Events

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14 March 2016

With PLASA providing a much needed fillip to the business, the question everyone wanted answering about LDI was whether it could pick up the baton and continue where PLASA left off. Well the jury’s marginally out on that one - certainly, the first day got off to a blistering start, but there were definitely times when things felt quiet on the show floor. That said, all the exhibitors I spoke to reported good levels of business and that’s the only yardstick a trade show should be measured by.

Much of the product on display had already made its presence felt at PLASA, but there were some real innovations and some noticeable trends. The undiminished homage to all things LED continues, to the point where Ellen Lampert-Greaux, part o

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14 March 2016

After a welcome drink in the Palladium’s Cinderella Bar, delegates were welcomed to the theatre by L&SI editor Ruth Rossington, before being given a fascinating potted history of the site and the venue by theatre manager Nick Bromley. Following this, the delegates were split into groups to begin the behind the scenes tour, which took in the automation control position, the lighting control room, the lighting rig, FOH sound desk, the under-stage engineering and the radio racks, plus a chance to view the amazing car itself, built by Howard Eaton Lighting Ltd. At each point, deleg

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14 March 2016

More than 150 set, costume and lighting designers, plus a distinguished band of theatre architects, are showing some of their best work produced over the last three years. Organizers Peter Ruthven Hall and Kate Burnett have prepared an excellent catalogue of the show (available from SBTD at £18), replete with sumptuous colour illustrations, but the very 2D nature of the book explains why you should, if at all possible, see the real 3D thing: the catalogue has a careful sketch from Nancy Surman of her costumes fo

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14 March 2016

Three of the world’s most successful music stars headlined the event, which was held to create awareness of HIV/Aids, as well as encourage tolerance of those affected by the disease. Alicia Keys, Usher and P. Diddy were joined by homegrown stars Mandoza, Zola, 101, Danny K, Bianca Le Grange and DJ Ready D.

Gearhouse South Africa was contracted to provide lighting, sound, structures, audio-visual, rigging and power. The SABC (South African Broadcast Corporation) filmed the show on behalf of MTV, for its MTV Presents Levi’s Jeans Staying Alive Concert In Association With YouthAids 90-minute

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14 March 2016

The awards, sponsored by O2, celebrated women’s achievements in music and related industries, with Sharon Osbourne walking away with the coveted ‘Woman of the Year Award’. Women from all areas of the music industry picked up awards in categories including lifetime achievement and special achievement of the year given by guest award presenters, from Dr Fox of Capital Radio fame, to Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and Will Young.

Canegreen Commercial was presented with the challenge of achieving audio coverage to all of the 450 guests in the Grand Ballroom at the Inter-Continental, from a central stage. They achieved this by flying eight Meyer UPA-1P S

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14 March 2016

The main programme involves a series of high profile speakers. On 28th January, Brian Blake, MBE presents a talk on ‘The do’s and don’ts of getting a licence.’ Blake has been responsible for the technical aspects of public entertainment licensing within Westminster for 27 years, and has covered a wide range of events, including outdoor concerts in Hyde Park, and the Queen’s Jubilee, where he was responsible for public safety and contingency planning.

On the 29th January, the focus is ‘Spotlight on Local Authorities.’ Sponsored by NOEA, the s

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14 March 2016

The event, postponed last year because of the Tube strikes, has been re-scheduled and re-designed to provide a broader exploration of exporting in general with a special focus on the fast-expanding Indian and Chinese markets. India has the largest film industry in the world and a significant proportion of domestic producers are now looking to enhance their production values in the hope that more Indian-made films are viewed by western cinema audiences. In the past, India has proved to be a challenging market beset with tariff and other bureaucratic barriers, however the World Trade Organisation rules mean that tariffs will be removed by 2005 and so now is the time to establis

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14 March 2016

The event is aimed at people working within the entertainment lighting industry who have experience in lighting or re-lighting shows; theatre electricians, technical assistants or similar grades within the industry.

The three-day Masterclass will use the 'Light Lab', a system used by Chris Parry at The University of Californ

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14 March 2016

No agenda has been set, but one of the main intentions of these regional meetings is to give members the chance to meet up and discuss issues about lighting and the lighting industry. It could also be an opportunity to talk about future regional meetings and how the ALD can help support them. A meeting in Bristol came up with several s

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14 March 2016

At a press conference at ProLight+Sound last year, Lightpower - a long-standing ProLight+Sou

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14 March 2016

The second Music China event is already generating great interest from manufacturers and so far over 120 companies have been confirmed as exhibitors or have made serious expressions of interest, say the organizers. The exhibition will be joined by a new international exhibition in China for the professional audio and entertainment lighting industry, ProLight+Sound Shanghai. ProLight+Sound Shanghai will be positioned as a professional marketing platform for manufacturers of sound production, broadcasting and recording equip

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14 March 2016

Over 1,200 voting forms from readers of Total Production determined the results of 16 of the 20 awards, which were variously sponsored by Rock-It Cargo, Midas, Klark Teknik, Star Hire, Martin Professional, Clay Paky, Barco, High End Systems, Shure, EFM and Chapman Freeborn.

Damon Albarn, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman made a special appearance at the lectern to pay a heartfelt tribute to tour manager Terry Coyle, who tragically died whilst on the road last November. "I'll always be looking for Terry for his support and guidance," said Albarn. "He was a good friend to me and to many people in this room

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14 March 2016

Aggreko is a world leader in the supply of temporary power, temperature control and oil-free compressed air services and has a track-record of successfully supporting events such as the FIFA 2002 World cup, numerous winter and summer Olympic Games and the 2003 Ski Championship in St Moritz.

This exclusive partnership will see the complementary strengths of both combined to deliver total power, cooling and technical solutions to events of all sizes and type throughout Europe. "The opportunity this link pres

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14 March 2016

PLASA's own research into the global market indicates that the sound and lighting sector generates $20 billion a year worldwide. "With so much construction and so many major events in the Middle East, we anticipate that the Middle East will grow to be worth $1 billion a year. The sector is already worth that a year in the UK and the Middle East can certainly match this given the level of activity here.

"This is a dynamic part of the world. It isn't afraid to be lo

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14 March 2016

The news came not at the official press conference, but several hours later when public notification was green-lighted by shadowy figures on the other end of mobile phones. New senior VP of marketing Ken Berger - returning to the EAW fold - clearly expected to announce the deal at the conference, but was forced to play out a double act with PR manager Kyle Ritland, as ink failed to dry on remote contracts. Still, the sigh of relief come 5.00pm, and official confirmation, was almost louder than Behringer's hairy metal duo on the next stand.

Berger's appointment was one of many 'people launches' in a show more crowded with new executives than new toys. At Soundcraft, Andy Trott lived up to his name and covered a

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14 March 2016

To date, CALM Expo has opened inroads for many international manufacturers and local companies to network and build businesses in the rising Chinese market. With the accession of China into WTO, the positive cultural directions revealed in the recent 16th Chinese Communist Party Congress and the prevailing reforms in China's performing arts and entertainment scene, such upbeat market forces inevitably increase the awareness of cultural developments across China and sound out immense business opportunities for the industry.

Recognizing the importance of industry advancements across

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14 March 2016

The Association Day is a key event in the PLASA calendar, and, in addition to featuring the AGM, will also include business-related sessions, together with plenty of opportunity for networking with other members. Invitations will be going out to PLASA Members in the next few weeks, and further information will be posted on the PLASA website

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14 March 2016

The seminar programme is expanding as well, and includes the introduction of CEDIA certification examinations for technicians and designers, developed by the UK Education Committee from a structure successfully employed in the US. Manufacturer training will also be integrated with the seminars to ensure that theory and practice are perfectly complemented. Extra curricular activities include the Chairman’s reception for invited guests on the night of 24 June and the Expo party the following evening.

The

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14 March 2016

Dimitris Papaioannou said: "Jack Morton Worldwide has an impressive track record and I am looking forward to working with them. We are all very honored to deliver the Ceremonies celebrating a special occasion: the return of the Games to their birthplace."

The appointment was announced by the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) this week after a seven-month bid process, which involved agencies from within Greece and throughout Europe. The European office of Jack Morton, based in London, led the bid with an international team most recently responsible for the successful pr

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14 March 2016

At an open day on March 25 at the MacOwan Theatre, Earl's Court, Scene Change, a specialist creator of still and animated digital video images, will demonstrate how life-like effects can be brought to the stage. Technical Director Nigel Sadler says: "It's already been embraced by nightclubs, but it's the next big thing for the theatre. This year, we're likely to see it begin to take off in the world of theatre lighting."

"There's so much more that can be done with it. We can create 'real' rain, 'real' snow, moving water, a sun rising -the possibilities are endless." The theatre world has been slower to pick up on the technology, whose uses include visual displays at cl

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14 March 2016

The event was managed by Jon Drape Event & Production Management, with production management and trucking provided by Andy Stratford at Walk the Plank. With a budget of just £50 to cover fuel, Jon and Andy appealed to Manchester’s production supply companies to come up with the goods, a call that was met with overwhelming support.

So it was that Manchester Light & S

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14 March 2016

Star Ice has been formed in partnership with European-based I.M.R. - a company with wide experience in the installation of ice rinks in Europe. I.M.R.'s cooling technology is highly efficient and has been proven to work consistently, even in the extreme temperatures of Dubai. The third partner in the consortium is power and temperature rental leader Aggreko, who will supply the chiller units, generators and boilers (fo

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14 March 2016

The Marketing Business is an informal association of three companies which together have over 60 years experience in the entertainment technology business and which individually are recognized as experts in their field: PE Consulting, Harmer PR and The Wells Partnership. PE Consulting was formed in 2002 by Peter Ed, previously marketing director for ETC Europe and business development manager for Strand Lighting. Peter’s experience will be of great benefit to companies wishing to expand their business by moving into exporting or into new market segments by combining tried and tested marketing techniques with in-depth k

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14 March 2016

The design team’s brief was to come up with a ‘rugged ballast’ with a reduced parts count. The result is a unique four-tube power circuit which employs just three FETs, including a ‘unity&rs