UK - At PLASA Show 2015, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd., a leading one-stop provider of professional equipment to the entertainment industry, is showcasing a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging and video solutions available from its portfolio of over 200 leading brands - in a large exhibition zone (stands F30 - F38), which also includes stands for sister company, A.C. Special Projects Ltd., and industry-sponsored 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Cars Championship (BTCC) racing driver, Jack Goff.

Staff from AC-ET's Lighting sales division are present throughout the show to demonstrate and discuss products showcased on dedicated brand stands within the AC-ET Zone for Chroma-Q, Jands, ProLights / ArchWork, Spotlight and GLP, as well as a selection of products from other leading brands including Philips Vari-Lite and Luminex.

In addition, AC-ET is la

UK - The annual PLASA Riggers Forum taking place at PLASA Show 2015 is an open floor discussion on issues that affect everyday working lives in the entertainment rigging industry. The conference will be presented by 20 plus international speakers and panellists and will begin with a keynote presentation by Hedwig de Meyer, StageCo's founder and president, whose long experience of building ground-breaking structures for the entertainment industry speaks for itself. Sessions following this will focus on the management of chain hoists, the impact of CDM regulations, an update from PLASA on the NRC and trainee rigger scheme, as well as the subject of trusses and their design.

Now in its sixth year, it is the go-to event in the calendar for riggers, rigging companies, venue management and safety professionals alike. The Riggers' Forum takes place once again on Sunday from 2pm - 5pm f

UK - Triple E's ModTruss is being deployed as the 'universal building system' for the Theatres Trust stage, the Technical Theatre Awards/USITT stand and the Technical Theatre Awards stage at PLASA this year.

Triple E launched ModTruss - best described as full size Meccano - in the UK market at the ABTT Theatre Show in June 2015. It was immediately recognised as 'Engineering Product of the Year' at the ABTT Awards.

ModTruss was Triple E's most ambitious launch since the company was formed in 1984. The product is set to revolutionise theatre staging, set building, stage machinery, construction and event markets.

"We're very excited that visitors to PLASA 2015 will be able to experience ModTruss," says Triple E's managing director, David Edelstein. "The feedback at ABTT was overwhelmingly positive, not only from the wider industry but also from the ABTT Awards ju

UK - Highlighted on Area Four's stand (H10) is the EXE CELL - Load Cell Interface system. Fully integrated into an EXE Rise chain hoist body, the PLASA Award for Innovation nominated system is designed to give riggers the possibility to see in real time, the individual weight applied to the chain hoist during all rigging operations. It can be operated as a stand-alone load sensor, or as part of a load monitoring network of chain hoists. The system is truly integrated, with the load cell discretely built into the hook assembly and an LED display, built into a metal end cover that can replace the standard end casing of the hoist.

Also highlighted on the Area Four stand are a range of truss solutions from Milos, Litec, James Thomas Engineering and Tomcat. Visit the team on stand H10 to find out more.

For more information about PLASA Show or to register please visit

UK - Visitors to the Doughty Engineering stand (E20) at this year's PLASA can expect to see two new prototype products on display as well as its familiar range of clamps and award winning Modular Rigging System.

A new Zenith stand joins the company's range of winch stands. Mark Chorley, design engineer at Doughty said, "The Doughty Zenith MKIII winch stands have been in regular service all over the world for more than 15 years, including use in some of the harshest conditions on earth. The Zenith MKIV builds upon these years of experience, evolving the design further."

Boasting new, ergonomically designed locking knobs, stronger lockings springs for more positive action and a redesigned stand base to prevent tangling when stowing, the improvements have been designed to aid functionality, and longevity, while ensuring it maintains its position as the premier winch sta

UK - The PLASA Awards for Innovation & Sustainability 2015 and the Gottelier Award, sponsored by Lighting&Sound International, were presented at the PLASA Show at London's ExCeL yesterday evening.

This year, 31 products were nominated for the Awards for Innovation & Sustainability, with eight awards presented, including a final Gold Award for Innovation.

The winners had to satisfy the judges that they demonstrate a new style of thinking, that they improve technical practice, have introduced new technologies, materials or techniques, that they feature patents or unique intellectual property, offer a new commercial advantage, or improve safety.

This year's Gottelier Award winner was David Cunningham, an early pioneer of computer lighting systems who developed a number of landmark products for Strand during the 1970s and 80s, including the Multi-Q memory lighting system, the Mi

UK - The 2015 PLASA Rigging Conference was once again attended by approximately 120 delegates including rigging professionals, representatives from the UK Health and Safety Executive and from venues and rigging companies across Europe and even further afield.

Technical content included the engineering principles behind aluminium truss design and the legal responsibilities involved with integrating chain hoists and control systems. Delegates made the most of the opportunity to ask the HSE questions about compliance and enforcement of the CDM Regulations 2015 in the entertainment industry.

Those attending reported they learned a great deal from each session and the event was very well worth taking the time to attend.

The conference will move to Olympia with the PLASA show in September 2016 where it is expected that the event will attract even more delegates as it has year on y

UK - Eurotruss has announced its expansion into the UK with the launch of Eurotruss Sales UK Ltd. Based in Northampton, the new UK facility will stock a wide range of popular product allowing for instant despatch, or customer collection.

Truss structures can be very complex; Eurotruss offers both ideas and solutions as part of their comprehensive service. The appointment of many new preferred partners across the globe shows Eurotruss are an innovative company, committed to growth in the market place.

"This move brings us ever closer to our customer, meaning we can be far more responsive to their needs by offering them, both locally stocked goods and expertise," said Martin Kuyper, CEO and founder of Eurotruss.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Blackout supported Achieving for Children, a Community Interest Company (CIC) creating a professional style performance stage with theatre curtains and drapes in its new youth centre.

Achieving for Children (AFC) is a social enterprise, set up to help provide better social, educational and community outcomes for children within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Following a recent investment from Richmond Council, AFC alongside of Richmond Council leading on project management and delivery of the project took action to revamp part of the popular youth centre - the Heatham House gym, to provide better facilities for the young people who attend, as well as those within the local community.

Heatham House is a Grade II listed building, situated in Twickenham, and is accessed by over 1,000 young people each year. Over the

UK - Three successful days in early October saw the PLASA Show bring its three-year stay at London's ExCeL to a close, with the promise of a revamped and reinvigorated event at Olympia for 2016.

New for this year, the innovative zoned layout of PLASA Show 2015 was clearly a success, allowing show visitors to easily find the exhibitors they wanted to visit. In turn, this meant exhibitors enjoyed the attention of high quality visitors throughout the show.

"We were extremely busy all day. We changed the way our stand looks for this year and it's worked fantastically," said Koy Neminathan, Sales Director for Avolites and Avolites Media after the first day.

As in previous years, PLASA Show Platinum sponsor Robe occupied a large area and Robe CEO Josef Valchar pronounced himself very pleased.

"We had a really positive reaction to the stand, with people truly thril

UK - When the drama facility at Elgin High School in Moray, Scotland, underwent refurbishment earlier this year, Jock Wallace, installations manager at Edinburgh based Black Light was asked to devise a way of providing raised and lower lighting within the studios. With cost and ease of use being significant factors, Jock turned to Doughty Engineering to build a bespoke solution.

Jock explained, "Having worked with the team at Doughty on several other educational projects, I had no hesitation in recommending them to FES Facilities Management, our client who was in charge of the refurbishment."

He continued, "Having looked at various other options, the Doughty Lighting Hoist ticked all the boxes - well priced and designed with the end user in mind. It also has the option of single phase power which made sense for this specific application, saving us time and money

USA - On 25 September, ANSI's Board of Standards Review approved the reaffirmation of the 2010 edition of ANSI E1.30-4, EPI 26, Device Description Language (DDL) Extensions for DMX512 and E1.31 Devices, and the revised version of ANSI E1.37-2, Entertainment Technology - Additional Message Sets for ANSI E1.20 (RDM) - Part 2, IPv4 & DNS Configuration Messages. ANSI E1.30-4 does what the title says: it defines protocol-specific extensions to the Device Description Language for describing DMX512 devices. ANSI E1.37-2 is another part of the multi-part, open-ended E1.37 standard. It provides Get/Set parameter messages for configuring network interfaces, routing information, and DNS settings on devices with IPv4 addresses.

Both standards are now published. They may be downloaded at no charge from http://tsp.plasa.org/freestandards; the free download is sponsored by Prosight Specialty I

USA - LDI 2015 will see the North American premiere of the latest upgrade to entertainment motion control systems expert XLNT Advanced Technologies' CyberHoist II system on Booth #142.

The new incarnation of the world's first intelligent, variable speed, robust chain hoist and control system, CyberHoist II CH528 (2015), has been specifically designed to overcome the creative, logistical and physical rigours of automation design for entertainment environments, large scale events and touring.

Since the system's successful preview launch at Prolight+Sound Frankfurt 2015, XLNT's research and development team has continued to fine tune its pro-user-valued features.

Although the system still features its signature strength, smooth operation, intuitive plug and play interface and compact design, under its hood is a range of improved software and hardware features, each steered by X

USA - Doughty Engineering's award winning Drop Arms and H Frames will continue to be the star attractions on the Doughty booth at this year's LDI. Visitors to the booth #2105 can see the system in action as well as finding out more about two new items which have been added to the Modular Rigging Range.

Manufactured from high tensile aluminium, the Drop Arms come in lengths of 9.84" (250mm), 19.68" (500mm), 39.37" (1000mm) and 78.75" (2000mm) which can be connected using conical couplers to create larger drops of approximately 19.68ft (6m). H-Frames are 16.3" (415mm) and 39.37" (1000mm) high with connectors available in 9.84"(250mm), 19.68" (500mm), 39.37" (1000mm) and 78.75" (2000mm). All have a safe working load of 220 lbs (100kg) and are available in powder coated silver or black finishes.

Mark Chorley design engineer at Doug

USA / UK - To "better serve the needs of the performing arts market", Wenger Corporation has announced organizational changes to support the growth strategy of this global segment.

Wenger Corporation's performing arts market segment will be led by Mike Murphy as general manager. He will also retain his current role as president of J.R. Clancy, a leading manufacturer of stage rigging equipment. Reporting to Murphy will be Mark Ingalls in the new position of performing arts segment manager. This newly created role will improve the customer experience with additional support, coordination and collaboration of multiproduct opportunities. Ingalls will continue to drive business as the product manager for Diva Acoustical Shells.

New to Wenger Corporation is John Hastie, named business development director - Europe and Middle East. Hastie has extensive global performing art

UK - Extra temperature controlled storage has been acquired to support the dramatic increase in demand for Le Mark Floors. With a new website officially launching only in September, online interest has produced an all-time high level of site traffic and inquiries, reports the company.

Le Mark's Stuart Gibbons commented, "We've made it so easy, the new site is completely focused around the user. A simple, easy to use layout allows you to find exactly the floor you're looking for with just a few clicks. It takes only seconds to request a sample or a bespoke quotation.

"Everything is geared to make it as time efficient for the user as possible, yet provide extensive levels of information and downloads, if required. We're developing the site further to allow each floor to have its own dedicated case study gallery where anyone can see how some of the biggest names in the

UK - PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) has outlined its current position in the wake of various recent changes, and asked for Members' feedback on its next steps as it moves forward into a new phase of its existence.

Speaking at a meeting for PLASA Members held during the PLASA Show, John Simpson, PLASA Governing Body chairman and chairman of the White Light Group of companies, said, "Without doubt our major issue this year has been that of diminishing profit, which has led to a critical cash-flow problem for the organisation.

"We have taken action in implementing cost-cutting measures across many parts of PLASA, including reduction in staff, putting the Eastbourne office up for sale and a substantial restructure of the organisation. We have overcome the immediate cash flow problems for 2015, but will be limited in services we can provide during

UK - Triple E has supplied a 12" ModTruss Rigging Structure to Cumbria-based Work at Height specialist Lyon Equipment for use as a platform for its Work at Height and rescue training.

The Lyon team first discovered ModTruss - the 'universal building system' likened to full size Meccano - at the ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace in June, where it was named 'Engineering Product of the Year'. Lyon Equipment's Ben Alderson used Triple E's Fly Tower, constructed from ModTruss, to carry out rescue demonstrations using Petzl and Lyon Work at Height and rescue equipment.

"When we first set up our systems, we were instantly impressed with how easy ModTruss was to climb on - the design of the product allows the user to climb it in a similar manner to a ladder," says Alderson. "The size of the smaller holes, certainly on the 12" section, means the user can at

UK - Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and rigging for the most recent Rudimental UK tour renewing their long term working relationship with designer Jonny Gaskell, culminating in a show at Alexandra Palace.

The tour started back in March and Jonny's visual concept - in its full incarnation - gradually revealed more elements as the set unfolded, an effervescent and cheeky mash-up of colour, movement, bouncing beams and lively visuals delivered with the band's characteristic carnivalesque and slightly edgy vibe - matching the infectious beat of their music.

The launch of the We The Generation album which shot to the UK number one slot in early October generated yet more excitement as eager fans flocked to catch the band's epic live performances.

The stage set was designed to be scaled to fit into various different spaces, however, only the largest venues - incl

UK Central Hall Westminster is Central London's largest conference centre. As Production Service Partner, White Light oversees all of the technical production support inside the venue and, over the next few months, will be installing the very latest lighting, AV and rigging technology. As part of this long-term upgrade, WL recently added a brand new motorised rigging system to the Great Hall, which will enhance any event that takes place inside this iconic space.

Prior to the installation, the rigging system inside the Great Hall had to be set up every time a different event took place. Jason Larcombe, WL's project manager, comments, "The motor rigging system consists of several LTM LoadGuard motors which are extremely adaptable to events of all sizes. Previously, if we wanted to rig equipment from the ceiling, this had to be manually carried and installed; quite an arduous

UK - Theatre Projects has appointed theatre consultant and international auditorium acoustic designer Rob Harris as a key consultant.

The move marks a significant strengthening of Theatre Projects' acoustic and theatre design team, as the company embarks on a number of high profile design projects worldwide.

Harris's impressive 35-year career as an acoustics specialist has seen him amass a plethora of prestigious design credits for cherished performing arts buildings including: Bridgewater Hall, Manchester; City Recital Hall, Sydney; Kilden konsertsal, Kristiansand; Bord Gâis Energy Theatre, Dublin and Kings Place, London.

Specifically, Harris is renowned for his acoustic design for some of the world's most iconic opera houses. These include collaborations with TP on both Glyndebourne Opera House and Oslo Opera House. In addition he has led on the Copenhagen Opera House, t

UK - It has been somewhat of an Alexander McQueen/ Unusual Rigging year. Five years after the death of the fashion designer, interest in both his work and the life that inspired it has been at an all time high. In March, the V&A Museum brought Unusual Rigging on board to assist with the displays for its McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit.

The show, which ran for 21 weeks, exceeded all expectations, making it the most popular in the V&A's history. Now a play which delves into the visionary imagination and dark dream world of the late designer is taking the West End by storm and Unusual Rigging are once again at the centre of the action.

Mark Davies, production rigger at Unusual Rigging, explained: "Lee Batty, the show's production manager, first involved Unusual in the project when the show opened to rave reviews at St James' Theatre. He subsequently got the green light

Europe - Global flightcase and loudspeaker component manufacturer Penn Elcom has launched a tough new low-noise 3U heat extraction unit which can be fitted to the front or back of any 19 inch racking unit to quickly, efficiently - and silently - suck the heat out of an enclosure.

This is good news for any environment e.g. conference and presentation spaces, theatres, concert halls, lectures theatres, interactive AV displays, boardrooms and demonstration facilities, etc. utilizing AV equipment where noise is a potential issue, distraction or annoyance, says the company.

Penn's R 'n' D team has pooled its considerable experience and practical knowledge of the racking market and produced an ultimate and well-engineered solution.

The versatile FP02-Q-3U fan unit emits 22.5 dB(A) - with a Sone (loudness) value of 0.3 - and can be fitted to any existing 19 inch racking unlit. At t

USA - Seven standards are posted for public review on the PLASA North America's TSP website at http://tsp.plasa.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php.

Some are reaffirmations of existing standards, some are withdrawals of existing standards, and some (the BSRs) are drafts of new standards. Comments are due before the end of the day on the date shown.

ANSI E1.3 - 2001 (R201x), Entertainment Technology - Lighting Control Systems - 0 to 10V Analog Control Specification. The standard describes a method of controlling current-sink devices and equipment by means of an analogue control voltage in the nominal range from zero to 10 volts positive, with the control signal current sourced from the controller. It is primarily intended for theatrical lighting controllers and controlled devices (e.g., dimmers), but any device could use this control method. The working group propos

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