UK - S+H Technical Services supplied over 2000sq.m of their classic Pea-light starcloth and a rigging crew to Chinnick Theatre Services (CTS), which was used to wrap a special event space at the 2015 Royal International Air Tattoo staged at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

CTS supplied full technical production for the event area created in one of the aircraft hangers. This was draped off and used to present a high profile gala dinner on the Friday evening and an after-show party for RIAT staff and behind-the-scenes workers on the Sunday.

RIAT is geared to offering a great family day amidst all the drama, spectacle and adrenalized fun of a 7.5 hour flying display featuring a plethora of different aircraft.

CTS has been involved with supplying production for specific areas of RIAT since 1987. The gala dinner - now for 660 invited guests, including a host of dignitaries and VI

UK - Experienced sales specialist Susannah Rushden has joined VDC Trading in the role of sales manager.

Susie has worked in a sales management, development and training role for several major UK companies.

"My main areas of expertise include motivation, training and sales psychology," says Susie, "So, even though the company has super levels of after sales service, my efforts will be aimed at working on improvements which relate to the sales message and the morale of the team. My objective is to raise the energy levels of the team and to provide a better service from the first contact."

"I welcome any comments or questions from customers and aim to try and be available as much as possible for customer liaison."

(Jim Evans)

Vietnam - Using exclusively Van Damme cable supplied by VDC Trading in London, AVE ASTS-Series column speakers have been installed in the Tan Thinh Church in the Hoc Mon District of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, as part of a construction project that saw the demolition and complete renovation of the worship venue in the effort to accommodate a larger congregation.

QV Sound worked alongside the project management team during the construction phase to establish optimum speaker positions and cable runs, as well as providing audio equipment from which the entire sound system installation can be controlled.

The high demand of speech intelligibility requires a high transparency of audio signal. The entire sound system equipment is connected by Van Damme cabling and Neutrik connectors to ensure the spoken words are heard naturally and clearly.

The main worship area features 4 ASTS-1

UK - Now the summer season is over, regular LSi contributor James Eade is running more temporary electrical training courses around the country. The popular industry-backed Creative Skillset Certificate in Temporary Power Systems has several new dates for later this year and into January 2016, including a new venue in Salisbury in November.

With nearly 600 candidates having completed the course to date, the feedback is continually proving positive: visit bit.ly/scites to read more and find out about dates and venues. Some courses are being organised by BECTU so members may be eligible for a discount. Currently the major broadcasters plan to enforce Creative Skillset Certificate in Temporary Power systems on their productions by April 2016, so time is slowly running out to beat the de

USA - All three ETCP examinations will be offered at LDI in Las Vegas, NV on the morning of Saturday, 24 October, 2015. Interested applicants must submit their application, along with supporting materials and fee, to the ETCP office no later than 30 September, 2015. The ETCP office is located at 630 9th Ave, Suite 609, New York, New York, 10036.

Candidate information, including eligibility requirements and applications, is available on the ETCP website (http://etcp.plasa.org/ldi2015.html). Materials can also be mailed by contacting Meredith Moseley-Bennett, ETCP Certification Manager, at 212-244-1505 or etcp@plasa.org.

The ETCP Council members are key leaders drawn from entertainment business, labour, facilities, associations, and academia representing the diversity of the entertainment industry. Membership includes PLASA, Actsafe, AMPTP, Cirque du Soleil/MGM MIRAGE, CITT, Dis

World - Flight case and speaker component manufacturer Penn Elcom has invested close to two million pounds in new manufacturing plant and technology across the group's international operations in China, Mexico and the UK.

Over a million dollars alone has been ploughed into upgrading the powder coating lines at all sites, part of a planned reinvestment strategy in Swiss made Gema spraying equipment designed to increase efficiency and output worldwide for Penn to keep abreast of the current growing demand for its products.

The powder line installed at the factory in Guangdong Province, China, is completely new and replaces the previous one with the latest air cooled technology. This will enhance the working environment for the 30 employees as well as being more energy efficient, kinder to the environment and more cost-effective to maintain and run. The plant is also run on re-cy

UK - TSG Policing's first major contract saw the company play a pivotal part in keeping the 600-acre, 200,000 capacity Great Dorset Steam Fair safe this month.

Brought in by the event's operations director, Julian Hubbuck, late in the planning process, TSG built a fast, fluid relationship with Dorset Police. The company's skill set, developed by a former senior training officer for the Met, clearly distinguished its role from conventional show security.

Over the Steam Fair's five days, TSG worked on a number of operations with the local force, cutting the event's impact on core policing off-site and serving as a testament to its capacity to deliver a viable, cost-efficient policing alternative.

Julian Hubbuck comments, "I was looking for enhanced response cover and TSG provided a very competent, highly trained solution."

TSG director, David Boswell, says, "M

UK - PLASA has announced the first of its nominees for the 2015 Awards for Innovation, which recognise and reward new product ideas. Nominated products should meet at least one of the Awards' criteria for 'Innovation' - to offer a new style of thinking, an improvement in existing technical practice, a new or improved aid to safety, a new commercial advantage, use new patents or unique intellectual property, or introduce new technology, materials or manufacturing techniques.

The final assessment of those claims will take place at the PLASA Show, where an independent panel of industry experts will judge the entries, based on the strength of their innovation alone. Respected for their impartiality, the panel will hear a five-minute presentation from each of the nominees, and have the opportunity for questions and answers, before making their final selections.

There are no product

UK - trackingThis has launched a new shackle labelling solution that solves the headache of identifying loose rigging items in the events industry.

LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) specifies that lifting accessories should be inspected every six months and that detailed records are kept. The problem is most small rigging items, such as shackles, don't have unique identifiers or serial numbers. Unless you can identify each item, it is not possible to maintain the detailed records required.

Traditional labels have not been suitable because shackles lack a flat area to stick a label to. If the adhesion area is small the labels do not stay on. Physical abuse, outdoor use and extremes of temperatures also make traditional labels prone to fading and distortion - making them unreadable.

As an alternative solution many companies mark such items with

UK - Launched last September, Current RMS has been working hard building new features into the system, now being used in over 400 event rental businesses worldwide.

To celebrate a year on, the Current team has launched a new website as well as the release of the new Resources Module. Now, Current not only manages all of the renting and sale of products but also the services that go with these jobs too whether that be crew, transport, venues or rooms.

Key features of this new Module include: View all your bookable resources and any job with unallocated services; Flexible service charging by; hours, days or distance; Simple resource allocation using drag and drop functionality; Handy iCal feed for all resource bookings; Use Stores to determine the whereabouts of your resource; Specify periods of unavailability for bookable resources.

The Current team look forward to demonstrat

UK - Star Events returns to Showman's Show on the back of a phenomenal season in 2015, which saw it providing infrastructure and ingenuity on grass, on tarmac and on water.

The Star stand, at the corner of Avenues B and G, will be focussed on the company's seating and fencing & barriers portfolio, the latter a component part of events from Cyclo-cross to Latitude Festival.

In the spirit of a taste test, at Showman's, visitors will have the opportunity to directly compare the industry's traditional, uncomfortable folding chairs with Star Events' tip-up, flat floor system, which comes complete with air insulated seats and backs.

This summer, the Star system was used across events including Greenwich Music Time, Nocturne Live at Blenheim Palace and Neil Diamond at Blackpool FC. In all cases the promoters reported superb audience feedback.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Triple E's ModTruss is being deployed as the 'universal building system' for the Theatres Trust stage, the Technical Theatre Awards/USITT stand and the Technical Theatre Awards stage at PLASA this year.

Triple E launched ModTruss - best described as full size Meccano - in the UK market at the ABTT Theatre Show in June 2015. It was immediately recognised as 'Engineering Product of the Year' at the ABTT Awards.

ModTruss was Triple E's most ambitious launch since the company was formed in 1984. The product is set to revolutionise theatre staging, set building, stage machinery, construction and event markets.

"We're very excited that visitors to PLASA 2015 will be able to experience ModTruss," says Triple E's managing director, David Edelstein. "The feedback at ABTT was overwhelmingly positive, not only from the wider industry but also from the ABTT Awards ju

UK - Flightcase, loudspeaker component and 19-inch rack manufacturer Penn Elcom highlights two exciting new products at the 2015 PLASA London expo - a brand new, super cool LED rack light, and the robust and innovative MOL3 latch with patented automatic cantilevered action.

These and a selection of other current Penn Elcom products will be prominent on stand L26 at the ExCeL exhibition centre, 4-6 October.

A seriously stylish and efficient rack lighting product to hit the market, the new Penn Elcom RADM-23 1U Raclite is designed to be fitted to any 19-inch equipment rack providing an elegant and practical solution for illuminating equipment in dark and dingy environments.

Twenty-five super bright cool-white (6500K) LED emitters provide a crisp wash optimised for clear vision of the kit in the rack, allowing the status of equipment to be checked at a glance.

A 130 - 150 deg

UK - Unusual Rigging is proud to announce that it is now meeting over 50% of its annual on-site power consumption with renewable energy via a solar PV system.

The 100KW solar PV system is installed on the roof of Unusual's new 1,056 sq m warehouse, which opened in June this year, and was energized on September 3.

Tom Harper, resource and sustainability manager at Unusual Rigging, explained: "This really is the icing on the cake in our drive to become a green business. Over the past few years, we have been implementing the key concepts of a circular economy - ensuring that all materials streams are efficiently managed and recycled, as well as striving to run entirely on the basis of renewable energy, mitigating negative effects on human life or our ecosystem. This implementation of the solar panels is our most recent step and will significantly reduce our annual C02 footpr

UK - Bend it like Beckham the Musical, which opened to rave reviews this summer, is a striking tale of female footballer Jess, based on the 2002 film of the same name. The musical takes the audience on her journey as she struggles with a big decision - live up to her family expectations of university and marriage or chase her dreams and follow in the footsteps of her hero David Beckham.

When production manager Gary Beestone realised the show would throw a number of interesting challenges at him, he asked Unusual Rigging to provide the entire rigging at London's Phoenix Theatre.

"I've worked with Unusual Rigging on a number of projects in both theatre and events and have always had a great working relationship with them. The show required complete rigging solutions for the overhead flying in the Phoenix and also for the set build, and with a variety of challenging flying p

UK - A powerful load cell monitoring system with improved coverage, increased security and a range of up to 800m will be showcased by leading load cell brand BroadWeigh at PLASA 2015.

Development engineers at BroadWeigh's parent company, Mantracourt Electronics, have developed a new radio module giving 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. The system will be on show on the stand of BroadWeigh's exclusive UK distributor, A.C Entertainment (F30).

The upgraded radio module and antenna give improved signal integrity and coverage of installations, meaning that, in perfect conditions, a signal range of up to 800m can be achieved, as standard. In addition to this, the shackles and base stations can now be assigned a Gro

UK / USA - To allow PLASA to refocus and concentrate on the needs of their respective membership bases, the PLASA Governing Body announces that PLASA's North American and European Union Regional Boards will end their cooperation agreement and return to functioning as separate associations.

A statement from PLASA reads: "This move will allow the associations to set strategic direction to meet their individual demands. It affords more focus of resources in each market toward the activities that are most relevant and pertinent to members and it will allow for more agility and decisiveness.

This in turn will foster the health of both organisations and protect their futures. As we did prior to the start of the cooperation agreement, the two associations will continue to work cooperatively on issues of common interest for the benefit of their members and the industry."

(

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd., a leading one-stop provider of professional equipment to the entertainment industry, will showcase a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging and video solutions available from their vast portfolio of over 200 leading brands - in their large exhibition Zone (Stands F30 - F38), which also includes stands for their sister company, A.C. Special Projects Ltd., industry-sponsored 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Cars Championship (BTCC) racing driver, Jack Goff, and a number of leading lighting marques.

Staff from AC-ET's Lighting sales division will be present to demonstrate and discuss products showcased on dedicated brand stands within the AC-ET Zone for Chroma-Q®, Jands, ProLights / ArchWork, Spotlight and GLP, as well as a selection of products from other leading brands including Philips Vari-Lite and Luminex. In

UK - PLASA Show 2015 is just a few days away, but the organisers are working right up to the wire to bring in the best speakers for the PLASA Professional Development Programme. Four new sessions have just been announced, respectively addressing lighting, sound and video.

Emmy Award winning lighting designer Al Gurdon, of Incandescent Design, will discuss his design philosophy in State of the Art Today, Passé Tomorrow, covering what is lighting for, what should it do, why do we need it, as well as taking a look at whether your lighting is relevant and focused now, and if it will stand the test of time.

In Going Over To The Dark Side - From Lessons To Lighting, founder of DX7 Design Tom Sutherland will discuss how he dropped out of education to pursue a highly successful career in lighting, a decision taken neither lightly nor without opposition. This sessi

UK - At PLASA Show 2015, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd., a leading one-stop provider of professional equipment to the entertainment industry, is showcasing a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging and video solutions available from its portfolio of over 200 leading brands - in a large exhibition zone (stands F30 - F38), which also includes stands for sister company, A.C. Special Projects Ltd., and industry-sponsored 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Cars Championship (BTCC) racing driver, Jack Goff.

Staff from AC-ET's Lighting sales division are present throughout the show to demonstrate and discuss products showcased on dedicated brand stands within the AC-ET Zone for Chroma-Q, Jands, ProLights / ArchWork, Spotlight and GLP, as well as a selection of products from other leading brands including Philips Vari-Lite and Luminex.

In addition, AC-ET is la

UK - The annual PLASA Riggers Forum taking place at PLASA Show 2015 is an open floor discussion on issues that affect everyday working lives in the entertainment rigging industry. The conference will be presented by 20 plus international speakers and panellists and will begin with a keynote presentation by Hedwig de Meyer, StageCo's founder and president, whose long experience of building ground-breaking structures for the entertainment industry speaks for itself. Sessions following this will focus on the management of chain hoists, the impact of CDM regulations, an update from PLASA on the NRC and trainee rigger scheme, as well as the subject of trusses and their design.

Now in its sixth year, it is the go-to event in the calendar for riggers, rigging companies, venue management and safety professionals alike. The Riggers' Forum takes place once again on Sunday from 2pm - 5pm f

UK - Triple E's ModTruss is being deployed as the 'universal building system' for the Theatres Trust stage, the Technical Theatre Awards/USITT stand and the Technical Theatre Awards stage at PLASA this year.

Triple E launched ModTruss - best described as full size Meccano - in the UK market at the ABTT Theatre Show in June 2015. It was immediately recognised as 'Engineering Product of the Year' at the ABTT Awards.

ModTruss was Triple E's most ambitious launch since the company was formed in 1984. The product is set to revolutionise theatre staging, set building, stage machinery, construction and event markets.

"We're very excited that visitors to PLASA 2015 will be able to experience ModTruss," says Triple E's managing director, David Edelstein. "The feedback at ABTT was overwhelmingly positive, not only from the wider industry but also from the ABTT Awards ju

UK - Highlighted on Area Four's stand (H10) is the EXE CELL - Load Cell Interface system. Fully integrated into an EXE Rise chain hoist body, the PLASA Award for Innovation nominated system is designed to give riggers the possibility to see in real time, the individual weight applied to the chain hoist during all rigging operations. It can be operated as a stand-alone load sensor, or as part of a load monitoring network of chain hoists. The system is truly integrated, with the load cell discretely built into the hook assembly and an LED display, built into a metal end cover that can replace the standard end casing of the hoist.

Also highlighted on the Area Four stand are a range of truss solutions from Milos, Litec, James Thomas Engineering and Tomcat. Visit the team on stand H10 to find out more.

For more information about PLASA Show or to register please visit

UK - Visitors to the Doughty Engineering stand (E20) at this year's PLASA can expect to see two new prototype products on display as well as its familiar range of clamps and award winning Modular Rigging System.

A new Zenith stand joins the company's range of winch stands. Mark Chorley, design engineer at Doughty said, "The Doughty Zenith MKIII winch stands have been in regular service all over the world for more than 15 years, including use in some of the harshest conditions on earth. The Zenith MKIV builds upon these years of experience, evolving the design further."

Boasting new, ergonomically designed locking knobs, stronger lockings springs for more positive action and a redesigned stand base to prevent tangling when stowing, the improvements have been designed to aid functionality, and longevity, while ensuring it maintains its position as the premier winch sta

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