At a packed Grosvenor House Hotel in Central London last week, Crestron’s esteemed Chairman and founder, George Feldstein, was commended with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement award at the AV Awards 2014.
Now in its 16th year, the AV Awards recognise and reward excellence across the Audio Visual industry, celebrating the latest products, outstanding projects and the companies that make it all possible. The event, hosted by AV Magazine’s editor Clive Couldwell, and compered by comedian Andy Parsons, saw 900 guests cheer as Crestron’s chairman, George Feldstein, was honoured for his achievements in the industry that some say he founded.
Crestron’s CEO Randy Klein had flown in especially for this prestigious event and collected the award on Feldstein’s behalf. Making a heart-felt speech, Klein commented on Feldstein’s passion and joy at being awarded this accolade, saying: “Although George [Feldstein] is unable to be here tonight, he has been a great inspiration to so many of us here this evening. He has a passion for the industry and he genuinely loves what he does – I’ve never met another man like him and he is truly deserving of this amazing honour.”
Couldwell of AV Magazine commented: “This award goes to a person with a lifelong devotion to the AV industry. In fact, he’s passionate about high-quality engineering. One former staffer said of him: he is the smartest engineer I have ever met – absolutely brilliant – and he never sleeps. Really – he is a force of nature, and he expects everyone around him to be as driven as he is. “There will be no limits on what you can invent and create here’ – he once said.”
For more than 40 years, Feldstein’s innovations and leadership has helped build Crestron to be the thriving enterprise that it is today. His continued vision remains a driving force of progress that has transformed the AV industry into the successful global leader it is today.
Feldstein started the company in 1969, working out of a small room above a delicatessen in New Jersey. Beginning with controllers for slide projectors, the company really took off when he developed a wireless remote for commercial audio-visual systems. The rest of Crestron’s prestigious product offering were soon to follow and the company is now one of the main players in the automation world.
The Lifetime Achievement Award came as a great surprise to Feldstein, as well as Crestron, especially as this is the first time the AV Awards team has made such a move, and he was flattered to receive such an accolade.
“For so many years, Feldstein has been at the forefront of our product and software developments – not to mention building an impressive team of people around him,” said Robin van Meeuwen, CEO of Crestron International. “Without his hard work and dedication Crestron wouldn’t be where it is today. We are all extremely proud of his achievements, not only for Crestron, but for the industry as a whole.”
