AVAD's Wally Whinna Honored with Lutron Lifetime Achievement Award

AVAD "founding father" receives prestigious award for dedication in making custom electronic distributor's partnerships successful

Wally Whinna, executive vice president of sales and marketing for AVAD LLC, America's leading distributor of custom electronics, was recently honored with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics.

Recognized for his "tireless work and many hours promoting and crafting programs for our RadioRA whole-home lighting control system," according to a Lutron announcement, Whinna was presented the award from Lutron's Blake Richetta, product sales and marketing manager for RadioRA 2; David Weinstein, global vice president of residential systems sales; and Rick Angel, senior vice-president of sales, at a CEDIA Expo 2009 special event.

"We are proud to have Wally Whinna as part of the AVAD team," said Jim Annes, vice president and general manager of AVAD. "We all have the utmost appreciation for what he brings to the custom electronics industry and we thank him for his efforts in making our relationships with vendors like Lutron so successful."

Whinna, an original founder of AVAD, has served on the company's Executive Committee since its inception in 1997. Whinna has been a member of CEDIA for over 20 years and has been involved in the audio/video industry for over 30 years. With an in-depth understanding of the custom and consumer electronics industry, he was recently elected to serve on the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Home Audio Division Board.

Talking Points:

  • Wally Whinna, executive vice president of sales and marketing for AVAD, has been named the recipient of the Lutron Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • Whinna, an original founder of AVAD, has been involved in the audio/video industry for over 30 years and a member of CEDIA for 20 years.

About Lutron Electronics
Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., headquartered in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, designs and manufactures lighting controls and automated window treatments for residential and commercial applications. Lutron products save energy and make light bulbs last longer, making them an eco-friendly addition to the home and office. For more information, visit http://www.lutron.com.

About AVAD LLC (http://www.avad.com)
AVAD LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro Inc., is the most complete custom electronics provider in North America. Offering customers the most trusted brands, AVAD stocks complete systems solutions for home theater, home automation, pro AV, lighting controls, security, distributed A/V, central vacuum, HVAC and more. Further, the company is dedicated to dealer education, training and skill advancement, as evidenced by AVAD University's over 450 online and classroom continuing education classes held each year. AVAD ensures just-in-time delivery from each of its 28 North American facilities.

Product lines that AVAD distributes and supports include: AKG, APC, Aprilaire, Artison, Atlantic Technology, B&K Components, Bogen, Bose, Carlon ChannelPlus, Chief, COPS Monitoring, Crown International, Denon Pro, DSC, Dirt Devil, Draper, Dymo/RhinoPRO, Escient, Exceptional Innovation/Life|ware, Gefen, Global Cache, HAI, , iPort, ITC, JBL Pro, JDSU, JVC Professional Products Company, Key Digital, Labor Saving Devices, Lutron, Marantz, MartinLogan, Middle Atlantic Products, Inc., Midlite, MuxLab, NetStreams, Niles Audio, OmniMount, Onkyo, OnQ Technologies, OpenHouse, Optoma, Panamax, Panasonic Phones, Panasonic Professional, Peerless, Philips Pronto, Polk Audio, PROconnect, ProFlex, RepairMaster, RTI, Rockustics, Samsung, Samsung Professional, Satellite USA, Sharp, SharpVision, SunBriteTV, Terk, Toshiba, Universal Remote Control, Velodyne and more.

For more information about AVAD, visit http://www.avad.com.