Tightrope Media Systems recently promoted five-year company veteran Kelli Smith to director of broadcast sales and hired Richard Turner as digital signage regional sales manager.
Kelli Smith
According to the company, its unique identity as a leading solutions provider across the broadcast/cable and digital signage industries has propelled year-on-year business growth since its formation as a standalone company in 2001. The recent executive changes are meant to boost the company’s sales and service team to support future growth across both businesses.
- Smith, based in Raleigh, NC, now manages sales for ZEPLAY, Tightrope’s choice for cost-efficient, multichannel instant replay servers and the company’s Cablecast portfolio of server and automation products. Smith will leverage her experience and relationships from her previous roles as Southeast U.S. sales manager and Carousel digital signage portfolio sales manager (East Coast) to drive new business across emerging vertical markets, notably universities and hospitality businesses, including hotels and cruise ships.
- “Tightrope is very well known in the digital signage space and in the local PEG broadcast community, and it’s my goal to build that same recognition across a new group of customers in verticals that traditionally haven’t used Tightrope broadcast solutions,” said Smith. “For example, although Tightrope has thousands of servers operating in the field today, ZEPLAY is the only one focused on live production. We’re working to make sure that prospective customers think of ZEPLAY first when it comes to slow motion instant replay servers.”
- As Tightrope Media Systems is privately held, Smith stresses the importance of responding to customer and market needs directly. “I’m looking forward to growing the existing relationships I’ve built, and developing new ones through our customer-first approach,” she added.
- Richard Turner, based in Maryland, has more than 30 years in the professional AV, broadcast and IT markets working as an end user, consultant, engineer and content producer. Most recently, he worked in the government sector. This rich and varied experience allows Turner to further elevate the already sterling customer service at Tightrope.
- Turner is looking forward to learning the Southeast territory and meeting Tightrope’s strong customer base across the region. “It’s always great to learn how our end users use digital signage to tell their stories,” said Turner. But, he also realizes that it’s a challenge or customers to sort out the differences among the many products on the market.
- “My greatest goal is education and ensuring our customers get the most from our resources and products,” adds Turner. “It’s not just about technology; it’s about understanding the stories the customers want and need to tell, and about a team, like Tightrope, that stands behind their products and encourages innovation and creativity.”
