Harman PA School opens in the UK

News

Andy Wood Feb 21 2008, 9:00am

Harman Pro UK Announce Free PA Training Sessions For Retailers

Harman Pro UK, British distributors for the Harman group of sound reinforcement, installation and pro-audio manufacturers, are beginning a regular series of free industry training sessions aimed at improving PA-related knowledge amongst retailers.

Known as the PA School, the educational initiative follows on from a successful masterclass held at last year's Harman Roadshow, and aims to give sales assistants and staff at audio retailers throughout the industry a more thorough grounding in their understanding of PA and sound reinforcement basics.

The sessions will take up an afternoon, and will cover everything a retail assistant should know from assembling a PA for a variety of applications and budgets to actually miking up and soundchecking various types of live acts, from a lone singer/songwriter to a multi-piece band with drums and amplified guitars, basses, and keyboards.

By the end of each PA School session, attendees should know everything they need to sell a live rig to a small-to-medium-sized band, from what microphones and amps to recommend to loudspeakers and processing.

The first event is being held at Harman Pro UK's headquarters in Potters Bar, just north of the M25, on Wednesday, April 16th, from 1pm. Attendees will begin with lunch and a tour of the Harman facility, and then adjourn to one of Harman's soundproofed live demonstration rooms for the PA School itself in groups of not more than 10, ensuring that each PA student gets plenty of time with the Harman PA experts running the session.

Max Lindsay-Johnson, Managing Director of Harman Pro UK, comments: "Our reps have been telling us for some time that there's a general lack of understanding about specifying and setting up PA and small-to-medium-scale sound reinforcement systems in the world of UK retail. Some shops have only one sales person who really understands how PA systems are put together and what to recommend.

"The PA School part of last year's roadshow was a great success and made us realise that there's a need amongst retailers for better PA- and sound-reinforcement-related training. Our PA School events are designed to address that need.

"Obviously, we will be focusing on the use of Harman Group equipment at these sessions, but the knowledge we can offer PA School attendees should stand them in good stead to sell PA systems from any manufacturer, and improve PA knowledge, overall sales, and customer satisfaction throughout the world of UK audio and PA retail."

To register yourself or your staff members for PA School, go to: www.harmanprouk.com/paschool.

Places are limited to 20 attendees per session, and are allocated on a first-come, first-reserved basis.