It was another week in Pro AV. Several companies made strategic personnel moves, while other companies celebrated anniversaries, made new distribution partnerships, and readied themselves for the NASCAR circuit.
Here's what you missed.
People News
John Smart, KC Najarian Have New Positions at ASG
Advanced Systems Group recently named broadcast engineer and veteran event operations manager John Smart as account executive, Northern California region. Smart has been with ASG for eight years and joins the Account Management team. Prior to working with ASG, Smart was a recording engineer and studio manager. He was on staff at the 25th Street Recording studio in Oakland, CA.
In his new position, Smart brings his experience as a broadcast engineer and operations manager to find solutions that best meet client needs and budget.
KC Najarian is the new director of strategic accounts, Southwest. Najarian, with extensive experience providing customer-focused solutions, will concentrate her efforts on the broadcast and video production markets.
Having worked for manufacturers such as Quantum, Grass Valley, and Avid, along with her previous experience at systems integration firms, Najarian brings the breadth of experience that customers value when working with ASG.
“I’m excited about working in broadcast and video production again,” Najarian explained. “My new role with ASG gives me the opportunity to get back to what I love and be free to offer customers the technology that works best for them without being tied to a specific vendor.”
BeckTV Welcomes Kate Gazdic as Senior Procurement Specialist
Kate Gazdic has joined BeckTV as a senior procurement specialist. She oversees the procurement aspects of BeckTV’s diverse portfolio, which primarily involves projects related to sports and live events.
Gazdic’s experience includes roles at Broadfield Distributing and multiple systems integrators, where she served as inside sales and procurement manager on large projects such as the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies, MLB, and the Carolina Panthers. As a purchasing agent at Gepco International, she managed stadium, studio, and mobile truck projects from pricing to delivery for clients such as Texas A&M and Baylor University.
Celestion Appoints Matt Daigler as Business Development Executive for North America
Celestion has appointed Matt Daigler as business development executive. In his new role, Matt Daigler works together with Celestion’s valued sales and distribution partners in the U.S. musical instrument category, the PA service market, and retailers who cater to DIY hobbyists. In addition, Daigler is managing existing OEM relationships and pursuing new OEM partners in the pro audio and high-end home theater markets.
Daigler joins Celestion continuing his extensive career in the audio industry that started at Westlake Audio as a mechanical assembler, then production manager, eventually moving to HARMAN owned Audax of America where he worked as a sales engineer. Daigler later worked in custom residential integration for Harrison Systems, Pro Design AV, and Logic Integration. He is an audio enthusiast with personal projects repairing and modifying vintage speakers and hi-fi components.
Christie Appoints Hideaki Takizawa as New CFO
Christie appointed Hideaki Takizawa as the new chief financial officer of Christie and its subsidiaries. Takizawa aligns Christie’s financial strategy with its overall goals and manage internal controls and reporting to support continued growth and innovation.
Takizawa succeeds Michael Phipps, who transitioned to president and chief operating officer in November 2024 while maintaining his CFO role. Christie further strengthens the company’s leadership team by adding Takizawa as CFO. He brings more than 34 years of experience working at Ushio and a wealth of expertise in business management and finance.
Before joining Christie, Takizawa served as general manager of Ushio Group’s Business Management Division, overseeing three departments: Accounting, Finance, and Legal. During his tenure, he was responsible for strengthening Ushio Group’s governance and financial strategies for the company’s 2030 business growth strategy while enhancing capital efficiency.
Vaino Gennaro Joins DirectOut
DirectOut appointed pro audio veteran Vaino Gennaro as the first point of contact for North American customers. With his extensive experience in the pro audio industry and expertise in sales, business development, and customer relations, Gennaro plays a key role in expanding DirectOut’s market presence in the region.
The appointment forms the basis of a strategic growth initiative to provide even better service and advanced audio solutions to DirectOut’s North American customers. His passion for advanced signal processing and network technology perfectly aligns with DirectOut’s philosophy. In this new role, he is instrumental in further establishing DirectOut’s innovative audio solutions across the country.
DirectOut also promoted Lorenzo Sassi to head of global marketing and sales. With the support of Gennaro (North America) and Diego Cardenas (LATAM), the former business development manager now oversees DirectOut's entire global sales network and report directly to senior management. He also continues to be directly responsible for the EMEA and APAC markets.
Fourier Audio Announces New Hires and Management Changes
Fourier Audio is expanding with the addition of two new employees: Ben Evans, who has been appointed to the post of operations manager, and Ross Paterson, who now serves as product specialist. The announcement comes as Fourier Audio co-founder and former CTO Pete Bridgman steps into the role of CEO.
Evans joins the company from the Royal Albert Hall, where he managed the founding team that brought audio “in-house,” leading a large group of engineers in facilitating audio solutions for the 300-plus shows there per year. His main role with Fourier Audio is managing the day-to-day operations of the company, alongside developing relationships with plugin manufacturers across the industry.
Paterson has worked on audio crews with global touring acts as well as a product test engineer at DiGiCo, contributing to the development of the Quantum Range of consoles. In his new position, Ross works closely with the engineering, support, and sales teams to continue the successful development and deployment of Fourier Audio products.
In addition to these two appointments, as well as the news that Bridgman is now CEO, Fourier Audio reports that Elliot Sinclair has been internally promoted to head of sales, while Michael Williamson has been promoted to principal software engineer.
Pixel Power Welcomes Brad Rochon as Senior Business Development Manager for North America
Brad Rochon has recently joined Pixel Power, a Rohde & Schwarz company, in the newly created position of senior business development manager for North America. Rochon is an important addition to Pixel Power’s presence at NAB Show 2025 on the Rohde & Schwarz booth and will be a very familiar face to those working in the industry in North America.
Graduating as a broadcast engineer in 1989, he has since held a variety of commercial positions with companies including Tektronix and Panasonic. He worked at Ross Video for nearly 25 years in a number of roles, latterly looking after the company’s West Coast customer accounts.
Company News: Partnerships, Collabs, and More
AVPro Global Unveils Enhanced Training Initiatives
AVPro Global announced the completion of the first ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) Level III Certification course hosted in AVPro’s new training and audio/video laboratory. During the two-day seminar, attendees mastered advanced video calibration techniques, endorsed by top AV, TV, video projector, and screen manufacturers worldwide, through an intensive hands-on approach, enabling AV integrators to deliver enhanced image clarity, sharpness, detail, color purity, and overall picture quality to their clients.
AVPro Global unveiled its training and audio/video laboratory at its St. Petersburg, FL facility. The new 1,000-square-foot space, part of the company's technical support, training, and executive offices, is easily configured to accommodate various training activities and certifications. Equipped with an array of video projectors, flat panel TVs, projection screens, audio/video equipment, and network equipment racks, the versatile laboratory allows AVPro product trainers to conduct comprehensive seminars on audio/video system design, configuration, installation, and troubleshooting. The facility also hosts AVIXA and CEDIA-accredited courses, including the recent ISF Level III Certification course, further solidifying AVPro's commitment to providing cutting-edge education and training opportunities for audio/video professionals.
HARMAN Becomes NASCAR Technology Partner
HARMAN International has become a NASCAR Technology Partner aimed at delivering premium audio experiences for racing fans through future racetrack audio upgrades. This partnership enables NASCAR to design and implement high-quality integrated audio systems using HARMAN Professional Solutions brands, including JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers, BSS digital signal processing, and more.
Through this technology partnership, HARMAN’s expertise and product offerings will help elevate sound quality for race fans across NASCAR’s racetrack properties as upgrades are required at any one of the 14 NASCAR-owned venues. In addition to the primary exterior racetrack areas, NASCAR venues feature numerous interior spaces where intelligibility and high-quality audio is essential for announcements, broadcast coverage, and music.
Samsung and Logitech Mark Five Years of Videoconferencing Collaboration
Samsung and Logitech celebrate five years of partnership in videoconferencing, combining their solutions to enhance workplace collaboration and productivity. The integration of Samsung high-definition displays with Logitech’s videoconferencing solutions creates immersive, connected experiences ready to meet the needs of today’s employees.
With the rise of flexible work environments, organizations require meeting spaces equipped with advanced video conferencing technology to enable seamless collaboration for distributed teams. Businesses can now leverage Samsung’s high-definition displays with Logitech’s conference cameras, webcams and audio systems to achieve crystal-clear video and sound, helping remote and in-person participants feel like they are in the same room. Samsung Interactive Displays also enable teams to connect, share ideas and whiteboard on a single screen. These meeting solutions make every participant feel equally engaged regardless of location.
Samsung and Logitech also share a mutual commitment to building environmental sustainability into every product. Both companies have created solutions that automatically go into standby mode or turn off when not in use to help reduce energy consumption. Device management systems like Samsung SmartThings Pro offer remote control and monitoring of the performance and environmental impact of connected office technologies. Logitech’s ambitious climate strategy includes Design for Sustainability principles that have resulted in three out of four products using next-life, recycled plastics, 66% of products carbon labeled and 94% of the company’s electricity footprint coming from direct and indirect renewable electricity purchases.
TEG Appointed Distributor for Roly
Transformation Entertainment Group (TEG) is now Taiwan-based Roly Technology, which specializes in the development, production, and sales of projection display devices, exclusive distributor for the North America market.
Roly projectors feature 4K, Laser 3LCD, and optimum color performance. With 3LCD technology, color brightness is equal to white brightness, ensuring consistent and accurate image quality. This technology eliminates the rainbow effect often seen in other projection systems and enhances color accuracy, resulting in more realistic and true-to-life colors.
Utelogy Welcomes Epiphan into the Utelligence Program
Utelogy welcomed Epiphan to a technology partnership into its Utelligence Program. This partnership enhances AV automation and monitoring capabilities, providing organizations with a powerful, centralized solution for managing professional streaming and recording devices.
The Epiphan Pearl Series is known for its live streaming, recording, and video switching technology. By integrating with Utelogy’s AV/UC cloud management platform, users can now experience seamless remote control, monitoring, and automation of Pearl devices—driving efficiency, reducing downtime, and optimizing AV operations.
With this integration, organizations using the Epiphan Pearl Series can now:
- Remotely manage devices: Monitor firmware, device health, and storage status in real time
- Automate recording and streaming: Start, stop, and schedule recording and streaming events
- Enhance security and reliability: Proactive monitoring to ensure optimal performance and system health
- Reduce operational complexity: Centralized control eliminating manual workflows and streamlining AV operations
