Frankfurt recently hosted its annual Musikmesse Trade Show. CMI's Peter Trojkovic, Graeme Mitchell and Andy McIntyre attended and some of our audio products fared extremely well in the international awards department.

MIPA nomination for dBTechnologies DVA-System
The Musikmesse International Press Award - MIPA - is the Grammy of the musical instruments industry. It's an annual award, given since the year 2000. The winners in more than 40 categories are voted-for by more than 100 international magazines. There are only 3 nominations per category.
The nominations in the category 'Pro Audio: PA-System' were the L-Acoustics KIVA (Winner) and JBL Vertec and thedBTechnologies DVA system.
We are very proud to announce, that the DVA came 2nd inthis important category.
www.digital-vertical-array.com

FIFTY LINE PLUS is Number One
The readers of Soundcheck magazine have been voting for top equipment again and have awarded the dBTechnologies FIFTY LINE PLUS system PA Of The Year - 2008
This is the third time in a row the FIFTY LINE has won this award which underlines clearly the competitive quality and performance of this system. Pictured the award above are (left to right) Andy McIntyre (CMI's Audio Product manager), Graeme Mitchell (CMI's Sales & Marketing Director), Stefano Roccatello dB's Head of R&D), Peter Trojkovic (CMI's Director of Audio) and Harald von Falkenstein dB's head of International Sales)
Congratulations to dB Technologies from all at CMI!

Australia's Bi-Annual trade show displaying the latest in Pro Audio, Hi-Tech, Lighting, Broadcast, AV equipment, Systems and Services took place at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbor on February 11th-13th. Present at this year's show were Christian Stump from HK AUDIO Germany; CEO/Company Director, Peter Trojkovic; Sales and Marketing Director: Graeme Mitchell; Pro Audio Products Manager: Andy McIntyre and NSW Account Manager, Nathan Brady.
Although the show's official opening was Monday 11th, the proceedings started for us on Sunday the 10th with the set up. This year's set up saw CMI company directors Peter Trojkovic and Graeme Mitchell proclaiming ENTECH 08 as 'best trade show ever' after the 1.30 pm set up completion. The gallant cheering and mutual admiration was carried on until the end of an extended lunch/dinner at the frequented Italian restaurant on Darling Harbour. Seafood platter and chardonnay anyone?
The night was capped off with an interesting 'behind the mixing console' view of the IRON MAIDEN show here in Sydney as a part of their world tour. Thanks to Christian Stump for organising the passes. These passes came courtesy of Maiden Drummer Nicko McBrain's endorsement of HK Audio Contour monitoring systems. For more info check out www.hkaudio.com. The night was very Spinal Tap indeed, complete with pyrotechnics,12-foot Eddie walking the stage and hoards of fans displaying the metal salute in Maiden T-shirts. The 'number of the beast' featured heavily…
At the previous ENTECH, CMI had flown up every speaker box in our arsenal for display and demo. This year proved markedly different as we simplified our stand by way of several plinths each displaying a different cross range of our products relevant to the show: The HK COHEDRA Line Array, HK Contour, HK COMPACT COHEDRA Line Array, DB-OPERA 405, DB DVA Line Array, WHARFEDALE TWIN and the new WHARFEDALE TITAN 8'. Also on display was the much talked about BELKIN Tune-Studio (pictured left).
What was different this year? Each box had either a section cut away or a clear perspex side revealing the inner workings of each box. The stand also included a couple of plasmas with slide shows highlighting CMI and its customer partnerships - specifically in Line Array transactions. These images showcased approximately 25 AV customers who have purchased Line Array systems from CMI in the last 12 months, showcasing what has been a very successful year for CMI in audio sales across the board.
The week at ENTECH was topped off by a number of highlights/lowlights:
o Watching 'OS' delegates from a certain other corporate brand boldly eyeballing our Wharfedale range (market share anyone?) and taking copies of the highly successful Brand Detective catalogue…
o Watching the internal politics of a certain wholesaler unfold before our eyes…
o A retailer reminding his previous rep of his dissatisfaction with a deal done some time ago, resulting in aisle-way brawl…
o The seedy underbelly of deals done during the night time hours at the bar…
o Christian Stump of HK Audio saving himself from an encounter with a man fresh out of incarceration with his IRON MAIDEN back stage pass...
One great thing that came from the show was the huge increase of interest we received in both the HK Line Arrays and the dB DVA. Since the show we have completely sold out of DVA stock and the next shipment is selling fast, so get your orders in. The HK Audio Contour Array also continues to be very popular with the AV Companies, with even more coming on board over the next few months. (The latest to jump aboard was WWAVE in North Melbourne. See story at right...)
ENTECH has proven to be a show with a focus on relationship building and reiterating our commitment to our dealer base. This year's clear focus of growth for CMI will be high end installation sound with some key leads and inroads being developed at the show. As for retail based product there was a definite buzz on the newly landed Belkin Tune-Studio - in addition to the ever-growing strength in our well established brands. .