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Tag: MagicQ

Phil Watson Named ChamSys USA Director

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Phil WatsonSUNRISE, FL – Phil Watson has always had a passion for the ChamSys MagicQ and the power, flexibility and mobility it’s brought him as a lighting designer. This zeal ultimately led him to join the company and nurture its growth in the US market. Now, following the acquisition of Southampton, UK-based ChamSys Ltd. by Chauvet, Watson will be assuming a new role as ChamSys USA Director.

In his new position, Watson will be working closely with the CHAUVET Professional sales and support teams to expand the presence of ChamSys in the US even further. (CHAUVET Professional will be distributing and servicing ChamSys products in the US, while sales in the rest of the world, as well as manufacturing, will continue to be handled by the company’s UK office.)

“We’re very excited to have Phil on our team,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “The depth of knowledge he brings to the job is obvious, as are his enthusiasm and dedication to service.”

Watson, who is still an active lighting designer himself, is excited by the opportunities created by the association with Chauvet. “There are a great many similarities between the way Chauvet and ChamSys view their businesses and the importance of serving the customer,” he said. “Joining with Chauvet gives us the resources to help ChamSys and the MagicQ brand reach new heights in the US market.”

ChamSys has been a consistent market innovator, an accomplishment that fits nicely into the Chauvet culture, according to Watson. “A lot of the technology that is now used throughout the industry started with ChamSys,” he said. “We were the first to have pixel mapping and now offer the only console to have 3D pixel mapping built right into the console. We’ve incorporated control via network protocols such as Art-Net from our first consoles, 14 years ago. We were the first to offer integrated control of media servers, with media thumbnails sent back to the console. Now programmers can draw a focus line in our free 3D visualizer and have the lighting instruments adjust their positioning to the line, even when they move and resize the line.  I believe this fits in well with Chauvet’s entrepreneurial spirit, so the future is bright.”

Chauvet Acquires ChamSys

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Chauvet+Chamsys-TransparentSUNRISE, FL, USA – Chauvet & Sons LLC has announced that it completed the acquisition of ChamSys Ltd., the Southampton, UK-based designer and manufacturer of lighting controllers. ChamSys provides Chauvet a strong presence in the controller market that complements its CHAUVET Professional lighting fixtures and LED video panels.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to join forces with ChamSys,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet & Sons LLC. “ChamSys has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, quality and value, the same principles that are at the heart of our own Chauvet brands. Together ChamSys and Chauvet are now in a position to better cover and serve worldwide markets.”

ChamSys will continue to operate as an independent business unit from its facility in Southampton, UK. ChamSys founders Chris Kennedy and George McDuff will remain as Managing Directors of the company and, together with Sales Director Tony Cameron, will continue to lead its current staff of software and hardware engineers, operations, sales and support teams.

The ChamSys industry standard MagicQ series of lighting control products will continue to be sold by the company’s current network of distributors, except in the USA, where Chauvet will sell and support ChamSys products from its Sunrise, Florida headquarters. The CHAUVET Professional sales team will assume responsibility for ChamSys sales in the USA. They will have the full-time support of Phil Watson, former CEO of ChamSys, Inc. who has been named ChamSys USA Director.

“We’re committed to maintaining the ChamSys brand and its reputation for excellence by supporting the vision and culture of its management team,” added Albert Chauvet. “At the same time, we’re also looking forward to building ChamSys in the USA and making this outstanding line of controllers available to an even larger market.”

ChamSys Managing Director Chris Kennedy echoed this enthusiasm. “Chauvet and ChamSys share similar cultures, a strong sense of respect for our customers, an appreciation of our staffs and a powerful drive to be the best in our markets,” he said. “This partnership is clearly a logical step for both companies. We deeply appreciate that Chauvet is committed to building on our 14-year heritage so that ChamSys becomes even stronger in the future.”