WATCH AWARD HIGHLIGHTS:
LIST OF WINNERS
| CATEGORY | BUDGET | RECIPIENT |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate | 1 Cr or less | PLAY |
| Corporate | 1 Cr to 5 Cr | PLAY |
| Corporate | 10 Cr and above | AV Integration Distribution (India) Pvt Ltd |
| Government | 1 Cr to 5 Cr | AV Graphics (P) Ltd |
| Government | 10 Cr and above | Bharat Radio Centre |
| Museum | 10 Cr and above | VizExperts India Pvt Ltd *Highly Commendable Project-I |
| Government | 10 Cr and above | Innovative Systems and Solutions Pvt Ltd *Highly Commendable Project-I |
| Government | 10 Cr and above | T2 Consulting Pvt Ltd and Rhino Engineers Pvt Ltd *Highly Commendable AV Design |
| Lifetime Achievement | Most Distinguished Visionary in Systems Integration in India | Manmohan Gupta |
| Lifetime Achievement | Most Distinguished Professional in AV and Lighting Design in India | Kelvin Ashby King |
Excellence Appreciated, Truly, Audio-Visually
By Ram Bhavanashi
Perseverance pays off, they say. It did, and in what an overwhelming way! The Systems Integration India Awards (SIIA) 2016 event held on 12 September 2016, just reinforced this in no uncertain terms. While it straight away meant opening up of a new chapter in the annals of Indian AV, it also paved the way for some benchmarking. All said, it’s just the beginning, but a grand one.
SIIA 2016 IN BRIEF
- 23 Projects
- 15 Companies
- 5 Categories: competition
- 6 Categories: no competition but judged
- 2 Highly Commendable Projects
- 2 Lifetime Achievement Awards
As the curtains went up by 6 pm at the venue on 12 September, with the emcee walking up the stage, to begin the process of the inaugural Systems Integration India Awards (SIIA) 2016, the excitement that rant the air explained the surcharged atmosphere!
Quite understandable that- given the months of persevering workouts we lived through, and the message we apparently sent across! A first of its kind initiative in Indian, if not Asian AV industry, for its very nature and genre, the SII Awards 2016 event, for one, was more than a revelation.
- It had, arguably, the cream of Indian AVSI industry- top manufacturers; dealer-distributors; partners
- It had the top-notch systems integrators; consultants
- It had the industry’s highest institutional body top-brass, AND
- It had, probably, the most comprehensively structured award processes in the industry till date
- All that on the first go!
While the popular Mumbai-based singer Mihir Joshi provided the initial tonal rhythm to the proceedings with his scintillating musical performance, the ten-minute presentation by Spinworkz’ Publisher and Editorial Director Thomas Prakasam that followed immediately explained it all.
The objective, vision, and mission that it moved along; the categories and awards that were evolved; the judging methodology devised; and the dimensions it projected.
The 40-minute Award presentation journey that followed thereafter not only meant recognizing and rewarding of some of the most ingenious AV projects in India but also the glory of appreciation they won by a Jury of global repute.
“I’m most impressed with both the quality of projects and technical expertise required to deliver these projects,” lauded Michael Rutledge, Executive Director, Rutledge AV, Australia, one of the members of the Jury.
The initiative brought to light “some very cool projects” felt Jay Rogina, Principal, at the USA-headquartered Spinitar.
The Awards
The very first Award of the event/evening, the Best Application of AV in a Corporate environment with budget range of ₹ <1 Cr or less went to PLAY for its ingenious design and integration of Formal and Informal Rooms at a project site of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Swadesh Khetawat, Managing Director of GreenSources Pvt Ltd presented the Award to PLAY.
Interestingly, the Mumbai-based AVSI-Consulting firm scored a double when it won the next level Award too, in the same Corporate category with the budget range of ₹ 1 Cr-5Cr due to its ingeniously done design-build of full AV and Energy Management System at the entire facility of D’décor Exports Pvt Ltd.
Harish A K, Deputy General Manager of Epson India (Visual Products) presented the Award to PLAY.
The Award for Premium segment AV application in this Corporate category, with the budget range of ₹ 10 Cr and above, was won by the Bengaluru-based Audio-Visual Integration Distribution (AVID).
Kramer Electronics Ltd’s Vice-President-Marketing Aviv Ron, who has flown straight from their Israeli HQ, specially for the SII Awards, did the honours for the winner.
The next Award – Best application of AV in a Government environment with a budget range of ₹ 1 Cr- 5 Cr – was won by A V Graphics Pvt Ltd, for the ingeniously done full turnkey production and installation of a Sound & Light Show at the Jharkhand War Memorial in Ranchi, for the 23 Infantry Division of Indian Army.
Prashant Govindan, Sales Director at HARMAN for India & Sri Lanka Operations, gave away the award.
The next level Award in this category, with a Premium budget range of ₹ 10 Cr and above, was won by Bharat Radio Centre for its design-build of high-end conferencing system at the Main Mandap of UP Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly). The system comprised embedded microphones and voting capabilities, simultaneous interpretation, camera pickup, live audio and video streaming and sound reinforcement.
beyerdynamic Managing Director Wolfgang Lukhardt did the honours for this prestigious Award.
Highly Commendable Project Awards
That some of the projects submitted were very unique and had a very close contest, the Jury Panel commended them highly for their sheer nature, and expertise woven into the space. The event thus had two Highly Commendable Projects:
One- Gurgaon-based VizExperts for supply, install, integration, testing and commissioning of multi-channel AV and IT hardware including fully integrated high resolution immersive show with animated multimedia, images and video content for the Digital Panorama the Science Exploration Hall for Kolkata Science City.
Two- Mumbai-headquartered Innovative Systems and Solutions for implementing different technologies like Holographic imaging, multi-projector edge blending, 3D mapping, interactive touch walls, projection masking, 360 degree projection and more, for Dandi Kutir Phase-2 in Gandhinager.
Rajesh Patkar, Deputy GM of Christi India presented the awards.
That the Dandi Kutir install had two consultants contributing their might, SIIA decided to honour them as well for the sheer expertise woven. Kelvin Ashby-King of T2 Consulting and Naidu Narendra of Rhino Engineers received the Awards simultaneously.
Marking New Dimension: Lifetime Achievement Award
The SII Awards 2016 reached its Finale with what had most in the gathering haven’t even thought about! With a resolve to benchmark as also value-add in its own distinctive style running strong, SIIA Organizers marked a new dimension to its ‘Celebration of AV Excellence’ event with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here we recognise Naveen Sridhar, Director Sales & Marketing -SAARC, beyerdynamic India Private Limited, who had mooted the idea of the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was his suggestion that helped us develop the Lifetime Award.
Here again we recognise the invaluable contribution by Prashant Govindan, Sr. Director – India & Sri Lanka Operations, Harman Professional, who provided the organisers with the appropriate recognition words to distinguish between the two Lifetime Achievement Award winners.
Interestingly, the voting members, who are the Partners of this award event initiative voted two highly acclaimed individuals with equal votes. The SIIA, therefore, decided to honour both of them, in all the fairness of the objective. The Lifetime Achievement Award thus was presented to:
Manmohan Gupta, Founder of Actis Technologies, and Kelvin Ashby-King, Managing Director, T2 Consulting
This prestigious Award presentation had none other than InfoComm International Executive Director and CEO David Labuskes doing the honours.
SIIA Partners Felicitated
All said and done, SIIA 2016, couldn’t have been there without the exceedingly fulfilling support of its Partners.
“We have been feeling for something like this for quite some time; we were glad when SIA came up with it,’ says Rajesh Patkar, Deputy General Manager, Christie Digital Systems.
“There can be multiple benefits from the initiative. It will encourage SIs doing good job as ‘a practice’ and not just as a mere job; consultants create better designs more and more, to stand a chance for the honour.”
Chips in Bharath Kumar, Country Manager, Kramer Electronics India: “This is a recognition not just for SIs but also to ourselves – the manufacturers; and consultants, besides distribution partners. The appreciation for a good work done in integration will act like a nice encouragement for all those involved in the work; it will help enhance our offerings in terms of products and solutions.”
siindiaawards.com
THE JUDGES
A special BIG thank you to our Judges…who had to set aside time amidst their busy schedule to judge the entries.
The Jury was provided with only the project information and pictures that were submitted. They were not aware of the SI companies involved in the projects and scored the projects on an individual basis, based on the category and budget range; and not in relation to a group of companies competing for the different categories.
In fact, the judges were not even aware who were the other members on the Jury Panel. We pride in doing this in this fashion- to ensure complete transparency and neutrality.
The judges hailed from Australia, USA and the United Kingdom and we thank them for taking some time off their busy schedule to help us in this Awards initiative.
THE JURY PANEL
The Judges on the Panel are: Jay Rogina, Principal, Spinitar-USA; Mark Hazell, Sales Director, ProAV-USA; Steve Jarvis, Commercial Director, Cordless Consultants Ltd-UK; and Michael Rutledge, Executive Director, Rutledge AV-Australia.
Jay Rogina
Jay Rogina, Principal, Spinitar
Jay has more than 30 years of managerial and technical experience in the support of customers at various top electronic firms. It is this experience which has allowed Jay to make Spinitar one of the preeminent system integrators and service providers in the audio-visual industry.
As a Principal of Spinitar since 1999, Jay focuses on providing Spinitar’s overall strategic direction and visionary leadership while fostering Spinitar’s strong customer, manufacturer and industry partner relationships. In addition, Jay oversees all of Spinitar’s Operations functions as well as the Systems Integration division of the company.
Jay’s visionary leadership was instrumental in transitioning Spinitar from a traditional AV equipment provider to a full-service audio-visual systems integration and communication technologies company.
Jay also served as the President of InfoComm International’s Board, and an Officer for four years, with an additional 6 years as a Board Member, making him well respected in the AV industry.
Spinitar, founded in 1986, is a leading systems design and integration firm dedicated to providing its clients with custom audio, visual and communication solutions and services. From pretty humble beginnings of selling very simple communication technology, Spinitar has grown up to become a highly regarded audio, visual, and communication technology integration firm. Spinitar sells, installs, and services a wide variety of communication technology for business, government, and education users. Today, 30 years later, ‘Spinitar’ has grown to a team of 100+ individuals.
Michael Rutledge
Michael Rutledge, Executive Director, Rutledge AV
Michael Rutledge’s working life has been just about audio visual technology. It is his passion. He has spent the last 37 years building Rutledge AV into Australia’s leading audio visual integration business. Michael started what was originally known as Rutledge Engineering in 1979 at a time when the Audio Visual Industry was in its infancy. Michael built the business from humble beginnings to an industry powerhouse taking on some of the largest and most prestigious audio visual technology projects in the country. His hands on approach and understanding of the technology and constant thirst for knowledge, coupled with business acumen and an entrepreneurial spirit has proven to be a winning combination.
Rutledge AV is a leading Systems Integration company that lives and breathes the concept of Engineering Excellence. The company is Australian owned and was established in 1979 and currently has 280 employees nationally, with an annual revenue of 100 million Australian dollars. Rutledge AV has seven offices across Australia. Some of the prestigious projects that the company has been involved in are the Melbourne Convention Centre Performance Venue, ABC Television, Perth Arena and Australian War Memorial. Some of its clients include IBM, Flinders University, Telstra, Qantas, ANZ and Lend Lease. The company has also won numerous awards for its AV engineering expertise.
Steve Jarvis
Steve Jarvis, Commercial Director, Cordless Consultants Ltd
Steve holds over 30 years of commercial experience in the workplace technology industry. Steve’s career started in Ericsson and he has since held a number of senior sales positions within Damovo, PTS Consulting, CS Technology and Glasshouse Technologies.
Today Steve is Commercial Director for IT and AV Consultancy Cordless Consultants; as well as for workplace strategy Consultancy Unwork. Steve leads the commercial presence and growth of both businesses in the delivery of holistic IT, AV and workplace consultancy, from strategy to delivery and on-going support.
Steve is acknowledged as a champion of workplace technology best practice and known for his extensive market knowledge of ICT Services, System Integration and Consultancy – in both the public and private sectors.
Founded in 1994, Cordless Consultants Ltd is an independent consultancy advising on the strategy, design, implementation and change management of workplace technologies. The team specialises in the field of emerging technology, as well as workplace IT and AV design and implementation related to building fit-out. Headquartered in London, Cordless has a twenty year heritage of providing advice, knowledge and inspiration to organisations, maximising technology ROI in the process of change. Its differentiator is its understanding of the technology impact on the built environment and the use of space by people – translating vision to reality through inspiring technology design.
Cordless has consulted for property companies, banking and finance companies, biomedical and health, insurance and technology companies.
Mark Hazell
Mark Hazell, Sales Director, proAV
Mark’s key responsibilities are management of all sales activity within proAV; growth of business development; management of key company relationships; involvement in key projects; development and implementation of strategy and innovation within the business and implementation of proAV’s Global projects and services structure as well as overseeing the delivery of proAV’s international projects. Mark has been with proAV since 2003.
proAV is a world leading audio visual and broadcast systems company, providing full end-to-end services to clients all around the world. With over 40 years unparalleled experience in this fast paced industry the company specialises in designing and building comprehensive solutions for all phases of AV integration.
Their award-winning audio visual solutions feature in over 70 countries and are designed to connect and unify organisations, their people, partners and staff, no matter where in the world they are.
proAV is privately owned with 300 employees and in FY2015-2016 its turnover stood at 60 million British pounds. Some of its clients are renowned names in the corporate field such as UBS, AON, Deutsche Bank, NOMURA, J.P.Morgan, AVVIV, KPMG, Citi and Google to name a few. proAV’s main office is based in the United Kingdom.
