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The 2021 GPA Project and Leadership Awards, a Virtual Success

The GPA Project & Leadership Awards are a chance to celebrate just a few of the outstanding individuals and teams who set the bar for all of us with their leadership and achievements throughout the year.

Initially scheduled for ISE in February, the event was postponed due to the many disruptions caused by the pandemic.

However, true to GPA’s creed that we always have time for a celebration, we announced our winners during our “Rally the Tribe Event” held virtually on March 8-9, 2022.

GPA teams from around the world gathered in their boardrooms, and it was great to see our  teams embrace the virtual summit by watching together. Whether enjoying a Heineken or dancing for joy in the boardroom or emojis galore gracing our screens, we’ve had some heartwarming visuals that we all needed and representing GPA’s core values of diversity, trust, passion, teamwork, and of course, fun.

The GPA Project Awards features three categories that celebrate the great and inspiring global work our teams delivered. These include the Global Deployment Excellence Award, the Regional Project Excellence Award, and the Innovation Award.

And the Winners Are!​​​​​​​

Eric Greenop Chairperson of the GPA Board and MD at GPA UK, AVEX International, chats with Jeff Stoebner CEO at GPA US, AVI Systems.

AVI Systems – Stryker – Winner of the Global Deployment Excellence Award

The winner represented a unique multi-country global deployment project in 2021, and AVI’s Stryker project caught the judge’s eye.  

When AVI became the GPA RBU in the United States, Stryker and AVI talked about the possibilities of AVI handling their technology needs globally with the RBU offices, and GPA was hired. The project involved Argentina, Ireland, Belgium, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, India, Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Thailand, and Turkey. 

Accepting the Award for AVI System was Jeff Stoebner CEO at AVI Systems, Dascom Systems, Magenium Solutions, and Board Member of the GPA.

Byron Tarry, GPA CEO, Ken Bayern, Director of Global Account Strategy at GPA and Ellesse Fehlberg National Business Manager at Pro AV Solutions & Director of Global Marketing for GPA congratulate the entire team at GPA Japan, Media Plus.

Media Plus – Dell – Winner of the Regional Project Excellence Award

The winner represents the most outstanding projects delivered by an RBU in region and Media Plus was a clear winner. 

The Dell project was fraught with all the twists and turns you could expect in a project of this size. The true teamwork between individuals during the project and addressing the challenges head on, the team at Media Plus delivered a superior product to Dell. 

Although the Media Plus team is a small group, this dedicated group of people was able to carry out the project by taking advantage of their individual strengths. A group effort that only the GPA family could deliver. Accepting the Award for Media Plus was the entire team!

Byron Tarry, GPA CEO, and Ken Bayern, Director of Global Account Strategy at GPA congratulate Christian Stock, Head of Building Digitalization at GPA Germany, GMS Global Media Services GmbH, and Roman Ceriani CEO at ICAP Global Iberica at GPA Spain.

ICAP and GMS – Allianz Real Estate – Winner of the Innovation Award

The winner represents exceptional innovation in a customer project or services delivery model. The combined strengths of ICAP Iberica and GMS complimented each other and drove the project to its ultimate success. 

There were solid learning curves to this program. They included leveraging GPA processes, sharing lessons learned with local experts, and enabling efficiencies with each new upgrade.  

Accepting the Award for ICAP and GMS were Román Ceriani ICAP Global Ibérica and Chris Isak, Global Account Manager at GMS and GPA Marketing Leader.

The Leadership Awards celebrate the people who make GPA a successful global organization through their professional contributions, long hours, and dedication.

The GPA Chairman’s Award is presented to an individual in our community who consistently and selflessly gives their time, energy, and expertise to propel GPA and its entire community forward.

The 2021 GPA Chairman’s Award recipient was Michael Natividad from the GPA Philippines Team. Michael is renowned for his many contributions over the years as GPA Regional Director of Operations for APAC and the VP of Technology at ESCO Philippines. Congratulations Michael!

John Schienbein, Executive Vice President at GPA presents the Chairman’s Award to Michael Natividad from GPA Philipines surrounded by his team as Byron Tarry GPA CEO looks on.

The GPA Leadership Award is bestowed on those who stand out with their ability to lead from the front with a unique combination of vision and thought leadership.

The 2021 GPA Leadership Award was awarded to Don Mastro GPA’s Vice President of Global Sales and Vice President of Sales at GPA US, AVI Systems. Well done Don!

Don Mastro, clearly surprised by the award is surrounded by Byron Tarry, GPA CEO, Ken Bayern, Director of Global Account Strategy at GPA, and Brad Sousa, Chief Technology Officer at GPA US, AVI Systems.

Although nothing can replace the face-to-face experience we would have at a live event, the virtual GPA Project & Leadership Awards delivered an entertaining event fraught with excitement, laughs, and perhaps a trick quiz or two – Only what one would expect from a GPA shindig!  And, we can’t wait to cheers everyone properly at the next in-person event.