Cobalt Digital Names Berend Blokzijl EMEA Sales Director

Cobalt Digital, designer and manufacturer of edge devices for live video production and master control, and a founding partner of openGear, has increased its international sales team with Berend Blokzijl, now director of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The announcement was made by Suzana Brady, SVP of worldwide sales and marketing, who said that Blokzijl’s appointment aligns with Cobalt’s global growth initiative having expanded the company in January by adding a representative office in Beijing.

“We’re delighted to welcome Berend to the Cobalt team as we grow the company worldwide,” Brady said. “His vast experience and knowledge of the industry and our technology as it relates to the EMEA region is a huge asset to the company and a tremendous benefit to our customers. We look forward to Berend’s input and contributions as our platform evolves to accommodate technological advances in diverse geographical areas and market segments.”

Blokzijl who will report to Brady, will be responsible for managing Cobalt’s sales operation and expanding the company’s presence in the EMEA regions. He joins Bob Nicholas, Cobalt’s VP of sales for Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia, on the international front as Nicholas leverages his deep knowledge of APAC to focus on the demands of the countries that comprise that rapidly growing market.

Based in The Netherlands, Blokzijl has more than 25 years’ experience working in the broadcast and satellite industries, as well as IT and telecoms, winning large accounts and building sales channels across EMEA and APAC.

Prior to joining Cobalt, he was senior sales manager at BFE Studio und Medien Systeme GmbH where he was responsible for building a global partner network. Previously he was regional director EMEA South at International Datacasting Corp. (IDC), a Canadian manufacturer of satellite up-link equipment and receivers.

Blokzijl, a veteran officer of the Dutch Merchant Navy, has an engineering degree in navigation and holds certificates in business administration from the Rotterdam Polytechnic. His multilingual talents include fluent English, native Dutch, conversational German as well as basic French and Spanish. He can be reached by email at [email protected], by telephone at +31 6 1311 7886 and on Skype at berend.blokzijl1.