Position to strengthen regional presence for global leader in interactive whiteboard category
CALGARY, Alberta --- June 5, 2008 --- SMART Technologies announces the appointment of Patrick Lelorieux to the key new position of vice president and general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The appointment is crucial to the company’s plan to expand sales, marketing and customer support efforts in the region. Lelorieux will manage SMART operations in EMEA, with a mandate to build infrastructure, take business in the region to the next level and offer superior customer service. He reports to SMART’s president and COO, Tom Hodson. During its 21-year history, SMART has built a focused distribution channel throughout EMEA. Lelorieux will further develop existing relationships, and hire and direct significantly more resources to support the company’s EMEA channel and end users.
Lelorieux brings nearly 30 years of general management and international business experience to SMART. Since 2004, he has been VP of sales for EMEA with a division of Cisco Systems, Inc. Prior to that, Lelorieux held positions of increasing responsibility with some of the world’s largest and most well-known technology companies. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and an MBA in marketing. Lelorieux’s appointment reflects SMART’s significant growth across the region as well as globally. In EMEA, SMART’s share of the interactive whiteboard product category rose sharply to 49 percent in Q1 2008 from 43 percent in 2007. Globally, SMART enjoys nearly a 57 percent product category share, more than three times that of the next largest competitor. The data comes from a recently released report from Decision Tree Consulting (DTC), an industry-leading global research company that has documented interactive whiteboard sales for eight years.
“Demand for interactive whiteboards and education and corporate solutions from SMART has been growing dramatically in EMEA for several years,” says Lelorieux. “I’m excited about joining SMART, and I’m looking forward to driving company growth in the region even further and building on SMART’s global leadership position.”
“Patrick’s background and skills give him deep insight and extensive understanding of sales and customer support in EMEA,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “He and the team he is putting in place will build on SMART’s strong leadership position in the region and allow us to continue to deliver an extraordinary customer experience.”
