TASCAM is pleased to announce the addition of several seasoned industry professionals to its world-class sales and marketing group: Rick McClendon, National Sales Manager; Pete Snell, Giga Sales & Marketing Manager; Jeff Laity, Technical Communications Specialist; Diane Gershuny Fleming, Advertising & Marketing Manager. Additionally, TASCAM enlists the expertise of marketing guru Ron Koliha.

Rick McClendon, a 25-year veteran of the music/audio products industry, is responsible for driving TASCAM's U.S. sales operations by creating and implementing programs designed to facilitate sell-through of TASCAM products, as well as improving TASCAM's position at the point of sale. He comes to TASCAM after having spent the past two years as Director of Sales for the Harman Music Group. For fifteen years prior to that, Rick held sales management positions at Roland Corporation US, most recently as District Sales Manager. In addition to his manufacturing experience, McClendon's background includes stints in musical instrument importing/wholesale, MI retail store management and retail sales.

Armed with a solid background in retail sales and hands-on technical audio engineering know-how, Pete Snell joins the marketing team as Giga Sales & Marketing Manager. He holds a Classical Guitar degree from the University of Humboldt County in Northern California. Prior to signing on with TASCAM, Pete served as a product specialist with M-Audio. He was a computer system integrator at Soundchaser, a retail pro audio outfit in Northern California, where he established a solid reputation and a celebrity client roster comprised of production specialists, film composers and studios. His many years in the field working with Giga end-users and selling the Giga platform and library of developers is invaluable.

Jeff Laity brings a decade of professional audio expertise to TASCAM in his capacity as Technical Communications Specialist. Following graduation from the USC School of Music, he worked in the product support departments of both Roland and Alesis, working his way up to Product Marketing Manager at Alesis where he remained for six years. He later joined Amek as the Digital Products Manager before moving into Post Production. Jeff co-founded RocketWerks, a post sound studio in Santa Monica, CA where he worked as a sound designer and rerecording mixer for three years.

With over a dozen years of marketing, public relations and editorial experience, Diane Gershuny Fleming signs on as Advertising and Marketing Manager. From her stint as "Media Maven," handling public relations for Mackie Designs, to that of Publications Editor at Fender Musical Instruments, Diane has also served in an editorial capacity for several titles under the Miller Freeman / United Media umbrella.

Ron Koliha, former creative director at Mackie Designs brings his award-winning marketing savvy and graphic expertise to TASCAM as a "creator at large." Charged with redesigning the look and feel of the marketing materials, Ron'll put his iconic graphic imprint on the company's web site, POS, advertising and marketing materials, and more.

"We've gathered a handful of experienced industry veterans in key strategic positions to round out the new face of TASCAM marketing," says Jim Mack, TASCAM division manager. "We're very excited about the new direction the marketing group-and TASCAM-is heading. With the core strength of all the players onboard-and the quality of products hitting the market--we're poised to create some serious noise in the industry in the coming years."