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AV Awards Rising Star 2021: Anna Shahin

Every year the AV Awards recognises outstanding examples of excellence among our industry’s people, companies, technologies and projects. We could not be prouder of our very own Rising Star and Award Winner, Anna Shahin.

Who is this this years AV Awards Rising Star?

Less than three years ago, Anna Shahin joined Audiologic - just two weeks after graduating from her degree in audio recording and production. Since then, she has taken her diverse history in sound (spanning from audiology and speech pathology to studio and live sound) and applied it to the ever-growing world of the AV industry.

As a member of Audiologic’s Application Support team, Anna works on a large range of projects. Working on council applications with complex discussion systems, boardrooms, and higher education tenders means that no two projects are alike! With a passion for teaching others, while she learned the industry herself, she now leads system designs for her team - consulting for integrators starting from their first site visit.

Anna’s product knowledge on Audiologic’s extensive offering is unparalleled, and she has recently joined the ranks of the company’s commissioning engineers to see projects through, from conception to completion.

Building relationships with integrators from her consistency on the support team, customers know that they can rely on her and Audiologic for any of their audio needs.

As a woman in the AV industry and the first on her team, Anna is constantly networking with other women in the industry. She is an active member of Women in Live Music and SoundGirls, and through these she has advocated for and supported the next generation of women pursuing all things AV. She has built connections which lead to consulting for Imogen Heap’s Mimu Glove team, integrating movement, lights, and sound for live performance.

The past year has been ideal those working on furthering their learning, and Anna has focused her efforts on democratizing the world of AV. Beginning with tailored trainings to both internal and external teams, she now leads the content creation for Audiologic’s Tech Tuesday series, which offers weekly technical-focused content for all levels of AV users – professional and otherwise. With eight videos recorded and nearly ten reference documents written of her own, along with collaborating with the rest of her team for content and peer editing, Anna’s focus on continuing education is strong. From breaking down analogue and digital wireless audio and understanding frequency licensing, to advocating for compliant assistive listening systems while demystifying options, Anna’s Tech Tuesday offering is comprehensive.

Alongside Audiologic’s work, Anna has also balanced co-managing the technical team and operations at her alma mater University of Hertfordshire’s The Forum until the beginning of the pandemic, working with the team of ten to smoothly run the night-club and venue’s weekly events.

Despite restrictions relating to Covid, Anna’s dedication to others has expanded to out of office hours, having clocked over 50 hours volunteering at a mass vaccination center since the beginning of the year, working alongside NHS, St John Ambulance, and RAF staff.

Timo Tolonen, Applications Engineer, Shure UK

"Anna is extremely enthusiastic and passionate about her job – she goes over and beyond to assist customers in their projects. No matter whether the project or question is big or small, Anna is a great person to have on the other end of a call or on-site. If there is a person who deserves the Rising Star award, there is no doubt it should go to Anna."

Owen Finney, Director, Practical AV

"Anna has always been a fantastic , knowledgeable and responsive person to work with whether it's specifying a mixing desk or tweaking a multi microphone digital installation. Regardless of the project type or scale Anna is able to help us specify our system through from concept to on site technical installation support. Working with Anna has been an absolute pleasure and a great technical asset to our business. She is one of the reasons we don't go anywhere else for our pro-audio solutions. "

What we say...

We're so proud of Anna for winning the Rising Star award and it couldn't be more deserved! In the three years since joining us straight from university, Anna has grown at a rate none of us could have expected. I'm sure all of our customers and colleagues will agree that she's a true asset to Audiologic and we couldn't be prouder of her winning this well deserved recognition.

Ben SpurgeonSenior Technical Manager, Audiologic