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Australia - Assistive living specialist Contacta has appointed Exertis ProAV Australia, part of Stampede and Exertis ProAV, to serve as its value distribution partner to drive sales of its hearing loop and speech transfer systems in Australia and New Zealand.
In announcing the appointment, Exertis ProAV Australia president & CEO Kevin Kelly credits the hard work of Exertis ProAV Australia general manager Nick Cocks in forging the new distribution agreement. “Nick’s 17 years of industry experience played a major role in reaching this agreement with Contacta, a market leader in providing assistive living solutions, and this was a top priority of the company.”
Amplifying Kelly’s point, Nick Cocks notes: “As a new player in the market with a strong global pres

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UK - New guidance from PASMA is helping managers keep scaffold tower users safe during the coronavirus outbreak, whether they're off on a training course or using towers in the workplace.
The industry body has offered its advice on the challenges being faced by those responsible for the health and safety of tower users as they plan a return to work. In a new guidance document released free to the industry, PASMA delves into issues such as how long the virus lasts on aluminium, how rescue plans will be affected and how workers can avoid passing instruction manuals around.
The body shares recommend ways to assemble a tower while keeping your distance from everyone else, suggesting that the most reliable method could be buying

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USA - XR Studios leveraged the latest technology from disguise to bring the future of broadcast to primetime American television when Katy Perry performed her new single Daisies on the season finale of American Idol. The project relied on the collaboration between the creative and technical teams led by XR Studios, with content by Silent Partners Studio using Notch VFX, direction by Silent House Productions and PRG North America as the production vendor.
“Started on the #AmericalIdol stage, ended up in a whole new world,” as Katy Perry wrote on her Instagram, the performance has since been watched by over 9m viewers around the globe with over 2m Youtube hits on top of the 7.3m strong viewers on the night.
“Having disguise for delivery of this content was crucial. There's simply no other solution out there that I would trust with this,” says JT Ro
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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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USA - Harman Professional Solutions has added 10 free Live Workshops to its Learning Sessions programme in conjunction with Harman Professional University.
Scheduled through mid-June, the workshops feature lighting or audio experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience working with various acts including Earth, Wind & Fire, Janelle Monáe, Lea Michele, Mary Mack, Rae Sremmurd, Rebelution, Sublime with Rome, Tabula Rasa Opera, Tegan and Sara, The Avalanches, Tinashe and others.
The sessions now open for registration include: Transitioning Between Studio and Live Environments with Mike Sutherland (2 June), Soundcraft Vi1000 Basic Training with Gabriel Le Roux (3 June), Headroom of a Sound System with Jan van Zyl (4 June), Soundcra

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UK - As Unusual Rigging's managing director Tom Harper prepares to moderate an ABTT seminar on Sustainability in Theatres on 11 June, the company is releasing a series of short videos on its social media channels and its website to stir the debate. 
Harper is passionate about making positive change in the live production industry's ecosystem - especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and will argue the need for companies to move on from the sustainability argument and to think more circularly instead.
He says: “For years, under the sustainability model, companies have been looking at how they can do 'less bad', whereas what we really need to be doing is looking at how we can actually 'do better' and the circular economy model really captures the essence of this.<

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Russia - Scena has joined the Prolyte family as the latest authorised dealer in Russia.
Founded in 2016 by specialists with more than 10 years of experience in the culture, social, and entertainment industry, Scena is recognised for its involvement in the development of European projects, brands and theatre complexes.
“When searching for a partner, Prolyte asks a couple of important questions: can they be our friends? Can they be a part of our family? Do they share the same values of loyalty, honesty, competence, and quality? When the answer to all these questions is a yes, then we jump right into that relationship,” says Eddie Slotboom.
Nikita Safonov and Alexey Barkovski already have a high level of experience with Prolyte over many years. Slotboom adds: “We are convinced that there is an experienced team at Scena with a lot of knowledge. Henry did a gre

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UAE - ARX Systems has announced that Gala Electronics will now handle the distribution of ARX products for the entire Gulf region. Appointed in 2019 as ARX distributors for the United Arab Emirates only, Gala Electronics will now expand their reach to supply Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
With a head office located in Dubai, Gala Electronics is the pro audio division for the AVISS Group of Companies and has, in a short space of time, established itself as one of the leading players for providing professional audio and video solutions in the region.
Owner of Gala Electronics, Sanjeev Singh, commented on the new agreement: “At Gala, we have vast experience in designing audio systems for all types of projects and since we took on the ARX brand last year we have been very pleased with the positive response from our market. Expanding our di

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Indonesia/China - Generation AV, the company that represents Martin Audio in the APAC countries, has appointed two new distributors to target key markets in Asia.
PT Goshen Swara Indonesia has become the exclusive distributor for Indonesia, while Guangzhou Guidance AV Technology Ltd Co will add to Martin Audio’s distribution network in China.
Headquartered in Jakarta, PT Goshen is a well-established distribution company, with representation right across the country. “They are a great fit for Martin Audio as they cover all the vertical markets we work in - from touring/rental to all the installation markets,” explains Generation AV founder Dave McKinney. “PT Goshen’s MD, Cunario Suriya leads a terrific team of people, and sales director, Franky Cahyadi runs a highly motivated sales force. They have a highly capable technical team that will be able to provide

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USA - A theatre lighting designer has launched a podcast to explore what it takes to financially sustain a career in the arts.
The Artistic Finance podcast is the brainchild of New York City-based LD and producer Ethan Steimel, who speaks to workers in the entertainment field on how they deal with their personal finances, addressing questions such as why some practitioners do well whilst others never break through to financial security.
“Our first interview is with Tony-award winning theatrical lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski,” says Steimel. “We learn how he came from Buffalo, New York all the way to Broadway. His career has spanned more than 40 years, and we learn what his finances looked like through it all.”
Steimel is a theatrical lighting designer from Saint Charles, Missouri, who moved to New York City in 2013. He has designed lighting for

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UK - TSL Lighting has developed a Covid-secure remote control lighting system.
The Basingstoke-based company devised the solution in response to a project brief from digital web streaming pioneers Beings Broadcast, on behalf of creative agency Collider.
“The COVID-19 lockdown has required companies across the event production industry to look at new ways to deliver client communications,” says TSL’s Loz Wilcox. “When the message is important, it’s imperative that this is delivered in a slick, professional manner and sometimes this can be tough to do outside of the normal production environment.
“TSL was contacted by lighting designer Paul Cook, who required a lightweight and easily transportable lighting solution. There were multiple needs: no bulky flight cases which might not be suitable for a home broadcast, simple setup that could be achieved by s

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World - The AES Virtual Vienna Convention takes place online this week (2-5 June) and the final schedule of events has been announced, including the convention’s slate of over 100 on-demand presentations being made available throughout the show.
“From full scientific research paper presentations and poster sessions, to experimentation in practical applications of breaking audio technologies outlined in Engineering Briefs and more, this year’s AES Spring Convention technical programme offers unprecedented access in an affordable format available to anyone with an internet connection,” say the organisers.
This year’s Papers programme features over 45 presentations, available on demand, covering a variety of disciplines including Audio Signal Processing, Perception and Evaluation of Audio, Spatial Audio, Loudspeakers and Microphones, Recording and Product

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USA - Lighting designers Sooner Routhier, Cory FitzGerald and Travis Shirley are set to share their insight into concert and live event lighting on the 3 June Elation Hour.
Routhier counts artists like KISS, Muse, Halsey, Mötley Crüe, and Depeche Mode as clients, while FitzGerald has lit some of music’s biggest acts like Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez. Shirley has designed for names like Christina Aguilera, Smashing Pumpkins, Enrique Iglesias, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Linkin Park.
The session is hosted by Elation national sales manager John Dunn and global product manager Matthias Hinrichs on Wednesday, 3 June 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.
See how to register here.

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USA - The 62nd Grammy Awards became the first major broadcast event to utilise a large complement of Claypaky Xtylos fixtures when lighting designers Bob Dickinson and Noah Mitz of Full Flood Inc. deployed 60 Xtylos for Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s duet, Nobody But You.
In addition, 118 Claypaky Mythos 2 fixtures were part of the main set rig and the dish stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. PRG was the lighting vendor.
The show’s creative producer Raj Kapoor asked the lighting designers for a lighting installation that would separate Shelton and Stefani from the band and enfold them as they performed the romantic ballad.
“Raj was looking for lighting as architecture to surround the duo,” says Mitz. “We first thought of Mythos 2, but when we realised Xtylos would be available we made the switch.”
He notes that Xtylos had been

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USA - The new Cross Church DFW satellite campus that sits on 27 acres on the busy Blue Mound Road is reflective of the dramatic expansion that has taken place in North Fort Worth recently. Parent church, North Richland Hills Baptist, opened the spacious satellite in September 2019, after two years of planning, to reach the increasing number of worshippers settling in the area.
Reflecting the forward-looking orientation of the new campus is an AVL system designed and installed by Paragon 360. Outfitted with the latest audio and video equipment, the new system is used to broadcast services and events to lobbies and classrooms throughout the expansive Cross Church facility, as well as to the North Richland Hills Baptist home base, strengthening the connection between the two campuses.
Helping to ensure the quality of those videos is a stage lighting rig that features Cha

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South Africa - On the evening of 19 May, Mark Gaylard of technical production company MGG and his crew of 20 replicated a version of the South African flag using 214 lighting fixtures, predominantly Robe, at the company’s premises in Johannesburg.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, MGG has thought on its feet and adapted to the new environment, becoming an ‘essential service’ provider by offering a virtual studio for broadcasting and streaming. Other activities have included assembling information noticeboards, developing a hands-free door opener, and producing essential PPE kit like masks.
“I wanted to shine our lights in solidarity for South Africa, and I wanted to reach out to Robe and the other various #TogetherWeAreStronger and #LightTheSky projects,” Mark explained. “Also, I wanted to highlight the plight of the thousands of freelancers in our industry, m

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Belgium - The 150-year-old Koningklijke Stadschouwburg (Royal City Theatre) is the largest and most prestigious of five venues managed by Cultuur Centrum Brugge (CC Brugge) in the historic Belgian city.
In late 2019 the organisation invested heavily in new Yamaha digital mixing systems for all venues, with eight CL and QL series digital mixing consoles, associated I/O racks and Ethernet switches installed on new Dante networks.
Opened in 1869, the 700-seat Koninklijke Stadschouwburg was originally designed as an elite temple of culture. Nowadays, together with the Magdalenazaal, De Biekorf, Daverlo and De Dijk theatres, it welcomes a diverse audience to a variety of modern theatre, live music, dance, seminars, movies, presentations and much more.
Philip Van Loo of PVL Sound & Light BV is a long-time supplier, consultant and project manager for CC Brugge. He i

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Europe - Ayrton has announced the appointment of LiteNordic as its new exclusive distributor for Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The new arrangement takes place with immediate effect in Sweden and Denmark, and from 1 July in Norway.
Formed in January 2018, LiteNordic is a ‘young’ lighting distribution company with many years of industry experience due to its team of skilled and knowledgeable individuals. LiteNordic identifies as a Scandinavian operation with offices and sales teams in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and a comprehensive network of partners in all three countries.
“We work closely with influencers such as lighting designers for live and corporate events and installation projects,” says Espen Bechmann, LiteNordic’s sales manager for Norway. “And as Norway, Sweden and Denmark are small countries, we work alongside partners in many fields in each count

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Germany - ARRI has appointed Ivo Ivanovski as general manager lighting business unit, effective 1 August, 2020.
In this position, Ivo Ivanovski will be responsible for demand creation including the areas of product management, application engineering, service, sales, and marketing. He will support long-term ARRI colleague Markus Lampier who will continue to focus on operations at ARRI Lighting. Ivanovski will report directly to Markus Zeiler, executive board member of ARRI.
Ivanovski studied electrical engineering at the University for Applied Sciences in Aachen and began his career at Targetti Lighting in Italy where he pioneered the use of LED technology in the field of general lighting. Soon after completing his MBA studies, he continued his professional career at Osram Opto Semiconductors.
Markus Zeilercomments, “We are thrilled to be able to welcome Ivo

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USA - American Audio’s APX12 GO BT is a self-contained portable audio system designed for playing music and making announcements ‘absolutely anywhere’. Combining a 12” speaker cabinet, class D amplifier, internal battery, on board media player with Bluetooth and wireless mic receiver, it offers ‘a complete audio system in one easy to transport package’.
With a sleek moulded plastic design and matte black finish, the speaker enclosure is fitted with a tough protective metal grille on its front. It features a 12” woofer with a 1.5” voice coil paired with a 1” high frequency driver. An internal Class D module provides 65 Watts RMS of amplification for a peak power output of 200 Watts. The system has a frequency response of 40Hz-18KHz and a sensitivity of 93 +/- 2 dB.
The APX12 GO BT’s internal 700mA 12V battery allows up to eight hours of use from a si

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Italy - Powersoft has released new plug-ins supporting Mezzo Series and its non-DSP install dedicated amplifier platforms ranges for the Q-SYS and Crestron control ecosystems.
These free-to-download plug-ins allow for user friendly network-based control of amplifier functionality via third-party systems. They feature ‘a refined, modern-looking interface, extended functionality, and a high level of user customisability, compared to legacy plug-ins for the format’.
In addition, a new Q-SYS plug-in supporting DSP+D versions of Duecanali, Quattrocanali, Ottocanali, X and T series is slated for release this summer with brand new functionality.
“Powersoft enables wide-ranging control and configuration of our amplifiers through our own ArmoníaPlus software, but we are also committed to ensuring interoperability with other popular control ecosystems,” says Micha

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The Netherlands - punQtum B.V., specialist providers of digital communication tools for the live event and professional audio industry, has announced a series of webinars in order to communicate more effectively with potential customers as face-to-face contact continues to remain restricted for the immediate future.
Starting with an introductory session on 3 June at 11:00 CEST, followed by a session on 8 June at 11:00 CEST that explains the punQtum Expert concept and how to become one, the full schedule plus registration details can be found on the punQtum website.
The first webinar, punQtum Digital Intercom, is designed as a company overview as well as a demo of punQtum’s first product, the Q110 Beltpack. The Q110 is the first element of a larger networked intercom system that offers up to 32 party lines via standard IP networks and infrastructures. Providing
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