UK - Continuing their longstanding relationship with the Ricoh Women's British Open, Arena Structures once again provided temporary event structures for the Championship, which this year took place at the prestigious Woburn Golf Club, 28-31 July.

Arena Structures, project manager Matt Clark comments, "This being my first project delivered since joining the company, I am delighted to have joined a team that took the same pride and attention to detail when delivering 25,0000sq.m of event structures at The Open, as they do sporting events with smaller infrastructure needs. It is inspiring to see Arena Structures go above and beyond to support every client, regardless of size, to deliver installations of the highest standards and bespoke creativity, maximising the impact for both the event and sponsor brands."

A total of 5,000sq.m of temporary structures was installed, includi

UK - Members of PLASA attending the 2016 AGM at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire were presented with the Association's plans for the next 12 months.

Ed Pagett, formerly managing director of Panalux Broadcast & Event and current chairman of PLASA's Board has led the organisation through very challenging times. In his speech Ed outlined the many changes that have taken place over the last year including bringing in a new managing director following the departure of former CEO Matthew Griffiths, and the demerge from PLASA North America (which has now returned to its former name of ESTA) after four years. This development, said Ed, although not desired by PLASA, had brought fresh clarity and new opportunities for PLASA, but had also resulted in a financial fallout with the North American organisation that has yet to be resolved.

Ed commented, "My role as Chairman has been to navi

Germany - When the Ehrlich Brothers needed a bit of special production magic to move a giant set of scenic doors smoothly and horizontally on and offstage to top and tail the two acts for their 2016 performance at the Commerzbank Stadium in Frankfurt, their production turned to Belgian automation specialist WIcreations!

Magic - The Unique Stadium Show is the first time that the magician duo has ever played a football stadium and it also signalled the end of a sold-out 120-date arena tour by the Ehrlich brothers in spectacular style.

WI's Geert Stockmans was contacted by production manager Thomas Bartz who was in charge of co-ordinating all the ambitious show's massive automation elements.

The stage was built at one end of the stadium and the production used the massive LED screen already installed for public viewings of Germany's UEFA Euro 2016 soccer championship matc

UK - HSL supplied lighting and rigging to Earth Wind and Fire's recent UK and European tour which included a closing headline slot on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury 2016 as the second show.

Lighting was designed by Merle McLain who has worked with the band for 23 years. He was on the road operating the key and conventional lights and also directing and switching seven robo-cams as well as keeping an overview on all-things visual. Running the moving lights was Robin Seefeldt. Lester Cobrin was HSL's project manager on the road, with everything at the warehouse end managed by Sean McGlone.

Earth Wind and Fire, one of the most successful bands of the 20th century have embraced many musical genres including soul, funk, jazz, hip hop, R'n'B, pop, rock, Latin and African - and have a huge and eclectic fanbase as a result. Their live shows are known for their vibrance and en

UK - Chris Brown's recent One Hell of a Nite UK and European tour featured a production design by Tom E. Marzullo from Out Of Our Minds Creative Services, LLC, developed in collaboration with Christie Lites' Robert Roth and Robert Achlimbari from staging specialist All Access. The design included two lighting pods which were moved using a Kinesys automation system supplied by HSL from Blackburn UK, also the tour's lighting and rigging vendors.

The Kinesys elements comprised eight Elevation 1+ drives working in conjunction with one tonne Liftket motors capable of 12m a minute movement, controlled via Kinesys Vector software operated by Paddy Neilly and the set-up included a Kinesys PD-ES power distribution and Emergency Stop system.

The two lighting pods were both loaded with a 6 x 6 grid of Elation SIXPAR 200s with 16 x Clay Paky Sharpys around the perimeter of each. They

UK - Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the annual Gottelier Award aims to recognise those product developers who have made significant long-term contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

Voting in the Gottelier Awards is only open to PLASA Members, registered readers of LSi magazine and pre-registered visitors to PLASA 2016. All will receive an email with a unique code inviting them to place their individual vote via the PLASA Show website. Voting closes on Friday 9 September 2016 and the winner will be announced at the PLASA Show at Olympia, West London, on Monday 19 September.<

China - Production company Stage Tech Limited has discovered the many creative uses of Milos truss and how it can be used to deliver on their customer promise of "highlighting your ideas, enchanting your guests and making special occasions even more memorable".

They have used the Milos M400 range of truss to realize custom installations in various public places in Hong Kong. Among their many creations is a hanging sculpture in Pacific Place shopping mall for its 25th Anniversary celebration and a hanging goat display at the PMQ Goat ARTventure exhibition gallery.

(Jim Evans)

South Africa - Date Jonkman from Prolyte recently came to South Africa for the first time, visiting local distributor DWR Distribution and Prolyte users in Johannesburg.

"We met up with a lot of clients, really nice guys," said Date. "I felt very comfortable with them. The funny thing is that typically when you walk into a rental company, no matter if it's based in North of Europe, Holland or Spain, the people are always the same."

Date has been with Prolyte since 2002. "Like many other people in this industry, I was a DJ at the time, playing records and that is how I came to meet the former owner of Prolyte," Date recalls. "We had a beer together and he said I should work for his company."

Robert Izzett from DWR has met with Date many times over the years. "He is an amazing guy and we appreciated the visit," said Robert. Date is temporarily filling in for Paul-Erik Ha

UK / USA - Hoffend LivePipe hoists - Engineering Product of the Year at the 2016 ABTT Show - are now shipping for installation from Hall Stage dealers.

The innovative approach taken to design and operation has led to a faultless installation in Tennessee, completed by BellaTEX Inc. who sent this independent report.

"I have nothing but good things to say about the LivePipe product," says Ty Prewitt. "It offers significant and unique advantages - and showed us it will work in very difficult situations.

"Live Pipe was not only the best solution in this case, but its cost was on par or lower than other options. I believe its appeal will be broad. It can be exceptionally quick to install. Since it doesn't include hoisting a 150Kg motor, 'quick' actually has some validity.

"The assembly and installation process is significantly simpler than any other products I've encoun

USA - Several years ago, J.R. Clancy inspected the rigging at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, Texas, and found it was near the end of its useful life after 48 years. Not surprising, considering the length of operation, the venue's busy schedule and extreme environmental conditions. The Miller's older rigging equipment was also having difficulty handling some very heavy sets. The fact that J.R. Clancy components lasted nearly a half-century is a testament to their quality and regular maintenance.

The Miller is a unique venue - a free, outdoor, full-proscenium theatre; the original facility was built in 1923. Rebuilt in 1968, the Miller now includes a 64' x 41' stage, 54 line sets, orchestra lift and a 100-ton air conditioning system to cool the performance area. Seating is provided for approximately 1,700 patrons, with a sloping lawn that accommodates roughly 4,500 more.

USA - Several years ago, J.R. Clancy inspected the rigging at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, Texas, and found it was near the end of its useful life after 48 years. The Miller's older rigging equipment was having difficulty handling some heavy sets, but the J.R. Clancy components had lasted nearly half a century thanks to their quality and regular maintenance.

The Miller is a unique venue - a free, outdoor, full-proscenium theatre; the original facility was built in 1923. Rebuilt in 1968, the Miller now includes a 64ft x 41ft stage, 54 line sets, orchestra lift and a 100-ton air conditioning system to cool the performance area. Seating is provided for approximately 1,700 patrons, with a sloping lawn that accommodates roughly 4,500 more.

To assist with the renovation, J.R. Clancy turned to Beck Studios, a long-standing J.R. Clancy dealer. "It's a great partnership,"

UK - Star Events turns 40 today, 26 August 2016, with its commitment to invention, safety and best practice the key to all the candles on the birthday cake.

Founded by Roger Barrett and Maddy Sheals as touring sound specialist Star Hire, the company's first contract, in 1976, was with singer/songwriter Carol Grimes. Star went on to provide for the likes of Split Enz, the Rock Against Racism tour of 1979 and Miles Davis in a similar capacity.

Star Hire stages made their debut at Notting Hill Carnival 1983, Barrett, and Sheals who retired in 2014, determined they could make a better, safer job of it than the platforms then available to them as a PA supplier.

Later the same decade, Star formalised its interest in improving standards, writing a technical safety guide for the National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA). Star Mobile platforms were patented in 1989 and the Ver

Europe - Milos has just released a second video as part of its special three-month promotion on lifts from Mobiltechlifts, where you receive a free transportation wheel kit with every lift purchased until 30 September.

In this video, Area Four Industries R&D director Marc Hendriks dives into the technical design, testing and certification of Mobiltechlifts products.

This video is part of the on-going three-month promotion series from Milos that focuses on a selected range of products. During these promotions, Milos provides its customers with valuable information and extra value with each purchase of the featured Milos product.

The link to the video is here: https://youtu.be/iPAi5Lu2nd8

(Jim Evans)

Australia - UK-based automation specialist and manufacturer Kinesys has appointed The Rigging Shop (TRS) as the exclusive distributor for its products in Australia and New Zealand.

Based in New South Wales, the sales dedicated TRS operation is part of Pollard Productions, popular and well-respected rigging professionals working in all areas of live shows and events, TV productions and concert touring, which has been established for 35 years. Pollard is also a long term customer of Kinesys.

The announcement follows a recent visit to Australia by KInesys MD Dave Weatherhead, who comments, "TRS share our core values, standards of excellence and attention to detail. They have the right attitude and bring a huge amount of knowledge and enthusiasm to the equation and through the Pollard Productions connection, the TRS team is also really experienced with our product ranges. We a

UK - For its sixth year supplying the immersive metropolis, BoomTown Fair, Utopium provided lighting and rigging equipment to 12 stages and venues, 11-14 August 2016.

This summer's BoomTown Fair saw the introduction of over 80 street venues and an increased capacity of 60,000, making it the biggest year to date. The fully immersive festival features nine individually themed districts, impressive main stages and an eclectic line up of music and entertainment with the introduction of Sector 6, a brand new district and witnessed performances from Madness, Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley and Fat Freddy's Drop.

Utopium provided festival lighting and rigging to 12 main stages and venues, which included the Town Centre, The Lion's Den, The Jolly Dodger, The Old Mines, The Ballroom, Rusty Spurs and Tangled Roots.

To illuminate The Lion's Den stage, which is the largest reggae stage in

UK - Entertainment and events flooring specialists Harlequin Floors will be exhibiting at PLASA 2016, Olympia, London from 18-20 September on stand F10.

Harlequin Floors offer a wide range of floors for live entertainment, the performing arts, dance, special events, set building, television studios, exhibition stands, as well as theatre stage construction and stage refurbishment projects. At PLASA this year Harlequin will additionally be launching a number of exciting new floor options, including the addition of Gold and Silver, the first two in Harlequin's new Metallic range, joining the already immensely popular Hi-Shine event and display floors.

Also of interest to set designers looking for new creative opportunities, Harlequin is rolling out Reversible Pro a floor that is well suited to printing designs and images using advanced wide format computer controlled techniqu

UK - There is something completely different about to happen at PLASA 2016... A new experiment, The Exploratorium, is a maze where the participants show off both their technical expertise and their imaginations.

The simple, interactive, entertaining and educational experiments contained within The Exploratorium prove a concept, demonstrate a principle and wow visitors with a bit of science. There will be axe heads and horns, Virtual Reality and prisms, experiments on perception and even a 'Brain Transfer Machine'.

One highlight of The Exploratorium is The Sideshow, a bit of virtual and magical fun, hosted by Ryan Metcalfe from PreeVue, producers of photo-realistic 3D models for theatre productions and live events using the latest CAD and VR technology. "This is a fantastic opportunity for us to be able to demonstrate this brand new technology in a way that allows vi

USA - All four ETCP examinations, including the new Portable Power Distribution Technician Certification (PPDT), will be offered at LDI in Las Vegas, NV on the morning of Saturday, 22 October, 2016. Interested applicants must submit their application and fee to the ETCP office no later than 26 September, 2016.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements and applications, is available on the ETCP website at http://etcp.esta.org/ldi2016.html. Questions can be answered by Meredith Moseley-Bennett, ETCP Certification Manager, at 212-244-1505 or etcp@esta.org.

The new ETCP PPDT certification is focused on the large population of industry workers in the roles of technicians, stagehands, portable power set/strike technicians, as well as facility maintenance personnel for a wide variety of venues. This certification targets the top two-thirds of people working with t

UK - David Boswell, managing director of TSG, will address the Future of Policing Summit and Exhibition at the Wesley Hotel in London on 13 October.

Boswell joins a number of high-profile speakers at the event, put together by the University of Salford to look at the challenges facing the UK police force in 2016, the impact of cuts since 2010 and reforms to pay schemes and working practises in the wake of the Winsor Review among them.

Conference producer, Julia Main, sought David Boswell's input after reading about TSG's commitment to modern, multi-agency security solutions at event sites. His session will focus on TSG's cost-efficient, specialist services that support the conventional security effort, detailing the company's proven capacity to fulfil a policing role.

Julia Main comments, "I'm very pleased that TSG is taking part. It's built around former police office

UK - As the PLASA show consolidates its position as one of the premier events in the international tradeshow calendar, it is pleased to announce the last of its free-to-attend educational sessions.

Completing this year's educational and informative offering, are Sound Design for Olympic Ceremonies - Lessons Learnt, The art of creating impactful artist performances, Investigating the Intangible - When Lighting & Sound Interact, Apprenticeships - A new approach to employer-led schemes, AV Installation Strategy for Venue Owners and Inventing The Future: The Story of the National Theatre's Lightboard.

Scott Willsallen has been one of the leading audio designers for major international and outdoor events since 2004 and has been involved in the majority of the Olympic Ceremonies since then. In Sound Design for Olympic Ceremonies - Les

UK - Hoffend LivePipe hoists - Engineering Product of the Year at the 2016 ABTT Trade Show - are on the Hall Stage PLASA stand N40 - at Olympia London from 18-20 September.

The innovative approach taken to design and operation has led to a faultless installation in Tennessee, completed by BellaTEX Inc. & Ty Prewitt sent this independent report:

"I have nothing but good things to say about the LivePipe product. It offers significant and unique advantages - & showed us it will work in very difficult situations.

"LivePipe was not only the best solution in this case, but its cost was on par or lower than other options. I believe it's appeal will be broad. It can be exceptionally quick to install. Since it doesn't include hoisting a 150Kg motor, 'quick' actually has some validity.

"The assembly and installation process is significantly simpler than any other products I'

UK - Hoist UK has recently designed, supplied, installed & commissioned a bespoke overhead crane system at a large manufacturing plant in the North West.

A simple task one would have thought for one of the country's leading suppliers and installers of industrial lifting equipment until the client explains that the facility is already finished, jam packed with machinery, ducting and conveyor equipment and in full production. The area is also in a highly sensitive / secretive production facility that also requires a heightened state of cleanliness throughout installation and during use. And the installation has to be completed within a very tight schedule so as not to disrupt production, then the simple just became a little more difficult.

No stranger to the extraordinary (one look at their website will confirm this), the Hoist UK team set about a design that would weave its

UK - RATstands Apollo Light is manufactured to a professional standard, guaranteeing high quality at a reasonable price. The light clips onto any music stand and with a sleek, slim design the Apollo does not obstruct the view of the conductor.

With multiple power options available the Apollo Light can be suited to your preference.

The Apollo Light is an entry level lamp manufactured to a professional standard. This rugged light is constructed entirely of metal and runs off a 24V supply.

A strip of 18 high quality LEDs with a colour temperature of 3000K provide light which is relaxing for the professional musician yet makes for easy reading of yellowed scores, without the tiring effect of the more common cold white LEDs.

The very slim housing does not obstruct the musician's view of the conductor. It provides very sharp cut off ensuring that only the score is illumi

UK - MDG UK will be exhibiting at PLASA 2016 on Stand F60 where visitors can enjoy the opportunity to try out a selection of products from the MDG portfolio.

Have fun with theONE, the award-winning, dual fog and haze generator which was awarded LDI's Best Debuting Product Award on its launch in 2010. This will be in action on the nearby Robe stand at D40.

Run about with the ATMe haze generator in its portable carry kit: this kit sets a new standard in portability as it stores the gas canister securely beneath the generator and enables it to be operated horizontally without the gas line freezing, so you can generate haze exactly where you want it.

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