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By Andrew Leyenhorst
SAMI MIDANI
“ a lot of people in our industry , I was first exposed to the world of audio by playing music ,” explains Sami Midani . Evidently , that spark as a young guitarist would become something greater , times and times over , as he is presently the Director of Business Development at one of Canada ’ s foremost MI and AV companies , SFM .
Born and raised in Quebec City , Midani recounts , “ After I started playing with people in a band at the age of 15 , I really wanted to understand the principles of pro audio , the gear , and how to mix a band . And access to good information was tough back then , so you had to be very curious , persistent , and quickly learn from your mistakes .”
He would make good on his discovery and very quickly begin to chase down this new dream , as at age 16 , Midani began working part-time for a local rental and production company . “ On weekends , I was either playing with my band in clubs , or mixing for other bands , or for some corporate events ; and I kept doing this as a sideline , actually , until I was about 33 years old . At that point , my family responsibilities and my professional career just didn ’ t leave enough room for weekend warrior adventures .”
Academically , Midani would go on to pursue studies in electronics at CFB Gabriel-Rousseau , and later on , business administration at the University of Quebec at Rimouski . During summers he would pick up full-time hours with the production company he started with , before eventually landing at Corpav , ( later known as AVW-TELAV before rebranding as Freeman AV , and more recently Encore ) as the company ’ s operations manager . “ That was the first real job , there ,” he says , and he remained there for almost three years beginning in the December of 1998 ; the same year he got married .
Midani ’ s progression into sales and marketing got underway soon after with a move to Contact Distribution as a sales rep in 2001 . There , he ultimately became the company ’ s eastern Canada sales manager . Five years later , in 2006 , Midani launched his own Quebec City-based AV and integration company , Midani Sound
& Image Architects , which he sold in late 2008 . Over the next handful of years , he spent time with various other companies in different sales and management roles , including serving as Solotech ’ s account manager for AV projects in the company ’ s Integration Division , and as Martec ’ s national sales manager . His path then led him to SC Media in 2013 , where he was VP of sales and marketing for two years before finally making to move to SFM in 2015 . However , this intrepid , more office-oriented path wasn ’ t all Midani had going on , as over the course of his career he has worked as an audio tech or technical director for over 200 events .
“ I ’ m truly grateful that I ’ m able to mix business with MI and AV knowledge and make a job out of it ,” he explains . “ It ’ s wonderful … If it was strictly about the technical stuff , or being a professional only on a technical level , it would get boring pretty quickly . And just pure business without something to be passionate about would be equally boring .” And even within the doors of SFM , Midani is able to wear both hats , as he is also the general manager of Digiflex Cables , an SFM-owned and in-house-manufactured brand of pro audio cables .
In terms of some of the challenges Midani has faced throughout his career , he explains that after so many years of interacting with various brand partners around the world , sometimes he has to take a step back and reframe things . “ I ’ ve realized that I need to go back to the basics of explaining the Canadian market and being a good translator [ for the market ], because a lot of people around the world assume wrongly that Canada is essentially an extension of the U . S …. Professionally , I had to basically adapt the messaging and explain the reality so I could actually match [ potential partners ’] ambitions , manage everyone ’ s expectations , and do the best job we can within the country ,” he says .” He explains , however , that with the help of his teams , establishing these partnerships outside of Canada and successfully bringing them to fruition in our domestic market is immensely fulfilling .
This observation also speaks to Midani ’ s overall approach to his work , as it ’ s clear that
he very strongly values collaboration and the professional and personal benefits that come with working successfully as a team , both internally , and with other business partners . “ To me , that ’ s the most rewarding part of it ,” he says . “ To put together a successful partnership for everyone , not only us , because for us is only short term ; you can only ride a successful wave for so long before you see that other people are disappointed .”
Outside of work , Midani still plays guitar in a cover band with some friends , which he describes as “ my pressure release , my creative part . That , combined with pro audio and the fact that I ’ m still playing with toys every once in a while . It ’ s fantastic that this is something that ’ s a hobby that also serves my profession .” He and his wife also have three daughters , and he says they ’ ve been taking a lot of time to enjoy the outdoors recently . In terms of how Midani likes to enjoy the outdoors , it certainly speaks to his rockstar pedigree and , I ’ ll use this word again , intrepid career path . “ I ’ m the guy that loves to ride my motorcycle .”
Andrew Leyenhorst is a Niagara-based freelance producer , recording engineer , mixer , and Consulting Editor at Canadian Music Trade .
18 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE