Danni Hastings

Three weeks into her first AV job, Danni Hastings returned from ISE 2025 with a very public promise to herself: at the following year’s show, she would be the one giving the product demonstrations.

She made good on it. After months of sitting in on customer demos, exploring Hive’s user interface, asking questions and practising with colleagues, Hastings arrived at ISE 2026 ready to present. She went on to deliver more demos than anyone else on the team, generating project leads that she says could become some of Hive’s largest sales this year and next.

Her wider role has expanded just as quickly. Hastings joined Hive Media Control as a customer service executive with no previous AV experience and has since moved into a combined sales team and HR coordinator position. After identifying that the growing company lacked formal HR infrastructure, she volunteered to take responsibility for it and is now introducing policies, refining processes and helping ensure compliance.

She has also pursued industry training through AVIXA and taken part in the RISE AV 2025 mentoring programme, followed by RISE Elevate in 2026.

Hastings wants AV to become more visible and accessible to people outside the sector, particularly younger audiences who experience immersive technology every day without necessarily knowing the industry behind it.