CP Communications Taps Van Buskirk for RF Role, Sweeney for Commercial A/V Market

The appointments are part of a strategy to broaden growth

CP Communications has appointed two broadcast and A/V veterans to newly developed positions in alignment with the company’s broader growth strategy. Effective immediately, Rhett Van Buskirk and Sean Sweeney join CP Communications as senior account executives for the broadcast and commercial A/V market, respectively. Both report to Ken Dillard, VP, sales, North America, CP Communications.

Rhett Van Buskirk has joined CP Communications and will focus on the RF market.

Van Buskirk brings nearly four decades of broadcast-engineering expertise to his new role, including extensive experience as a freelance technical engineer and systems architect in live sports and event production. A five-time Technical Emmy Award winner for sports, he has worked on the Olympics, NBA Finals, NCAA Final Four, Super Bowl, US Open tennis, World Series, and Academy Awards in various technical-engineering roles.

Previously, Van Buskirk spent 15 years as senior systems engineer at Bexel, where, among other initiatives, he coordinated with clients on the planning, design, and development of large-scale, flypack control rooms. He most recently served as director of engineering, broadcast systems (East), VER, specializing in flypack systems for live entertainment, e-gaming, and sports events.

Van Buskirk will focus on sales and service for CP Communications’ core RF market, developing at-home production and streaming opportunities as part of its Red House Streaming portfolio. The Red House Streaming business focuses on IP, cloud, and bonded-cellular technologies and services, including the company’s new STREAM family of content-acquisition solutions.

“We have reached an exciting crossroads in the broadcast and production industry as more events and organizations move aggressively toward streaming and adopt more IP and cloud-based workflows,” says Van Buskirk. “This has accelerated the rise of the at-home production model, which opens more opportunities to reduce production costs and monetize content. I’m excited to work with existing CP Communications clients and develop business with new clients, emphasizing how our new STREAM family can help them achieve their production goals.”

Sean Sweeney has joined CP Communications and will play a key role in serving the commercial market.

Sweeney’s appointment is instrumental to CP Communications’ growth strategy for the commercial A/V market. He brings two decades of sales, management, and production experience in the corporate, retail, and hospitality verticals and has held director-level positions for international A/V and event-technology companies in New York City, Miami Beach, Boston, Latin America, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. In addition to managing A/V systems and services across meetings and events, private venues, convention centers, and hotel ballrooms, he built a reputation as a profitable sales and operations leader. His experience includes managing large productions on hotel properties, including Broadway-related shows, SAG Award events, professional musical performances, and VIP celebrity events with sports and entertainment stars.

Sweeney believes that, with the establishment of its Red House Streaming solutions and a professional control room at the company’s Florida headquarters, CP Communications is well-equipped to capture A/V-related production business that increasingly requires broadcast-quality content while maintaining reasonable production budgets.

“CP Communications already services a very high-end broadcast market and clearly offers the technology and production services to serve large corporate events, for example,” he says. “The A/V industry values service and creativity foremost, with technology decisions often following once the right structure is in place. CP Communications is strongly positioned to succeed in this market based on the unique mix of high-end services and technology platforms they offer.”

Says Dillard, “Rhett and Sean bring a broad depth of knowledge and experience in their respective spaces to CP Communications. Rhett’s expertise as a technician, engineer, and onsite team leader makes him an invaluable resource for our customers needing everything from custom flypacks to full mobile-production services. Sean’s expertise will help us meet the needs of A/V clients large and small with high-quality, innovative, and unique technology solutions and services. We welcome both of them to our team.”

Van Buskirk and Sweeney will attend InfoComm 2019 to meet with new and existing customers. A first-time exhibitor, CP Communications (Booth 4877) looks forward to their representing the company and bringing their experience to a new segment of the media marketplace. InfoComm takes place June 12-14 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.