Atlona announced that Steve Bogart will assume the role of business development manager for the education market in North America effective immediately. Reporting to Adam Griffin, director of sales and business development for North America, Steve brings his AV/IT experience and sales insight to Atlona, where he will exclusively focus on the K-12 and higher education markets.

Steve joins Atlona following roles at Harman and WolfVision, where he gained extensive AV/IT experience as the company’s IT manager. Adam Griffin says that while Steve’s AV/IT experience will bring value to education customers navigating a quickly changing technology landscape, the sensitive nature of the market requires the focus of a trusted advisor that is separate from the dealer channel.

“The strength of the customer relationship is absolutely critical in the education vertical,” said Griffin. “Atlona created this position for the purpose of having a customer advocate for the education market. Steve’s consultative sales approach strikes the right balance between how technology upgrades align with budgets and developing an effective classroom infrastructure.”

That includes specifying and providing solutions for an education market that has undergone significant changes since the pandemic. “The hybrid learning model is here to stay and schools are finding out that some students learn better in a hybrid environment,” said Bogart. “Supporting that from an educational perspective will be critical going forward.”

One important support component will be the relaunch of Atlona’s educational alliance program (Ed Tech VIP), which provides financial incentives to education customers along with design assistance, evaluation gear, technical support and more. “With Steve’s input and experience, Atlona is well-positioned to guide customers through all phases of a technology refresh to modernize learning spaces, including systems design, configuration and installation through to post-launch support,” said Griffin.