For about 17 years, Michael Shinn found himself in enemy territory. The die-hard New York Giants fan went to La Salle University for four years, then spent three as the Philadelphia-area college’s coordinator of multimedia before joining IMS Technology Services a decade ago.
And, while his beloved Giants won two Super Bowls in Shinn’s time in Philadelphia, he was drawn to be closer to his roots. That was a major reason Shinn, 34, relocated to New Jersey and took the newly created role of director of global managed services for Verrex in November.
Shinn now works at Verrex’s global headquarters in Mountainside, N.J., although his new gig will take him regularly to the New York, Boston and Houston areas, along with trips to international partners in Asia Pacific and across Europe and the Middle East.
According to a Verrex press release, Shinn will be responsible for service operations and solutions, “creating additional value for global clients in the company’s highly successful managed service portfolio,” which has been around for years before Shinn’s arrival.
“We are excited about adding this young industry leader to head our crucial AV managed services group,” says Verrex CEO Tom Berry Jr. “As a global company, we need to continue to grow and satisfy our clients’ needs. Michael gives us that opportunity through his hands-on approach to problem resolution and just getting the job done.”
Shinn, who was part of CI’s first class of 40 Influencers Under 40 in 2014, came to Verrex after 10 years at IMS, where he was most recently VP of customer relations. From 2010 until his promotion, he was director of operations at IMS, where he started as service manager.
Let’s go Back Stage to find out more about Michael Shinn:
Commercial Integrator: Did you always know you would have a career in AV?
Michael Shinn: I had no idea what the AV industry was early in college. I had wanted to be executive producer for David Letterman. I took an AV class that focused mostly on linear editing during my sophomore year, then worked in the AV office during my junior year. At that time, La Salle had about 15 integrated classrooms and everything else was a projector on a cart with a tower PC. That number got to about 70 across two campuses by the time I had graduated.
CI: How did you get involved in the integration world?
MS: I got to know Keith Moss, who was a project manager at IMS and he really became my mentor. I decided I wanted to change my career path from focusing on broadcasting to PR and then worked right at La Salle after graduation. I always kept in touch with Keith and he let me know about the opening at IMS, so I applied for it and got it.
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CI: How will your life change with your new job?
MS: There will be quite a bit of travel involved, of course. I’m going to ISE for the first time this year and from there, I’m heading right to London. The good thing for me is I’ve been through a pretty intense management training program so I’ve learned a lot about not only managing people, but managing sales so I think that will help with what I’m doing now.
I always had my hand in managed services at IMS, so that helped me to understand what’s important with that. I think my involvement with social media will help me a lot with this new job too.
CI: Will you continue working with and advocating for NSCA’s Ignite program?
MS: Part of my job description with Verrex is “Ignite ambassador,” so I’ll definitely still be involved with that. The problem is a national and international one, so it won’t just be restricted to my work here in the U.S.