UK - On the strength of 30 years of accumulated experience in selling and marketing professional audio products, Chris Hollebone has launched Pro-Sales-Solutions.

This operation offers a bespoke service according to the needs of the client, but the primary objective is to leverage contacts and market knowledge to increase sales in countries within EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). The service is particularly useful to the smaller company that may not have sufficient resources to devote dedicated manpower to improve the results in developing markets, says Hollebone. However, it has relevance to any organisation experiencing patchy results and under-performing resellers or distributors.

Hollebone has had recent experience in Russia, CIS, Eastern Europe and surrounding areas but has operated throughout Europe for many years. Those former countries require a different approach b

UK - Edinburgh-based Black Light is now offering the d&b audiotechnik E-series loudspeakers as part of its range of high-performance audio products.

Among the d&b products that Black Light now stocks are the E3 and E 12D speakers and the E15X subwoofer. "These products represent a significant investment for Black Light," says Stephen Reid, head of Black Light's Events Team. "They offer a really top-end system that can provide fantastic performance for small bands, live events and conferences."

Reid explains that the equipment has already been specified by the performance company Dance Base for all their Edinburgh Festival performances. "It really delivers when it comes to performance quality and Dance Base recognises this," he says.

The E3 is an ultra compact loudspeaker that is particularly suited to environments where space is at a premium. Th

UK - Prism Sound and SADiE will be sponsoring this year's Sounding Out conference, which takes place at Bournemouth University from 8-10 September, 2010.

The event, now in its fifth year, provides a forum for discussion and interaction between sound artists of all kinds. This year's theme is Soundworlds - Sonic Arts, Film and Radio, which will bring forward some convergent works and writings in this area.

Conference organisers Professor Seán Street and Dr Alain Renaud said, "Sounding Out is an international event, being held at Bournemouth Unviversity for the first time. As the major forum for discussion and interaction between sound artists of all kinds, it is attracting talent from around the globe, offering perspectives ranging from the world of music, radio, film and sonic arts.

"We are delighted that Prism Sound is on board as one of our key sponsors.

UK - Mike Kenny's adaptation of the classic children's tale, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame at the York Theatre Royal has proved to be the stage hit of the summer. Basking in the glow of rave reviews from the national press, the spectacular production has been billed (amongst other things) as a 'technical triumph', thanks in large part to a daring design which called for the complete transformation of the existing theatre space in order to create the interior of Toad Hall. Structural aluminium systems specialists, Litestructures, were called in to help with the metamorphosis.

The design of Toad Hall, which was the brainchild of designers Lydia Denno and Catherine Chapman, necessitated the transformation of the traditional proscenium arch configuration into an in-the-round space. To achieve this, all of the seating was stripped out from the stalls, and Litestru

USA - BSR E1.32 - 201x, Guide for the Inspection of Entertainment Industry Luminaires, is available for public review at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php through 25 October 2010. The document is intended to provide guidance in the inspection of stage and studio luminaires used in the entertainment industry to evaluate their safety and any needed maintenance.

An employer could write his own safety inspection procedures from scratch as part of his duty to provide a safe workplace, but borrowing from or adopting the final version of this document might be easier and lead to a better set of procedures.

The public review is over when the 'Review End Date' shown on the website of October 26, 2010 starts. Comments should be submitted before then.

Reviewers also are requested to look for protected intellectual property in the document. ESTA does not in

Germany - Lighting designer Marcus Krömer specified 330 Chroma-Q Color Block 2 LED fixtures to provide stage scenic elements backlighting for a large corporate event featuring some of Germany's most popular bands.

The event was held at Cologne's LANXESS arena, one of Europe's largest all-purpose venues and host to concerts by an impressive range of international music stars.

Production management for the event was by Placet Die Veranstaltungsgesellschaft. Stage lighting, audio and video supply was by PRG Cologne, with set design by John Stillwell. For the third year running, Marcus Krömer and Marcus Bossdorf provided the lighting and video content design for the all-day event, which featured a conference in the morning, an awards show in the afternoon and a concert in the evening. Splitting into two teams, programming was 24/7 for a whole week in the arena.

Krömer needed

Oman - The 45-day-long Salalah Tourism Festival (STF 2010) in Oman opened with a spectacular pageant staged by some 2,500 performers. Every year the festival draws thousands of tourists from Oman and the other Gulf states. This year's programme was specifically created to coincide with celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of Oman's renaissance under His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

For the opening, lighting designer Ali Saab chose an MA control system consisting of two grandMA full-size consoles, three MA video stations, three MA NSP (Network Signal Processors) and MA Digital Dimmer Touring 12 2.3kVA modules (Socapex EF 419). The lighting rig featured 56 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 575s, 40 Alpha Spot HPE 1200s, 20 Alpha Beam 1500s and 20 Alpha Beam 300s as well as SC15 (15 mm) and SC20 (20 mm) LED-screens, totalling 150sq.m of surface.

For the concerts in Al-Muroje Th

UK - The rapid expansion of music festivals in the UK has meant that the summer is a particularly busy period for Howard Leight by Sperian. Helping festival organisers meet their duty to provide effective PPE and conform with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, Howard Leight by Sperian has supplied its Laser Lite earplugs to the organisers of events such as Glastonbury.

Much of the music played at live music festivals includes a lot of bass sound and subsequently a high level of low frequency noise. Additionally, the use of visual effects on stage, such as fireworks, produces percussive noise which is also low frequency. It is for this reason that festival organisers, such as Glastonbury, have selected Howard Leight by Sperian's Laser Lite earplugs which are particularly effective at attenuating low frequency sounds, says the company.

Laser Lite single-use earplugs

UK - Robe launches a major new green initiative - Think of the Future - Consider Nature- at PLASA 2010 to underline its ongoing commitment to developing and producing genuinely cutting-edge, innovative and energy saving products.

Using Robe's latest products, the booth lightshow will consume 30% less power than before, and look equally impressive, says the company.

There will also be no less than seven newly launched environmentally friendly moving light and LED products on stand 1-F47 from the Czech Republic based manufacturer.

Says MD Josef Valchar, "Robe has already been operating a strong green policy for several years, we are not just jumping onboard a current trend, and now is the time to push this philosophy to the next level". He adds that Robe intends to keep at the forefront of developing sustainable technologies and encouraging everyone to think s

UK - Interest is building in this month's AV Networks 2010 conference, which is set to throw new light onto the business and technology behind networking protocols.

According to conference chairman Roland Hemming, the day is aimed at three types of attendee: "Those who are just learning about networking and are keen to find out more; those who are using networking technology already but want to explore some of the more complex issues; and those who aren't necessarily interested in the nuts and bolts of the technology, but are keen to find out how it is going to change the economic model of the industry."

Hosted by Installation Europe and Pro Sound News Europe, the day will present a rounded picture of AV networking from a variety of perspectives. A panel of end users and venue representatives will discuss customer expectations of networking. A panel of

UK - A strong upsurge in PLASA 2010 visitor registrations has taken the total soaring past last year's pre-registered figure, with over two weeks still to go before the show opens.

Over 2,000 chairmen, 800 lighting designers, 1,000 engineers, 900 technicians / programmers and 500 installers are among them - with concert & touring, live events and theatre the fastest growing sectors and impressive growth coming from the AV visitor figures too. Confirming that PLASA 2010 continues to be viewed as a truly international event, 30% of registrations are from non-UK visitors.

Interest has been high as organiser PLASA Events has announced a stream of over 60 new and returning exhibitors over the summer, joining the show's regular cast of hundreds of key international brands, between them preparing to launch an estimated 500 new audio, video, lighting and stage technology products.

A

UK - CIE-Group's Team 00Heaven (Steve Collin, Chris Edwards, Martin Featherstone and Lauren Bamford) will this autumn be taking on the challenge of cycling 550 miles across Ireland in just three days.

Raising much needed funds for local children's charity Derby Kids' Camp, as well as Cancer Research and The British Heart Foundation, the team will be fully-funding the trip themselves, ensuring that every penny raised goes directly to the charities.

Says Chris Edwards, "By helping us to raise our target figure of £5000, not only will you be supporting these fantastic charities, but you could also be in with a chance of winning an amazing prize... in our Bond for a Weekend Prize Draw.

To sponsor the team online/make donations, check out www.cie-group.com and www.justgiving.com/00HEAVEN

(Jim Evans)

Fringe Records - The Edinburgh Fringe has broken last year's box office record by selling almost two million tickets. The three-week long arts festival sold 1,955,913 tickets, up more than 5% on last year. Festival organisers calculated that there were 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues across the city.

Fringe Society chief executive Kath Mainland said: "Edinburgh is without doubt the world's leading festival destination." In addition to official venues, the Fringe High Street Events team registered 662 acts from street performers to buskers and Fringe artists. An estimated 21,148 performers took to the stage during Fringe 2010 and 558 shows were absolutely free. Comedy made up 35% of the Fringe programme, followed closely by Theatre with 29%. Music 16%, Musicals & Opera 5%, Dance & Physical Theatre 4.5%, and Children's shows 4%, made up the rest o

UK - Wimbledon-based White Light is one of six companies shortlisted in the Best Green Business category of the Merton Business Awards 2010.

Organised by Merton Council, the local council covering White Light's south Wimbledon base, along with South London Business and the Merton Chamber of Commerce, the awards are designed to reward and celebrate the many dynamic and innovative businesses in the borough.

White Light's nomination is in the Best Green Business category, intended to "reward companies with an environmental conscience". The nomination reflects White Light's work over the last few years both to reduce White Light's own environmental impact and to promote improved techniques, practices and equipment for reducing the environmental impact of the shows and events it supplies.

This has seen White Light involved in a wide range of activities, from investing h

UK - Global Infusion Group (GIG) scored a 'triple-double' with Red Bull at X-Fighters 2010. For the second year running GIG were on-site with three of their companies..

Contracted by live event production company Innovision, e2B Logistics were on-site for two weeks installing Red Bull's experiential marketing, advertising and merchandising equipment. The Red Bull kit, including large star shades, inflatable arches, branded fridges, signage, DJ decks, vehicles, parasols and much more is stored and maintained in GIG's new warehousing facilities. It is then packed and transported to site before being installed in the grounds of Battersea Power Station.

During the site build, sister company Eat To The Beat were on hand to provide production catering On competition night Upbeat Event Catering and Design provided catering for the judges and riders.

John Ford, Red Bull's operations

USA/Germany - Intelix, the US-based manufacturer of audio/video equipment and software, has partnered with Sommer Cable to better serve the European audio-visual market. Effective immediately, Sommer Cable is stocking and supplying Intelix hardware, including their award-winning HDMI, digital signage, and audio/video over twisted pair solutions.

"In Germany, American companies are often considered somewhat conservative and lethargic," says Rainer Blanck, Sommer Cable CEO. "They are not really interested in grooming the German market because it is tiny compared to the US-market. Intelix is different. They are a clearly structured, modern American company with products strongly adapted to the European market. Plus, their technology is of good workmanship, have a very ergonomic and attractive design, and are known for their dependability."

"Sommer Cable's

UK - Colour Sound Experiment, the specialist lighting and sound designers, today announced investment of over £300,000 worth in new kit, to meet the requirements for Dizzee Rascal's summer tour and exploit high demand for lighting over the festival season. Investments include 25 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500s, 60 Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED battens and 6 GLP Impressions.

Festival season is always a busy time of year for Colour Sound Experiment, with an increasing number of headline acts on its books, it needed to rapidly scale-up its product portfolio, to include even bigger spots and popular lighting effects such as GLP impressions. Let down by its High Street lender, Colour Sound Experiment turned to Azule Finance, the specialist sound and lighting finance provider, to source a rapid and competitive quote.

Haydn Cruickshank, MD Colour Sound Experiment explained: "

UK - Independent Studio Services (ISS) is now the appointed installer for Le Mark's new range of projection screens and dance & stage floors.

Stuart Gibbons comments, "It's a pleasure to have secured Simon Caldwell and the ISS team's installation skills in the new Tüchler/Le Mark project. To be able to offer the new, exciting and innovative range of PVC Projection Screens available from Tüchler and have them installed by ISS means our customers will receive superior service from enquiry to installation."

Caldwell and his highly respected team have worked on a number of entertainment projects including installation of stage engineering equipment for Disney Cruise ships, Thesselonika Concert Hall and many projects for system integrators based within the UK .

(Jim Evans)

UK - CAST Software will be debuting their newest technology, BlackTrax at PLASA, September. BlackTrax is a motion tracking system for people and objects that operates in real time. BlackTrax is designed to work with CAST's BlackBox system of multi-directional high-speed control coordination.

The BlackTrax system works using a proprietary sensor device that is placed on the moving object(s). BlackTrax monitors the velocity of the object(s) in motion, as well as giving important spatial relationships between objects and people in a 3D space - and each moving object or person is an individual measurable set of data, completely distinguished from the next. BlackTrax monitors all of these parameters at a very high speed and with stunning accuracy, says the company.

During PLASA, CAST will be also be demonstrating BlackBox, wysiwyg R25, a sneak preview of R26 and Vivien - Virtual Ev

On The Move - The Brit Awards are to move to the O2 arena in south east London from Earl's Court. The annual UK music awards ceremony has been held at Earl's Court for the past 11 years. Next year's Brit awards will be held on 15 February. Brits bosses have also announced a further three-year deal with ITV to show the event live on television.

"Looking at what The Brits stands for - the 'must-see' spectacle - it was clear that moving to a state-of the art venue like the O2 was an obvious evolution," said Brit Awards chairman David Joseph.

Down The Bookies - The odds of Paul Weller winning the Mercury Prize have been slashed after a bookmaker took an "unprecedented" rush of bets from people backing him to win. William Hill dropped its odds from 20/1 to 1/10 over the weekend after what it called "extraordinary" activity. Its spokesman said m

UK - Where are we with Remote Device Management? What are the benefits? How do I use it, install it, specify it? For the answers to these and many other questions about RDM, just come along to stand 2-P37 at PLASA 2010. Sponsored by the PLASA Technical Resource Office and 25 industry supporters, the RDM 'Compatibility Corner' is a must for all consultants, specifiers, users and manufacturers of lighting systems.

Peter Willis and a team of industry experts will be on hand to explain each of RDM's key features with hands-on examples of RDM interoperability and connectivity using a range of manufacturer's compatible products. They will be offering one-to-one briefings for consultants and specifiers and regular mini-presentations on specific aspects of RDM benefits. There is also a special session for RDM developers, which will take place on the stand on Monday 13th September from 5

UK / The Netherlands - PLASA 2010 sees the announcement of the merger of two of the strongest names in the trussing and staging industry - Prolyte Products Group, based in the Netherlands, and UK-based Litestructures.

A statement confirming the merger declasres, "Both companies represent the cutting edge in professional truss and staging systems, each with their own strengths and specialities, their drive for high quality products and innovative design making them a natural fit. This merger will create a new organization that is stronger in every sense and is set to become a dominant force in the industry in terms of size, product range, resources and, crucially, sales force."

The statement continues, "This in turn will open up new market opportunities in and outside the fields that both companies have served up until now. Based on brand strengths and fuelled by

UK / Austria - A reciprocal business partnership has existed between Le Mark & Tüchler since the late 90's seeing strong growth of Tüchler flooring within the UK . PLASA 2010 sees the official launch of a new venture between the two companies with the introduction of PVC front and rear projection screens and frames.

"This opportunity will allow us to fully utilise the production skills of Tüchler," says Le Mark's managing director Stuart Gibbons. "We have for some time considered developing 'a screen range' alongside our existing line of performance flooring."

Tüchler GmbH was founded in the 1970's as a specialist supplier of fire proof textiles to the Austrian theatre industry. The Company has grown to be one of Europe's most renowned manufactures of theatrical textiles, high performance stage flooring, projection screens and technical accessories. Vie

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has confirmed its status as an official sponsor of the Jack Goff racing team for the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin Championship.

For this year's Championship, Jack Goff is sponsored by several entertainment technology companies, including Avolites, Fibre Optic Systems, GLP, HSL Group, Litestructures, Pixel Range, Robe, Rope & Rigging and SES.

Jack Goff and his Renault Clio racing car will be appearing in the JG-Motorsport Lounge at PLASA 2010. Visitors to the lounge have a chance to enter a free prize draw to win an exclusive track day experience with Jack.

AC-ET's UK sales director, Phill Capstick comments, "Further to AC-ET's sponsorship of the BRDC's exclusive Rising Stars Programme supporting promising young British racing drivers, it was a natural progression to sponsor a talented up and coming driver from the local ar

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