During the recent IS Europe exhibition held in Amsterdam, AV Specialist partnered with the Middle East Communications Industries Association (MECIA) and NEC Display Solutions to sponsor a coffee morning for Middle East delegates attending the show.

The gathering took place at the Infocomm International visitors lounge on the last morning of the show, and was attended by about 35 delegates from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

During the session Terry Friesenborg, SVP for International Development at Infocomm International congratulated the Middle East AV industry for launching their own trade association and pledged Infocomms’ continuing support to the region. “For the last two years we’ve been working with AV Specialist magazine to promote the adoption of professional standards, training and industry certification in the Middle East,” he said, “and our success is reflected in the growing acceptance of our professional CTS credential.” He explained that over the last year, close on 100 AV professionals in the Middle East have earned the Infocomm CTS credential and pledged to abide by Infocomm’s code of ethics.

Terry’s support was reinforced by George Putherkulam, CEO of Business Communications LLC and one of the founding members of MECIA. “Our success in promoting the adoption of professional standards is just the first step in the evolution of the MECIA trade association,” he enthused. “By working together, members of the AV industry have a unique opportunity to tackle some of the problems affecting our core market; recruitment, training, certification, standards … all of these need to be addressed on a group basis so that we implement solutions that are consistent throughout the region.”

For more information on MECIA contact info@mecia.org