UK - This week the Current RMS Team is celebrating hitting the 1,000-user mark with close to 700 rental businesses worldwide now relying on the system to manage their hire processes.

Launched just 15 months ago, Current has experienced rapid growth, illustrating the need for AV, lighting and production hire businesses to be able to work on the move, raise quotes on the fly, check stock availability and generate invoices from any device and location.

"Current has been so well received across the UK and we are now seeing significant growth across USA, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East - that's the beauty of the cloud, businesses can sign up within 60 seconds online and receive the same level of support from us, no matter where in the world they are," says business manager Lisa Kenward.

Since launch, Current has heavily invested resource in development, building

UK - PLASA has 39 years of experience in providing business events for the live entertainment technology industry, attracting a high calibre of attendees with more than £3billion spending power for the PLASA Show, £340m for PLASA Focus Leeds and £130m for the newest edition, PLASA Focus Glasgow.

PLASA prides itself on delivering a targeted audience for each show highlighted by the small audience crossover between events, with only 350 Leeds visitors and 52 Glasgow visitors attending the flagship London show. This unique audience is not just limited to shows organised by the PLASA Events division, but also includes competitor shows with 41% of PLASA Show 2015 visitors not having attended any other show in the past year.

Christopher Toulmin, director of Events Division says: "Engaging face-to-face is still the fastest and most effective way to build relatio

Canada - The new BlackTrax Beta 2.0 makes tracking even easier, faster to calibrate, programme and use. Developed for over a year, 2.0 has the largest number of new features, GUI and workflow improvements in any BlackTrax release yet.

"A lot of these improvements were developed from customer suggestions, requests and general feedback," explains Marty Cochrane, BlackTrax product manager. "This includes better system reporting, real-time chapter programming and more control over fixtures during the calibration process."

Highlights include: All-new GUI designfor BlackTrax, BTWyg, Tracker, and Follower - with full-screen mode for BlackTrax and new simpler basic mode for Tracker and Follower; new Fixture Calibration mode improvements ensure faster calibration; rigid and soft frames for more flexible tracking operations and objects. Frames combine a collection of Stringers (aka

UK - Following a year in which Doughty Engineering has upped its game in the film and TV industry, visitors to the company's stand E39 at BVE 2016 will see a range of its products specifically designed with the broadcast sector in mind. With two new additions to Doughty's award winning Modular Rigging System making their début at the show, as well as a selection of grip, rigging, suspension and lifting equipment on display, Julian Chiverton, sales director at Doughty, believes shows like BVE are more important than ever to the company.

"We really got our teeth into the broadcast space in 2015," he said. "We're involved in an ongoing job with the Stop Animation and Puppet Making faculty at the University of Staffordshire and have some fascinating projects within the media department at Queen's University in Belfast under our belt, as well as working with major shopping c

UK - Twenty-seven axes of Kinesys automation were in action on the 2016 Strictly Live UK arena tour, produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments.

The completely sold out tour was presented by the Great British Bake Off's Mel Giedroyc and once again provided a highly successful sequel to the BBC's blockbusting Strictly Come Dancing phenomenon, offering fans nationwide the chance to experience all the glamour, glitz and excitement totally live.

Kinesys has featured on most of the recent Strictly Live tours - this was the ninth one - to move a combination of scenic elements and drapes as specified by the tour's technical director, Andy Gibbs. This year there were more movement elements than before with the system again provided by leading UK lighting and visuals rental company, Neg Earth, and Steve Kellaway operating for the second year running.

Steve, also an

South Africa - Every year DWR Distribution kicks off with the Prolyte Rigging Training Course, an internationally recognized five-day course presented by Rinus Bakker from Rhino Rigs. This year the Prolyte course has been evaluated and is registered to provide 48 CPD (continuous professional development) credits that can be used to earn and maintain the CertAV professional designations.

Kevan Jones, executive director of the South African Communications Industries Association (SACIA) explains, "In February 2015 SACIA was recognised by SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority) as the professional body for the broadcast and AV community across Southern Africa. We have registered 6 professional designations and are in the process of developing additional designations for the theatre and live events sector. In order to earn and maintain a professional designation, candidates a

UK - Stage One Creative Services Ltd has completed its acquisition of WGH Transportation Engineering, the UK's leading leisure ride design and manufacturing company.

This move will see the transfer of employees and intellectual property and will secure the future of the WGH product portfolio under the Stage One brand.

This acquisition, says a statement, represents a significant joining of forces and enhances Stage One's engineering and design capability. Together, the two companies represent best of breed engineering and manufacturing in the creative, entertainment and theme park industries.

Mark Johnson, Stage One CEO, commented, "This represents a very positive step for our company and our clients. Our automation and engineering offering has always been well regarded. However, this recent development adds real breadth and depth. We're looking forward to better suppor

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 cust

Germany - Triple E is launching the 'universal building system', ModTruss, Europe-wide at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt 2016 in Hall 3, Level 0, Booth 19.

The team launched the US-designed ModTruss in the UK in June 2015, immediately winning 'Engineering Product of the Year' at the ABTT Theatre Show Awards in London.

Best described as full size Meccano, the ModTruss system features a lightweight aluminium construction and a repeating hole pattern, meaning applications are practically unlimited.

"When I first saw ModTruss at LDI in Las Vegas I was immediately inspired by its potential," says Triple E's managing director, David Edelstein. "We've put a lot of hard work in to bring this product to the European market and are extremely excited about what it can achieve for the industry. ModTruss is now available exclusively from Triple E and interest is incredible. There is no

UK - PLASA is pleased to announce the launch of its new National Event Lifting Certificate (NELC), with the support of the National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) and key industry sponsors including the BBC, White Light and Britannia Row.

The official NELC launch took place on Thursday 3 March at the International Live Music Conference Production Meeting at the Copthorne Hotel, Kensington, London, with PLASA's NRC Manager Paul Riddiford introducing the new certification scheme to those present.

NELC has been created to meet the needs of those who already work in the industry in disciplines other than Rigging, such as Lighting, Sound, Video or Scenery etc, who are called upon to carry out occasional Rigging tasks including lifting operations as part of their duties. It is also suitable for individuals wishing to be assessed for their skills within Rigging, without undertakin

Europe - Mojo Barriers supplied a variety of barrier products for the front of stage and front of house production areas, for the European leg and two Asian tour dates of Madonna's Rebel Heart World Tour.

Rebel Heart is the tenth worldwide tour from Madonna and supports the release of her 13th studio album of the same name. The tour kicked off on 9 September in Montreal, Canada and ran for six months, visiting 22 countries worldwide.

Mojo Barriers was contracted to ensure audience and artist safety for all of Madonna's 25 European tour dates, as well as at her shows in Taipei and Macau, which both took place in February 2016. The European leg of Madonna's tour began with the Lanxess Arena in Cologne on 4 November 2015 and visited 12 European countries.

Mojo Barriers supplied almost 200 pieces of kit, including vario corner sections, snake gates and flex corner sections

UK - When famous climber Jimmy Chin made an appearance on Good Morning Britain last month, the show's production team tasked host Ben Shephard with the challenge of interviewing his guest while abseiling down the side of the ITV tower. With just five days in which to put the segment together, production manager Malika Keswani and the programme's line producer Viviana White asked Unusual Rigging to provide rigging gear for the abseil along with competent manned crew to manage the rig.

"ITV has worked with Unusual on various other productions and so we knew we were dealing with a team that knew its stuff," said Malika. "We scheduled a recce with Unusual's Robin Elias, explaining the nature of the slot and Robin ran with it. One of the key aspects of this job, as a live event, was to ensure the rig was set to perfection from the word go. On live TV, there are no opportunit

Germany - Sommer Cable knows what it's all about when it comes to good sound: neutrality and musicality. The new hi-fi connection leads of the SC-Stratos line will precisely meet this demand. Moreover, they rely on a heat-dissipating design to ensure a long service life - especially when plugged into power amplifiers, which produce considerable heat also on the input side.

"A lot of budget-priced cables on the market show a noticeable decline in sound after only a short period of time," says Pascal Miguet, product & sales manager at Sommer Cable. "A porous jacket, shrinking insulation or oxidized copper are among the most frequent problems. Our new SC-Stratos line takes a stand for better quality here.

"During the development phase it was important for us to design a product that convinces both sound-wise and in technical respect. The combination of durability and a natura

USA - Motion control systems manufacturer Kinesys hosted a highly successful training event and open-house in its Lithia Springs, Georgia, USA facility, which was attended by over 50 people connected to the world of rigging automation and its application in the live entertainment industry.

The format included two days of technical and operator training on Kinesys products, presented by David Martin (head of training - Kinesys USA), which catered for a range of ability and experience levels. This was followed by two days of general 'open-house' product awareness sessions for potential clients, existing customers and associates.

The objective was to increase familiarisation with Kinesys' capabilities, methodology and interfaces, and to expand the pool of Kinesys-trained technicians in the United States.

David Bond (head of sales - Kinesys USA), says, "We were extremely h

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

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