Worldwide Sales & Service

Our Team

Mary Ellen Milanese-DiStasio

President

Mary Ellen began her career with Video Visions in 1997 as a Service Coordinator. Her enthusiasm to learn everything that she could about the professional A/V market, along with her dedication to her father’s company was evident from the beginning. Leadership abilities plus impeccable attention to detail helped secure a position as Operations Manager in 1998.

In her new position, Mary Ellen quickly developed close relationships with all of the major professional A/V manufacturers I the U.S. and beyond. Her marketing background combined with excellent people skills and her newly formed relationships pushed the company to excel in video wall and large screen display installations, because she was able to procure the best pricing for the specialty products that were sold regularly to Video Vision’s clients.

Although her title remained Operations Manager, in the 10 years between 1998 and 2008 Mary Ellen had her hands in many areas of the company: human resources, marketing, purchasing, project management, sales, accounting and risk management, to name a few. She was officially given the title, Vice President in 2008 and in 2009—before the untimely passing of her beloved father—was named by him to carry on his legacy as President of Video Visions.

Mary Ellen’s dedication and commitment to the organization has allowed for remarkable growth and respect within the pro A/V industry. After all, the company is not just her father’s legacy and her future, it is her life. An unhappy client is unacceptable, and she will go out of her way to make sure that every job not only meets but exceeds clients’ expectations.

When not hard at work, Mary Ellen’s greatest enjoyment is spending time with her young daughter, Hannah, and her husband, Vincent.   She tries to make the most of every weekend with regular trips to places like Sesame Place, the Philadelphia Zoo and the Please Touch Museum, and she loves to vacation with her family. 

Jim Landy

Managing Director

Jim joined Video Visions, Inc. in early 2011.  He has been a wonderful addition to our organization as during his 35 year tenure in the professional audio visual industry his career has included technology sector-broadcast, commercial audio-visual systems, large screen display systems and command & control solutions.  Jim has applied his years of experience to all levels of project engineering/management and design as a systems integration specialist with a successful history managing multi-million dollar projects world-wide. He has considerable experience and expertise in systems integration and systems design.

Some of Jim’s projects include: Broadcast:  The Weather Channel, CBS Sports, CBS News, ESPN, Fox News, ABC and Major League Baseball Network, to name a few.   Several of Jim’s projects have been awarded Tech AV Emmy’s for his design and integration work. TWC and MLBN, Network Operations Centers, Command & Control Systems (Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, US House of Representatives, NSA, CIA), Large Screen Display Solutions; various, customized software applications and streaming video technology.

Based out of our corporate headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jim is the Managing Director for Video Visions, Inc.. This is an executive management position.

Jim’s team is responsible for Video Vision’s system design, sales and business development opportunities worldwide. Disciplines include all aspects of systems design, systems integration and project management for custom design/build solutions and business development opportunities.

Jim graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a double major in Biology.

Jim is a certified member of AES (Audio Engineering Society), SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), SVG (Sports Video Group) and Infocomm International.

Jim has successfully completed 35 years of vendor hardware certifications too numerous to mention and remains current with all certifications.

Jim enjoys spending his spare time in near or at the ocean where cell phones are not allowed!

Ted Manahan, CTS

Director of Sales & Systems Engineering

Ted Manahan is the Director Sales and Engineering at Video Visions. In early 2009 Ted joined our organization after a move back to the east coast.  Ted brought a large volume of experience with him when joining our team.  He has been in the professional audio visual business for better than 20 years.  Ted is manufacturer trained on Planar Display Systems, Orion Plasma Display Panels, Christie MicroTiles, Panasonic Professional Display Systems, NEC Display Systems, RGB Spectrum Processing & ICS Technologies Processing to name a few. Ted is an Infocomm/ICIA CTS Certified Technician.

In his past experience, he has served as Director of Audio Visual and Convention Services at major Las Vegas Hotels including Mandalay Bay and Green Valley Ranch.  He also managed their convention services, tradeshows, live corporate events and general sessions. In these positions, Ted was solely responsible for all audio visual products within the hotels.

Ted served as Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Wall One Inc., managing the sales, design and systems programming for the company’s west coast operations. A large accomplishment during his time at Mobile Wall One was the sale, installation and servicing of 4x20 Pioneer Videowall into the lobby of the MGM Hotel & Casino’s lobby.

Ted was also the Academic Director of Video at Live Production Institute in Las Vegas, a post-secondary technical institute for live AV production.

Ted’s career has taken him to over 350 arenas, stadiums, universities and convention centers throughout the country and world. His extensive experience in live production includes being a cameraman for every major sports championship in professional and intercollegiate athletics including the NFL Super Bowl (25 times), the NCAA Basketball Final Four (16 times), the NHL Stanley Cup Finals (8 times), the MLB World Series (4 times), the NBA Finals (4 times, the Olympic Games (3 times), the NBA All-Star Game, the NHL All-Star Game, Horse Racing Breeder’s Cup (13 times) and the PGA Golf Championship (6 times). He has covered the NFL as a cameraman for NFL Films for 38 years, network television for over 25 years and music videos for over 25 years. Ted has received three Emmy awards for cinematography and production as well as numerous other individual awards for technical achievement.

Some recent accomplishments of Ted’s would include the design & implementation of an 8 high x 10 wide Christie MicroTile Videowall display into the Hayden Planetarium at The American Museum Of Natural History as well as the implementation of all aspects of the new Student Center at Clarkson University which included an 8 high x 10 wide Christie MicroTile videowall among its many elements.

In his spare time, Ted is an avid golfer and movie lover, having thousands upon thousands of movies in his personal movie collection.

Jim Grimes, CTS

Director of Service

Jim Grimes began his career with Video Visions in 2011 as the Director of Service.  Jim’s many years of experience in the Audio Visual Service field made him the perfect fit for the position.  He has been working in the AV field since the early 1990’s.  Jim is an ICIA/Infocomm CTS Certified Technician.

As a Service Engineer, Jim has had the opportunity to work with virtually every piece of AV equipment in the Pro AV market.  He has been factory trained by many AV manufacturers including: Christie, AMX, Barco, Hitachi, Crestron and Planar/Clarity to name a few.

Before joining Video Visions, for more than fifteen years, Jim held the position of Regional Field Engineer at Electrosonic.  He was responsible for the Northeastern United States and has travelled in that region extensively.  He has worked for many clients ranging from: small board rooms to entire theme parks and retail stores to arenas.  Some of his clients have included: Major League Baseball Network, CBS Sports, The American Museum of Natural History, Corning Museum of Glass, Wells Fargo Arena, Madison Square Gardens, Disney, Best Buy, SAP, Busch Gardens, National Harbor and CBS Outdoor.

Jim holds a degree in Electronics and excels at troubleshooting.  He is dedicated and committed to providing clients the highest level of Service possible.

When Jim is not working or on call monitoring after hours clients, he enjoys camping with his family.

Vincent DiStasio, CTS

Director of Systems Design

Vincent DiStasio began his career with Video Visions in 1992 as an entry level Technician Assistant. It was quickly evident that his dedication and work ethic were going to make him a valuable asset to the organization.  Vince rapidly worked his way up in the company, becoming a Technician, a Lead Technician and eventually becoming a Systems Designer.He was named Director of Systems Design in late 2008.  Vince is an Infocomm/ICIA CTS Certified Technician.

Vince was involved with the early stages of the Videowall processors; he manufactured the Universal Basic & Universal Platinum Videowall processors from board level.   This was one of the first Videowall splitters manufactured in the US.  Through the years, Vince has been manufacturer trained on every type of Videowall processor as well as all types of Videowall display devices.  Some manufactures include; ICS Technologies, Element Labs, Sony, ICT Split Machine & HR1500’s, Orion Plasma Display, Pioneer, NEC Display, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Data Wall, Christie MicroTiles, Gundermann, Barco, GVC, RGB Spectrum, Clarity/Planar, Jupiter, Hitachi, Dotronix, Christie/Vista Spyder & Hantarex. His experience in Videowall displays spans from the early days of stacking CRT monitors to the current cutting edge technology of LED displays, seamless plasma & seamless LCD displays.

The larger the hurdle, the more Vince enjoys the task!  In 1992 during his apprentice days, he was involved with a national roll out for Wet Seal, installing 4x6 Videowalls of 27” CRT monitors with processors across the US – from California to Florida – and everywhere in-between. In 1995 Vince was a part of the team that installed a Videowall including 144 27” CRT monitors with nine Universal Videowall Processors into the NCAA Hall of Fame.  In 2007 Vince lead the team that installed the largest Versa Tile screen in the US into an elite Philadelphia night club.  He was one of the first non Panasonic technicians to install a 103” plasma panel, and is one of the only non Sharp technicians to have installed a 108” LCD panel.  His experience is second to none in large screen displays and Videowall display systems.  Throughout his nearly 20 years with the company, he has traveled across the entire United States and through most of Europe either installing audio visual equipment into client’s facilities or attending manufacturer training sessions.

As a Systems Designer Vince has worked on projects ranging from military installations such as Kennedy Space Center to retail stores such as Versace and Jones Apparel.  A few recent accomplishments were leading the team that allowed the Major League Baseball Network to launch on time; he was hands on involved with every aspect of their AV System & being the first field Systems Designer to successfully install a Christie MicroTile Videowall Display without manufacturer involvement.

Beginning his career in the field, his knowledge of the professional audio visual industry is vast as he truly understands every project that he designs with our sales team.  He still enjoys being a road warrior and getting his hands dirty out in the field with our installation crews.  He works with our sales team on a daily basis to help them achieve their client’s goals.  His commitment to his clients is often referred to as above and beyond.

In his spare time, Vince enjoys spending time with his family, including his wife Mary Ellen & their daughter Hannah. He enjoys bowling, golf, fishing, baseball, hockey, football and any other sports you can think of!

Joseph McConahy

Regional Sales Manager

Joseph McConahy is our Florida based Regional Sales Manager. He has worked for Video Visions since 2001. Joe specializes in Videowall applications and large screen displays.  He is especially involved in the government & military industries as well as with retail chain corporations.  He is well versed in cutting edge technologies, being on the forefront of the 103” plasma display panels, digital signage, Holopro technology, Plasmaxx display systems and all forms of Videowall technology including DLP, LED, LCD & plasma based.

Prior to Joe joining Video Visions, He worked for ICT of North America in their Orlando, Florida office.  ICT is a world renowned German based manufacturer of Videowall processors, control systems and media presentation devices.  He began his career with ICT as an Account Manager and worked his way up to Director of Sales.  When ICT closed their Orlando, FL North American office, Video Visions was delighted to bring him on board as an addition to our sales team.

With 13 plus years experience in the professional AV market, Joe’s background in both the rental and permanent installation market add a great value to his sales abilities.  He is well versed in all aspects of a job ranging from union requirements, labor scheduling, shipping management and show support.  His dedication to his clients is evident, as most of his clients build a relationship with Joe that leads to multiple sales.

Joe annually attends Infocomm & attends any sales classes offered by ICIA.  He is Panasonic, Extron, Planar and Mitsubishi trained.  

Joe graduated Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida in 1997 with a major in Finance and a minor in International Business with a Russian emphasis.

In his spare time, Joe especially enjoys Football and is a loyal Dallas Cowboys fan.  Joe and his wife Marina are always busy, chasing around their one year old triplets!