The Netherlands - Prolyte has been awarded the Abel Tasman Medal for Best Entrepreneur of 2006. Prolyte's CEO Fokko Smeding and CFO Anne Smeding received the Award from the Royal Commissioner Mr. H. Alders at the end of a thrilling show, in which the three nominates were presented.

The jury eventually selected Prolyte on several grounds, recognising Prolyte's capacity for innovation, their continuous growth and their worldwide recognition as a manufacturer of high quality and reliable products. For both Anne and Fokko Smeding it was an unexpected surprise, as Fokko says: "We were flattered to have been nominated, but didn't really expect to win. We are very proud of all the people at Prolyte who are the heart and soul of our company, and who bear this success."

(Lee Baldock)

uk - Summit Steel has installed a large trussing mother grid in the roof of the newly refurbished Roundhouse for Fuerzabruta - the first show staged at the legendary performing arts venue since it reopened last week.

Summit won a competitive tender for the work which is being project managed for them by Jay Call. Coincidentally, Fuerzabruta production manager Jonathan Bartlett, knew Call from Summit's work at the Royal Albert Hall and Call is also acquainted with The Roundhouse's technical director, John McKinnon.

Call and the Summit team worked closely with Fuerzabruta technical director Ale Garcia throughout. The show contains a myriad of aerial stunts, lots of water, and plenty of audience interaction.

The mother grid - measuring 22 metres at its longest point - is suspended on nineteen static points and tensioned off to the external ring of roof bea

UK - With wide-ranging changes in Safety and Fire Legislation coming into effect during autumn 2006 and spring 2007. Safety Solutions (UK) Ltd and Fairfield Halls are working together to assist employers in understanding the legislation and how to comply with both the existing and forthcoming requirements in a practical and realistic way.

The Fairfield Halls in Croydon offers excellent facilities with easy links from London, Brighton and Gatwick Airport. Safety Solutions (UK) Ltd are an accredited centre for City and Guilds, NEBOSH qualification programmes and provide short courses regulated by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Summer Safety Week at Fairfield (7-11 August) will consist of a series of updates on legislation and stimulants for compliance and the application of best practice. Special events will also be held to assist small- and medium-sized comp

UK - PLASA's AGM and Members Lunch is fast approaching but, if you haven't already done so, there's still time for members to reserve a place. With nearly 200 confirmed attendees, it promises to be a really good networking event as well as the ideal opportunity to find out more about the work PLASA has been doing over the last year and its plans for the future.

Guest speaker, Alasdair Jeffrey, has some strong views about business and anyone that has seen him in action in the BBC's The Ferocious Mr Fixit will know that he delivers as a business trouble-shooter.

If you would like to join us at the Hurlingham Club on Tuesday 6 June, get in touch with PLASA today on 01323 410335 or via the e-mail address below.

(Chris Henry)

UK - Rigging, drape and starcloth specialist Blackout, have further strengthened their UK sales team functions with the appointment of Heidi Dieckman and Lucy Akillian.

Both new staff members are responsible for developing and managing the hire and sales of Blackout products including starcloth, drapes and rigging, working closely with Blackout's project management team, headed by Chris Brain and Kevin Monks.

"We're delighted with the two appointments. Both staff members are very enthusiastic and have settled in well in their new roles," says Steve Tuck, managing director at Blackout Ltd. "At Blackout, every member of our team is passionate about delivering the very best in products and services."

(Chris Henry)

Greece - "Eurovision is a fabulous European institution and we were proud to be part of it, especially in its 50th year," said Stage One's technical director, Jim Tinsley. He added, "The organisers were aiming for the most impressive show that Eurovision had ever seen and I think you'll agree that they, and us, certainly delivered."

Working for Greek television company ERT, Stage One was asked to build the entire set for Eurovision 2006, which was held at the Olympic indoor arena, Athens. Designed by Ilias Ledakis, the set combined high technology with elements of Greek Theatre and comprised the main stage, the surrounding moveable stepped elements, along with aerial engineering.

The circular stage was 13m diameter, with a black laminated facia and a seamless plexiglass floor, beneath which were thousands of Bahco LED panels which could be lit in a myriad o

Germany - ChainMaster recently delivered a mobile chain-hoist system to Norddeutscher Rundfunk. The chain hoists, which comply with the BGV-D8 code of practice, will be used (among other things) for outside broadcasts wherever the need arises to position heavy stage elements. The ChainMaster system comprises 20 hoists, for loads ranging between 250kg and 1,000kg, and a 20-channel manual controller.

(Lee Baldock)

USA - This summer the Red Hot Chili Peppers will hit the road to support their new CD, Stadium Arcadium, with custom equipment from Tomcat USA. Working with Five Point Productions, based out of Atlanta, Georgia, Tomcat created a 64ft (20m) span of custom 30" x 30" spigoted truss.

During the show, four video modules will move back and forth along parallel I-Beams that run along the bottom of the truss. Since these panels weigh approximately 4,000lbs (1.8 tonnes) apiece, special design concerns had to be taken into consideration. In addition to the truss, Tomcat manufactured six custom pick-up bars designed to attach in-line with the truss spigots in the top face, as well as dolly frames that will be utilized to transport the truss section from venue to venue.

The tour kicked off in May including a surprise show at New York City's Irving Plaza then moving on to schedul

Ireland - J&C Joel has supplied and installed nineteen 200 KG SWL electric Pilewind winches into the overstage area of the main auditorium within the brand new Solstice Arts Centre in Navan, County Meath, Ireland. This hugely versatile Pilewind system is designed for the quick and easy rigging and de-rigging, of lighting, audio and AV equipment, scenery items and props.

Solstice, the result of a 13.5 million Euro project, is owned and operated by Meath County Council. It is designed by Shelly McNamara of award-winning Grafton Architects and the space includes a 320-seat theatre, three visual-arts areas and a café/bar. It's the County's first major cultural centre, and is heralded a glowing symbol for the belief, pride and commitment to cultural and artistic life in Meath. Solstice is already being hailed as one of the finest arts centre outside Dublin.

J&C Joel was invi

UK - Leading staging company Stagecraft Theatre Services recently completed the design and installation of a new theatre system at the award-winning Mossbourne Academy in London. Mossbourne, which recently won the RIBA Award for Design Excellence, is one of the new flag-ship community academy schools in London, opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2005.

"Working with the team at Mossbourne, we have created a lighting and sound system which is equal to that of many professional theatres. The lighting is rigged onto a flown truss to give the school complete flexibility and we have installed a variety of lanterns to ensure that every angle of the stage is covered. Likewise, the sound system includes sound desks which give direct access and control of the CD/DVD players, the mics and radio mics, to allow students to move around the theatre without losing sound quality,"

As the world waits for his main tour to kick off, Robbie Williams gave fans a hint of great things to come ina series of 'warm up' shows. L&SI's Chris Henry caught up with the crew in Dubai . . .UAE - It's official, the Robbie Williams machine is rolling back into action (following a well-deserved post-Knebworth rest) and boy, is it a slick operation. As the technical teams head to Belgium for more rehearsals and test builds, following a three-week stint at Northern Studios in Wakefield, the tour proper finally kicks off on 9 June at Croke Park in Dublin.

Billed as the 'spring leg' of the tour, Robbie's three South African shows and one in Dubai, with his 'B rig' have been and gone. L&SI met up with the brains behind the scenes, and asked what treats lie in store on the main show, and how on earth do you top KnebworthΩ

Wob Roberts, production manager "It's been diff

Dubai - The fourth annual PALME 2006 show took place on 23-25 of April in Dubai's World Trade Centre. The show's organisers claimed a 30% increase in visitor numbers after the event, so were the exhibitors' palms crossed with goldΩ

The exhibition comprised three individual sector shows, Install, Event 360 and MUSAC. Install unsurprisingly focussed on the installation market, Event 360 targeted those with event and production needs, and MUSAC catered for the musical instrument market. PALME's well-developed seminar programme ran alongside.

A slinky dancer projected on a FogScreen lured visitors to the company's stand. CEO Mika Koivula indicated that FogScreen were "open to options" of an office or distributors in the region.

Vicky Fairall, formerly of DHA, was the friendly face of Goboland who were launching their brand new steel gobo collection

UK - Lifting, and rigging sales specialists Lift-Turn-Move exhibit at their second ABTT, highlighting Lodestar motors, a new range of hoist control systems, rigging accessories and their latest training initiatives.

LTM offers a range of lifting and rigging equipment including the Lodestar and Prostar electric chain hoists, which are being highlighted at the show. The Lodestar is now the entertainment industry standard hoist and these products can be found on most tours, events and in many venues around the world. High integrity hoisting systems are also available including equipment to BGV C1 German safety standard. Special features include double brakes, load sensing and multiple limit switches. Variable speed units and manual or computerised controllers are available to monitor safety features and drive the equipment.

LTM offers a comprehensive range of spare parts for Lode

USA / UK - Theatre Projects Consultants has announced that leadership and ownership of the firm has been transferred to a new generation of leaders. "For the past few years, we have been planning this ownership transition of the UK and US companies to the younger members of our team, and we feel that now is the right time for that change," said Richard Pilbrow, founder and chairman.

The transition allows key members of staff to take on both leadership and ownership of Theatre Projects Consultants and provides for ownership to extend to other members of the firm in the future, the company says.

The UK team will be led by David Staples, Alan Russell, Jerry Godden, Mark Stroomer, Marion Daehms and Andrew De Rosa. Staples comments: "Theatre Projects has been at the leading edge of theatre planning for almost 50 years. This transition allows us to build on that wealt

UK - Serious Stages supplied one of their 25 metre two bay Space Roofs for the main stage at the new Hedgestock Festival at Knebworth House, compete with 8.4m wide x 15m high video and PA wings.

The exclusive new style 2-day corporate event with music - headlined by The Who as part of their Teenage Cancer Trust work - describes itself as a 'festival of networking' for the Hedge Fund Industry - with the adage "because conventions don't have to be conventional".

Serious was asked onboard by production manager Nick Fisher with whom they've worked on several projects. Fisher was brought in by organisers Albourne Partners to co-ordinate the supply of all the technical production and infrastructure, which also included Entec (sound) and PRG (lighting).

The Serious team of 20 crew and riggers was led by Aleksis Zarins. The site build started 14 days in advance and was com

Italy - Proel, the Italian leader company in audio/lighting systems, consumer electronics, musical instruments and accessories manufacturing, is proud to announce that Fantasy Sound International has been appointed as the exclusive distributor in Taiwan.

Under this multi-year agreement, Fantasy Sound International will sell and co-promote all of the various Proel product lines: stage equipment and accessories, sound reinforcement, lighting, trussing, Die-Hard cables and Tamburo drums.

Also included in the distributor's portfolio, is Proel Installation division, featuring audio, trussing and lighting products for large fixed installations and conferences.

Luigi Paoloni, the Proel International export manager says: "We are very excited about this new agreement. Fantasy is a highly dynamic and professional company and we strongly believe that they are the right choice as p

UK - Continuing to offer sophisticated computerised automation for rigging and scenery at a significantly lower price than anything else in its league, AVW Controls has introduced the Pegasus range of power flying hoists.

Celebrating its 10th birthday this year, AVW, a bronze sponsor of the Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, launched its new Pegasus power flying system at ABTT 2006. Designed for AVW by respected mechanical design engineer Mike Barnett, the Pegasus power flying hoist combines Barnett's engineering skills with readily available, off-the-shelf components to offer safety, reliability and fast delivery times at the lowest possible price, say AVW.

Intended primarily for lifting scenery, lighting bars and curtain tracks, the system is designed to offer clients a range of options to fit any and every possible requirement. Control is via AVW's own Impress

UK - Flight case specialist 5 Star has invested in a new highly specified extrusion cutting saw and a NC measuring length-stop, which have been installed in the cutting department at 5 Star's Cambridgeshire HQ.The new machinery will aid efficiency and work-flow, and was needed to keep pace with the exceptionally healthy 2006 order book, says the company.

The new systems include a Kaban AA1020 400mm diameter semi automatic up-cut profile saw with a plus and minus 20 degree mitre capability and dual pneumatic holding clamps. This will be used primarily when bulk cutting profiles to length, either prior to being fitted on to the case, or before 'V' notching by other machinery.

The other purchase is a Pertici Visual RF length-stop. This unit has been installed onto an existing GTI Kombimatec 'V' notching twin blade saw and will control the position of the 'vee' cuts that are requi

Australia - With a century old façade, a stunning new interior and many years of planning behind it, the new Drum Theatre in the heart of Dandenong is finally completed; and what a magnificent sight it is. In a town with an abundance of artistic expression and limited outlets to express it, The Drum aims to bring a new sense of artistic culture and style to the City of Greater Dandenong.

The massive job of converting the site of the heritage-listed old town hall fell to Kane Constructions, who through the design of William Ross Architects and Denis Irving of theatrical consultants Entertech, combined the traditional façade of the old town hall, with a modern, practical and visually appealing theatrical space. The task of coordinating the creation of this venue was given to the City of Greater Dandenong's director of cultural faculties, Paul Streefkerk. Having been involved in

UK - Drapes specialists J&C Joel has produced a new fabric sample card, illustrating 54 of their most popular and wide ranging fabrics 'in the flesh'. The idea is to give clients a practical, user-friendly reference media - that hangs on the wall - offering an immediate impression of what specific fabrics feel like to touch. Information relating to each sample includes construction, dimensions and fire retardancy, and is printed in English and Mandarin - reflecting J&C Joels' increasing export trade with Asia.

The reverse of the sample card showcases the diverse range of J&C Joel projects. It includes some fabric related projects - like Belfast Opera House, The Coliseum in London and Blackpool Grand - all Matcham Theatres, where J&C Joel's fabric expertise has been instrumental in recreating period internal draping and curtaining. There's also plenty more projects involving stag

UK - AVW has again won the prestigious Product of the Year Award in the Engineering category at this year's ABTT Theatre Show - for Pegasus, its new Power Flying System. The company previously won the award in 2002 for its Impressario motion control system.

Anton Woodward, managing director of AVW, was presented with the award by Secretary of the ABTT, Robin Townley at the annual ABTT awards dinner, and commented: "We are very pleased to win this award, though of course Mike Barnett should take most of the credit!"

The Pegasus Power Flying solution, comprising the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omega and Pi hoists is designed to complement the Impressario stage automation system, so that AVW can offer the complete power flying solution. In collaboration with respected mechanical design engineer Mike Barnett, AVW has designed a range of hoists for use in theatre and entertainmen

UK - Out Board have supplied Star Events Group with a pair of CM6 chain-hoist controllers and their new LiftSafe product, as the main control system for eleven 2-tonne CM Lodestar hoists deployed to fly the massive new Wembley Arena mother-grid built and supplied by the company.

Star rigging consultant Phil Broad's brief to Out Board was to provide a failsafe system that would halt all the hoists if it detected any one or more of them stopped or failed to move. This was achieved by fitting each of the hoists with Out Board's high-resolution optical encoder modules, the outputs of which were all connected back to the new LiftSafe Hoist Controller Safety System located in the CM6 controller rack high in the roof of the Arena.

LiftSafe provides a bridge for the CM6 hoist controllers' linked Remote GO button which gets interrupted immediately if the system senses a break in transm

UK - Hawthorn was approached by Old Billingsgate, for whom they are preferred suppliers, to fit permanent trussing and rigging into the central London Grade II listed venue.

Hawthorn's installation team specified 20 Prolyft motors and over 120m of Prolyte S36R truss, along with motor controllers and cabling.

Prolyft motors are backed by a world-wide network of service points, and Hawthorn is one of 25 service points there to offer a complete back up and peace of mind, wherever the motors are being used. Hawthorn will have a state of the art test facility for load testing, complete with computerised testing and a complete database of records linked to Prolyte's own system.

As well as Prolyft, Hawthorn is also an approved service centre for many of the key industry manufacturers such as Clay Paky and Martin Professional, and offer a complete maintenance and testing service for

UK - Serious Stages continues its successful relationship with the Hampton Court Palace Festival, once again supplying the main stage for the 2006 summer entertainment and music programme. This event includes appearances by world class artists as diverse as Kiri Te Kanawa, Eric Clapton, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

Serious has supplied the stage - including decking and access ramp - and roof for this event since the Festival began 13 years ago with IMG as clients and Keith Morris as production manager, and has designed a bespoke flat roof structure tailored exactly to fit the Base Court area deep in the heart of the Palace grounds. This is scenically dressed to complement the surrounding architecture, brickwork and colouring.

The flat-roofed stage is built from a combination of MaxiBeam trussing for the box at the top and GS

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