Rigging / Staging

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30 January 2017

"After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey will hold its final performances in May," said a statement from Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, the family business which has run the circus since the late 1960s.

Sep Outside Love - A life-size bronze statue of Cilla Black has been unveiled outside Liverpool's Cavern Club as the venue celebrates its 60th anniversary. The club, credited with launching

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30 January 2017

The Evago Group, which includes German full service event company B

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30 January 2017

The show, taking place at the SECC in Glasgow, attracted a record number of visitors on day one, hosting packed seminar sessions - including Phil Ward's panel entitled Is Point Source Fighting Back - and the Riggers Forum.

Chris Toulmin, director of PLASA Events says: "PLASA Focus Glasgow has gathered fantastic momentum in the Scottish region, attracting industry support from likes of the BBC, Department of International Trade and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The buzzing show floor is further testament for the thrivin

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30 January 2017

The successful debut of the MyT Steroid Folding Roof System was at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples, Italy, which served as both a test build and massive roof structure for an important live concert. The custom made 30 x 15m MyT Folding Steroid Roof System was expertly delivered and erected by Massimo Stage, one of Europe's premier event production and rental companies that specializes in big events.

The modular, self-contained design of the MyT Folding Steroid Roof System consists of heavy duty components that are

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14 December 2016

Nick Worton has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company's financial strategy, accounting and IT.

"Nick brings over 20 years of financial, commercial and administrative experience to J&C Joel" said James Wheelwright, CEO. "His impressive background complements J&C Joel's dedication to excellence and growth." Prior to joining J&C Joel, Nick served as director of finance of Camira Fabrics.

In addition J&C Joel has confirmed two other senior appointments - Scott Carter, operations manager for purchasing, logistics and warehouse and Matthew Oldfield who joins as manufacturing production manager. Both appointments are part of the company's commitment to improving service whilst growing both the UK and international business.

Scott brings more than si

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14 December 2016

"Products and subjects relating to theatre and stage technology have gained greatly in significance for Prolight+Sound. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that, with this lecture by Guang Jian Gao, we can also present a special highlight for trade visitors from this segment at this year's fair", says Prolight+Sound Director Michael Biwer. "Our special thanks go to Florian von Hofen, CTO of Rouge AVE, who made contact with Guang Jian Gao and went to great lengths to make this extraordinary highlight possible."

China's leading stage designer, Gao has been honoured many times for his work a

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

"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

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14 December 2016

"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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

"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

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14 December 2016

"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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

"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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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

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14 December 2016

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