TWICE People

Gary Yacoubian, president and COO of MyerEmco Audio/Video, has been named vice-chair of the Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) executive board, which is the first time in CEA history that a retailer will hold a top leadership position within the trade group. Yacoubian has served on the CEA board since 2006 and has also served as chairman of its PARA division, representing more than 200 specialty A/V retailers ... The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) has elected a new president, executive committee and board of directors, which were announced on the last day of CEDIA Expo in Denver. Utz Baldwin, who most recently served as VP of the CEDIA executive committee, has been elected to his first term as president. The 2007-2008 CEDIA executive committee includes: Baldwin, president, AD Systems, Houston; Ken Erdmann, VP, Erdmann Group, Springville, Utah; Randy Stearns, secretary, Engineered Environments, Oakland; Randy Vaughan, treasurer, AE Systems Home Automation & Entertainment, Portsmouth, Va.; and Ken Smith, past president, Custom Electronics, Falmouth, Maine. The 2007-2008 CEDIA Board includes: Jeremy Burkhardt, SpeakerCraft, Riverside, Calif.; Buzz Delano, Delano Associates, San Clemente, Calif.; Scott Fuelling, Phoenix Communications, Bartlett, Tenn.; Rich Green, Rich Green Ink, Palo Alto, Calif.; Eric Lee, Integrated Control Experts, Chicago; Randy Wilson, Wilson Home Theater Systems, Sherman Oaks, Calif.; Gordon Van Zuiden, CyberManor, Los Gatos, Calif.; and Jeff Zemanek, Lutron Electronics, Coopersburg, Pa ... J. Miles Reidy, former senior exec with Capital One Financial, will join Sears Holdings as executive VP/chief financial officer in October, succeeding interim chief financial officer and chief administrative officer William Crowley … Twenty-year industry veteran James "Chip" Neil joined Buffalo Electronics this month as sales director, with responsibility for the company's distributor and dealer accounts … Mark Russell, marketing VP for U-Line, gets additional responsibility for sales … Joseph Gillio, product planning associate director for Sharp Electronics, joins Casio America as product marketing director for its business projections division.