It is the third time that DWR has participated in the 3 day exhibition, for the second time staged at the Coca Cola Dome venue in Northgate, Johannesburg. The show presented a diverse set of related seminars and discussions running in parallel, and on the Thursday evening, the annual TPSA Awards, presented by South Africa's Technical Production Services Association.
DWR won a Mediatech Platinum Award for the Best Booth Design, with the panel of independent judges hand-picked from international media attendees noting that they had made very efficient use of the space, creating an action-packed environment that highlighted the latest technologies available from their list of premium brands.
This includes Robe lighting, Philips Vari*lite, Avolites, MA Lighting, LTM, Le Maitre, MDG, Philips Selecon & Strand and many more. DWR co-ordinated 15 international brand representatives to be present on the stand for the duration of the show.
The DWR booth was busy and buzzing for all three days of the show - right up to closing time on Day 3. Duncan reckons that the footfall was similar in numbers to 2009, but noted that the quality and seriousness of visitors had gone up a few notches. It gave DWR an invaluable chance to meet potential new business contacts as well as catch up and touch base with the many existing familiar faces, "Overall, it was a great networking opportunity. It's important to have a presence and utilise the time for making face-to-face contact and taking advantage of being able to show attendees the latest technologies," comments Duncan.
He adds that they saw people from Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria and Botswana as well as from all regions of South Africa.
DWR distributed products attracting the most attention included the new Robe lighting MMX Spot - the first of a completely new generation of 1200 type moving light fixture, super-bright, featuring a unique Dual Graphic Wheel and utilising the Philips Platinum 35 lamp, with a very short arc, consuming just 800 Watts of power.
The Robe ROBIN 600 LEDWash - arguably the best LED wash light currently on the market and Robe's biggest selling fixture for a decade was also very popular, along with their smaller, brighter, lighter ROBIN 300 range of Spot, Wash and Beam fixtures. Robe was represented by their sales director, Harry von den Stemmen.
The new range of VARI*LITE 'Little Ones' - the 440, 770 and 880 Spot luminaires, which are small, lightweight and fast with impressive outputs and zoom ranges - were also of great interest, together with their new VLX3 LED wash which offers all the reliability and quality associated with the prestigious name.
The award winning booth design was a combination of ideas and ingenuity from Duncan Riley, Nic Britz from DWR technical support and Francois van der Merwe from MJ Event Gear, who supplied the trussing and structural elements. Dream Sets and MGG Productions and Blond Productions also contributed time, ideas and equipment.
(Claire Beeson)
