General

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14 March 2016

PRG Chairman & CEO Jeremiah "Jere" Harris and Procon CEO Morten Carlsson jointly announced the acquisition, which was made by MHG Media Holdings (MHG), an indirect subsidiary of PRG.

PRG and Procon will continue to serve their current clients from their existing locations without interruptions. As of January 1, Procon will begin operating under the name Production Resource Group (PRG). Cinegate, Procon's film lighting and camera company, will continue to operate under its existing brand.

PRG's worldwide presence will extend into significant territories now served by Procon, including Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland

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14 March 2016

Creative & Cultural Skills represents over 74,000 businesses across advertising, design, cultural heritage, craft, music, performing arts, visual arts and literature in the UK - a footprint of 678,000 in total. First licensed in 2005, the organisation was started from scratch by Tom Bewick and Tony Hall CBE, at the demand of key employers in the industry.

According to the NAO, employers and stakeholders said that Creative & Cultural Skills' "advocacy role had benefitted the sector, as it had ra

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14 March 2016

De Rosa, 49, a graduate of LAMDA's Stage Management and Technical Theatre course, first came to prominence during his time at the former Apollo Leisure Group, serving from the 1980's when it grew into the UK's largest theatre operator, owning or managing many of the country's best known theatres, with 25 sites in more than 20 cities and London's West End.

Making his reputation as the deputy general manager of London's Apollo Victoria, De Rosa rose to be a divisional head within Apollo, gaining significant experience in business development, corporate strategy, operations, PR, sponsorship, finance and HR. His managerial positions included time at Manchester's Palace and Opera Hou

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14 March 2016

In a statement on their official website the band said: "All items will either be signed by the four of us, or accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, again signed by all of us." A catalogue detailing everything for sale will be published on their website before the sale begins.

Festive Figures - PRS for Music, the organisation that collects royalties on behalf of composers and songwriters reports that over 47 countries worldwide have listened to Slade'

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14 March 2016

Hosted by Tiff Needell, the star-studded occasion featured many of motor racing's finest heroes from past and present to celebrate the success stories of the 2009 racing season. BRDC Club President Damon Hill was joined by fellow British F1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart and racing legend Sir Stirling Moss OBE. Other guests included Mark Webber, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Ross Brawn, Dario Franchitti and Jason Plato. In addition, The Club welcomed The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, as a distinguished guest.

A.C. Entertainment Technologies sales director, Phill Capstick, along with the BRDC club president a

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14 March 2016

A statement issued by Scattered Media blamed the "current economic climate and the strain this is having on many companies' budgets at present" and said that they were "in the process of looking at the calender to find suitable dates later in the year".

(Lee Baldock)

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14 March 2016

Linda joins PLASA from Stage Electrics where she has held the position of head of sales and marketing for the past 11 years and been a key member of the team that successfully developed the company into one of the leading players in the installation and events markets.

Linda already has considerable knowledge of the PLASA organisation having served for five years on PLASA's Executive Committee - the governing body of the organisation - and will bring extensive international sales and marketing experience to her new role.

Her appointment to the team of Directors comes at a key time for PLASA, which is currently delivering an ambitious strategy across its membership, events, media, profe

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14 March 2016

This will be fully operational from the start of 2010 and will be utilised to expand and streamline the current manufacturing process.

The new building has become necessary to meet the demand for products and orders that has continued throughout 2009, and this expansion has been financed entirely from existing cashflow, says the company.

Milos is known for its fast turnarounds. The additional space will ensure that even more efficiency and speed can be applied to deliveries, and it will also create more space for the construction of special and custom projects.

Milos' facility is designed to provide the space and the latest technologies to deal with all manufacturing needs in-house.

Facili

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14 March 2016

From February 2010, Creative & Cultural Skills will work with Job Centre Plus and regional partners throughout England and Wales to secure employment in creative and cultural venues and organisations which are members of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills. The jobs will be open to people aged 18-24 who have been claiming benefits. The jobs on offer will include theatre technician, costume and wardrobe assistant, community arts officer and business administrator. All will include a level of accredited trai

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14 March 2016

The UK Competition Commission revised its opinion that the deal could lead to music fans paying more for tickets to see live performances. The regulator found that it would not be in the new merged company's interest to shut out competition. The new company "would suffer significant and immediate losses, with very uncertain prospects for long-term gain," the Competition Commission said.

The reg

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14 March 2016

During 2009, the team at LSI Online have delivered over 3,500 news stories to an audience of entertainment technology professionals in no fewer than 177 countries across the world. It's been a record year for online traffic.

This was also the year we passed our first decade of delivering online news to the industry: Lighting&Sound International's first online news feed, via the PLASA website, appeared on 10 September 1999. On that day, we reported that Britannia Row Productions had invested in 48 stacks of Turbosound Flashlight at the PLASA Show, and that Martin Professional had opened a new UK-based manufacturing facility in Louth, Lincolnshire.

Since then, we have added more than 27,000 news stories to our online database - which remains f

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14 March 2016

CHAS is a non-commercial scheme available to suppliers and to organisations looking for suitably competent suppliers. Qualifying for recognition is a three stage process involving paperwork, review and a health and safety audit. "With more and more of our work involving being on site at the building stage it is a vital qualification, and we are proud to have been accredited," says David Green.

CSCS was set up to help the construction industry to improve quality and reduce accidents. CSCS cards are increasingly demanded on site as proof as occupational competence by contractors as well as public and private clients. Special Projects has been awarded Platinum r

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14 March 2016

Since January, HMV and MAMA have been partners in their Mean Fiddler joint venture, which runs venues in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "Our joint venture has worked well since its formation and the full combination of HMV and MAMA will enable us to accelerate our growth into live music.

HMV's takeover offer for MAMA, which is still subject to approval from shareholders, comes after the group rejected earlier bids from Luxemb

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14 March 2016

Show Business - Recently honoured Status Quo are the hardest-working band in British music, according to a list compiled by the Performing Rights Society (PRS). The band performed to more than 250,000 fans at 27 arenas in 2009 - more than any other band. "Performing in

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14 March 2016

Established in 2007 as Light Relief Day and now renamed By Design Day, 24 April is the day that, each year, people in the professional lighting design business give back to help others less fortunate than themselves. The first 'joint venture' between Light Relief and Behind the Scenes raised £7,500 - £3450 for Light Relief and $5,700 for Behind the Scenes. The money came through a variety of channels, including a bucket collection among the audience of the London production of Hairspray o

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14 March 2016

EcoXpress is a touch-screen based software solution installed on to DB Systems' hardware, either kiosks or regular PCs and screens. The terminals allow event delegates to browse exhibitors' literature onscreen, select what is most relevant to them and then email that information to themselves.

At present, delegates who attend events and exhibitions inevitably collect a library of brochures and various forms of corporate literature. Very often these items are lost, damaged, left behind, thrown away or don't contain the information that the delegate wants.

Oliver Richardson, DB Systems' sales director, says, "As a service supplier, DB understands that budgets are tight. One of the benef

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14 March 2016

The largest mirror ball used on the show, which was broadcast by the BBC during autumn 2009, is a 54" (1.4m) diameter which has 92,350 mirrors measuring 8mm square. The company has two of these 54" mirror balls, and six 48" mirror balls, available for hire, as well as a large number of smaller models from 32" down to 8"as well as a series of unique mirror sculptures which can be seen on the company's website.

David Fitch warns: "It's important to remember how big these mirrorballs are, and to measure the get-in door and the route. And remember the flightcase. You would be surprised how many people forget and find that their mirrorball won't fit!"

(Lee Baldock)

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14 March 2016

VSI is a specialist in sound, lighting and AV design, specification installation and integration. The PAI Group also includes sister companies Lighting Technology Projects, PA Installations and Link-AV.

SAFEcontractor is a leading-edge accreditation scheme that assesses the health & safety competency of contractors and service providers, designed to help industry improve its safety record. The SAFEcontractor programme recognises the very high standards of health and safety practice existing amongst UK contractors.

VSI's application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need to establish a uniform standard across its business. It is expected to enhance the company's ability to win new contracts, and the commitment to

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14 March 2016

Based in Blackburn, near to EDC's original site, Quick Discs has been launched by Grant Mitchell, who had worked at the company for more than 20 years. When, earlier this year, the decision was taken to close EDC's Blackburn facility and to move all operations to Germany, Grant recognised that many UK music producers - one of the company's primary customer groups - would be left without a specialist supplier. He therefore resolved to create a new bu

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14 March 2016

The 2000 capacity seating stand - supplied by Havaseat (a Gearhouse company) - was on dry land. The three weeks of the event spanned the peak festive holiday season, and included the resident AquaCircus, a special daily performance devised by Zip-Zap, a local circus school dedicated to developing the skills and potential of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Other highlights included the H2Opera, AquaJazz, AquaBallet and concerts by a wide range of artists

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14 March 2016

Following the highly upbeat reaction to PLASA09, with exhibitors expressing delight at the quality of visitors despite the financial climate, expectations for PLASA 2010 are also high.

Early exhibitor news includes confirmation by Martin Professional; a doubling of stand space by Nexo; and the return after a one-year absence of Zero 88.

PLASA's Events manager Sophie Atkinson said, "Last year the free registration offer helped boost exhibitors' confidence in the show's compelling drawing power by attracting thousands of ear

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14 March 2016

The new look website contains up to the minute information on Hawthorns' services and hire stock.

Hawthorn's general manager, Simon Wood, commented, "Our new website will be updated with news, blogs, case studies, photographs and additions to our hire stock. In line with the trend towards new media, we want the site to be much more interactive and for it to evolve with us throughout 2010."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

"NAMM recognises the importance of the live audio, house of worship and stage and lighting industries to the music products industry and welcomes these music industry professionals to the 2010 NAMM Show," says Kevin Johnstone, director of trade shows, NAMM. "This year, we're working closely with a number of partner organisations and media outlets that serve these segments to create a new and valuable education track to meet their needs and giving them even more reasons to attend this year's NAMM Show."

More than 15 industry partners, publishers, organisations and associations will offer a seri

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14 March 2016

"We were delighted to be invited to join the Clothes Show Live team once again," commented Steve Dolan, Account Director, Stage One. "Having worked with Paul and the team for over 10 years now it is testament to the hard work we have put into developing and maintaining a close working relationship."

The 400m2 stage was constructed using over 200 of Stage One's stock staging units and was completed with a PVC flooring effect, designed to resemble snow. Thrusting out from the stage was a 16m long catwalk and performance