UK - A number of important additions to the London edition of the PLASA Professional Development Programme have been announced. The 80 free-to-attend sessions form the backbone of the 2012 edition of the PLASA Show, which takes place on Sunday 9 - Wednesday 12 September, live at Earls Court in London. From the creative minds of world-renowned LDs and sound engineers, to the visionaries of tomorrow's technology, the PLASA Professional Development Programme is the largest free knowledge sharing event of its kind.

"The new style programme forms a roadmap for the next twelve months in theatre, live concert and touring, live events and installed environments. PLASA 2012 continues to be the place where pace setters converge to share expertise and ideas, and we are delighted by the concentration of talent coming to London this September, it is simply phenomenal. Anyone wishing to

UK - Manchester based lighting and rigging specialists dbn have installed a subtle trussing infrastructure and produced a creative rigging solution at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester to showcase the work of Pascale Martine Tayou.

Tayou is one of 33 artists and a host of musicians from 11 West African countries featured in We Face Forward, a season of contemporary art and music from the region taking place across three galleries, two museums, four music venues, libraries, community spaces and one art bus in the city.

The World Falls Apart, Tayou's new work specially for this exhibition, is an interior forest that spills out into a neighbouring park, inspired by the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achibe.

It is displayed on a series of 25 six-metre high wooden poles in the Whitworth's South Gallery, and blurs the distinction between trade goods a

UK - Star Events Group, the first UK purchaser of the new CyberMotion stage automation system from XLNT's UK sales partner Lift Turn Move, has given the system a début on three weeks of BT London Live shows in Hyde Park which ended Sunday 13 August.

The systems were bought by Star Events Group which had been tasked to supply their services for the BT London Live events in a sun-drenched Hyde Park.

Fifty-one metres of CyberMotion C-Track, along with four active and two passive C-Trolleys, were used to safely lift and split a giant 144m² screen weighing 5200 kg, at Hyde Park between 28 July and 11 August 2012.

The versatile C-Track and C-Trolley wide beam track systems are part of XLNT's new CyberMotion integrated motion control system.

The screens offered thousands of spectators who visited London's Hyde Park this summer a sublime mix of live sports an

UK - Automation specialists Stage Technologies are planning a more extensive presence at PLASA 2012 than in recent years. The company will be presenting a seminar at the PLASA Professional Development Programme, taking part in two panels at the concurrent PLASA Rigging Conference, and returning to the show's Hall 1 after several years in Hall 2, to exhibit its products and meet up with customers.

As usual, visitors to the Stage Technologies stand will have the chance to speak to reps from the group's UK and overseas offices, with staff from Las Vegas planning to be on site for the duration of the show. This year the company will be located at stand 1-G31, close to the central PLASA bar.

Business development manager Matthew Tonks said, "We look forward to being able to meet our customers and specifiers. PLASA is always a great opportunity to discuss potential projects and

Tüchler will be exhibiting for the first time at PLASA 2012 on stand no 2-R10.

Tüchler has specialised in flame retardant fabrics, flame retardant, dance and stage flooring since the 1970s and, since 1990s, has developed stage technology solutions including the LIFT-IT compact pile winches, ZOOM and HANDY stage platforms, XT and TT curtain track systems, and the RZ drape systems.

For PLASA 2012, Tüchler will be concentrating on products from its range of flooring, projection screens, textiles, chain hoists and curtain tracks. They will also be showing the Stage Platform Zoom 1200 which "went down a storm at ABTT 2012".

Tüchler will be accompanied on the stand by Independent Studio Services who are exclusive UK distributors for the Tüchler range.

(Jim Evans)

UK - British Harlequin will be presenting a comprehensive range of floors for dance, theatre, display and events on stand 1 L31 at London's PLASA Show, 9-12 September 2012.

Harlequin's popular floors for display are being increasingly used for major television productions and events, to add colour, gloss and sparkle to the set. Harlequin also builds and installs custom designed floors for theatres, performing arts centres and cruise ships. The Harlequin name is of course familiar to dance companies and dance schools around the world. Within the global dance community, Harlequin is respected for investment in supporting research leading to the development of advances in dance surfaces and sprung sub floors. Modern dance floors are contributing to reducing injuries and boosting dancers' confidence.

With more than 30 years' experience in producing world leading floors for perform

UK - Stageco and Tait Technologies will once again be exhibiting together with a shared stand at PLASA 2012 following a highly successful year working alongside one another across Europe.

The two companies opened a joint London office in May 2011, building on years of working alongside each other across a range of projects and as a step towards further cementing their European strategic alliance.

This year Stageco and Tait Technologies respectively, have continued to provide innovative staging solutions and scenic motion technology to a number of international events, prominently the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Madonna's MDNA tour, Lady GaGa, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica and major sporting events in London. Both companies have introduced innovative products and working practices with Stageco launching its Arena Lift earlier this year as well as its XL stage which was first used in

UK - Prolyte Group will be exhibiting on stand 1-G38 at PLASA 2012. Prolyte Group recently marked a milestone in its history with the acquisition of award-winning stage set fabrication company Brilliant Stages. This internationally renowned company specialises in the design and construction of stage sets and custom fabrications for the touring and events industry. The Prolyte Group stand will have an area dedicated to Brilliant Stages, and key representatives will be available at the show to answer your questions and discuss their latest projects.

Prolyte will showcase the newest version of its popular performance platform LiteConsole. The LiteConsole XPRS, previewed at PLASA Focus earlier this year, combines all the most desirable features of LiteConsole in a sleeker, lighter package. The design makes the system incredibly easy to assemble and the innovative folding frame desig

UK - On the eve of PLASA 2012, PLASA has announced a new home and dateline for the PLASA Show in 2013. The UK's only international event for entertainment and installation technology will take place at ExCeL London from 6-9 October 2013.

"After 21 years at Earls Court & Olympia, the time is now right for the PLASA Show to leave its current home," said PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths. "We have hugely ambitious plans for the future of the event, and the state-of-the-art facilities at ExCeL support this vision. ExCeL is a cutting-edge, purpose-built exhibition venue with the infrastructure to attract international markets; the world-class facilities are the perfect match for PLASA's planned investment in content and growth, and an exciting prospect for our technology markets worldwide."

The move represents a major opportunity for the PLASA Show to expand its inter

UK - Le Mark's Gloss Black StudioTak Studio Floor has once again be seen on one of Channel 4's primetime shows. The floors was used on the main set for a new series of The Angelos Epithemiou Show which has already been a huge hit. Landing straight into a Friday night slot, with some of the UK's biggest names appearing in recent episodes.

Le Mark's Sharon Marshall says, "The set looks stunning and it's always a great achievement to see our stage floor in use, especially on such primetime shows. StudioTak is such an ideal product for non-permanent sets as the floor can easily be installed and removed in minimal time. We've worked with Dormatt Construction Ltd. who have built the Angelos set for a number of years. They're a great team and one we have every confidence in making sure our studio floors look amazing every time."

(Jim Evans)

UK - The third annual PLASA Rigging Conference will welcome over 200 international attendees at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 September 2012.

With UK and worldwide bookings well up on last year and with a strong international flavour to its speakers and seminar sessions, the PLASA Rigging Conference confirms its status as the premier event worldwide dedicated to all things rigging.

Opening with an unmissable speech from original 'Disney Rigger' Roy Bickel, one of the founders of the modern rigging industry and closing with Question Time hosted by Alan Jacobi LVO, MD of Unusual Rigging, the conference is packed with sessions from industry experts.

On Monday 10 September, the thorny issue of developing standardised common practice will be debated by Rinus Bakker and Roy Schilderman from ARGH in Holland along with panellists Cris

UK - Although a regular exhibitor, this year Doughty has its own stand for the first time at PLASA and will be showing a host of new products on stand 1-E7.

The Baby Quick Trigger clamp is designed specifically for smaller truss sizes, being adjustable to diameters of 25mm-38mm and, with TUV approval pending, comes in polished aluminium or satin black.

Recently appointed the UK distributor for Reutlinger, Doughty will be showing their range of cable holders, in two sizes to suspend loads of up to 130kg and 330kg on wire rope. Reutlinger cable holders have been specifically designed for applications which demand compliance with BGV C1 accident prevention rules.

Also new are the Lightweight Pantograph, Follow Spot Mount, TV bracket - and much more. stand 1-E7.

(Jim Evans)

UK - New for 2012, the Dirty Rigger Venta-Cool was a design concept put forward by the Dirty Rigger community, looking for a durable rigger glove designed to minimise the 'sweaty hand effect' when working indoors or in hot outdoor conditions. This was previously untapped ground for the Dirty Rigger development team who then set out to find some of the hottest hands in the industry and design a glove "which was unrivalled in breathability across the entire Dirty Rigger range".

The design and testing period which ran over the last 12 months saw the new Venta-Cool rigger gloves sent to some of the hottest climates in the world including South Africa and Israel for their most gruelling punishment.

Dirty Rigger's product manager Steve Marshall says: "The results from the Venta-Cool testing has been really positive. The 'sweaty hand effect' is a more common term than

UK - Watched by a global audience of four billion, the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony has been hailed as a spectacular success - and Huntingdon based specialist flooring company Le Mark played a vital role by converting an original design into a printable format, producing and then installing the 'reveal' floor which featured so prominently in the 'Pandemonium' section of the ceremony.

Linda Gibbons, Le Mark, sales director, explains, "We had been working on this major project for over four months but, along with all other ceremony suppliers, we were asked to 'save the secret' by Danny Boyle - but now we want to tell the world.

"We have also been collaborating with UK Trade & Investment to try and find overseas markets for our products and services and we were hoping that as the opening ceremony was the biggest shop window we could possibly ask for it would br

UK - The ShowTex Acoustic Baffle has been nominated for a Theatres Trust People's Choice Award and a PLASA Innovation Award.

This new flexible fabric panel is proof that stage technology and the environment can go hand in hand.

Independent laboratory research confirms the Acoustic Baffle from ShowTex achieves better sound absorption of very low frequency sound levels than any other baffle on the market today with just half the fabric thickness of other systems.

Made from 100% recycled material, the flame retardant baffle provides an ecological solution for sound absorption.

An in-house recycling program for fabric cut offs in the ShowTex sewing workshop was the first step towards developing the baffle.

Ongoing research into acoustic properties of ShowTex fabrics led to the combined matting and cover quality that would produce the best acoustic results. Finishing and modu

Poland - Dirty Rigger gained even further success from its new dealer support programme after a recent trip to visit new and existing dealers in Poland. The visit resulted in securing a new distribution deal with Warsaw based MILSO.

Founded in 1990, MILSO originally began as a specialist supplier to the professional photography industry where they have since rapidly grown to be one of Poland's prime TV, Film & Photography equipment suppliers.

MILSO's Justyna Gaudziak says, "We really appreciated Hannah & Stuart visiting us here in Poland and it gave us even more confidence in their customer support. The response we've had from our customers throughout the initial Dirty Rigger trial period has been fantastic. We're really excited to now be able to offer our customers the full range of rigger gloves, tool pouches and accessories."

Dirty Rigger MD Stuart Gibbons says,

UK - Le Mark produced and printed the iconic London Street Map floor on to their high gloss black 'Harmony' performance stage flooring.

This stunning floor was printed and installed by the Le Mark team and revealed to a global audience of over 4 billion people during the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.

Many will remember the 'Pandemonium' section of the ceremony and how this floor was slowly revealed . The jagged design bounced and reflected the light of the molten rings being formed . An image captured by both TV and photographers and transmitted worldwide ,proving that Britain could host the world's most emotive and stunning events.

Le Mark are very proud to welcome visitors to their stand 1- D4 and offer the opportunity for PLASA visitors to take home a FREE A4 piece of this Olympic 2012 memorabilia.

Each piece of Harmony 2012 printed stadium floor is totally unique , th

UK - At this year's PLASA Show in London's Earls Court, Le Mark will introduce two new compression sprung floors, both of which have already received high praise from professional dance establishments throughout the UK.

Le Mark's expanding dance floor installation team will also be showcasing the new Nocturne dance vinyl, a multipurpose floor covering that is fast becoming the standard for theatre and performing arts venues.

A major feature to the stand this year will be a specially commissioned printed floor using Le Mark's unique Coda flooring system. Members of this year's London stadium floor fitting team will also be on hand to help and provide advice on large scale image installations and project management.

A major feature to the stand this year will be a specially commissioned printed floor using Le Mark's Coda flooring system. Members of this year's London stadium f

UK - CAST is pulling out all the stops for PLASA 2012 with the debut of not one, but four new products, plus an educational seminar. PLASA will be held at Earls Court in London, 9-12 September and CAST will be exhibiting in Stand 1-E27.

The latest wysiwyg release, R29, has so many new features and improvements, your job instantly becomes more proficient, more professional and more profitable, says the company. New features in R29 include the ability to touch select fixtures and manipulate in Shaded View, create camera flies in 6D, a new six degrees of freedom camera system, drawing purge, truss end indicators, multi-rotate, enhancements to the Layer Database Window, gyroscope, world grid and more.

BlackTrax V1 is an Ethernet-based, powerful, fast, and accurate solution that tracks objects or people in a defined 3D 'space' and "delivers the dynamic positional data in realt

UK - Le Mark's Dirty Rigger team chose PLASA 2012 to launch four new PPE and accessory items, including the Glowman LED glove range.

Steve Marshall Dirty Rigger project manager commented, "Strongest sales on day one came from the new fully EN rated Tool Lanyard system , in particular the interchangeable clip and carabiner system. This allows for tools to be pre connected before commencing work. Strong export interest has come from the new pulsing or fixed beam LED Radio and accessory front of body radio and equipment carrier.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The PLASA Awards for Innovation, sponsored by AED Rent and Lighting&Sound, were presented at the PLASA Show in London yesterday evening, along with the announcement of the prestigious Gottelier Award.

During the show's opening two days, 47 products were judged 'live' in front of a crowd of show visitors and camera crew by an independent panel of expert judges who toured the show floor to view each product presentation.

John Meyer of iconic pro audio brand Meyer Sound was honoured with this year's Gottelier Award in recognition of his life as one of the pioneers of the modern sound reinforcement industry.

Eight Awards for Innovation were presented - including a final Gold Award for Innovation - along with a special Award for Sustainability.

Nominees are asked to demonstrate a new style of thinking, an improvement in technical practice, an aid to safety, energy-s

UK - 5 Star Cases reports yet another successful PLASA exhibition in London.

5 Star highlighted samples of its most popular product ranges for the entertainment industry, concert touring, television and theatre markets. Over the four days of the show these all attracted plenty of interest, with some deals also completed on the stand. 5 Star's MD Keith Sykes comments that visitor quality was "Generally very good".

5 Star's latest Drawered Racks attracted plenty of interest and were a prominent element of the stand display.

Three types of Drawered Racks are offered as 'standard' - two hinged versions and one with removable doors.

There's a choice of two dynamic styles for the hinged option - one with a fixed top and one with a hinged top, complete with very cool gas strut supports to prevent accidental closure.

The hinged top version also features a workstation a

UK - At PLASA 2012 in London, Sommer Cable - alongside its established catalogue of products -exclusively presented the NL4FX-SOM cable socket, a special version designed in close cooperation with Neutrik.

Peter Rieck, key account & distribution manager for Sommer Cable commented, "This year the PLASA show was again a big success for Sommer Cable. We were able to reach many customers and attract new customers. Next year the fair will move to the Excel Exhibition Centre and we have already confirmed stand space."

(Jim Evans)

UK - London's Royal National Theatre has invested in two new eight-channel Kinesys DigiHoist controllers for its Cottesloe Theatre venue.

The DigiHoists were specified by the National Theatre's rigging resources supervisor, Matthew Wheeler.

The National Theatre (as it is generally known) is one of the UK's two most prominent public funded theatres, and is located on the South Bank of the Thames in central London.

It has three theatres: the amphitheatre-shaped Olivier seating 1100; the 900-seat proscenium arch Lyttelton; and the Cottesloe, an adaptable studio space designed by Iain Mackintosh, holding up to 400 people depending on the seating configuration.

The sale follows on from the purchase of a 21-channel Kinesys Elevation 1+ motor system - supplied in two phases comprising 14 half tonne Liftkets and seven one tonne Liftkets plus Kinesys Vector control - which is used

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