UK - Senior Management of CIE-Group - UK supply partners for some of the industry's leading audio & CCTV brands including Inter-M, FBT Audio Contractor and EverFocus - will be donning the cycling clips and hitting the road at the end of September as they undertake a 500-mile cycle ride across France in just three days.

Chris Edwards, CIE-Group's head of marketing and also chairman of local charity 'Derby Kids' Camp', will be joined by CIE-Group colleagues Steve Collin (head of sales) and Martin Featherstone (audio sales), as 'Team EverFocus' undertake this challenging three day event to raise much needed funds both for the children's charity and Wessex Heartbeat Foundation.

The funds raised will help Derby Kids' Camp to provide disadvantaged children from the local area with a free holiday and will also support the hard work of Wessex Heartbeat to provide specialist care for a

UK - Star Events Group has launched its new website (www.stareventsgroup.com) that offers "a host of new and unique features that will make choosing a Star Events Group stage or service even easier than before".

Features include 'Stage Choosing Wizard' which allows the visitor to quickly and simply determine which stage will suit a particular event by choosing options from the drop down menus. The Stage Comparator compares all the main technical specifications and other useful information of any, or all, of Star Events Group's range of stages, while the Gallery shows what can be achieved with each staging line.

Users with Login codes can get access to all the documents pertaining to a particular event. Star Events Group can host this service on request and the service will soon extend to venues that it operates in on a contract basis.

There is also a Useful Links s

Dubai - Following the appointment of PALME Middle East exhibition director, Alexander Heuff, show organisers IIR Exhibitions Entertainment & Installation Technology Group have announced the arrival of Neil Hickman as group exhibitions director. Most recently he has spent four years as director of the Cityscape series of events, based in Dubai.

Commenting on the continuing potential for sound and vision integrators in the region, Hickman said, "The boom in hotel build and future tourism attractions shows no sign of letting up - new projects are being announced on an almost daily basis. As a result, the professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration industries are expected to quadruple in the next three years as a result of opportunities in both the commercial and residential sectors."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Sonic Distribution recently celebrated five years in the business and has just acquired a new 5,500sq.ft distribution and warehousing facility and offices.

Sonic MD James Young comments: "It's been an amazing five years. In that short time we've been able to pick and choose leading brands to offer producers and musicians the ultimate solution from the ground up, no matter what their experience or set-ups, from bedroom studios right up to Real World studios.

"With our free loan service and Studio Sonic, we also offer the easiest ways for people to try before they buy. And with the new website, new lines and a brand new office complex we can only go from strength to strength. Here's to the next five years."

(Jim Evans)

UK - PLASA 07, the first PLASA Show managed in-house by PLASA Events, has been judged an 'outstanding success' by exhibitors and visitors alike - with a large number of this year's exhibitors already confirming their intention to return to the show in 2008. The show featured over 500 new product launches and attracted over 50 new exhibitors.

With the show floor packed on Monday morning, PLASA Events also announced its acquisition of the A.C. Lighting North trade show, bringing the PLASA Events' team's expertise and drive to this fast-growing event for the north of the UK.

PLASA 07's radical new layout saw an easy-to-navigate, one-floor event occupy both Earls Court 1 and 2, combined with lower noise limits and a smoke-free atmosphere - plus exhibitors' determination to make the most of the new opportunities with brand new stand designs. The massive growth in innovative video a

UK - Le Maitre chose the recent PLASA Show in London to celebrate the company's 30th birthday. Company directors Rick Wilson and Karen Haddon were joined by members of the media and industry luminaries to help them celebrate their great achievement.

In a short address, Wilson gave praise to all those people, past and present, who had helped them on the way: "Le Maitre has benefited from a great deal of help from both the industry and the media," he said. Karen Haddon added: "It's hard to believe that from such small beginnings, Le Maitre is now such an established international brand."

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Recently formed Scattered Media has announced the launch of its second exhibition - evenTech Ireland 2008 which is scheduled for 18-19 November, 2008, at the RDS, Dublin.

Scattered Media's Darren Brechin says: "As with other regions, the scope of development in Ireland now presents the perfect opportunity for the evenTech Ireland forum and similarly, the event will give a well-timed boost to the Irish entertainment and installation technology industry."

The launch of evenTech Ireland 2008 closely follows the announcement of evenTech Scotland 2008 - scheduled for 20-21 February, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel, Glasgow.

(Jim Evans)

UK - This year's winner of the Michael Northen Bursary, who received an honourable mention last year, is Georg Spindler who entered his lighting design for The Memory of Water, which formed part of the 2007 student show at LIPA.

Described by the judges as "creative in a very theatrical way, this was a beautifully documented and reasoned entry, with well presented sketches and photographs," the design won Spindler the £500 Bursary.

Presenting the award on 11 September at PLASA 07, Rick Fisher, chairman of the ALD, said: "There was definitely no 'favouritism' because this year, for the first time, the judges were not told the names of the entrants, so to us all the entries were anonymous."

The judges - ALD members Rick Fisher, Sam Gibbons, Mark Jonathan, Mary Pope, Paul Pyant, Mike Robertson and Mark White, also representing ETC - were unanimou

UK - A.C. Lighting has opened a new 24-hour online shop (www.aclighting.com/shop) to provide customers with round-the-clock ordering access to its range of entertainment technology brands.

Initially the shop will sell consumable items, but as it develops, A.C. Lighting will be introducing more and more items from its extensive range of lighting, audio and rigging products. Consumables currently available through the shop include batteries, effects fluid, filter sheets, gobos, gobo accessories, lamps and tape.

With the shop being available to customers worldwide and many items available in stock for immediate despatch, the new service provides customers with a fast, efficient way to order urgent items for speedy delivery, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

UK - For the second consecutive year, Stage One has been crowned 'Supplier of the Year,' receiving a Gold Award at the 2007 Event Awards.

"We are completely committed to providing a service for our clients that is second to none and winning this award is a reflection of the sheer hard work and professionalism that the entire Stage One team brings to bear on each and every project with which we are involved," said Simon Wood, sales director, stage and marketing.

Stage One won this award for their work on three high profile projects: the Asian Games, Eurovision Song Contest and Mercedes-Benz World.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The latest new face representing Stage Electrics on the London scene is Mark Burnett, who joins Paul Roughton as part of Chris Patton's team of business development managers.

Burnett has made the move from the company's Cambridge branch where he has been working for the last two years; and will be concentrating on the West End and touring theatre business.

(Jim Evans)

UK - 5 Star has reported a busy PLASA Show, with 'Robo Jock' - a joint concept venture between 5 Star, ABB Limited and Pioneer - proving "a real show-stopper" on the booth.

Robo-Jock was built to demonstrate a host of case design features available from 5 Star, including specialist wood machining, access flaps, vision panels, electrical facilities etc. It also illustrated 5 Star's design skills gained from many years experience in the field of case manufacture.

Robo-Jock was conceived and built by 5 Star. ABB, a world leader in Industrial Robotics, supplied the IRB140, six axis high resolution robot complete with custom made DVD suction device and 'operating finger'. ABB also supplied the controller and teach pendant, and also programmed all the robot movements to a brief from the 5 Star technical team.

Pioneer supplied a set of twin DVJ-1000s, seen for the first t

UK - Martin Professional A/S has announced the hiring of Tony Browne as the new managing director of Martin UK. Browne replaces Dave Caulfield, who headed Martin UK since 2003.

Browne has more than 20 years of lighting industry experience and comes to Martin UK from a specification sales director position at Zumtobel Lighting UK, where he focused on specification sales to architects and electrical designers the past 13 years.

"I have enjoyed building up a strong and competent sales team at Zumtobel UK, but am now ready for a new challenge at Martin," Browne stated. "I am looking forward to a somewhat different market that has a huge potential, building on a very sound and successful structure already established in the UK. The MD position is the next logical step for me and I look forward to focusing my motivation and drive in order to make it a success."

UK - The industry reference source, The White Book celebrates its 25th edition with the launch of a new website at the Showman's Show, at the Newbury Showground this month.

With more than 37,000 listings across 470 categories, www.whitebook.co.uk provides the event industry with its first dedicated search engine, claims the publisher.

Group sales manager, Michelle Tayton, said: "The White Book's experience and reputation within events organisation is second to none. With such a strong brand it made sense to launch an on-line resource that supports the directory and provides instant and accurate results at the click of the mouse."

(Jim Evans)

USA - The annual Behind the Scenes motorcycle raffle at LDI has become a hugely popular event. Because this year's bike is so special, The ESTA Foundation wanted everyone to have a chance to participate in the raffle, even those unable to attend LDI. A limited quantity of tickets will be available for purchase online from October 1-31 at www.estafoundation.org/bts/events/LDI2007_Raffle.htm. Tickets are $50 each or five for $200. Raffle tickets also include the chance to win the 2nd place prize of a $2500 VISA gift card or the 3rd place prize of a $1000 VISA gift card.

Raffle tickets will be available throughout the LDI 2007 show at the Behind the Scenes booth #1245 and in the evenings at the ESTA Annual Dinner, the Rose Brand Party, and LDI's Texas Hold 'Em Tournament to benefit Behind the Scenes

UK - Artistic Licence has announced the launch of the new web site at www.ArtisticLicence.com. The site contains a range of features that will provide customers and the industry a genuine technical resource, says the company.

The site now provides customers with the ability to log in, save and re-use equipment lists and previous orders. A new projects section allows customers to see how others have successfully used the products.

The support section provides a wealth of information including software downloads, user guides, cad files and frequently asked questions. There is also an online technical dictionary.

The products listing is now fully searchable and cross referenced. Every product displayed will also show links to both higher and lower specification models to make the customers' decision simpler. Products also provide even more technical information, cross referenci

UK - Sadly, we report that Richard Lyon, chairman of RW Salt Communications passed away on 1 October 2007. He had been battling cancer for just over 12 months. Richard had been co-owner and chairman of RW Salt Communications since 1997 and prior to that had been chairman of Akusta and Federal Signal.

Craig Buckley managing director of RW Salt and Richard's business partner since 2004 comments, "Richard will be sadly missed by all at RW Salt Communications. He was a supreme business and financial manager but most importantly he was decent, kind, honest and the very best friend anyone could hope for, I personally could not have asked for a better mentor and we will continue to develop our company with the same high levels of quality and integrity that Richard stood for.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to Richards family and friends at this exceptionally sad time."

UK - Earlier this week, two pallets of Kramer Electronics equipment were stolen from the back of a lorry in Hemel Hempstead, UK.

Amongst the long list of items stolen were the first VS-42HDMI 4x2 HDMI matrix switchers to be brought into the UK, and the first FC-31 UXGA-DVI converter. Products suitable for broadcast, professional AV and custom install were stolen.

If anybody has any suspicions about Kramer goods being offered to them, they can contact PC 2129 Fontenelle from Hertfordshire Constabulary, on 01442 271017, quoting crime ref DI/07/8568.

(Jim Evans)

- Thierry Ollivier, sales manager of Norway's projectiondesign, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Integrated Systems Events. He will serve a two-year term, during which he will contribute to the development of Integrated Systems Europe, the Integrated Systems Roadshow, Integrated Systems Russia and other events.

Ollivier says: "It's a great honour to be invited to contribute to the development of Integrated Systems Events. I love to take on new initiatives and I'm sure I can make a difference during my term of office."

(Jim Evans)

USA - The Wally Russell Fund has announced that the unanimous choice of the Board of Directors for the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award is Fred Foster, CEO of Electronic Theatre Controls.

"Fred's visionary leadership has propelled ETC into the top rank of the world's leading manufacturers of stage lighting equipment. ETC has been constantly innovative in technology with such products as the Source Four spotlight, the Sensor dimmer and the EOS and Obsession control systems. From the outset of ETC in 1975, Fred knew that the stage lighting industry was a people-oriented one and he has constantly attracted the brightest talent in the world to his rapidly growing international business," commented Richard Pilbrow, Chairman Emeritus of The Wally Russell Fund.

"Fred is by far the youngest winner of the Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award," commented Tom Folso

USA - D-Tools has announced that Focal has joined the D-Tools Manufacturer Vantage Point (MVP) programme, making it easy for users of D-Tools' System Integrator software to specify Focal products for client projects.

"The MVP Programme will give us a new channel of customers to offer our product information to and contribute to the success of their projects," said Daniel Jacques, president of Audio Plus Services, exclusive north American importer for Focal. "We are excited to be a part of the programme because it will maximize our exposure to a vast market of integrators."

The D-Tools Manufacturer Vantage Point (MVP) programme is designed to help provide system integrators with the most up-to-date product information to over 2,500 companies using D-Tools System Integrator software.

"We are pleased that Focal joined the MVP Programme," said Adam

UK - Forward Vision has announced the appointment of James Smith as marketing manager. He was previously with the distributor, Norbain.

With over ten years experience in the electronic security industry, Smith has been involved with a number of high profile product launches and will be driving the company's marketing strategy forward as the company continues to expand both in the UK and overseas.

Peter Beare, managing director at Forward Vision said, "James' appointment give us the additional expertise to take an already excellent reputation for product support to new heights."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Harman Pro UK, distributors for BSS Audio in the UK and Ireland, have announced that, as of October 2007, the company will be offering training courses for potential and existing users of BSS Audio's integrated programmable audio networking and DSP systems Soundweb Original & Soundweb London.

Both courses will be free of charge and will provide training to ensure the attendee leaves with a good knowledge of how to use Soundweb Original or Soundweb London and will be held at the Harman Pro UK offices in Potters Bar.

One of each course will be held each month with a maximum of eight attendees per session to ensure that each person has the best training possible. The places will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis. A calendar of events, course information and registration form will soon be available on the website below:(Jim Evans)

USA - The ESTA Foundation reports that a major challenge has been issued by Electronic Theatre Controls to the entertainment technology industry to step up to the plate at LDI for Behind the Scenes.

In announcing the ETC $50,000 Challenge Grant, CEO Fred Foster said, "Our industry runs on the flexibility, skills and artistry of people who dedicate themselves to creating the magic of the theatre. Sadly, this means that many times an illness or crisis can catch one of us without the support of full benefits and insurance. The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes programme provides a perfect way for us, as an industry, to provide a much needed backstop to this shortfall.

"ETC is proud to follow the path of other individual and corporate donors to support the Behind the Scenes effort. We hope that our donation will spur others to support this cause. If you haven't contrib

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