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Bill Hewlett Leaves LSD

Details: 14 March 2016

Bill Hewlett, the originator of the Icon-M, has left Light & Sound Design. According to MD Dave Keighley, Hewlett has departed to pursue other design ideas, having taken the Icon-M project as far as he could. Hewlett joined the company as a director at the time of the management buy-out from Christian Salveson. Although he is no longer a director, he will continue to work with LSD as a consultant. The Icon-M, meanwhile, is now scheduled for release next summer.

Carswell Replaces Cadman at Park Avenue

Details: 14 March 2016

Park Avenue, one of the world's leading brand communications companies, has announced the appointment of its new managing director, Hugh Carswell. He has been at Park Avenue for the last four years during which time he has managed a huge variety of communications projects including the launch of British Airways' new corporate identity - which involved the largest global satellite link-up ever at the time, the British Airways London Eye launch on Millennium Eve, and the Euro-American announcement of the merger of Deutsche Bank and Bankers' Trust. Carswell takes over from Tony Cadman who is leaving to start his own venture consultancy after six successful years at Park Avenue.

Campbell Joins Stagetec

Details: 14 March 2016

Stagetec has appointed Chris Campbell as project engineer to assist with its rapidly expanding projects department. Campbell, originally from Toronto, Canada, has extensive experience of sound and lighting installations, most recently on cruise ships with Celebrity Cruises.

Martin Pro’s New Logistics Director

Details: 14 March 2016

Martin Professional has appointed Claus Rothmann as director of logistics, with effect from the start of the new year. Rothmann holds a degree in Manufacturing & Systems Engineering, as well as Business Administration & Organization. He comes to Martin from a position as vice-president of Dandy Company's corporate supply chain development. Rothmann will form part of Martin's management team alongside sales and marketing director Pio Nahum and R&D director Stig Poulsen. The management board remains unchanged and consists of CEO and president Kristian Kolding, who relinquishes the logistics responsibility, Lars Dige (finance) and Torben Johansen (production).

Top Level Mackie Appointments

Details: 14 March 2016

Mackie Designs has announced that its chief operating officer, Jamie Engen, has been appointed chief executive officer and president by the company’s board of directors. Engen has also been appointed to the company’s board of directors. Greg Mackie, the company’s founder and chairman commented: "The Mackie board of directors strongly supports the effort and progress that Jamie has made on behalf of our company as our chief operating officer over the last year. As COO, Jamie has proved himself capable of managing the day to day activities of the growing Mackie organization, at the same time proving himself capable of providing the leadership and strategic guidance that we require of a CEO." Mackie has also appointed Ivan Schwartz as director of corporate communications for all of the Mackie companies. Schwartz comes to Mackie from his previous position as direc

Neil Darracott Joins PLASA Committee

Details: 14 March 2016

PLASA has announced that Neil Darracott (pictured right), design engineer at Total Fabrications Ltd, has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Association following the elections which closed on 1 st December. The elections attracted 123 membership votes in total, compared with 104 last year. Mick Hannaford (Light Processor), the serving PLASA chairman, has been re-elected for his second three-year term, while PLASA Treasurer Sammy DeHavilland of Dare Pro Audio/Deco Leisure, has been re-elected for a three-year term. Newcomer Neil Darracott fills the other three-year term, while Paul Hinkly of LMC Audio, who was co-opted onto the PLASA committee last year, was elected for a further one-year term.Peter Walker of NSR, who was not re-elected, has served on the PLASA Committee for the past six years, and was for much of that time involved with membership issues, particularly related

Keith Dale with Elektralite: Update

Details: 14 March 2016

Further to our news story of 27 October, Group One of Farmingdale, New York has officially announced the appointment of Keith Dale as International sales and marketing manager for its Elektralite, the company’s lighting control division. Dale, the founder of lighting control manufacturer Celco, has worked with Group One in a manufacturer/distributor capacity for some 15 years. He told us: “It’s great to be working with the Elektralite team, they’re a great group with an expanding range of control products that deserves a wider international audience. My mission is to increase brand awareness on a global basis and introduce the many advantages of the product line to international distributors and end-users alike.”Dale will be based in London, and can be contacted on: Tel: +44 (0)20 8467 5421, or via the e-mail address below.

New Product Specialist at QSC

Details: 14 March 2016

QSC Audio has appointed Roger Maycock to the position of product application specialist. Maycock brings a wealth of industry experience to QSC Audio, having served many years as a product trainer, clinician, documentation specialist and journalist. In this newly-created position, he will function as a technical trainer - spearheading QSC’s education programmes while also serving as a spokesperson on technical issues with the press.

Maycock was, until recently, technical consultant to Mix magazine where, he contributed product reviews, applications articles, and feature stories. His work has been published in Electronic Musician, NetMedia, EQ, Pro Sound News, Down Beat, and Music Inc. magazines. He served several years as TASCAM’s marketing support manager and has also served as a product specialist with Fostex and Roland.

Hardy Steps Down as Telestage MD

Details: 14 March 2016

Telestage Associates and it parent Waagner Biro Stage Technology has announced the retirement of Qahtan Hardy as managing director of Telestage Associates. Hardy will officially step down at the end of the year but will retain his links with the company and will continue to be involved as an advisor. He has a long involvement in stage engineering and audio-visual which incorporated the purchase of Telestage in 1988. In 1997 the company was purchased by Waagner Biro and Hardy was retained as the sole executive director. A successor is expected to be appointed in 2001. In the meantime Mike Bacon has been appointed operations manager and forms part of the senior management team at Telestage.

New Appointment at Bandit Lites

Details: 14 March 2016

Bandit Lites Inc has appointed Bryan Dihigo to join its Nashville sales team. Dihigo, who previously worked for the Shop At Home Television Network as a floor director and as an independent representative of Excel Communications, is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a BS in Mass Media Communications. Bryan will be heading up the local sales efforts as well as being responsible for inventory management.

USITT Appoints General Manager

Details: 14 March 2016

Tom Scharff has been appointed the new general manager for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Scharff joins USITT from Cornell University where he was general manager of the Cornell Center for Theatre Arts. His career as a theatre administrator includes work as managing director of the new Repertory Theatre in Boston and business manager for Theatre and Dance at the University of New Hampshire.

Michael Northen Awarded MBE

Details: 14 March 2016

Michael Northen, Life President of the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has been awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours list, for services to Theatre. Michael was the first professional Lighting Designer and has been in the industry for many years, designing for over 300 productions at venues including the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet, Glyndebourne Opera House and RSC Stratford.

Schacherl Resigns from High End Systems

Details: 14 March 2016

High End Systems has announced that Bob Schacherl, one of the founding partners of High End, has resigned from his role as president of the company in order to spend time with his family and pursue personal interests. Schacherl, who was instrumental in establishing the initial worldwide sales distribution network during the early years of the company, commented: "It’s been a privilege working with so many great people here at High End and throughout the lighting community." Schacherl will continue as a shareholder in High End Systems. Sean Hoey, sales manager for North America will assume responsibility for Latin America, supported by Tony Magana. John Wiseman, vice-president of special projects will continue management of European Sales and will assume responsibility for the Asian, Middle Eastern and African territories supported by JR Chai and LeighAnne Aiken.

Playlight’s Mike McMullan Dies

Details: 14 March 2016

PLASA Publishing has learned of the death from cancer of Playlight founder, Mike McMullan, who died peacefully at home on Tuesday 3rd January, surrounded by his family. A statement from the directors and staff of the Playlight Group said: "Mike was one of life's great characters, and will be greatly missed by all who knew him."

The funeral will take place next Wednesday 10 January at 1.00pm at the Altrincham Crematorium, Whitehouse Lane, Dunham Massey, Altrincham, Cheshire. The family has requested that instead of flowers being sent, donations be made to the following charities: St Ann's Hospice, St Ann's Road North, Heald Green, Cheshire; the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, 11 London Road, Bromley, Kent; or the Lymphoma Association, PO Box 386 Aylesbury.

Fuzion Realigns Sales and Marketing Approach

Details: 14 March 2016

Fuzion has welcomed a new pair of hands to the sales team in the shape of Graham Pope, formerly of Panasonic and HHB. Pope, whose main responsibility will be for accounts in the south of England, joins Mick Butler who looks after Scotland and the north, and sales director Paul Ward who oversees the sales operation as a whole. He will now concentrate on marketing and issues such as customer training and product awareness, running seminars and training days for clients. The company plans to introduce a number of new brands to the market this year.

Helmut Brähler Dies

Details: 14 March 2016

Helmut Brähler, founder of Brähler ICS Konferenztechnik AG in Königswinter, died aged 67 last Monday, following a long and serious illness. Brähler laid the foundations for the company in 1958 in Bonn, when, as a chemistry student, he repaired electronic equipment for the University of Bonn. In 1960 he built the first simultaneous translation facility for the University, and then went on to establish his own company. Since 1972, Brähler has serviced every Olympic Games, numerous World Bank conferences, the Environment Summit in Rio and more than half of all World Economic Summits. It has also equipped more than 90,000 conferences with professional technology. In 1994, Brähler entered a new area of business and developed ‘Digivote’, a voting and consultation system. Helmut officially handed over to his son, Michael, in 1998, but still remained, advising and supporting fr

Harman Appoints Terry Worldwide President

Details: 14 March 2016

Harman International has announced the appointment of Mark Terry to the position of president of the Harman Pro Group Worldwide. Previously serving as president of Harman Pro Group North America, responsible for the US distribution of Allen & Heath, Crown, dbx, Digitech, DOD, Johnson and JBL Professional, Terry now also assumes the responsibilities previously held by Philip Hart, who has served as president of Harman Pro Group International. Hart, who retired at the end of last year, will remain with Harman as president of Studer until a suitable replacement has been named. At the same time, AKG Acoustics, under the leadership of Hugo Lenhard-Backhaus, will now report directly to Greg Stapleton, Harman International's president and chief operating officer.

KT Announces New Director of Signal Processing

Details: 14 March 2016

Klark Teknik has recently appointed Simon Harrison as director of signal processing. Simon comes from a strong background of research and development, having been a key member of the design team responsible for the Sony OXF-R3 ‘Oxford’ digital recording console andgenerally involved in the development of digital audio for Sony Broadcast and Professional since the console project began as Oxford Digital Ltd in 1989. He joins the Klark Teknik Group to assume responsibility for research and development of the KT brand.

Hall Heads Team at ROH

Details: 14 March 2016

Tony Hall, the BBC's head of news, has been appointed the new executive director of the Royal Opera House. Speculation has been rife as to who will succeed to what is fast becoming one of the most challenging roles in the arts world. His appointment is almost certain to generate controversy, as he seems to have had little or no experience in running a venue of this profile and complexity, although his time at the BBC, which saw him graduate from the corporation's newsroom in Belfast in the 1970s to editing the Nine O'Clock News and subsequently heading the news and current affairs side, will no doubt serve him well. Michael Kaiser, former executive director, left in December to return to the United States.

Steve Howard moves to Martin Pro, Maidstone

Details: 14 March 2016

Steve Howard has relocated from the Martin Manufacturing plant in Louth, Lincolnshire to its UK headquarters in Maidstone. He made the move in mid-December and becomes the senior engineer responsible for Jem smoke machines. He will be responsible for the service of Jem smoke machines and providing training and technical support for Jem products.

Mike Falconer Heads to AC Lighting Inc

Details: 14 March 2016

After six years handling technical sales and support on the company’s exclusively-distributed products, Mike Falconer is leaving AC Lighting Ltd and heading off to its US operation at AC Lighting Inc in Los Angeles.

Robert Bell Joins Rosco

Details: 14 March 2016

Robert Bell has joined Rosco/ET as Horizon product manager. Bell is best known as a founder of CAST Lighting Limited, and was instrumental in the development of WYSIWYG software. While at CAST Lighting, Bell worked closely with ROSCO/ET’s Horizon product development team. This joint effort won Software Product of the Year award at Lighting Dimensions International 1999. Bell is also an accomplished board operator and lighting designer; recent credits include support for the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics, U2’s Pop Mart Tour and Ricky Martin's Liv'n La Vida Loca. More recently, he founded Shock Lighting, a company that handles board operation and lighting design projects.

New Managing Director for Strand Italy

Details: 14 March 2016

Bill Campbell, managing director for Strand Europe, has appointed Ian Roberts to the position of managing director, Strand Italy. He will take up his new position on February 1. Roberts, who has been with the Rome-based company as sales director since 1997, will remain very active in his sales role. The outgoing managing director, Ing. (Engineer) Giuseppe Toia, has made a substantial contribution to Strand taking the company through the development and launch of a complete new range of studio and daylight luminaires, bringing to fruition 23 new products in the record time of two years. Having successfully completed that task he now moves back to his native Milan for professional and personal reasons.

John Napier Takes Oxford Chair

Details: 14 March 2016

Set designer John Napier, whose credits include Cats, Les Miserables, Starlight Express and Miss Saigon, has been named by Oxford University as the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre for 2001. Napier, who has recently returned from Broadway, where his design for Jane Eyre has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, is the first set designer to hold the chair in its 12-year history. Previous incumbents include Stephen Sondheim, Alan Ayckbourn, Richard Eyre and Diana Rigg.Using examples from his own productions, which have included Peter Shaffer’s Equus for the Royal National Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum, Lohengrin for the Royal Opera House and Steven Spielberg’s film Hook, Napier will describe how a designer turns initial inspiration into theatrical reality.

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