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Laserworld in 'Deal of the Year for Europe'

Details: 14 March 2016

Switzerland - The merger between the HB-Laserkomponenten GmbH and Laserworld (Switzerland) AG, which concluded in mid 2014, has been awarded Deal of the Year for Europe by Acquisitions International, a magazine specializing in the analysis and evaluation of company mergers and acquisitions worldwide.

"We're very happy to have received this award," says Norbert Stangl, sales and marketing director of the Laserworld Group. "The potential that arouse from this deal for the whole company group is huge and we already see the significant synergies and benefits.

"The Laserworld Group is continuously expanding, and there are more deals to be expected in our industry soon. There are already many other companies where Laserworld is involved in one or anot

The EM Acoustics EMS-51 – “a versatile, cost-effective delay, surround or fill speaker that is robust and delivers great sound with high SPL performance and doesn't require dedicated processors or amps”

Autograph continues to invest in EM Acoustics

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Autograph Sound Recording, one of the UK's most iconic names in theatre sound design and rental services, has recently invested in yet another very large batch of EMS-51 loudspeakers from EM Acoustics, bringing their total inventory up to an impressive 239 cabinets. This is in addition to the rest of their EM inventory which also includes i-8 and i-12 subwoofers as well as EMS-81 and EMS-121 full range loudspeakers.

According to Autograph's rental director, Scott Arnold, the ultra-compact passive EMS-51 has more than earned its stripes thanks to its ability to cater for a wide variety of different needs from different designers. "We decided to invest in a large quantity of EMS-51s as they fill a very particular niche in our inventory," he explained. "EMS-51 constitutes a versatile, cost-effective delay, surround or fill speaker that is robust and delivers gre

Psy recently played four sold-out shows at Seoul's 14,000-capacity Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena – with sound from Meyer Sound's LEO system.

Meyer Sound LEO goes 'Gangnam Style' with Psy

Details: 14 March 2016

South Korea - Psy, a global superstar, recently played four sold-out shows at Seoul's 14,000-capacity Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena. Dubbed All Night Stand, the hometown shows were powered by a Meyer Sound LEO linear large-scale sound reinforcement system.

"The extended headroom and linear output characteristic of LEO is huge with Psy's music," says Park Dong Won, the singer's veteran FOH engineer. "The highs were smooth and natural, even when we pushed the levels, and the dispersion meant uniform coverage for every seat. I'm not just confident in specifying LEO, but also proud to use it."

The system comprised dual main arrays, each with 15 LEO-M line array loudspeakers flown over two LYON-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers as down fill. Twenty-four 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements were arranged in a directional array, with seven MILO lin

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features.

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

Republica features a colonial style with chic explosions of colour, yet with delicate touches

Adimsa energises Mexican nightlife with Elation

Details: 14 March 2016

Mexico - Elation Professional's Mexican partner, Adimsa, is involved in a large variety of projects throughout the course of a year and often turns to Elation products to fulfill the demand for dynamic lighting. Recently, dimsa has supplied Elation LED lighting fixtures to several top clubs in Mexico including Republica-DF in Mexico City and Press Club in Monterrey.

Last fall, Adimsa supplied and installed Elation LED lighting in one of the bustling city's newest hotspots, Republica club. The 800-capacity club, inspired by the old house design of the Republica age, features a colonial style with chic explosions of colour, yet with delicate touches. Architect Filipao Nunes designed the space with the interior concept completed by Javier Díaz Ceo from Fortuna Lab in cooperation with Adimsa. Adimsa's's Edson Rivera was responsible for the lighting design.

One of the club's outst

The LTM LoadGuard Training School took place at the famous Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre.

LTM stages LoadGuard Motor School in Liverpool

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Wirral-based Lift Turn Move Ltd (LTM) has just staged a LoadGuard Training School at the famous Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre. 16 of their clients and a few members of the ACC team travelled from all over the country to attend the LoadGuard School. The course was extremely popular and could have been filled twice over.

The school was presented by LTM's technical manager, Dave Ward, with Jim Marshall backing him up. John Jones threw in a few anecdotes and stories about usage and application solutions. ACC Liverpool was a great venue and LTM had the ability to show the attendees the grids and LoadGuard hoists that were installed into ACC Liverpool back in 2008 when the venue was opened.

They had a chance to learn more about the LoadGuard Hoists. Completely stripping the hoist down to its component parts, then re-building it and operating the hoist.

It was a good g

Ravensbourne students work on BVE broadcasts

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - At BVE 2015, taking place at ExCel London from 24-26 February, nine students from London's Ravensbourne undergraduate Broadcast Engineering, Film, and TV courses will gain first-hand experience in live production by assisting in the daily show live from the BVE show floor.

"We are absolutely delighted to be participating in BVE and to be working at BVE in this very hands-on manner. It's invaluable experience for our students, allowing them to put the skills they've learned to excellent use in a live environment, surrounded by their future peers. It's a very exciting opportunity." said Martyn Gates, course leader for broadcast engineering at Ravensbourne.

Expertise is on hand, with the highly experienced producer, director and educator Den Lennie, as well as Jon Pratchett and Ben Sheriff (amongst a team of others) providing support and guidance for the Ravensbour

Blitz's Chris Jordan (left) with chief sound engineer Rob Faulkner

Blitz GES Is MADI for Bel Digital's monitor

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Long a staple part of recording and broadcast applications, in recent years Multichannel Audio Digital Interface - MADI - has become an integral part of many live productions. Ensuring that live engineers have the right diagnostic tools to interrogate MADI streams is therefore becoming increasingly important, which is why Blitz GES is the first live production company to invest in the Bel Digital BM-A2-64MADI, MADI monitor.

London-based Blitz GES is one of the UK's leading technical production companies as well as being the in-house technical event partner at London's ExCel and Olympia venues, the Birmingham NEC and Manchester Central convention complex. Servicing a wide array of high profile events, it's important that Blitz GES engineers have the best equipment to ensure the smooth running of every project.

Having experienced some MADI compatibility issues between devic

Strictly FX Highlights

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

Up to a 30% discount on insurance for qualified riggers announced

Doodson collaborates with PLASA NRC

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Doodson Entertainment Insurance is now offering up to a 30% discount on Public Liability insurance to NRC qualified riggers. Doodson Entertainment's existing freelancer offering (which benefits from international geographical & jurisdictional cover) now recognises this important qualification. Level 2 achievers will benefit from a 20% discount and Level 3 achievers will benefit from a huge 30% on Doodson Entertainment's usual premiums.

Doodsons has traditionally supported freelance riggers and rigging companies as part of its commitment to the entertainment industry. The company was brought to the attention of PLASA by members of the Rigging community as a major player in providing insurance for freelance technicians. With a shared vision and commitment to a safer industry they have worked together to find a way to advantage riggers who have achieved the National Rigging Ce

The Passenger tour started in summer 2014 with the launch of the Whisper album (photo: Jarrad Seng)

Robe BMFLs more than a whisper on Passenger tour

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - UK based folk singer / songwriter Passenger's recent Album tour campaign, Whispers, is drawing to a close with the acclaimed penultimate leg of the tour in Australia, featuring a show design by James Scott of UK based visual design collective Okulus, a new collaboration with LD / Visuals designer Louis Oliver.

In Australia, James was able to take advantage of Robe's latest BMFL Spot moving lights for the first time as part of the rig, which were supplied by MPH Australia, a leading lighting rental specialist. The rig contained 22 x BMFL Spots and 12 x Robe LEDWash 600s.

The BMFLs were used extensively throughout the performance for key and back lighting, with some positioned on the floor for eye-catching 'aerial sculpture' moments.

It was the first time that James had used BMFLs on one of his own shows - having first seen them demonstrated by Robe UK's Amy

Lighting designer Yan Prokofyev operates an ETC Cobalt desk at the Milk Music Festival

ETC Cobalt is the cream of the crop at Milk Festival

Details: 14 March 2016

Russia - Every year, farmers, milk lovers and music fans flock to Ufa - the dairy capital of Russia - to celebrate the Milk Music Festival. Festivalgoers can learn about the dairy industry, interact with farm animals, take a spin on amusement park rides, and - of course - enjoy locally sourced dairy products. One of the biggest draws to the festival is an open air stage featuring folk singing, dancing and musical groups. This year, the lighting for the performances was controlled by an ETC Cobalt 20 desk.

The Cobalt console was supplied by Kilowatt Rentals and Staging, who thought the desk's exceptional busking capabilities would be perfect for the Milk Media Festival. It controlled a rig full of moving lights, LED luminaires, audience blinders and strobe lights.

The festival was the first time that lighting designer Yan Prokofyev had used a Cobalt desk. ETC console trainer Vl

Roman Polanski's Bal de Vampires haunts Paris

Details: 14 March 2016

France - Created and directed by Roman Polanski, the theatre production of Bal de Vampires has an impressive 16-year track record, reaching over one million viewers in 12 countries. Currently playing in Paris at the Mogador Theatre, sound design for the rock-based musical production is in the deft and award winning hands of Tom Strebel and the team from Basel-based audiopool.

For Strebel, the greatest focus had to be on the intelligibility of the speech, as in his words, the production is "a very dynamic show, with a big rather than a very loud sound and as such, we needed plenty of low end and headroom to get the energy we wanted. Dance of the Vampires is very cleverly written with good songs and orchestrations, and very dense arrangements that nevertheless allow enough room to put in the vocals. Clarity was a priority, and a lot of work was done by the creat

The live ITV1 television broadcast show, produced by Indigo Television and hosted by Dermot O'Leary, took place at London's O2 Arena (photo: Scott Davies)

XL Video supplies National Television Awards

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - XL Video supplied LED screens, projection screens, media servers and screen management for the National Television Awards 2015.

The live ITV1 television broadcast show, produced by Indigo Television and hosted by Dermot O'Leary, took place at London's O2 Arena. It included a tribute to Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride, and a special recognition award for Doctor Who and Broadchurch actor, David Tennant.

This is the 11th consecutive year XL Video, and project manager, Paul Wood, has supplied the video production for the awards.

This year's design, created by set designer Chris Webster, incorporated 102m2 of XL's high definition ROE MC-7T 7mm Black-face LED as the main screen for the show, along with six Banner screens formed from XL's innovative MC-18T 18mm Hybrid LED.

The Hybrid banners were situated amongst the scenic elements either side of

Passers-by have been able to enjoy three different shows prepared for daytime, night-time or festive season for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve

SGM in festive mode on Berges de Seine

Details: 14 March 2016

France - On the banks of the River Seine, between the bridges Pont de la Concorde and Passerelle de Solférino, and close to Musée d'Orsay, lies a part of Paris that is always buzzing with pedestrians, day and night, and known as Berges de Seine. In this urban centre, Mairie de Paris (Paris City Hall) organised a special Christmas lighting installation, which ran from mid-December until the end of January.

Lighting designers from LightLab were looking for a solution evoking a permanent vertical flow, to create a special 'city life' impression. They introduced rental company, Lumière et Son, who last year brought the Hermès flagship store at Champs Elysées to life during Christmas using LB-100 LED Balls from SGM. Their suggestion to create a 3D graphic volume to inspire city movements was met with great enthusiasm by the client.

Lumière et Son prepared a

European RDM and sACN Developers Conference and Plugfest - 2015

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Registration for the fifth European RDM and sACN Developers Conference and Plugfest is now open.

The event will run Wednesday 22nd, Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th April 2015, in the UK, at Gatwick Manor, London Road at Lowfield Heath, just south of Gatwick Airport.

The Developers Conference provides a European forum for manufacturers, designers, consultants and prospective users to discuss and learn about the various control protocol standards emanating from the PLASA Technical Standards program, and aims to ensure that the adoption of these new standards achieves desired levels of interoperability and reliability.

Conference sessions will cover the use and implementation of the published RDM, sACN and ACN standards, together with other projects in the current PLASA Technical Standards Program such as "E1.33 : RDMnet".

The "Plugfest" is a hands-on o

The SPS 8 (Smart Paging Station) is the result of the hardware evolution of the BlueLine Digital System

Work Pro debuts smart paging station at ISE

Details: 14 March 2016

Spain/The Netherlands - In recent months, , Work Pro has been focused on developing new solutions for the integration sector. One of the most anticipated launches is the new Smart Paging Station 8 for BlueLine Digital System, the distributed audio system over IP designed and developed by Work Pro. The official launch of SPS 8 will take place at ISE in Amsterdam.

The new SPS 8 (Smart Paging Station) is the result of the hardware evolution of the BlueLine Digital System. The Work Pro team has created a multifunction device capable of working as a paging microphone as well as an audio server thanks to its RCA analogue stereo input with which the device turns it into digital and sends it to the network, thus any BLR receiver can tune in this channel.

In addition to SPS 8 and the enhanced BlueLine Digital System, Work Pro will be introducing at ISE 2015 the new installation loudspe

The HMA connectors are ruggedly designed and quickly field repairable should the need arise

VDC Tourlight cable available with HMA connectors

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Cable specialists VDC Trading has announced a new facility from its Fibre Optic Lab. As well as opticalCON connectors the industry established Van Damme Tourlight cable is available terminated with 2-channel and 4-channel HMA connectors.

HMA assemblies, benefiting from Stratos expanded beam technology, are available on the Van Damme Tourlight 50/125 OM3 multimode in two or four port form. They utilise a hermaphroditic interconnection meaning they connect freely with each other and alignment is no longer such a crucial factor. Designed for use in the field including military applications, The HMA connectors are ruggedly designed and quickly field repairable should the need arise.

VDC Trading CEO Niall Holden explained, "We have been delighted with our progress in the field of fibre optic cable. Our Van Damme Tourlight range has been a huge success, we beat our first y

New 5, 6 and 8-inch ceiling speakers from Cloud to be launches at ISE

Cloud to launch new speakers at ISE

Details: 14 March 2016

The Netherlands - Cloud Electronics has announced the launch of a new speaker range, with ISE 2015 providing the first opportunity to see and hear these innovative new additions.

The new range of speakers includes both surface and ceiling models tuned to "sound excellent with Cloud amplifiers and mixer amplifiers and so guarantee Clouds signature, Clearly Better Sound."

Features of the 5, 6 and 8-inch ceiling speakers include 2-way drivers offering consistent dispersion across broad frequency ranges, magnetic speaker grilles available in black or white, accessible high-impedance or low impedance switch settings and removable logs ensure Cloud speakers can be used discretely in almost any environment.

A range of new surface mount speakers will also be launched at ISE 2015.

Custom built for quality performance Cloud speakers are designed and tested to a superior st

Chrishan Peiris and Lloyd Miranda at CMA

Primacoustic installed in Dubai-based CMA

Details: 14 March 2016

UAE - Melody House, sole distributor of Primacoustic in the Middle East, has recently supplied the Centre for Musical Arts (CMA) with a complete acoustic solution providing the school with four London 12 room kits and thirty 2" broadband panels.

The London 12 room kit is designed for rooms that measure between 100 to 200sq.ft the London 12 employs a variant of the popular live-end, dead-end LEDE concept whereby the source end of the room is fitted with increased absorption while the receive end of the room is left more lively to retain a sense of air and space.

CMA is a non profit making organisation with a vision to develop and enhance the existing musical community initially in Dubai, but more importantly to make the musical experience available to the wider audience through its teaching programmes, concerts, recitals and workshops. CMA is one of only seven recognised e

The multi-functional assembly hall in the newly built Lees Brook Community School

Chauvet & School Stage light Derby community school

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - School Stage, the performing arts installation company offering exclusive provision to schools, colleges and universities - recently completed a project using Chauvet Professional fixtures to add colour and 'wow' factor to a multi-functional assembly hall in the newly built Lees Brook Community School in Chaddesden, Derby.

The new school building was commissioned by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) because, in direct contrast to the high standard of teaching, the school buildings were in poor shape - described by officials as being in the worst condition in the city.

However, no provision had been included for sound and lighting systems in the multi-functional assembly hall or drama studio. With the budget already stretched and sensing this was a real opportunity to create the hall as a spectacular performance space, the school's former head teacher came out of retireme

The intense beams from the Rogue units are used to accent the flamboyant moves of the tour's cast

Chauvet Professional dances with the stars

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - When you have only one trailer for a high-profile tour, every fixture you load into it had better count. Butch Allen, the 2014 Parnelli Award Lighting Designer of the Year who has toured with a long list of superstars from Van Halen and Jennifer Lopez to Metallica and Usher, demonstrated this principle in stunning fashion recently when he created a maximum "bang for the inch" rig for the sold-out Dancing With The Stars Live! tour.

"We had to fit everything - and I mean everything -- from costumes and props to the show's famous mirror balls into a single trailer for this tour," said Allen. "Ray Woodbury of RK Diversified Entertainment did an amazing job helping me put together a rig that delivered all the lighting punch we needed, while not taking up an inordinate amount of space in the trailer."

The "workhorse" of this rig,

Colette Carter brings a wealth of experience to the Stage Electrics London and Bristol operations

Stage Electrics restructures hire sales team

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - With Colette Carter having recently joined Stage Electrics as sales manager with responsibility for developing growth in hire, Colette has been swift to act by restructuring the customer facing hire team.

Based at the company's headquarters, Colette brings a wealth of experience to the Stage Electrics London and Bristol operations, having worked for more than 20 years within the engineering and distribution industries.

Previously, Colette was branch manager at Buck and Hickman, one of the UK's leading distributors of tools, maintenance and health and safety equipment. Prior to that she had moved up 'through the ranks', holding a number of key management positions.

On joining Stage Electrics she was tasked by Adrian Searle, head of technical & hire operations to re-focus the company's hire sales team.

"My background is predominantly in people management and develo