Sean Sweeney and Rhett Van Buskirk will focus on business development and customer service across company’s key growth areas
Tampa, Florida, April 25, 2019 — CP Communications, a leader in innovative solutions and services for live event productions, has appointed two broadcast and AV veterans to newly developed positions in alignment with the company’s broader growth strategy. Effective immediately, Rhett Van Buskirk and Sean Sweeney join CP Communications in Senior Account Executive roles for the broadcast and commercial AV markets, respectively. Both report to Ken Dillard, Vice President of Sales, North America.
Van Buskirk brings nearly four decades of broadcast engineering expertise to his new role, including extensive experience as a freelance technical engineer and systems architect in live sports and event production. A five-time Technical Emmy award winner for sports, he has worked on the Olympics, NBA Finals, NCAA Final Four, Super Bowl, US Open (Tennis), World Series and Academy Awards in various technical engineering roles.
Prior to joining CP Communications, Van Buskirk spent 15 years with Bexel as Senior Systems Engineer, where, among other initiatives, he coordinated with clients on the planning, design and development of large-scale, flypack control rooms. He most recently served as Director of Engineering, Broadcast Systems (East) for VER, where he specialized in flypack systems for live entertainment, E-gaming and sporting events.
Van Buskirk will focus on sales and service for CP Communications’ core RF market, while developing the at-home production and streaming opportunities that CP Communications supports under its Red House Streaming portfolio. CP Communications’ Red House Streaming business focuses on IP, cloud and bonded cellular technologies and services, including the company’s new STREAM family of content acquisition solutions.
“We have reached an exciting crossroads in the broadcast and production industry as more events and organizations move aggressively toward streaming, and adopt more IP and cloud-based workflows,” said Van Buskirk. “This has accelerated the rise of the at-home production model, which opens more opportunities to reduce production costs and monetize content. I’m excited to work with existing CP Communications clients and develop business with new clients, emphasizing how our new STREAM family can help them achieve their production goals.”
Sean Sweeney’s appointment is instrumental to CP Communications’ growth strategy for the commercial AV market. Sweeney brings two decades of sales, management and production experience in the corporate, retail and hospitality verticals, and has held Director-level positions for international AV and event technology companies within New York City, Miami Beach, Boston, Latin America, Puerto Rico, and The Caribbean. In addition to managing AV systems and services across meeting and event space, private venues, convention centers, and hotel ballrooms, he built a reputation as a profitable sales and operations leader. His experience includes managing large productions on hotel properties including Broadway-related shows, SAG Award events, professional musical performances, and VIP celebrity events with sports and entertainment stars.
Sweeney believes that with the establishment of its Red House Streaming solutions and a professional control room at its Florida headquarters, CP Communications is well-equipped to capture AV-related production business that increasingly requires broadcast-quality content while maintaining reasonable production budgets.
“CP Communications already services a very high-end broadcast market, and clearly offers the technology and production services to serve large corporate events, for example,” said Sweeney. “The AV industry values service and creativity foremost, with technology decisions often following once the right structure is in place. CP Communications is strongly positioned to succeed in this market based on the unique mix of high-end services and technology platforms they offer.”
“Rhett and Sean bring a broad depth of knowledge and experience in their respective spaces to CP Communications,” said Dillard. “Rhett’s expertise as a technician, engineer, and onsite team leader make him an invaluable resource for our customers needing everything from custom flypacks to full mobile production services. Sean’s expertise will help us meet the needs of AV clients large and small with high-quality, innovative and unique technology solutions and services. We welcome both of them to our team.”
Rhett and Sean will attend InfoComm 2019 to meet with new and existing customers. As a first-time exhibitor at Booth 4877, CP is excited to have them represent the company and bring their experience to a new segment of the media marketplace. InfoComm takes place June 12-14 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.