A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has provided KCS Group with a Green Hippo Hippotizer V4 Karst+ Media Server to make Honda UK’s live event content stand out from the crowd.
KCS, an experiential marketing and events company, has worked with Honda exclusively for 15 years - providing them and their dealerships with the support to make every event a success.
KCS were asked to procure a media server and all necessary hardware to give Honda the ability to display varying content across different areas of their show stands, whilst giving them the option to link the screens together as well, to broadcast live content simultaneously across them all.
Gareth Coleman, project manager for KCS, visited PLASA earlier this year to research his options. He met Stuart Burdett, sales manager for AC-ET's specialist video sales division.
Coleman says: “After speaking wit

The Netherlands - Panasonic’s presence at ISE 2019 will see it offering a range of technologies that “provide creative freedom to those involved in visual and proAV technologies allowing them to push the boundaries across live entertainment, public displays, education and collaboration”.
Among a number of new technologies unveiled at the show will be the introduction of a 50,000 lumens laser projector.
Panasonic will be showcasing its full range from 3,000 lumens portable units to the ultra-high brightness 50,000 lumens model. Panasonic will also have a full 4K professional display range on show, from entry level to high-end, featuring a modern, slim bezel.
The company’s annual ‘showstopper’, will use Panasonic’s market leading technology which in the past has seen projection mapped sports cars, 4K robotic screens, magic shows and live projection

UK - disguise has expanded its global reach by opening two new offices, in Shanghai and Los Angeles. This is in addition to their bases in London, New York and Hong Kong.
Fernando Kufer, CEO at disguise, comments: “The decision to expand into China and open a second office in America was a logical step in our business growth strategy. We are seeing rapid growth across the globe and some of the most talented visual designers are in these regions, so it is critical that we can work with them effectively and offer culturally relevant support.”
disguise have also hired multiple new team members across different regions. Bill Collis has joined disguise as chairman of the board, bringing his leadership experience within the film and video industry. The company has also appointed a new executive team including: Tom Rockhill as chief sales officer, Paul Hunt as chief finan

UAE - Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest and most significant heritage site in Abu Dhabi. It was built after more than 11 years of restoration and the site has now reopened its doors as a museum to the public, showcasing the development from a community reliant on fishing and pearling to the modern Abu Dhabi.
Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) were on hand to deliver 9,750sq.m of projection for the historical event on behalf of client, People.
The Qasr Al Hosn Inauguration was opened by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on 5 December 2018. The large projection show featured content supplied by Fly Studio, showcasing the UAE’s heritage and the history of Qasr Al Hosn Fort. The content was delivered across three buildings, the Musalla, the Cultural Foundation and the Qasr Al Hosn Fort. The projection covered such a large area of the event that the

UK - At the end of 2017, Pete Tong, Jules Buckley and the Heritage Orchestra, treated UK fans to a live production of his acclaimed album, Ibiza Classics. Such was the reception that dates for the outing in the run up to Christmas 2018 were booked almost immediately. While the essential elements of last December’s tour remain the same, changes have been made.
“For me, what has made it different this time around is the change of musicians, with different players in the orchestra; their physical technique affects how it looks and feels and consequently where I place the cameras,” explains video director Mark Davies, pointing to one area that has been refreshed. “That’s a subtle distinction but when you get to an instrument the size of a cello posture and playing technique has a big influence.” Paddy Hocken Productions are once again using the services of Vi

Canada - Solotech has named Daniel Méjean as vice-president (strategic sourcing) effective 14 January 2019.
In this new position under the direction of Nicolas Lavoie, chief financial officer, Méjean will actively contribute to the performance of the rapidly growing sourcing department as a key player in strategic planning, as well as long and short-term alliance building with suppliers and partner.
Méjean has over 20 years of experience in strategic sourcing management and direction in large-scale companies.
(Jim Evans)

Canada - Solotech has announced the appointment of Mitchell Sadofsky as sales director, effective 10 December.
Sadofsky holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Business Management (Double Major) from the University of Massachusetts. He has been working in business management for about 15 years. His areas of expertise include, among others, account management, and sales growth planning and analysis in large-scale companies such as Peerless Electric and Alico Lighting.
“Thanks to his solid experience in business development in Ontario, Mr Sadofsky was the natural choice for this position. We are looking forward to engaging his skills and leadership,” says Philip Giffard, president, sales and integration division.
(Jim Evans)

Canada - Solotech has announced the appointment of Nicolino Iannotti as vice-president, finance, effective 7 January, 2019.
Iannotti holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Concordia University, and the CPA, CMA and CA professional designations. He has 20 years of experience in accounting, external reporting, audit, and financial planning & analysis in large-scale companies such as Gildan and Deloitte.
“As a leader in financial management in the United States and Canada, Mr. Iannotti will be a great asset to support Solotech’s growth on a global scale”, said Nicolas Lavoie, chief financial officer.
(Jim Evans)

USA - With two hospital locations, 12 primary care clinics, six rehabilitation centres and nine specialty care sites, Children's Minnesota is one of the largest paediatric health systems in the United States. Star Studio is the hospital's in-house television studio with production spaces located on both the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses. Star Studio programming is shown on Children’s own 24-hour television channel. In addition to pre-recorded programmes, Star Studio also produces 12 live and interactive shows a week.
To increase production efficiencies and to provide better audio quality for the studio's interactive game show programmes and recorded content, Ben Diger, Star Studio broadcast engineer at Children’s Minnesota, began using Dante-enabled equipment and the Dante Via software for the multi-channel routing of computer-based audio.
"With live and pre-re

Europe - Absen has appointed Alex Couzins to the newly created position of head of brand and marketing for Europe in a move that sees the company underline its commitment to the region.
Alex, who joins from systems integrator AVMI, will be part of Absen’s corporate marketing team where he will be responsible for European brand marketing and providing local marketing support for the group’s VAPs (Value-Added Partners), referring to Absen’s ecosystem of highly trusted and experienced distributors and systems integrators.
The role will involve collaborating with peers across the business, including China and the US, to develop and implement the company’s marketing plans and brand strategy at a European level.
On his appointment, Alex commented: “I’m excited to be joining Absen at this exciting time. The company has a fantastic reputation for high-qualit

UK - The Green Hippo training team took to the road to deliver a week-long residency at Backstage Academy in Production Park, Wakefield, as well as a private training session in Lithuania.
October was another packed month for the Green Hippo training division, involving a week-long residency at Backstage Academy in Production Park and a successful private training session into the Baltic region.
Green Hippo is renowned for its commitment to training excellence - its Hippotizer training sessions, known as HippoSchool, have been running for over 10 years, visiting over 38 countries and training over 2,000 students, freelancers and professionals - and October 2018 marked the beginning of Green Hippo’s new partnership with Backstage Academy, the Production Park-based centre of excellence that specialises in degree courses, short courses and training programmes for the li

UK - Stage Electrics has won a contract to supply production lighting and AV solutions to Croydon’s Fairfield Halls as a part of the venue’s highly anticipated redevelopment.
Working with the Contractor, Vinci Construction, and the theatre consultant, Sound Space Vision, the Stage Electrics team, will be starting on site this month. “Stage Electrics has a long-standing relationship with this venue,” comments Richard Phare, Stage Electrics regional commercial manager. “I was personally involved with Fairfield’s last technical refurbishment over 20 years ago. It’s fantastic that Stage Electrics can, again, play a part in this venue’s continuous development.”
The Stage Electrics team are completing works within the venue’s three main performance spaces; the 1800-seat Concert Hall, the 750-seat Ashcroft Theatre and the Arnhem Gallery - plus a new multi

UK - Avolites’ lighting and video integration software, Synergy, debuted on Gary Numan’s Savage tour in November.
The flagship performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall saw the British synth-rocker’s dramatic end-of-days video content emerge from LED screens into the 3D space as the multitude of GLP and Vari-Lite fixtures pixel-matched its colour and effects.
Creative designer Luke Edwards’ two Avolites Sapphire Touch consoles and dual Avolites Ai Q3 media servers were loaded with the new Synergy software.
“Synergy is the future and as a designer it’s making me very excited,” says Edwards. “It’s not just lights anymore. In fact, the term ‘lighting designer’ is one day going to be a thing of the past - Synergy integrates lighting and video so beautifully, so simply, so powerfully, that ‘multimedia designer’ is the new thing. It

Europe - Swiss AV solutions manufacturer Merging Technologies has announced new distribution deals for its professional product range in Northern Europe.
The company has appointed Nordic Pro Audio in Denmark and AV Marketing Finland in Finland.
Nordic Pro Audio’s Frank Grønbæk (product specialist - live and studio) and Allan Holmberg (product specialist - field recording and broadcast) will be responsible for increasing sales across the market sectors addressed by Pyramix, Ovation, ANEMAN and networked audio interfaces Horus and Hapi.
Meanwhile in Finland, the appointment of AV Marketing will see Jyrki Mäkinen support the Swiss brand.
Chris Hollebone, Merging’s sales and marketing manager, comments: “These two appointments are symptomatic of the changes we see in the market we serve. From time to time we find that existing sales partners are out o

UK - North American entertainment technology supplier Solotech has acquired UK-based audio services company SSE Audio Group, thus forming one of the largest AV companies in the world.
SSE Audio’s founder John Penn will continue to head the organisation in the UK. The established brands of SSE Audio, Capital Sound, Wigwam and Sigma Products will also be maintained.
Martin Tremblay, president and CEO of Groupe Solotech Inc, comments: “This is the most important transaction in Solotech’s history. With the addition of SSE Audio, Solotech becomes one of the world’s largest AV and entertainment technology companies. The acquisition will generate growth opportunities and expand the services available to current and future clients on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Tremblay adds: “We are thrilled that SSE is joining the Solotech team, especially their well-known

USA - Created to be the Christian Music Broadcasters’ premier annual event, Momentum is a four-day conference which brings together radio and record industry professionals from around the world. Since its inception in 2009, Momentum has been dedicated to the success of Christian music broadcasting offering a showcase of the hottest musical artists today.
Held for the second year at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, the CMB events team wanted to create an attendee experience “like none before”, so they called upon the Nashville-based production provider Elite Multimedia Productions who supplied three event stages using a full package of audio, lighting and LED video.
“We are a non-profit ministry, so when we start looking at the production design for the Momentum conference, we have to look at what will offer the best experience for our attend

USA - With over 250 million books sold – including The BFG, James and The Giant Peach and The Twits – few writers have made more impression on the world’s children (or their parents) than Roald Dahl.
Last year, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It featured one of the movie’s most memorable tunes, with the evocative line: “Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination”.
Creating such a world on the stage is notoriously more difficult to do than in a movie – which is why the musical relies heavily on staging company WorldStage and its well-established mastery of the technologies that can help turn a designer’s vision into a theatrical reality.
As well as providing an ambitious, custom-made Unilumin LED wall to tell the story of how the Golden Tickets were won, WorldStage also dep

UK - In 2012, Sound Space Vision beat all competition to become the theatre design and acoustics consultant for David Chipperfield Architects’ master plan to unite the Royal Academy of Arts’ 18th century Burlington House with its neighbour, Burlington Gardens, and transform the interiors throughout.
SSV’s brief was to modernise and equip Burlington Gardens’ 19th-century lecture theatre for 21st century presentation and performance, and this was later expanded to include acoustics advice on the new gallery spaces and the learning centre, as well as mechanical systems.
In collaboration with the architectural teams, SSV facilitated a design with minimal impact on the heritage features of the Grade II* listed building, yet provides a future-proofed technical design for the Academy’s planned lectures, debates, panel discussions, conferences, recitals, and hires. <

Germany - Green Hippo occupied a key role in its German distributor’s 2018 open day. A key date in the industry calendar, the event attracted an impressive 250 industry professionals. Hosted by Christian Pies, sales director at Cast, the day included a programme of talks from industry professionals, as well as, of regular stops for ‘kaffe and cookies’.
Green Hippo technology was a running theme throughout the day. Green Hippo’s Tom Etra, technical sales manager and product specialist Suzy Stenning travelled to the event and the venue included a space dedicated to demonstrating Hippotizer’s abilities with 3D projection mapping
Green Hippo technology also prominently featured in the lecture given by Thomas Gerdon of Gerdon design. Thomas, a Hippotizer owner and user, presented a practical lecture on the design and programming of lighting systems in the combinat

USA - Lighting industry veterans Joe Saprito and Jon Zorrilla have re-joined the team at Stage Equipment and Lighting (SEAL), a Pro Sound & Video company. Saprito will serve as rental manager in Orlando while Zorrilla takes on the director of operations role in Miami.
Each is a former SEAL employee who’s spent well over a decade working with the company’s highest profile clients. Each also brings a wealth of outside experience and contacts to the organization with his return.
Saprito has spent the last several years working outside of the entertainment industry, focusing instead on commercial lighting. Zorrilla recently lead his own production and integration company.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with these hires,” explains SEAL president Rick Rudolph. “Having worked with both Joe and Jon, we know the level of excellence they’re committed to an

Austria - Modern metal/electronic band CueStack recently released their third effort in a series of debut music videos that features a sophisticated industrial stage design packed with 170 high tech lighting units from Elation Professional. Beyond the Veil shows a dystopian vision of the new digital age and uses the intricate set-up as both performance lighting and impactful visual accompaniment.
"Big production is essential to this project and the lighting design plays an essential role,” states Martin Kames, owner of Austrian-based production company MartinKames.com and vocalist/synth player in the two-man project. “Beyond the Veil deals with modern day issues but it’s also a huge lighting-themed visual experience.” The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/cgDFJ6P35Ec.
Kames works double duty on the video shoots, operating behind the camera on ligh

UAE - Earlier this month, golf fans came together to watch the duel between the two Ryder Cup teammates Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood as they raced to become Europe’s No 1 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.The four-day event, held at Jumeirah Golf Estates marked the 10th anniversary and the final stop of the tournament.
Creative Technology (CT delivered all video aspects for the event for the 10th year running on behalf of European Tour Productions.
CT supplied four ROE CB5 outdoor screens to ensure spectators could follow the event no matter where they were. CT’s Dubai project manager, Barry Collins explains, “The ROE CB5 is a great product, the high refresh rate and high NIT levels makes it ideal for outdoor viewing, even in daylight. The custom detachable touring frames are specifically designed with outdoor applications in mind and has bee

USA - Former PLASA director Chris Toulmin has joined Entech Roadshow in an advisory role ahead of the first Entech USA Roadshow in April.
Toulmin has over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. As a director of events at PLASA he was responsible for delivering the PLASA Show following the event’s relocation to London Olympia and also oversaw the the Association’s regional Focus shows.
Toulmin comments: “I am delighted to be working with Entech Roadshow LLC as a consultant on the inaugural US Roadshow in 2019. This tried and tested formula in the Australia/New Zealand market is a great fit for the expansive geography of the significant North American market. It’s a refreshing new model that adds in a positive way to what has gone before and brings a new level of convenience, accessibility and networking for decision makers and industry knowledge

UK - PSAV has appointed Nik Rudge as the company’s first managing director, international. Rudge will build upon the international business strategy to “best align teams in the UK, Europe and the Middle East to continue to improve on ways the company serves customers globally”.
Rudge most recently served as CEO of GovNet Communications, a public-sector business that operates training, forum, conference and expo events. He has also led multi-country divisions for ITE Group and UBM, two market-leading tradeshow and exhibition companies.
“Nik has vast international business experience in the events industry having led teams in fast-moving, complex and multicultural environments,” comments Ben Erwin, president of PSAV. “His general approach and business insight aligns very well with our purpose, mission and customer-centric culture at PSAV. We are eager to le

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