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14 December 2016

PLASA Focus: Leeds is a well-established date on the industry trade show calendar, and senior personnel from Pearce Hire will be on hand at the show to meet existing and new clients who are visiting the show. The two-day show provides ample opportunity for the team to discuss event production needs, on any scale and at any venue or site (greenfield, urban or otherwise) and how Pearce Hire can provide turnkey solutions for power, lighting, audio and staging requirements.

Pearce Hire has become a regular exhibitor at PLASA Focus and will once more be promoting their production services and rental business. With an increase in events and a growing portfolio of new customers, Pearce Hire is in

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14 December 2016

"Young adults from within the community with a passion and talent for music, dance, singing and performing were carefully sourced and identified through schools, colleges, community centres, youth groups and churches," explained Karen Burt, founder and facilitator of Inspired Stages. "They were nominated by teachers and peers as individuals who showed potential as both a performer and role model and who would be best suited to the mentorship opportunity.

"The programme was intensive," says Karen. "We went further than natural talent and passion. We trained the mentors in a fully comprehensive programme in

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14 December 2016

Flag Flying - Eurovision bosses have relaxed their flag rules, meaning the UK entry can fly a Welsh flag. It was originally included in a list of banned flags because its red dragon was considered a political statement. Previously only flags of contest members and UN states were allowed due to the event's non-political nature. The UK ent

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14 December 2016

The 2016 Mic to Monitor tour kicked off on 11 April at the new Abbey Road Institute in Berlin, before moving to Los Angeles, USA, for its second event on 27 April. It will ultimately take in over 10 cities around the world, including Paris in June and Amsterdam in October, where it will be held at Abbey Road Institute's sixth centre, which is due to open later this year.

Targeted at music production students, hobbyists and professionals, Mic to Monitor aims to dispel the many myths surrounding the recording process. The events answer those all-important questions such as what makes great gear great, what does it take to become a succe

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14 December 2016

Edwin Higgins joins Maestra London as technical manager, Lewis Edwards is the new warehouse manager, Juliet Irvine-Fortescue comes on-board as operations & logistics co-ordinator and Hannah Piercy is the company's second production designer.

Maestra London MD Justin Hammond comments, "We've experienced an incredible start to business since launching the company in January, and the timing of these new appointments is partly a reflection of this, but they were also a key to our planned expansion strategy. We have strengthened our talented and highly motivated team ahead of a busy summer."

(Jim Evans)

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14 December 2016

The technical production, steered once again by Technical Director Ola Melzig (this being his 12th Eurovision production) featured many of the same design and technical team who worked together on Eurovision when it was held in Malm

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14 December 2016

This was a major construction programme and Stage Electrics were involved on-site in the realisation of this transformation for over four years working to the design brief created by Charcoalblue (theatre consultants), Buro Happold (engineers) and Bennetts Associates (architects).

This project was a huge collaborative effort with a number of different contributors all handpicked by the RSC. More recently, Stage Electrics have been engaged by RSC in a technical refit of The Other Place, a space created to house the company while their main theatre was being transformed. The RSC technica

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14 December 2016

Taking place on 16 June at Daytona Sandown Park in Esher, Surrey, the Behind the Scenes Kartfest will see a total of 32 teams test their endurance in three hours of non-stop racing, with a prize for the fastest lap, sponsored by Medialease, followed by an exciting - and amusing - F1-style pit stop challenge.

This year, there's extra entertainment for racers and non-racers alike, including coverage of the day's England v Wales EURO 2016 match, live music from up and coming artists, who are donating their time to play after the race as the sun goes down a Mediterranean-style BBQ and a raffle, which features some great prizes.

"We're absolutely delighted that we've sold out so far in advance of the day," says White Ligh

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14 December 2016

Theatre 2016 took place from 12-13 May and was held across three West End venues: The Piccadilly, Lyric and Arts Theatres. The programme looked at new challenges facing the industry and what organisations needed to do to ensure future success. Bryan Raven, WL's managing director, comments, "This is the first time that a theatre conference

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14 December 2016

Christopher Toulmin, Director of PLASA Events comments: "The feedback from the show so far has been extremely positive, with a large emphasis on the quantity of business achieved. PLASA Focus Leeds had £425million worth of visitor spending power registered to the show, cementing its importance as a must-attend event for the region."

This point is reinforced by Bridget Kaur, J&C Joel's UK?sales rep for the south, who comments: "The show has been busy, as always. We'v

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14 December 2016

Dave, Le Mark's national business development manager, tragically suffered a stroke in June 2015 and passed away one month later. Kirsty wanted to commemorate the anniversary of Dave's passing and at the same time find a way to thank and support both the Woodlands Centre at Hinchingbrooke and Addenbrookes Hospitals, which battled to save his life.

After discussing with friends and colleagues Kirsty's decision was to ensure it was a true celebration of Dave's life and the idea of a VIP Charity Ball was born. Forming a group under the heading of 'Friends of Huntingdon Charity' the event has grown and grown.

Kirsty says: "It's been incredible. Once people knew of the plans and the charities that would benefit, local business people came forward and

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14 December 2016

Councils have warned that the problem is increasing, with total losses up from £3.35m in 2014. Officials say that summer could be "ripe for criminals to exploit desperate fans", with a series of sporting events, festivals and Wembley concerts by Beyoncé, Rihanna and Bruce Springsteen all expected to be targeted by fraudsters.

Grounded - Eagles of Death Metal have been dropped from two French music festivals, after their singer reiterated his suggestion that securit

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14 December 2016

The CRC02-DTC, the FT-DTC and the FT01-Q-DTC - are all thermostatically controlled for optimised heat management in 19" racking installations.

Digital control gives refined and super accurate heat management via continuous temperature minoring and 'set-and-forget' fan control. All the products are optimised for quiet running, have over-temperature alarms and benefit from running off a universal power supply.

The units are engineered to the robust and reliable specifications common to all Penn Elcom products

The CRC02 thermo exhaust blower is a completely new 2U virtually silent (22.5 dBA) fan exhaust unit designed especially for use with 19" equipment rack units, to expel air from the front of the rack unit.

It can be

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14 December 2016

The new fixtures are the ideal luminaires for stage, studio and location lighting setups. Available in six sizes, these bi-colour studio fixtures feature all-new Cinemitter LEDs, the first truly cinematic LED light sources available. TLCI rated at 96/97, this duo of 2600

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14 December 2016

Hughston Engineering has pledged a percentage of the profits from sales of their Male and Female SOCAPEX Cable Testers to support the charity. The Female Tester features an Edison input, rotary dial for each circuit, 20A circuit breaker, and 6 indicator lights while the Male Tester includes a continuity tester and 6 indicator lights. All of Hughston Engineering's products are made in-house by IATSE Local 16 employees. All products are rigorously tested to ensure the utmost quality and they are an ETL-Listed shop.

Upon announcing the pledge, Lance Hughston, Sr. stated, "I want to support Behind the Scenes because they are a great organization that helps a lot of stagehands when they can't work and

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14 December 2016

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14 December 2016

This year's Electric Castle is a fully cashless festival, delivering benefits to guests including significantly reduced queue times, increased convenience and enhanced security. Electric Castle takes place from 14-17 July in the grounds of B

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14 December 2016

Tim Eyles, Theatres Trust Chair, says, "With our renewed strategy for protecting theatres in our 40th anniversary year, we're delighted that our HLF Sharing Heritage grant award will help more people discover our country's fantastically rich built theatrical heritage. The project also offers an excellent paid opportunity for those seeking a career in archive and heritage work to gain valuable skills and contribute to the development of the

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14 December 2016

"(I wrote this five years ago, as a gift to Francis on his 80th birthday. Following the news of his passing last week, it feels like deserves a wider audience, with just a very sad change of tense...)

Every month as I sat down to write about another classic product, a wave of guilt swept across me: I was the wrong man for the job. There was someone out me who could write better, light better and, for good measure, lived through more of the products that are now classics (and many, many less good ones besides!) Maybe Classic Gear would have been better in the hands of Francis Reid. Or maybe that age, that experience means something different: that we should actually have considered Francis himself a classic!

The qualifications? Well, th

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14 December 2016

"After 18 great years at PRG, I have decided to move on," says Curbishley. "Looking back what a fantastic journey it has been. From a tiny warehouse in West London where we spent the first week removing dead pigeons to the glamorous Hollywood Hills. I have been extremely proud of the professional and personal achievements my time at PRG has afforded me but now I feel it is time to begin a new journey in this amazing and ever-changing industry."

Curbishley also notes that he wants to thank the people that have made his journey at PRG so special. "I will mis

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14 December 2016

This year's tour will take to the road between the 7th and 11th of July somewhere within 100 miles of central London.

The Theatrical Guild, celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, has long helped those working in backstage and front of house roles during their times of need. The organisation offers advice, re-training opportunities or one-off grants to those who, due to a range of circumstances, may require support.

The ride has a new format this year. For the first time ever the route and venues that will be visited along the way are top secret. The details will be revealed at the Thursday night briefing on the 7th of July. More informati

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14 December 2016

Hall of Fame - Lionel Richie, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Nile Rodgers and Marvin Gaye were among those honoured by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Richie won the most prestigious prize, given to a songwriter who has already been inducted. The inductees also included Rodgers' writing partner Bernard Edwards and Wild Thing songwriter Chip Taylor. The celebration in New York also f

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14 December 2016

Penn Elcom chairman and founder Roger Willems stated: "The Irish pro entertainment industry market shows definitive signs of recovering from the economic dip, there are many installations and other projects happening and flourishing! It's been our intention to open a base there for some time, but then circumstances converged to make this a really opportune time."

These circumstances include Rory becoming available to run Penn Elcom Ireland and also the 7000sq.ft warehouse facility in south County Dublin coming on-stream, so with these two plusses, Roger activated the plan. Stock of Penn's extensive standard flightca

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14 December 2016

PLASA Show's first year at Olympia sees the show showcasing the latest technology in Olympia's National Hall and the Gallery floor above, with the two seminar theatres, product demos and interactive showcases also situated on the Gallery floor.

As always, every session at the PLASA 2016 Seminar Programme is free-to-attend, with subjects including audio, lighting, AV, staging and business skills being covered. The first 15 have been confirmed and include the return of LSI journalist Phil Ward's popular panel