UAE - Unusual Rigging and Engineering LLC, has appointed Denis Bramhall as its new managing partner. Denis, who has been with Unusual Rigging for 15 years, will be taking over from Alan Thomson, who is retiring after nearly eight years in the region. The appointment will become effective early in the second quarter of 2016.

Denis joined Unusual in 2000 from Tomcat, as operations manager, taking on the role of general manager in 2014. Based at the company's Northamptonshire headquarters in the UK, he has overseen the company's expansion, including the opening of a new 1200sqm facility

UK - A Chippenham-based company that helps facilitate major public occasions has invested in a range of new energy efficient tower lights to be used at high profile events, such as London's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Power Logistics specialises in providing temporary power, heating and lighting for the event and entertainment sector.

It has now bought a further 20 state of the art, energy-efficient lights thanks to asset finance facility provided by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. The lights will be used this year in functions across the UK.

The investment is part of the busi

The Netherlands - During its yearly PIE event (Prolyte immersion event), which was held in Amsterdam from 10-12 January, Prolyte honoured its distributing network by handing out awards for highest turnover levels, non-turnover related achievements and awards for special contribution.

Starting on Sunday with a special dinner and party to celebrate its 25th anniversary year, the event started on a high note.

With over 110 persons attending, both key personnel and distributor representatives from all four corners of the globe, the atmosphere was lively and animated. Mixing dinner wit

UK - A new production of Harvey Granville Barker's play Waste is currently showing at The National's Lyttelton Theatre with smooth 'swipe' curtain movements utilising Triple E's Chaintrack, Unitrack and Unibeam systems.

The controversial play, which was famously banned by the censors when it was first written, tells the story of the ambitious independent politician Henry Trebell and his plans for a bill to disestablish the Church of England.

The National Theatre's deputy production manager Clíona Ní Mhocháin approached Triple E's managing director David Edelstein to assi

Denmark - The Musikteater in Vejle, Denmark is a busy - primarily - receiving theatre with a 1200 capacity flexible main auditorium that can be fully seated in a traditional set up or have a standing configuration. The venue also hosts corporate and private events, and the technical team co-ordinate production for a month long outdoor summer entertainment season in the park. They additionally provide technical production for the nearby Spectrum Conference & Sports Centre, which is also run by the city.

Musikteater's investment in Kinesys products started around six years ago, explain

UK - Straightpoint has appointed Dave Mullard as business development manager. Mullard, a force measurement, load monitoring and suspended weighing load cell professional completed his move from a fellow lifting equipment manufacturer this week, joining the Hampshire, UK-based Straightpoint on 18 January. He is keen to further advance a blossoming career in the below-the-hook sector, while spearheading his new company's continued growth in Europe, Africa and Russia.

Mullard comments: "I have enjoyed the challenges presented by the lifting industry in relation to weighing technol

UK - Lex Products, has expanded its EverGrip line of cable assemblies to bring breakthrough technology and innovation to CEE extensions.

To help resolve the long-time industry problems of loosened screw terminals, damaged housings and ineffective cable strain reliefs, Lex Products has developed the new EverGrip Moulded CEE Extension, the first-ever over-moulded CEE cable extension.

The Evergrip Moulded CEE extensions feature a UV stabilized mould material to prevent degradation of housing when used outdoors, ergonomic hand grip to provide a firm gripping surface for easy connector

Dubai - Protec, the one of Dubai's largest event rental companies used its BlackTrax real-time motion tracking system and its d3 Technologies' 4x4pro media servers to deliver some complex projection mapping for the grand opening ceremony for the World Air Games 2015 held at Sky Dive Dubai.

Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) ushered in the 4th FAI World Air Games (WAG) at an impressive and colourful opening ceremony on December 3, 2015 in front of an appreciative audience of nearly 5,000 spectators, which included off

UK - This year saw the live TV ceremony, hosted by Dermot O'Leary, award EastEnders Best Serial Drama, Suranne Jones scooped Drama Performance, Best Newcomer went to Shayne Ward and Ant & Dec won Best Presenter for a 15th year running.

Arena Seating co-sponsored the 21st year of the star-studded event to supply 678 fully upholstered flat tip-up Diplomat seats with arms, which were installed in the front stalls section of London's O2 Arena, reserved for the VIP TV personality nominees and winners

Martin Clark, Arena Seating project manager and his 12-strong team, took just o

Ireland - Croke Park in Dublin has been at the heart of Irish sporting life for over 100 years. Boasting a capacity of more than 82,000 people, the stadium is home to the Gaelic Games and the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The venue is also a prime location for meetings and events, so when its flagship Hogan Suite recently underwent refurbishment, Doughty Engineering was called upon by Cine Electric to supply all the new facility panels.

David McKeown, project manager at Cine Electric explained: "This is an extremely prestigious job for us - Croke Park isn't ju

UK - Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's musical Mary Poppins originally opened in 2004 and ran in the West End for three years. Since then over 11m people worldwide have seen the show, which has just returned to the UK, opening in October at Curve in Leicester. The musical will tour the country until the start of 2017.

The demanding tour is packed from start to finish with stunning special effects and in order to be able to re-create the exact same magic in every venue, senior production manager Chris Boone enlisted the help of Unusual Rigging.

"I have a long running rela

UK - Triple E's universal building system, ModTruss, has provided a strong and versatile solution to fly a powerfully bright 18kW Arrimax HMI head in an arc over the stage for the world premiere performances of Morgen und Abend at London's Royal Opera House.

The production team approached Hertfordshire-based 'theatre magicians' Lamp & Pencil to devise a solution for flying the Arrimax HMI head in a moving yoke across the stage to represent the path of the sun.

The vertical movement of the lamp is achieved with the existing flying system at the venues. The horizontal movemen

The Netherlands - Showlogix, a developer of show and media control software, will be introducing their version 2 which offers a real-time 3D rendering engine, along with a tool to project on complex objects.

Content creation can be entirely separated from the positions of the projectors. Showlogix can use content rendered as unwrapped UV-texture of the 3D model, or also accept any 2D video, images, external inputs or text which will appear non-distorted, using projective texture mapping.

By dragging the projector point, the outputs are calibrated in real-time. Edge-blend masks are

UK - Unusual Rigging has been highly commended for its efforts in implementing a circular economy in The Circulars 2016 Awards. The Circulars, the world's premier circular economy award programme, offers recognition to individuals and organisations across the world that have made a notable contribution to driving circular economy principles - where growth doesn't depend on the use of scarce natural resources. Unusual Rigging has been shortlisted from thousands of entries to receive the commendation in the 'Ecolab Award for Circular Economy Enterprise'.

Tom Harper, who heads the drive

UK - With an increase of 26% of floorspace, the second edition of PLASA Focus Glasgow has been hailed a success with 50% more brands showcasing the latest in live entertainment technology and attendees increased by 32% since the inaugural show in 2014.

Cementing itself as the industry's essential meeting place for the region, the show - which opened its doors at the SECC from 20-21 January - offered live product demonstrations, two days of high quality seminar sessions and over 75 brands in an environment ideal for networking and generating business face-to-face. Attracting visitors

UK - Behind the Scenes UK Golf Day will take place on 13 April at The Drift Golf Course in West Horsley, Surrey. This extremely popular event to raise funds for the charity is almost sold out so register your team now and don't miss out. Teams already signed up include Autograph, Crewsaders, Creative Technology, Delta Sound, Media Lease, Meyer Sound, Shure, Stage Technologies/Tait, White Light, and Wonder Works.

"We have a fantastic day planned based around a very competitive 18-hole team game. Bring your best shots for a day of fun, food, networking, competition and fund raisin

UK - Global flightcase hardware and 19 inch racking manufacturer Penn Elcom has launched Penn Elcom Online, a new all-encompassing online portal offering a comprehensive and convenient sales outlet for over 4000 product lines - http://www.pennelcomonline.com/

This includes the latest innovations from premium 'umbrella' brands, 19 inch rack specialist Pro Audio Stash and LED lighting solutions provider CLD distribution, which have merged with Penn Elcom Online in a dynamic fusion of all three popular and successful marques.

CLD Distribution and Pro Audio Stash joined the Penn Elcom

UK - TSG Policing has recruited former Avon & Somerset and Metropolitan Police Superintendent, Kevin Instance, as a task commander.

Kevin Instance was a Gold and Silver firearms and public or-der commander. He oversaw policing at the likes of international cricket matches, Glastonbury Festival and Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, as well as leading the UK police delegation for England football matches overseas.

In his role with TSG, Instance is tasked with assessing risk and making sure the right resources from the company are properly deployed at events.

David Boswell, ma

UK - Specialist rigging and chain hoist service and inspection centre, The Hoistpital, recently hosted an official EXE Rise Training session at their premises in Bedford for the maintenance team from Neg Earth, which owns a substantial quantity of EXE Rise chain hoists in both 1120kg and 2000kg Capacity.

With EXE Rise Hoists now being used on many of Neg Earths major shows, the team were keen to have official training to enable them to properly service and maintain their growing fleet. The Hoispital handle the annual inspection and certification for all of Neg Earth's motors and have

UK - Award-winning acoustics and theatre consultants, Sound Space Design and Anne Minors Performance Consultants have combined to form Sound Space Vision. The move formalises their long-standing working relationship and will continue to build on their success in performance, education and assembly spaces, as well as broadening their reach within the built environment.

Sound Space Vision enhances the rapport between performers and audiences, combining excellent spatial and technical design by AMPC with superb acoustics from SSD. Popular with audiences and operators, their performance

USA - J. R. Clancy has added two people to its technical and project management staff.

Felix Garcia has joined JRC as a controls engineer. In this position, he designs and draws electrical circuits for control systems, and tests and troubleshoots the circuits, processors and communications networks of installed equipment. Garcia tests equipment including motors and starters before they are shipped to the customer, and he trains end users in the operation of JRC's control systems.

Originally from Cuba, Garcia earned his degree in electrical engineering in Cuba, and worked for an oi

South Africa - A 'Fall Arrest & Basic Rescue' course will be hosted at DWR Distribution from 22-24 February 2016. This will be of interest to riggers and technicians, tower climbers, workers on elevated platforms and site managers - any person who may share in conducting a possible rescue, the company says.

The three day course has been approved by SETA, SAQA, DOL, Eskom, Vodacom, Cell C, MTN, MSN, Huawei Technologies Africa, ZTE, Anglo Coal & Platinum and Exxaro. Delegates who pass this course will receive a certificate valid for three years.

Delegate requirements include: A cert

UK - One of world's largest temporary power generation companies was recently (25 January 2016) fined a total of £36,000 for failing to ensure that workers were not exposed to risk. The company, Aggreko PLC, appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court to plead guilty to two charges, one under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the other under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. They also agreed to pay the Royal Borough's costs of £90,000.

The charges followed an electrical incident where a man suffered electrical burns during the fitting out of the Earl's Co

UK - The O2 London has purchased Mojo Barriers to keep concert and event audiences safe.

The Mojo Barriers UK office has sold front of stage crowd barrier systems to the The O2, extending its long term relationship with the venue.

UK manager Kevin Thorborn states, "This flagship UK venue is passionate about the safety and wellbeing of its audiences. We have rented barriers to them for many years, but this purchase reinforces its commitment to their patrons and artists.

"Having delivered the barriers to The O2, we then trained its staff in the installation and dismantl

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