n a move that immediately strengthens its domestic sales and support operations, JBL Professional today announced the appointment of Richard Ruse as Western Regional Sales Director. Ruse, a pro audio veteran with extensive industry experience in recording, MI, fixed install and tour sound, joins JBL Professional effective immediately and reports to Stephen Morris, JBL Professional Executive Vice President of Sales. According to Morris, Ruse brings strong business acumen coupled with a proven record of success working with both manufacturers’ representatives and customers.

“Richard Ruse brings unique empathy to his new role at JBL Professional. He has known success as a pro audio manufacturers’ representative, a sales and marketing executive and as a musician, and I am confident he will immediately add to the culture and the sales success of JBL Professional and our partners in the field,” Morris said today. “As JBL Professional embarks on an ambitious and progressive product marketing program with imminent new additions to our portable line, our studio family and our contracting and tour sound product families, Richard will be an invaluable resource to our retail partners, our reps and our customers in the Western Region. I am very pleased to welcome Richard to the team and I look forward to working with him to grow our business.”

Richard Ruse joins JBL Professional from Compass Business Solutions, a sales and marketing consultancy he founded and led. There, as President/Owner, he supported an array of pro audio video and technology clients. Prior to Compass, Ruse was Director of Worldwide Sales & Marketing for KRK studio monitors and before that Director of Sales, Independent Accounts at Line 6. Ruse was also Worldwide Sales & Marketing at SWR Engineering and Eastern/Western’s Regional Sales Manager at Alesis Studio Electronics. Richard Ruse is a graduate of the School of Contemporary Music.

Commenting on his new position, Ruse said today, “Leading western regional sales for JBL Professional is a responsibility I embrace and I look forward to meeting the challenge with what I can see is one of the best sales and marketing teams in the business and, certainly, the most comprehensive and compelling product line in the market today. JBL Professional is a market leader comprised of many bright and committed business, operations and engineering professionals and I’m honored and excited to join the team.”

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Harman Professional today announced the promotion of Scott Robbins from Senior Vice President of Sales, Crown Audio to group-wide Vice President of Sales with the specific mandate to work with brand-level sales executives to strengthen existing sales operations and to grow Harman Professional’s sales presence in emerging markets. Today’s announcement was made by Michael MacDonald, Harman Professional Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales, to whom Robbins reports.

“Scott Robbins is a tremendous asset to Harman Professional and a resource to our distribution partners and customers alike,” MacDonald said today. “In his new position, his experience, energy and intelligence will benefit all of our brands and not just Crown Audio whom he has served so well and grown so effectively. I look forward to working with Scott to grow the Harman business in emerging international markets and, in doing so, to raise the threshold of expectation for performance, integration, quality and value in those markets where we have yet to gain a significant foothold.”

Commenting on his appointment, Robbins said today, “Harman Professional has operated very successfully as a constellation of independent, category-leading brands but we have systematically capitalized on the group concept by sharing manufacturing resources, R&D, marketing, accounting and market intelligence. Now, as we take a more systems-approach to sales operations, I am very pleased and honored to lead this initiative. Working with Michael MacDonald, the new regional sales offices and the sales teams at our brands, my goal is to make it easier for our distribution partners and customers around the world to do business with Harman Professional.”

Scott Robbins holds a bachelors degree in Organizational Management and joined Crown Audio’s service department in 1987. He was progressively promoted to more senior sales positions within the company. During this time, he helped grow the sales in all geographic and vertical markets and was responsible for organizing and managing sales partners across the globe.

“Scott’s career success at Crown Audio and now at Harman Professional is testament to his personality, drive and acumen,” noted Mark Graham, President, Crown Audio. “But equally it’s an affirmation of Crown Audio’s culture of promoting talented and hard working members of our team. We congratulate Scott on his new position at Harman Professional and look forward to working with him in this new capacity at the group level.”

An early initiative that Robbins will spearhead will be the successful start-up of Harman Professional’s new sales offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Elixir® Strings featured on new Aloha Koa Parlor Guitars

Kailua-Kona, HI, October 2, 2008 – Goodall Guitars, a premier manufacturer of hand-crafted acoustic guitars, is featuring Elixir® Strings, pioneer of long-life strings, on its re-introduced Aloha Koa parlor guitars. The updated model now features a fretboard and bridge built out of Bariensis rosewood, an extremely hard and dense Pacific Rim wood that is red brown in color. more