GLOBAL: Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) has announced that Mark Vassallo is retiring from his role as Vice President of Sales after 28 years; with David Hilton stepping into the position as the company looks to build on its established customer and partner relationships.

Vassallo’s tenure has spanned departments and continents, with ETC crediting his leadership and industry knowledge as significant contributors to the company’s development. While retiring from his executive role, he will continue working with ETC in a consulting capacity, supporting the team and its industry relationships.

“The last 28 years at ETC have been so much fun. We have achieved so many goals! I am beyond grateful. Can’t wait to see all that ETC will continue to do to serve our amazing customers. Just one quick question – is anyone listening?” says Vassallo.

Hilton joined ETC in 2007 and spent his first decade with the company at its Hollywood office, initially as a Field Project Coordinator before becoming Associate Regional Manager. In 2017, he relocated to Wisconsin to take on the role of Product Marketing Manager, where he supervised the product management team.

More recently, Hilton served as Senior US Sales Manager at ETC, leading a reorganisation of the Sales department by territory. The move was designed to create greater local ownership and enable decisions to be made closer to customers, while maintaining alignment across the wider company.

“We are so grateful for Mark’s decades of sales leadership and his commitment to ETC. He has left a lasting impact on our company. David is the perfect person to build on that with his broad understanding of ETC, its markets, sales channels, and customers. He has a strong focus on data and system improvement and has helped ETC modernize and progress. I’m thrilled to welcome him to the Executive team,” says James Foster, ETC President.

In his new role, Hilton will continue to oversee sales across the Americas while coordinating with ETC’s global sales team to maintain consistency worldwide. David Lincecum, Vice President of Austin and APAC, and Darren Beckley, Vice President of European Operations, will continue to supervise ETC’s Asian and European Sales efforts, respectively.

“Having spent nearly twenty years at ETC, I have seen firsthand that our greatest strength is the trust we’ve earned from customers, partners, and one another,” says Hilton. “As we look ahead, I am excited to help ETC deepen those relationships, serve our customers in new ways, and continue raising the standard for partnership in our industry.”