Romania - Prolyte Group, renowned manufacturer of trussing and staging systems, officially open its new purpose-built factory in Piatra Olt, Romania, with a series of opening ceremonies this week. Distributors, press, governmental authorities and stakeholders were invited to join the celebrations at the new, ultra-modern manufacturing location.

"Prolyte started to translocate all its manufacturing facilities to Romania as part of a long-term plan in 2010. The commissioning of the new factory is the final and most important phase of this plan, consolidating all its European manufacturing capacity into a 5.000sq.m facility, with scope to expand to 16.000sq.m," the company says.

The new production facility features brand new automated production equipment, new welding jigs and state-of-the-art product lines. In addition, the building contains industry-leading employee welfare

UK - Hoist UK has welcomed Colin Jones to their sales team as technical sales engineer. Colin has been in the lifting industry for almost 25 years, having been previously employed by Chester Chain Co. where he started off on a temporary contract as a lifting equipment engineer, working his way through the ranks in various roles including site supervisor, & works manager, until he became General Manager in 2013.

He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience of standard & specialised lifting equipment, along with his formal LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association) qualifications.

"Having Colin join our team is a major asset for the company, as it is always difficult to employ a technical engineer with a proven track record in the industry" commented Hoist UK director Paul Jordan. "Colin has a vast knowledge of the lifting equipment sector, and he will be a re

Germany - Doughty Engineering is set to debut three new items at this year's Prolight+Sound show. Stand E24 in Hall 3 will see Doughty display and demonstrate its new Super Lightweight Drop Arm and Projector Mount - both new additions to the award winning Modular Rigging System - as well as its new Floor Stand. Visitors to the stand will also be able to see Doughty's extensive range of grip, rigging and suspension equipment and address any queries to the Doughty team.

Mark Chorley, design engineer at Doughty, said, "Prolight+Sound is without doubt one of the most important shows for us. It allows us to introduce our products to a truly international audience and gather feedback from them. What works for our customers in one corner of the world doesn't necessarily work for others and this sort of information gathering is vital to our product development."

This year, fans of

Germany - BroadWeigh's newly updated wireless load cell monitoring system will make its Prolight + Sound debut at this year's show. Distributors for the brand, including AC Entertainment (Hall 5 Level 0, Booths A26 & A27) Hof Alutec (Hall 3.0, Booth A44) and Louis Reyners (Hall 3.0 Booth C14) are all set to feature BroadWeigh's latest offering on their stands.

Jonathan Purdue, sales manager at BroadWeigh who will be on hand for the duration of the show to meet with customers, said: "We're delighted to have three of our European distributors demonstrating our updated system at Prolight+Sound.

"BroadWeigh has worked hard to develop a new radio module which gives four times the range of the previous system. Improvements in the omni-directional antenna have provided increased performance in more challenging environments such as high concentrations of truss or wall. We want our

Canada - The Toronto School of Circus Arts offers circus classes for adults and children as an alternative for active lifestyles. The 15,000sq.ft training centre is housed in a renovated airplane hangar and features the most up to date circus arts equipment available.

The School prides itself on its safety record so when the school needed to set up a bungee apparatus in another venue for a performance, the BroadWeigh wireless load cell monitoring system was used to help determine the maximum dynamic loads placed on the structure during a bounce.

Michael Sorowka, CEO of Paradigm Rigging, BroadWeigh's technical partner in Canada, explained: "A friend of mine is an aerial and trapeze instructor at the school so I was familiar with the venue. Having introduced them to the BroadWeigh system, we arranged an opportunity to demo the units on their trapeze nets. The system got the

Germany - Prolyte Group will relaunch its complete range of roof systems this year, giving a sneak impression of the new redesigned systems at Prolight+Sound.

The complete redesign encompasses making these systems fully compliant to all applicable standards, rules, regulations, directives, codes and laws.

The revised roof systems will offer state of the art technology and will be available as a box system with add-ons. Very straight forward, what you see is what you get.

"I started in the event business to make emotions. Being involved in the process that creates emotions, that's what we do. We translate creative ideas in a technical way and make it really practical and safe to work with", states Ruud de Deugd, product manager Roof System. Quite a bold statement, but Ruud knows this business inside out. Prolyte is happy to have Ruud back on board, so he can combine his

Germany - Eilon Engineering has announced launch of the new Ron StageMaster PRR (Portable Radio Receiver), a compact and highly portable Bluetooth-compatible load monitoring system capable of monitoring up to 40 individual load cells from the convenience of an iPad or iPhone using the Ron StageMaster App.

Features include: Bluetooth connection - no need for WiFi or additional equipment; excellent range - up to 150m/450ft from the loading point; multiple display and visualization options - monitor loads as real-time load map, bar graphs or as a fully-detailed list; pocket-sized radio receiver - great portability and convenience for riggers and supervisors; simple operation - add/remove load cells, TARE, ZERO and set overload/underload alarms from a single screen.

Designed for all types of load monitoring when out in the field, the Ron StageMaster PRR enables convenient port

South Africa - On 28 December 2015, 3,000 revellers gathered at Stanley Island, Plettenberg Bay to enjoy SA's top acts and many unexpected experiences in the extraordinary country which is the Castle Lite's Republic of Extra Cold.

Stanley Island, the only private Island in South Africa, features an indigenous milkwood forest, pristine wetlands and private beaches. The task of transforming the Island into a 'Country' was in the hands of set and technical provider Dream Sets and their project manager Riaan Jacobs, guided by their client OMAGE and the creative by Peter Blond.

Access to the island is only by ferry boat. While the setting is spectacular, the equipment moves from the mainland to the Island in stages, made possible by two barges, four 4

Germany - Kinesys will exhibit at Prolight+Sound 2016 in Frankfurt and be located in Hall 3.0 on stand D15 with a totally new stand design, a fresh look and a different feel to illustrate their range of standard and bespoke premium products from the world of automation engineering.

The booth will feature a widescreen video wall and also an exciting new show-reel and product videos. As always the stand will include live movement demonstrating the flexibility and creative scope of products including Kinesys' winches, as well as the integration between automation and media servers.

A DST trolley system, built by trussing manufacturer LITEC and controlled by Kinesys, will be highlighted on both the Kinesys and LITEC stands. Recent examples of this in action include M

Germany - Area Four Industries and its four brands (MILOS, TOMCAT, LITEC and James Thomas Engineering) extend a very special invitation to visit them at this year's Prolight+Sound Exhibition from 5 - 8 April 2016 in Frankfurt, (Hall 3, Level 0, Booth D71). All brands will be hosted at the booth managed by Area Four Industries, which serves as the technical and sales interface between all four of its brands and their customers.

On show will be TOMCAT's EVO truss -The unique, collapsible design of EVO truss frees up space in your warehouse and when transporting in bulk.

New rectangular truss and ceiling brackets from MILOS will feature. Filling in the gaps of their end-to-end solutions for truss and support structures, the new rectangular truss from MILOS will be making its worldwide debut at Prolight+Sound. A special surprise is waiting for visitors to the truss section of

Germany - Entertainment motion control systems expert XLNT Advanced Technologies is exhibiting its CyberHoist II system at Prolight+Sound Frankfurt in Hall 3.0, Booth G73.

The variable speed chain hoist system, CyberHoist II has been specifically designed to manage and accommodate the creative, logistical and physical rigours of automation design for entertainment environments, large-scale events and touring.

"We are looking forward to demonstrating the CyberHoist II system in live presentations throughout ProLight+Sound," says XLNT's director of sales and marketing, Marc van der Wel. "We invite show visitors to come and talk to our knowledgeable and qualified team of sales and application engineers in Hall 3.0, Booth #G73, a new location since the show's new set-up this year. As ever we're keen to discuss their latest project's requirements, demo our products and answer a

USA - Ultra Music Festival once again took over Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami to celebrate the conclusion of the annual Winter Music Conference and kick off the summer electronic dance music festival scene with seven stages and some of the biggest DJ's in the EDM circuit. For the fifth year running, AG Production Services was called upon to provide its massive dome structure for two of the stages at Ultra.

"For the past five years, we have provided what has become a staple at music festivals and larger outdoor events, our Mini-Mega Structure for the Carl Cox & Friends Stage at Ultra Music Festival," says AG Production Services president Andrew Gumper. "A scaled down version of the Mini-Mega Structure, which was used on the Worldwide Stage has also become a staple. Both structures use the same trussing and rigging materials and are highly configurable while still providing im

UK - David Graham technical director of the National Student Drama Festival approached All Access Staging and Productions once again this year to sponsor the festival. "In previous years we had t-shirts made for the attendees to wear, this year we decided that we would provide everyone with a pair of dirty rigger gloves with the All Access logo on," says Matthew Bull, sales and marketing manager. "Everyone was delighted with them, helping to ensure they had the appropriate PPE for their daily fit ups."

This year All Access Staging and Productions also gave a talk and training session as part of the daily workshops open to all at the festival. "Everyone who came went away knowing the company a little better and gained some practical knowledge," comments Bull. "I feel it is important that we can pass on some free training to people starting off in the industry, giving them confi

UK - Thousands of fundraisers from across the UK flocked to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to run, swim or cycle to raise money for Sport Relief, 20 March 2016.

Blackout worked alongside Progress Productions to supply and install two Prolyte H30V PA towers in the Sport Relief Event Village, from which loudspeaker clusters were hung, to update spectators on fundraising efforts and event updates throughout the day. Truss was also supplied to construct the south gantry providing a VIP walk-in entrance to the Sport Relief Event Village.

Participants were challenged to walk or run a one, three or six-mile route around the London venue for the Sport Relief Mile. The event, led by celebrities including Danny Dyer and Radio 1's Greg James, attracted over 10,000 athletes.

Blackout director, Kevin Monks said, "With a short lead time it was paramount the load-in happened swiftly an

Denmark - Building on its 15-year relationship with Roskilde Festival, Mojo Barriers has secured a further three-year contract to ensure artist and audience safety throughout the eight-day event.

Roskilde Festival is one of Europe's most established large festivals, taking place in Denmark from 25 June- 2 July 2016, with Mojo Barriers once again supplying its barrier configuration. This pen system splits the front of stage area into four pens, which are emptied between the bands, allowing organisers to control the number of people in the front of stage areas and divides the audience to prevent large crowd surges.

As well as the barriers, Mojo Barriers will also supply its proprietary Line Up Gates to enable Roskilde to operate its unique entry system, allowing organisers to control the flow rate into all the pens and give the security staff an effective monitoring system.<

Indonesia - Straightpoint has named Batam, Indonesia-based PT Rigspek Perkasa as a distributor of its force measurement, load monitoring and suspended weighing load cell range across a key region of Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Rigspek will keep load cell stock at its 15,000sq.m headquarters on the island of Batam, but it also has facilities in Jakarta and Balikpapan, offering a myriad of lifting technologies in addition to related training, inspection and testing services.

Alexander Silalahi, business development manager, Rigspek, said, "The new government has confirmed plans to invest US$360 billion into a series of projects over the next five years, primarily in the infrastructure and power sectors."

He continued, "We have lifting and rigging stock worth about US$600,000 in monetary value and anticipate that Straightpoint's equipment will enhance that product offerin

USA - Arena Seating's managing director Niall Gaffney is taking up a new opportunity, moving to become general manager of the New Jersey division of Arena Americas, April 2016.

With each of the Arena Americas divisions geographically split into four areas, Gaffney will be responsible for managing and delivering growth across the Northeast Division.

Niall comments, "I've enjoyed a fabulous time at Arena Seating, working within a great team of people and on some amazing events, such as the Commonwealth Games, which stands out as a personal highlight. The fact that I can continue to expand my horizons within the Arena Group is a testament to their expansion and I am relishing the prospect of continuing my time with the company in a new environment.

"I'm sure I'll have plenty to learn as I take on the vagaries between the US and UK markets, comparing how projects are deliv

South Africa - When it comes to suspending line arrays for large-scale events, In-Harmony Productions rely on ProLyft motors from Prolyte. With six one Ton Prolyft motors in stock already, they recently made an investment of an additional two-ton motor to keep up with demand.

In-Harmony provides a service in two key areas, live technical productions and installations particularly for Houses of Worship, explains Juan Soothill, MD and system designer engineer at In-Harmony. "We own a JBL VTX V25 system, and for massive events collaborate with two other V25 owners. When working on bigger indoor and outdoor gigs, we want to be able to suspend more line array boxes with the focus being on safety."

Earlier this year, In-Harmony used the Prolyft motors for church meetings held in Johannesburg's FNB Stadium (an over 94 000 seater venue) and in Accra, Ghana. The motors then went st

UK - Blackout donated a wide range of drape and rigging equipment to the 2016 National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) which took place in Scarborough, 19-25 March.

Taking place across the seaside town, NSDF featured a range of technical workshops for theatre and the wider entertainment industry, and showcased productions made by young theatre makers aged 16- 25. Established in 1956, this year marked the 60th anniversary of the Festival, which welcomed youngsters from all over the country.

This year 25 volunteer crew members joined the NSDF Technical Team to gain hands on experience with everything from drapes and rigging, sound, lighting, video, stage management and special effects. Blackout donated a range of equipment from its extensive stock list to dress all five venues; The Grand Hall, Ocean Room, Training Room, Spa Theatre and the two performance spaces at the Univers

UK - TAIT Stage Technologies provided the automation for a revival of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker as it begins its run at the Old Vic London.

When it premiered in 1960, The Caretaker helped change the face of modern theatre. Now, Harold Pinter's ground-breaking classic comes to The Old Vic in a new production directed by Olivier and Tony Award winning Matthew Warchus.

Ensuring the artistic vision of Rob Howell and Simon York, (set designers) the show makes full use of TAIT Stage Technologies BT2-290 winches to raise the roof of Aston's eclectic, junk-filled flat on one miserable rainy evening. Rising 5 meters above stage the specially crafted roof weighs 750 kg and is suspended over the stage throughout the entire production.

Ted Moore, director of rental services at TAIT Stage Technologies, comments, "Whenever we are approached by the Old Vic we know i

South Africa - The vibrancy and creativity of African fashion designers adorned the runway at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg, by African Fashion International (AFI), from 10 to 12 March at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton. Lighting designer Mauritz Jacobs from Dream Sets has become part and parcel of this anticipated event for the past eight years.

"This year I tried something completely different," explained Mauritz. "We used 16 Robe ColorWash 2.5 K and 16 Robin 800 LEDWash to do the job, enabling the correct lighting for photographers while still adding colour changers and strobe effects." Programming was on a grandMA2 full size.

Mauritz used colour for backlighting. "We purely outlined the models from the back which worked very well while still using the desired colour temperatures, particularly for photographers, for the front."

With the audience sitting

USA - With over a decade long relationship, Sir Paul McCartney, once again, commissioned TAIT Towers, the company that supplies live staging equipment and scenic design for 19 of the top twenty highest grossing artists world tours including The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, U2 and many more, to build a one of a kind stage and scenic set for his One on One Tour. McCartney will be performing a high-energy, high impact show by displaying a repertoire of his music catalogue supported by electrifying video animation, a moving stage and a collection of his personal photos.

Since McCartney's compelling Super Bowl XXXIX performance in 2005 where TAIT provided its artistic talent and staging experience, the two have worked closely together to continue executing the best audience experiences. Likewise, for the One on One tour, TAIT worked closely with McCartney's production manager and

Germany - Prolyte reports that the Verto truss was among the most mentioned product innovations at the Prolight+Sound exhibition. From the launch on 5 April until the last day of the show, a record number of visitors tried and tested the Verto truss, while quite a few were brave enough to take up the Verto Speed Challenge. The speedy and very silent Verto truss, sets records in assembly and disassembly times.

"The feedback we received during the show has been tremendous, we have been constantly busy. We've raised an immediate demand for this truss - way beyond our highest expectations," comments Ralph Stockley, CCO.

"We knew the Verto truss would draw attention as the first real truss innovation in years," continues Eric Laanstra, product manager, "But you never know to what extent. The Verto truss has received very positive feedback, that's very rewarding."

The Verto

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