What is the secret behind FMAV’s success throughout the years? Our people! They make us who we are today and who we will be in the future. As Canada’s largest independently owned audiovisual company, FMAV has more than 250 staff across seven offices from coast to coast, and it’s our people who make us a different kind of Audiovisual Company.
Because our people make the difference, we thought we’d tell you more about them, and how they’ve helped us become a favorite in the events industry, in an Employee Spotlight series.
In this series, you’ll get a glimpse at one featured employee each month. We will talk about what makes them tick, why they come to work each day and what they look forward to doing in their free time?
This month we talked to Anthony Vade about his role here at FMAV, his passion for the events industry and his secret talents. Here’s what he had to say:
What is your current role and how long have you been working at FMAV?
I am an account manager and experience designer with FMAV. I work with our key clients to enhance attendee experiences at their live events through the use of smart audiovisual and technology solutions. I also collaborate with other account managers to help their clients achieve great event experiences.
Tell us about your start at FMAV?
After meeting a colleague at an industry event I started working for one of our founding companies. Shortly after that, FMAV was formed and the company grew massively overnight. It was a very exciting time in my life.
What made you want to get into the field?
Music, film, and technology have always been part of my life. As a child, I would torment my parents by pulling all of their electronics apart. Throughout my schooling, I played music and became familiar with audio sound systems. One day, the entire school as sitting in the assembly. Everyone was struggling to hear the principal speaker. As the muffled incoherent ramblings came through of the sound system, my best friend looked at me and said: “let’s fix this.” Without hesitation, nor direction from our teachers, we jumped to our feet, ran to the front of the room, re-wired, tuned and re-mixed the sound system so everyone could hear clearly. From that day on my buddy and I were the unofficial audio guys at the school. Live events became part of my life. I produced my first live band festival at 17 and have worked on a wide range of events from boardroom meeting, large conferences to rock and EDM music festivals.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I love helping clients create a vision and then turn it into reality. I am a bit of a dreamer and I find people in the corporate world often “play it safe”. I am the kind of person who likes outside the box thinking. I help clients identify their stakeholder requirements and then use creative and innovative technology design concepts to achieve their goals. Let’s put it this way, I’m not asking my clients to re-invent a wheel. I’m asking them why they haven’t tried a hovercraft. I am very lucky to have great clients who embrace this concept of strategic and intentional innovation. Through our collaboration, we’ve had amazing success building event reputations and gaining positive attendee feedback.
Tell us something about your personal life. What do you like to do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?
It’s a little cliché, but I am obsessed with travel. Most people love to travel, but my wife and I are on the next level. If we are not about to leave for an international trip, we are planning the next one. We started a travel blog because we found it was hard to keep track of everywhere we have been and where we want to go next. When we are not traveling we both love live music concerts and are keen snow skiers.
Anthony is one of over 250 valued employees at FMAV. You can learn more about the FMAV culture on our website, or visit the FMAV Careers page to hear more from our people.
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