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14 March 2016

Hoepker joins PLASA from Electronic Theatre Controls after 19 years where she oversaw ETC's trade shows and events.

PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths comments: "Laura is a respected and highly regarded industry peer and we are so pleased to welcome her to help us grow our regional events in North America."

PLASA director of media, sales, and marketing Jackie Tien added: "We look forward to our long-time and respected industry friend joining our PLASA family!"

Hoepker can be reached at laura.hoepker@plasa.org, telephone 212-244-1505, ext. 608, and will be at PLASA Focus: Orlando May 15-16.

PLASA Focus: Orlando will be held at the Wyndham Orlando Resort Hotel May 15-16; Focus: Austin will be held at the

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14 March 2016

As part of this collaboration, Britannia Row Productions Training will deliver training for all students currently enrolled on Alchemea's full time Live Sound course.

Alchemea's marketing and sales director Mike Sinnott says, "Brit Row is a household name in the live sound industry, so we were thrilled to hear that they had developed their own intensive training programme. This collaboration will ensure that our students will continue to receive the highest standard of relevant hands on industry training using the latest cutting edge live s

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14 March 2016

These two days are aimed at consultants, sound system designers, installers and users who wish to learn more about AXYS products and software. Both days involve a combination of presentations, demonstrations and practical activities. There will also be some 'free time' set aside for attendees to experiment with the products.

Day one will focus on the highly successful AXYS Intellivox range. The Intellivox range, first introduced in 1996, was the pioneer of beam steering. AXYS Intellivox units have been installed in airports, atriums, railway stations, shopping malls, theatres, concert halls, museums, and many more difficult acoustic environments all over the world to provide highly intelligible speech reproduction in environme

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14 March 2016

Hamish Hamilton who directed the TV broadcasts of the London 2012 opening and closing ceremonies, was also honoured on the night with a special award in recognition of his "outstanding creative contribution to the industry and his extensive work and accomplishments in his field".

In The Ring - A stage musical based on the hit film Rocky is to open on Broadway. Sylvester Stallone, who starred in and wrote the script for the Oscar-winning 1976 film, is co-producing the theatre version, which will open at t

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14 March 2016

For years the Dante Ethernet-based system has been used to provide a low latency, high-channel count audio transportation system for live sound reinforcement. Now Focusrite's RedNet system brings this rock-solid technology to the recording world, with high-quality digital conversion and state-of-the-art remote-controlled microphone preamplifiers. Long analogue multicore cables become a thing of the past, vastly reducing the cost and weight, whilst increasing the audio quality and flexibility of a location recording setup. This workshop covers the possible workflows and benefits of working with a RedNet digital audio s

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14 March 2016

With the new Jem AF-1 Mkll, advances in control, rotation, speed range and increment adjustment have raised the bar for quality, performance and durability. Speed control response is instantaneous, minimum fan speed has been lowered and motor noise at low speeds has also been reduced.

Fully DMX controllable or via a hand-held remote, the AF-1 Mkll is the ideal fan for a large variety of indoor or outdoor applications from touring and stage to theme parks, cruise ships and much more. Also featuring an all new design, the AF-1 Mkll can be installed from a truss or used floor standing.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Here are 10 reasons to join us today:

* Audio legend Tony Andrews delivers his Keynote Speech What is Good Audio?

* Martin Audio debuts the MLA Mini

* Ambersphere presents Clay Paky and the Laws of Physics

* Award winning sound designer Gareth Fry gives his seminar Creative Manipulation of Sound

* d&b audiotechnik tell you Why Size Matters

* The ABTT discuss qualifications and competence in the technical theatre sector

* Jon Burton presents How to Soundcheck

* Focusrite deliver their workshop for recording engineers

* Lunch is on us!

* Registration is free on arrival

With all of this on offer and more, PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013 is a show you simply cannot afford to mis

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14 March 2016

The agreement was reached between Thomas Mostert CEO of Penn Elcom GmbH, the distribution arm of the Penn Elcom Group in Continental Europe, and Marcel Vlot, MD of Flightware, who is now planning to leave the industry to pursue other interests.

Roger Willems, chairman of the Penn Elcom Group comments, "Marcel is delighted that his business has been delivered into good hands, and that the innovation and standing that he's built up over the last 30 years of dedication to the industry will be continued."

He adds that Flightware's history of producing high quality hardware and accessories for flightcase constru

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14 March 2016

Keystone Productions were asked by their client Outlaw, to design the set and provide the technical for this lavish black-tie affair. MGG Productions assisted with the supply of lighting gear, while the set was constructed by Stage Works. Mark West was the Choreographer and Cap Events the creative director.

With a distinct African flavour, the awards embraced performances by the 26 piece Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Zahara, The Three Afro Tenors and three sets by the theatre production, Africa Umoja.

The set had a clean and unpretentious feel with vinyl covering arch like structures which served as a canvas on which to

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14 March 2016

The free zone entity will facilitate the new distribution arrangements that NMK have obtained in the past few months which include representation of Neutrik across the GCC (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman) as well as Iraq and Iran. In addition, there will be other new distribution arrangements annou

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14 March 2016

At $700m (£450.5m), it has divided opinion, with some criticising the modernist architecture and cost. President Vladimir Putin said it had "everything you need for a theatre". Addressing guests, Mr Putin paid tribute to the "boundless energy" of the theatre's ambitious director Valery Gergiev, whose 60th birthday coincided with the opening night.

Hop Farm Cancelled - The Hop Farm music festival has announced the cancellation of this year's event because of poor ticket sales. The festival had been due to take place in Kent on 5-6 July. It was due to be hea

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14 March 2016

The AGM is of great significance to the Association and the ideal occasion for every member to ensure that his or her voice is heard. It is this feedback that enables PLASA to react positively to the changes and challenges that members face in order to act effectively on their behalf.

Important decisions were made through 2012 to support and safeguard PLASA's future including moving the PLASA Show to Excel London, investing in new software which will provide members with new self-service features and enable much easier participation in As

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14 March 2016

The new shareholders - Trevor Smallwood, Dan Aldridge, Bob Smith, James Irvine, Anna Western, Adam Blaxill, Adrian Searle and Ian Tregaskis - combine considerable business experience with a strong knowledge of the entertainment technology industry. Under the new ownership structure, Trevor Smallwood will continue as chairman of the board and the company's executive directors remain unchanged.

Dan Aldridge commented: "Stage Electrics is in a solid position

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14 March 2016

The ballet barre is essential for warm-up and stretching exercises and plays a crucial part in a dancer's fitness regime. Both professional and amateurs can minimise the risk of injury by stretching properly to increase blood-flow to the muscles and improve flexibility whilst achieving an elegant stance.

"Whether you choose Harlequin's portable freestanding or permanent wall-mounted ballet barres, you'll realise they are almost a prerequisite for any dancer," says the company. "Comfortable and sturdy freestanding ballet barres are available in a beech or smooth silver aluminium finish and a range of sizes while s

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14 March 2016

Wholly owned by IAG, the new facility is almost twice the size of the existing office and service buildings combined - 16,300sq ft, compared to 9,200sq ft. Its purpose is to enable greater efficiency and allow future expansion, illustrating IAG's commitment to Europe and in particular the UK. "All IAGUK customers benefit from localised stock availability, service and spare parts whi

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14 March 2016

The campus' central meeting point is a large, multipurpose room used for everything from lunches to corporate meetings and all types of presentations. It's a bright, airy, and welcoming space, but as Richard Trombitas of New York-based Cardone, Solomon and Associates explains, the room has long been an acoustical challenge.

"It's a really nice looking space, but not great for spoken word intelligibility," says Trombitas. "It's got a fairly high ceiling, a wall of windows, and lots of reflective surfaces."

Colortone AV's Joe Lemisch

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14 March 2016

Tourmanagement.com is a web-based application for touring bands where you "centralise every bit of information about a tour so band and crew members can follow and manage their calendars and access crucial information from wherever they are".

The service was founded by Roeland Veugelen, tour manager of Belgian singer songwriter Milow. "I was constantly updating people about the current situation of the tour; where we were

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14 March 2016

The annual Silver Clef awards honour artists from across the music industry, while raising money for the music therapy charity. Nordoff Robbins chairman David Munns said Coldplay were most deserving of the award. "Co

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14 March 2016

Devised in conjunction with technical director Ola Melzig and the production team behind this year's Eurovision, this unique event aimed to combine unprecedented backstage access with seminars, Q&A sessions with key members of the production team and a technology showcase to highlight the cutting-edge sound, lighting, projection, video and control systems in use on a show which will have a television audience in excess of 100m people.

After the event, Melzig said, "What a success! All partners and visitors I've talked with are super happy about the quality of this show, and its visitors. It was really great to share the experience and show what is going on backstage to so many peo

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14 March 2016

Brockwell is presenting his interactive Nocturnal Pianola lighting installation and concept.

Robe's relationship with Brockwell goes back to when he was a lighting design / programming student at Rose Bruford College in Kent. When Nocturnal Pianola was selected as one of the works to be exhibited at the festival, he approached Robe to see if they were interested in getting involved in Vivid.

"Robe has never been about pushing the product - their emphasis is definitely on relationships," comments Brockwell. "As a lighting graduate, I know the importance of students to

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14 March 2016

As in previous years, anyone may nominate a project, product or product application with a PLASA member involved in a significant role as designer, manufacturer, supplier or collaborator. Nominations for the 2013 awards must have been available in the market or premiered between 1 October 2011 and 21 June 2013 and must not have been previously nominated.

A panel of well-respected industry experts will serve as this year's judges and finalis

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14 March 2016

Vanessa Reed, chief executive of the PRS for Music Foundation, says this is not a "cash hand out". She says: "Momentum is a breakthrough moment for music in England, where it's now harder than in many other parts of the world for talented artists to access finance."

Something In The Air - An opera featuring a string quartet performing in four airborne helicopters, a dancing camel and 150 performers that

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14 March 2016

For the first time London ExCel's Platinum Suite will host the KOI Awards. The event will kick off at 18:30 on Sunday 6 October to allow plenty of time for networking between old friends and colleagues. As is traditional the Awards coincide with the opening day of PLASA London, which also takes place at ExCel for the first time this year.

"Last year, hundreds of top creative lighting professionals donned their finery and put on their dancing shoes to celebrate the outstanding creative achievements of lighting designers working on productions in the UK," says Pio Nahum, chief commercial officer for Clay Paky. "This year's KOI Awards have already seen a record number of submissions, so we will be showcasing an incredibly high level of talent f

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14 March 2016

West End Live, organised by Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre, attracted over half a million people last year. London Mayor Boris Johnson said, "West End Live brings the roar of the greasepaint to the heart of the capital and all for free. From curtain up, to the encore, London Theatreland is unbeatable and this is a fabulous way