Origin Acoustics announced this week that it has promoted current Sales VP Marc Fisher to the unusual title of President of Sales. The company also the appointment of John Marchionda as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
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Luxman Appoints John Pravel VP of Sales
Luxman America has appointed well known industry executive John Pravel as its Vice President of Sales. Previous to this appointment, Pravel was one of Luxman’s sales representatives in upstate New York.
See more on Pravel’s appointment at Luxman
[Read more…] about Luxman Appoints John Pravel VP of SalesSony Announces Promotions in the AV Specialty & Custom Integration Sales Group
Sony announced that is has promoted two of the members of its team to new roles in the wake of the recent retirement of Gary Frankel, Western Regional Sales Manager. Both new appointments are in their “award-winning” AV Specialty and Custom Integration sales group and were made effective as of September 1, 2019.
See who was promoted at Sony…
[Read more…] about Sony Announces Promotions in the AV Specialty & Custom Integration Sales GroupRocky Mountain Rep Firm Momentum Group Acquires Resi Biz of Texas-Based Dobbs Stanford
BREAKING NEWS
Consolidation continues in the custom integration world – in this case, Denver-based manufacturer representative firm Momentum Group has acquired the residential division of Texas’ own renowned Dobbs Stanford rep firm based in Dallas. Consolidation has NOT been a big story on the sales representative side…up until now.
See more on Momentum Group’s acquisition Dobbs Stanford…
[Read more…] about Rocky Mountain Rep Firm Momentum Group Acquires Resi Biz of Texas-Based Dobbs StanfordEXCLUSIVE: A Rare Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Sonance Rebranding Decision
Insiders & Participants Share Their Perspective
“You are WAY too excited about this news,” Jason Sloan, Sonance Chief Sales Officer joked when first telling me about their rebranding plans a few weeks ago. But I was excited – these plans put forth a major shift in the position of the Dana Innovations, Sonance, iPort, & Trufig brands. To Sloan and CEO Ari Supran, this was more of a refocus than a rebranding – a return to their largest and most beloved brand after a long and at times frustrating period of trying to establish another overarching entity.
But to me, it was much more than that.
The inside story on the Sonance rebranding…
[Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: A Rare Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Sonance Rebranding DecisionNew, Larger SnapAV: The One-Stop Shop of Smart Home
Strata-gee Interviews SnapAV’s John Heyman & Charlie Kindel
The industry is still adjusting to the new normal of SnapAV combining with Control4…even as it continues to gobble up more local distributors and talk about their e-commerce prowess. It can get a little confusing. Is SnapAV a manufacturer? An e-commerce play? A local distributor? Or are they attempting to be all of the above?
I spoke with SnapAV’s John Heyman and Charlie Kindel to try and help our readers sort this all out. It’s certainly a new world out there…but just what planet are we on?
See what I learned from these top SnapAV execs…
[Read more…] about New, Larger SnapAV: The One-Stop Shop of Smart HomeSex and the CES Attendee
Only six months to go and word has emerged that the Consumer Technology Association – the trade group behind the annual Consumer Electronics show – has proactively taken steps to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused them to endure a plethora of embarrassing headlines last year. The controversy, a self-inflicted wound, surrounded the Association’s awarding – then rescinding – of a CES 2019 Innovation Award…and retroactive cancellation of booth space for that company. The news dominated the early headlines during the January 2019 event…mostly because the matter involved sex.
See how CTA got in trouble & hopes to avoid it this year…
[Read more…] about Sex and the CES AttendeeEx-Nortek Exec Speaks With Strata-gee, See What’s On His Mind
The last ninety days or so have been somewhat turbulent at Nortek Security and Control (NSC), with two top executives departing under foggy circumstances. First, in May we learned that President Mike O’Neal had left the company. Then, last week, news emerged that Joe Roberts, Executive VP of Products and Marketing had also departed.
I reached out to Joe Roberts to try to find out what was up with all of these changes at NSC.
See what Roberts had to say about Nortek…
[Read more…] about Ex-Nortek Exec Speaks With Strata-gee, See What’s On His MindAudioControl CEO on Fox Biz Network Says Tariffs are Trouble
Alex Camara, CEO of Seattle-based specialty electronics manufacturer AudioControl, was featured Friday on a segment on the Fox Business Network (FBN) talking the real impact of tariffs on American manufacturers. In the wake of the move by the Trump administration pushing a dramatically increased 25% tariff on a wide range of Chinese goods, Camara explained to FBN anchor Liz Claman the true impact these tariffs have on his business…and ultimately the American consumer.
See Camara explain how tariffs are trouble…
[Read more…] about AudioControl CEO on Fox Biz Network Says Tariffs are TroubleMulti-Decade Member & Respected ‘CEDIA Fellow,’ Renounces His Membership
Says Organization is On the Wrong Path; Announces the Launch of a New Venture
Fred Ampel, a long time, multi-decade member of CEDIA, a regular trainer at multiple CEDIA Expos, and a “CEDIA Fellow” has renounced his membership in the organization. In a Skype interview with Strata-gee, he shared his view that the organization has changed in ways that are counter to his view of the type of education that they should be providing to the membership. As a result, he feels forced to develop a new alternative program outside of the trade association.