For the 2018 Install Awards, we are announcing two Outstanding Achievement Awards – one for a company, one for an individual. They become the latest inductees into the Installation Hall of Fame, joining these previous honourees: Robert Simpson, Greg Jeffreys, Reinhold Stumpfl, David Willrich, Dr Joseph Kramer and Gordon Dutch; and companies Barco, Harman, Biamp and Audinate.
Hall of Fame Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Individual
Jon Sidwick, Maverick AV
When Jon Sidwick joined the newly founded Maverick in the late 1990s, the company employed just six people. Today it has market presence in 18 countries, 30,000 customers, and a turnover of $1 billion. He told Installation in January last year: “One of the reasons I’m still at Maverick is that it feels like I’ve had a new job every three or four years – and that’s a function of how we’ve been growing.” Initially working to establish Maverick as a business in the UK, he then masterminded the company’s expansion into Europe on a country-by-country basis. More recently he has had his eyes on North America, leveraging the AV team within parent company TechData, and also on Asia-Pacific.
He’s a passionate advocate for the AV industry, and an astute observer of technology and market trends. He also believes in playing his part to ensure that the wider industry continues to flourish – he was elected to the InfoComm (now AVIXA) board of directors in 2016.
“I am surprised and honoured to receive this award,” Sidwick told us. “AV is in my DNA, I love the business we are in, the fast pace of evolution and the impact great AV has in almost every aspect of life. Receiving this award is recognition of many years’ involvement in the best industry around, but more importantly a reflection of the great team we have whose hard work, innovation and ‘Maverick’ spirit has got us to where we are now – and continues to drive the business even farther in the coming years.”
Hall of Fame Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Company
QSC
QSC is celebrating 50 years in the market this year – but arguably it has changed more in the past dozen years than in all the decades before that. Some of its developments have been bold responses to changes in the market, while others have helped drive the industry forward.
Around a decade ago, QSC was best known for its amplifiers, speakers and DSP products. But then it launched Q-SYS. Initially an audio router and processor, this has developed over time into a fully featured audio, video and control platform – and has become a popular choice worldwide in large-scale installation projects.
Industry observers have predicted that as computer processing power continually increases, the need for dedicated hardware devices will reduce – and perhaps disappear completely. QSC seized the initiative, and at ISE last year showed how Q-SYS could run on off-the-shelf Dell servers.
The company has also recognised the customer preference for buying systems that work together, rather than individual components. So, now reinvented as QSC Systems, it offers a number of non-audio products, including conference cameras and USB bridges.
It’s QSC’s vision, innovations and willingness to adapt that we’re saluting with an Outstanding Achievement Award.
“Looking back on 50 years corporate history this year, it is a great honour for us to be awarded for outstanding industry achievements – which would not have been possible without an extraordinary QSC team around the globe,” said Duncan Savage, managing director QSC UK and Ireland (pictured). “QSC has offered innovative solutions, including the Q-SYS platform, which is the only software-based platform to offer audio, video and control in one solutions. We have also created a shift in the AV/IT paradigm by offering the first solution to put AV&C processing in the data centre with the Q-SYS real-time operating systems running on standard off-the-shelf hardware.”
Project Excellence Awards finalists
Technology Excellence Awards finalists
Thanks to our 2018 sponsor, Integrated Systems Europe.
For tickets and table bookings, please contact Becky Hancock on [email protected] / +44 (0)20 3871 7378 or visit: www.nbmevents.uk/installawards/booktables
To find out more about sponsoring this event, contact Gurpreet Purewal on [email protected] / +44(0)20 7354 6029.
For more information about the Install Awards, go to www.installawards.com
