Soundcraft Studer’s marketing director – mixing has enhanced his involvement with Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). Keith Watson joined ISE’s Advisory Committee in 2009 and attended his first meeting of the board of directors during InfoComm last month. Watson replaces Tim Penn of AMX, whose three-year term on the board recently expired, although he will retain involvement with ISE by remaining on its advisory committee.
Qualified in mechanical engineering, Watson worked in the aerospace and automotive sectors before undertaking Cranfield and Harvard business and marketing modules. He joined Harman in 2003 and is now responsible for all Soundcraft Studer product management and brand promotion, alongside multi-brand programmes with Harman sister companies AKG, JBL, Crown, Lexicon, dbx and BSS.
The appointment is said to reflect the increasing importance of pro-audio to ISE and the AV business per se. “When ISE first started, professional audio played a relatively small role not just in our events but in the AV industry generally,” said Integrated Systems Events MD Mike Blackman. “Since then we have seen audio start to assume much more significance in the planning and implementation of AV projects across all sectors, and the number of pro-audio exhibitors at ISE has increased substantially year on year.
“We felt it was important to reflect this trend by appointing someone with a strong pro-audio background to our board when Tim’s three-year term came to an end, and Keith’s position and experience made him the perfect candidate.”
Watson remarked: “Like many other audio manufacturers, we at Harman have seen the growing influence of professional AV and systems integration on our business in recent years, and ISE has become increasingly important to us. I’ve enjoyed serving on the ISE Advisory Committee since 2009, and feel privileged now to be joining the board of directors as well. The next three years promise to be very exciting indeed.”
The next edition of ISE will take place at the Amsterdam RAI from 1-3 February 2011.
