shortage to which Sony is referring.

See what Sony & other brands say about the AKM fire fallout…

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SnapAV & Integra Announce a New Exclusive Distribution Deal

December 9, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, SnapAV announced that it has inked an agreement with Onkyo Corporation to become the exclusive distributor of the company’s Integra brand for the countries of Australia and New Zealand. SnapAV says this new appointment will take effect on February 1, 2021.

Learn more about this new distribution deal…

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Management

Judge Sends Samsung CEO Back to Prison for 2½ Years