Leadership
AVW-TELAV thrives by virtue of strong, dedicated leadership. The professionals who lead Our People are seasoned experts within their chosen fields and many are active pacesetters within the audio visual and meeting and events communities. Meet the AVW-TELAV Leadership Team!
Johanne Bélanger
Johanne Bélanger is the President of AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions in Canada. As President of one of the largest audio visual companies in Canada, Johanne is responsible for driving sustainable growth and market share through extensive customer service, sales and marketing initiatives for the rentals and staging and system design and integration divisions.
Prior to joining AVW-TELAV in 2005, Johanne spent 14 years in a variety of roles including finance, operations, purchasing, sales and marketing. Johanne serves on the audio visual board of directors of AVW-TELAV’s parent company – Freeman - the leading provider of integrated services for face-to-face marketing and brand building events, including expositions, conventions, corporate events, meetings and exhibit programs. In this role, Johanne offers her extensive management experience on a variety of task forces.
Johanne is a member of the Presidents of Enterprising Organizations (PEO) and has recently been elected to fulfill the role of Secretary Treasurer on InfoComm International’s Board of Directors. She is also currently serving on Tourism Toronto’s Board as Vice Chair focusing on Industry Relations.
Brian Farrell
Brian Farrell is Senior Vice President of Finance. He is responsible for the Canadian financial accounting and reporting for the Canadian branches of AVW-TELAV. His role also includes maintaining and upgrading the accounting financial I.T. systems, as well as implementing process improvements. In addition, our organization depends on him for credit management for our Canadian branch network, management and coordination of our annual budget processes and coordination of AVW-TELAV’s Canadian payroll functions.
With an accounting degree from McGill University, Brian received his Chartered Accountant designation in 1981, while working for Coopers & Lybrand Accountants in Montreal, now known as Price Waterhouse Coopers, where he performed general audit functions developed professional skills in the computer audit field. He joined AVW-TELAV 1984.
Brian is a member of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Quebec and the Financial Executives Institute of Quebec.
Michael Schilz
Michael Schilz is the Senior Vice President of Operations of AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. In this role, he is responsible for the overall performance of the rental and staging operations, including continually determining ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the deployment of technical and operational personnel and equipment assets. In addition to branch responsibilities, he also oversees all national operations departments, including Technical Inventory, Integrated Solutions and Technical Staging.
Michael is co-chair of AVW-TELAV’s National Rental Advisory Committee, a member of InfoComm’s Rental & Staging Council, and holds a Certified Technology Specialist designation.
Michael has been with AVW-TELAV since 1981. His experience in the audio visual industry spans 27 years and has covered all aspects of the business. As a member of the senior management team, Michael is focused on ensuring the company is able to satisfy the technical and operational human resource, technological and logistical requirements of events at the highest possible standards.
Steven Bury
Steven Bury is Vice President of Sales of AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. From a background in Film & Photographic Arts at Ryerson University, Steve was attracted to the dynamic audio visual rental and staging business, where he has held management positions for the past 29 years, the last 18 of those at AVW-TELAV. He brings to the organization a passion for customer service, and for offering creative solutions to our customers.
As an integral member of our executive management team, Steve is responsible for providing vision and leadership to our sales teams. As a frequent speaker at industry conventions in Canada and the U.S., Steve combines insights into the unique blend of creativity and technology that characterize our business with a strong knowledge of meetings industry trends. He works actively in support of the meetings industry.
Notably, he has served on the Board of Directors of Tourism Toronto, and as a Past President of the Toronto Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. Additionally, he is also a member of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI).
Heidi Welker
Heidi Welker is Vice President of Marketing for AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions in Canada. As well as keeping our customers informed about new product and service brand offerings, she is responsible for driving future growth through various integrated marketing activities and lead generation. Equipped with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Heidi has been heavily involved in the convention and trade show Industry since 1980. Her background includes extensive experience in operations. She joined AVW-TELAV in 1987.
Heidi has served on numerous industry committees and is a long-standing member of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and is also involved in fundraising activities in support of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society.
Mark Bullen
Mark Bullen is Vice President of Information Services for AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. Mark’s role, and that of the Information Services (I.T.) group, is to promote the strategic use of technology, provide I.T. services and support, and provide a secure, reliable, and robust I.T. environment that our organization can rely on to effectively execute.
He joined our organization in July 1990. Over the years, Mark has built and led the team that has been instrumental in keeping AVW-TELAV technologically current and providing the company with the tools that have allowed us to become and remain the industry leader.
Mark and his team are also an extension of the Freeman Information Services group which provides the Canadian division with access to additional services and supplementary resources as required.
Prior to joining AVW-TELAV, Mark worked with a number of I.T. organizations in roles from Application Developer to Systems Engineer. He is also an active member of Project Management Institute (PMI).
Nairie Papakhian
As Vice President Administration & Purchasing, Nairie Papakhian is responsible for ensuring the consistent application of the critical administrative success factors throughout the branch networks. To do this, she liaises with the Regional Administrative Coordinators and Administrative Assistants and provides training and counsel in the areas that are identified as requiring attention.
Nairie is also the “go-between” for the branches and head office support groups that involve administrative processes and procedures. She works with key individuals within the Accounting, Purchasing, Human Resources, National Operations, and Information Technology Departments to ensure that systems and processes are working as they should and provides input based on her extensive hands-on knowledge and experience.
Nairie has been with AVW-TELAV since 1980, before the inception of the audio visual division, when the organization’s main focus was simultaneous interpretation. With the start-up of the audio visual division in 1982, she was instrumental in the design, documentation, and training of the administrative processes involving the day-to-day operations of the branches. Due to her extensive leadership traits, in January of 2010, she was given the extended responsibility of managing the Purchasing and Warehouse departments.
Henry Crochetière
Henry Crochetière is Director of Human Resources for AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. With an Honours Commerce degree from Concordia University, he is a Certified Human Resource Professional and a member of the Quebec Order of Human Resource Professionals.
Henry came to AVW-TELAV in 2008 from a world leading telecommunications provider. He has been responsible for the human resources function in a variety of companies and industries with headcounts ranging from 300 to 1,500 employees. He has fulfilled human resources roles such as Vice President, Director of Human Resources and Manager, Total Compensation as well operations roles including Divisional General Manager.
Henry’s expertise includes compensation and benefits programs, performance management, labour relations, health and safety, and training needs analysis. He has been involved in numerous strategic planning exercises and the implementation of continuous improvement and cost savings programs.
