Press Room

FAIRFAX, VA — May 2, 2016 — InfoComm International^®, the trade association representing the commercial audiovisual industry worldwide, announced today that Kelly Perkins, CTS^®, Marketing and Communications Manager for AVI Systems, and Josh Srago, CTS, Design Engineer for TEECOM, have won its 2016 Young AV Professionals Award. Perkins and Srago will receive their awards in a ceremony immediately preceding the keynote address at InfoComm 2016 in Las Vegas, held June 4-10.

InfoComm's Young AV Professionals Award was created to recognize up-and-coming professionals in the audiovisual industry.

"Kelly and Josh represent the next generation of AV professionals — young people today committed to advancing the industry in the future," said David Labuskes, CTS, RCDD, Executive Director and CEO, InfoComm International. "Both have already spent many years contributing to InfoComm and their respective companies. We’re fortunate to have them involved as AV professionals and we expect they'll inspire more young talent to join the ranks of commercial AV."

Perkins was an early adopter of social media as a means of communicating among AV professionals. She’s been a podcast host and presenter at InfoComm shows. During her time working for Vaddio, Perkins launched an internal CTS training program for sales and marketing staff. In her current role at AVI Systems, she’s implementing new marketing programs and spearheading a training initiative.

Srago is a respected voice in the AV industry and a frequent presenter at InfoComm events. At June’s InfoComm 2016 show, he will speak at the IoT Insights session on Super Tuesday and deliver the InfoComm University^™ course Government Regulations and the AV Industry. He serves on the InfoComm Certification Steering Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the development and administration of the Certified Technology Specialist^™ certifications, and often addresses industry gatherings on the importance of certification.

Each year, InfoComm International recognizes outstanding AV professionals for their contributions, leadership and commitment to excellence. In 2016, the InfoComm Awards Committee, a panel of volunteers, received nominations from across the AV industry and named winners for the Mackey Barron Distinguished Achievement, Adele De Berri Pioneers of AV, CTS Holder of the Year, Educator of the Year, Women in AV and Young AV Professionals Awards. The Harald Thiel Volunteer of the Year Award is bestowed by InfoComm staff.