South Korea is buzzing at the news that prosecutors have demanded no less than a 12-year prison term for Samsung’s billionaire heir, Jay Y. Lee. Lee is accused of attempting to solidify his total control of the massive company through a sketchy scheme that included bribing the South Korean President, Park Geun-hye.
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Jeannette Howe Joins Transformative Engineering as VP of Sales
BREAKING NEWS
Specialty design and engineering firm Transformative Engineering has appointed Jeannette Howe to the newly created role of Vice President of Sales. The company notes that Howe’s background, including stints at “National Buying Groups, Trade Associations, and major retailers,” uniquely qualifies her for this role, which is an expansion of their existing sales team.
See more on this new appointment at Transformative Engineering… [Read more…] about Jeannette Howe Joins Transformative Engineering as VP of Sales
Ted Green Talks Amazon, Microsoft Thermostats, & URC on ResiWeek
Strata-gee’s founder and editor Ted Green was a guest panelist on this week’s episode of AVNation’s ResiWeek podcast. ResiWeek is specifically targeted at the residential audio visual integration industry and weekly convenes a panel to discuss the top stories of the day, which in this episode, included a post from Strata-gee on Amazon hiring their own Geek Squad.
See what other topics were discussed and who else was on this episode of ResiWeek… [Read more…] about Ted Green Talks Amazon, Microsoft Thermostats, & URC on ResiWeek
Layoffs Hit Linear Subsidiary GTO Access Systems
One Out of Every Three Employees to Lose Job
GTO Access Systems LLC, a division of Linear LLC, itself part of Nortek, Inc. is planning to lay off fully 33% of its workforce, according to a report in the Tallahassee Democrat. The company says all layoffs should be completed by September 20th. This is the first significant layoff of any company associated with Nortek’s Security & Control Solutions segment of which we are aware.
Learn more about this significant layoff at GTO… [Read more…] about Layoffs Hit Linear Subsidiary GTO Access Systems
Creator of ‘Affordable Audiophile’ Gear, Marty Borish Dies
We learned late last week of the passing of yet another audio industry pioneer, Martin L. (Marty) Borish. Borish passed away July 11 from cancer. Although lesser known than some, Borish was instrumental in driving industry adoption and growth of the affordable audiophile products segment, both directly with NAD – the electronics company he founded – and indirectly with many other companies that competed with them.
See more on the remarkable story of Marty Borish… [Read more…] about Creator of ‘Affordable Audiophile’ Gear, Marty Borish Dies
Are Amazon Geeks Geekier than Best Buy’s?
Amazon Tests In-Home Installations
Recode is reporting that Amazon is testing an installation service for smart home products in several key test markets – in direct competition with Best Buy’s Geek Squad. While these two giants battle over the rights to install smart home solutions into the home, where does this leave the independent integrator?
See more of what we learned from Recode… [Read more…] about Are Amazon Geeks Geekier than Best Buy’s?
Bowers & Wilkins Notifies Dealers of Henderson’s Departure
STORY UPDATE
Shortly after we published our BREAKING NEWS report on the Bowers & Wilkins dismissal of President Doug Henderson, we obtained a copy of an email that was apparently sent by the company to all B&W dealers explaining the situation. We’d like to be able to say this note answered all questions surrounding the upheaval their actions caused, but it raised as many questions as it answered.
See the email Bowers & Wilkins sent to their dealers on Henderson’s departure… [Read more…] about Bowers & Wilkins Notifies Dealers of Henderson’s Departure
Bowers & Wilkins Dismisses President Doug Henderson
BREAKING NEWS
We have learned that Doug Henderson, President of B&W Group North America, was dismissed from the company earlier this week. There has been no official announcement from the company and B&W executives and employees have been unusually tight-lipped about the matter.
See what we’ve uncovered so far on this move by Bowers & Wilkins… [Read more…] about Bowers & Wilkins Dismisses President Doug Henderson
VANA, Ltd. Appoints Nancy Weiner as Managing Director
High-end specialty audio distributor VANA, Ltd. has appointed Nancy Weiner as its new Managing Director, replacing Stephen DeFuria, who passed away in April. Weiner had been VANA’s Marketing and Operations Manager and knows the company and its stable of unique high-end products very well.
See more on this new appointment by VANA. Ltd…. [Read more…] about VANA, Ltd. Appoints Nancy Weiner as Managing Director
Strata-gee Talks to New AVAD President Fred Farrar
AVAD, one of the custom integration industry’s leading distributors, is in the process of going through a major transformation, out from under the – some would say – clueless shadows of its previous owner, monster I.T. distributor Ingram Micro…to a more focused posture under new owner Kingswood Capital Management. Now being managed by CEO Tom Jacoby and President Fred Farrar, the company has begun a series of initiatives to transform their geographic footprint, business model, and push to higher revenues.
