Bill Zidek president at Tandem Marketing, an affiliate company of Allnet a Catalyst AV Distributor, has been named president of IPRO.
IPRO was formed as a conduit to manage relationships and sales performance through education and ethical conduct.
“In just a short period of time an amazing number of great ideas from super-energized members have been exchanged, which will add to the IPRO value proposition for our representative and manufacturer members,” Zidek said. “Manufacturers representatives play a crucial role in our industry. Over the years, reps have transitioned from pure sales organizations to offering hybrid services of sales, specification, and technical support to meet the needs of the CI channel. IPRO members are the best equipped to meet these new challenges.”
As CEDIA CEO Vin Bruno said at last year’s show in Dallas, “IPRO members guide integrators to the best solutions for their customers; to link the right products to the right jobs is a critical element. Anything that can be connected in the home will be connected. There is a lot of money and lots of opportunity out there and IPRO reps connect it to the manufacturer and the integrator.”
“We have to be experts at the products we represent and also the environment they will be installed in to ensure dealers have a great experience with the products,” Zidek said. “We have to know where the mines are buried and steer the dealers clear of them. IPRO can be this common resource of shared knowledge and education. Our goal will be to better align IPRO with the modern needs of the manufacturers representative.
“Joining us is Joaquin Rivera who was the VP of sales for Stewart Filmscreen. He brings some manufacturer perspective to the executive committee. We also have a very strong manufacturers group with Buzz Delano and Eric Bodley. You can’t find two more plugged-in guys in the manufacturer community.”
The new IPRO board members cover the majority of the US. From New York, Chicago, Southeast, Rocky Mountains, California there is a complete picture of the geographical differences throughout the country.
The new officers are:
Past President: Frank Culotta, Symco Inc., New Jersey
President: William Zidek, Tandem Marketing, Illinois
Vice President: Mike Sajecki, C&E Marketing, Florida
Secretary: Joaquin Rivera, ByDesign Vision & Sound Marketing, Southern California
Treasurer: Mike Pecar, Mike Pecar Sales, Michigan
Board Member: Michael Pawlowski, Atlantic Integrated, New Jersey
Board Member: Doug Cuneo, CET & Associates, Colorado
Board Member: Dale Pugh, Elite 3 Pro, Texas
The IPRO Manufacturers Group (IPRO-MG):
Co-Chairman: Buzz Delano, Delano & Associates, Southern California
Co-Chairman: Eric Bodley, Bodley & Associates, Florida
