Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., the executive director and CEO of InfoComm International since 2000, has announced his planned retirement at the end of 2012, capping off 16 years of service to the commercial audiovisual association.
Randal Lemke.
“It has been an honor to serve the needs of such an exciting and innovative industry these past years,” Lemke stated, “and it’s with mixed feelings that I leave the wonderful team of professionals and close friends I have made here at InfoComm.”
Dr. Lemke holds board positions, and has been the chairman of, Integrated Systems Events, LLC, a joint venture European trade show company, and InfoComm Asia PTE, Ltd., a joint venture company in Singapore operating InfoComm’s Asian tradeshows. He is the founding and current chairman of the STEP Foundation, a jointly supported foundation composed with other industry associations to bring sustainability to the process of planning, designing, integrating and operating technology systems and reduce long-term environmental impact from technology deployment. He has also served as chief executive of ICIF, InfoComm’s charitable foundation.
The InfoComm International board of directors has announced that an extensive search for Dr. Lemke’s successor will be undertaken, with the selection anticipated by the fourth quarter of this year.
On behalf of the board of directors, the chairman of the Leadership Development Committee and past president of the board, Jim Ford, said, “We are proud of Randy’s extraordinary service to InfoComm International. During an economy when many associations are struggling to survive, InfoComm International has enjoyed tremendous growth under Randy’s leadership, quadrupling revenue and expanding our tradeshow presence to 10 shows worldwide. His leadership has taken us from being primarily a dealer trade association, to a global industry association for the entire AV value chain. His dedication to the industry has inspired all of us.”
Looking towards the future, current board president Greg Jeffreys said: “Randy is leaving the Association healthy and well-positioned for continued success. Although we are sorry to see him go, we’re pleased he will continue to lead the organization throughout 2012, and we anticipate that even more innovations and exciting opportunities will come to fruition with his successor.”
The search committee for the new executive director will be headed by Tony Warner, board president-elect.
“Our search will focus on a visionary leader who will maintain the strength and culture of the Association, while furthering our international presence and continuing to raise the profile of our industry,” Warner said. “We will retain an executive search firm by the end of the first quarter of 2012 to conduct an extensive search, and we are confident we will be able to identify the best candidates to meet these requirements. At a later time an announcement will be made calling for any potential candidates to submit their materials to the search firm.”
Dr. Lemke joined InfoComm International in 1996 as vice president of education, at which time he supervised the development and delivery of the association’s seminars, workshops, advanced schools, international education and certification programs. In 1997, he pioneered InfoComm Academy Online, an Internet-based training system for the AV industry, which currently has 3,000 students enrolled daily. This innovation has become deeply embedded in the AV industry, and forms the core of many companies’ training programs.
InfoComm noted that at this time, it is premature for candidates to submit applications for the executive director/CEO position. Candidate requirements will be announced in the second quarter of 2012.
