UK - Sunday's Offies saw Howard Hudson pick up the award for best lighting designer, sponsored by ETC.

Mark White, ETC's regional Manager for UK and Ireland, joined actress Linda Marlowe on stage at the Theatre Royal Stratford East to present the award to Hudson, for his lighting of Burlesque at Jermyn Street and both Ragtime and Hired Man at the Landor.

The Off West End Theatre Awards were launched in 2010 to recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent theatres across London. The awards help raise the profile and status of independent theatres in London by giving them greater power to promote their work individually and collectively and to reward the new talent that they nurture.

ETC also sponsored the award for best so

UAE - PALME Middle East will celebrate its tenth anniversary when the 2012 edition takes place from May 1-3 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC).

PALME Middle East exhibition director Richard Brook brings the added experience of having piloted last year's inaugural Middle East EVENT Show. Attracting professionals from both the corporate (MICE) and concert staging sectors, organisers, Informa Exhibitions, will this year run the two events side by side at DICEC - and Brook believes this will create "an enormous synergy".

However, he adds, "While the live event market contributes millions of dollars to the local economy, the AV integration sector is also enjoying a period of growth right across the GCC." This has enabled Informa to place heavy focus on Install-ME, the long-running vertical show that operates under the PALME Middle

The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Europe featured a total of 825 exhibitors occupying 11 halls of the Amsterdam RAI. The total registered attendance over the three show days of Tuesday 31 January to Thursday 2 February was a record-breaking 40,869.

Both numbers are the highest ever achieved by ISE, with the exhibitor total representing a 15% jump on 2011, while the attendee increase was just over 17%. The show also broke new ground in other areas, say the organisers, with net floor space exceeding 30,000sq.m, and the number of people registering for ISE's conference, education and pre-show event programme passing the 2,000 mark for the first time.

"ISE is now clearly established as the best-attended event of its kind anywhere in the world," comments Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events. "To be able to post record numbers in every key ar

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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

Germany - EVI Audio invited international distributors to a meeting at its Straubing, Bavaria headquarters that ran from 11-13 January. A team led by Robert Hesse, vice president sales communication EMEA and managing director of EVI Audio, welcomed around 200 distributors from the entire EMEA region. The rich and varied programme included live demos, workshops and tours of the plant, as well as glimpses of coming product innovations.

The settings for the product demonstrations were EVI Audio's 600sq.m demo hall and the presentation room. Aaron Chisena (product manager, Electro-Voice Mobile Audio) and Markus Schmittinger (product marketing manager, Electro-Voice) introduced guests to the new ZXA1-Sub, a 12-inch powered subwoofer from Electro-Voice. When paired with the ZXA-1 eight-inch two-way powered loudspeaker this subwoofer forms a compact PA that is at the same time light an

Malaysia - Green Hippo are continuing their push into the Asian market with the appointment of a new technical sales manager for the region.

Last year saw the North London based company directing their focus on Asia, with both sales director James Heron and head of sales Samantha Bailey travelling extensively in this territory. These efforts culminated in the signing of new distributors for various countries, including Hong Kong and Thailand as well as a specially arranged training week in London for all their Asian partners in the summer 2011.

Green Hippo's new technical sales manager-Asia, Justin Fitzpatrick, is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will be part of the growing sales team, which also saw the recent addition of Tom Etra, technical sales manager-EMEA.

Fitzpatrick comes with broad experience including positions as sales director for a UK based Nurse Call system

Europe - Meyer Sound has appointed Miguel Lourtie as the new European technical services manager. In his new position, Lourtie will supervise the company's technical support team in Europe and assume primary responsibility for sales support and design services in the region.

"Customer support is paramount at Meyer Sound," says John Monitto, Meyer Sound's director of technical support worldwide. "Our customers expect an extremely high level of technical expertise and customer service. With his outstanding technical skills, customer rapport, experience in the field, and fluency in several languages, Miguel is a great fit to lead our technical group in Europe."

Lourtie joined Meyer Sound European technical services in 2007, and has played a vital role in supporting a number of major Meyer Sound projects across the continent, including the Mantziusgården Cultu

UK - The London broadcast studio for last year's Rugby World Cup was brought to vivid, dynamic life by Shock Solutions, making use of some of the very latest lighting and media server technology from ArKaos, Christie and LSC - all supplied to Shock by entertainment lighting specialist White Light.

To provide a punchy yet versatile background to proceedings, the set design for the World Cup broadcasts replaced a conventional printed, brightly lit backdrop with a 20m wide rear-projection screen lit using four Christie L2K1500 15,000 lumenprojectors soft-edge blended together to create a 180 degree digital canvasthat wrapped around the rostra that housed the presenters and pundit team.

"The Christie projectors provided a lot of punch and incredibly vibrant colours, really bringing the background to life and ensuring that Stuart Gain, the lighting designer, didn't have to com

Canada - CAST of Toronto has announced the wysiwyg R28 Video Challenge, effective 6 February 2012 through 14 March 2012.

Create a lighting design with wysiwyg R28, then make a video using R28's Cue List and Camera Path features. Be as creative as you want, just make your video two minutes and use R28's features only. You get to be the lighting designer, the producer and the director for this challenge, says the company.

Entries will be voted upon by two groups: CAST's pick (a small panel chosen by CAST) and the People's Choice (where your peers and friends can Twitter their vote for you to CAST). Winners will be notified in advance and announced at Prolight + Sound 2012 in Frankfurt.

For a full list of rules and details, visit www.cast-soft.com

(Jim Evans)

UK - Audient's ASP4816 was well received by a good turnout of visitors to SAE's Bankstock Studios last week, where a live recording session of folk/rock group Flight Brigade showcased the pro audio manufacturer's newest compact console.

The band certainly approved of what they were hearing from their side of the glass, and Audient's Steve Flower was at the controls to enable visitors to experience the sound and features of the console first hand. "It was an intense few hours, as there was a constant stream of people coming to listen. I'm very pleased the console is so intuitive and rewarding to use," he says.

The one day event took place in Studio 2 and the live room at the new SAE studio facility near Shoreditch, welcoming industry dignitaries including engineers, producers and studio owners, as well as SAE students and representatives from the education sector wher

Tanzania / UK - IT & AV rental company DB Systems is this year helping to support the health and well-being of children at an orphanage in Tanzania.

As part of its programme of corporate social responsibility, DB is supporting St Francis Orphanage through financial donations to the charity Inter Care - Medical Care for Africa, which collects returned patient medicines from GP practices in the UK. After a screening process, suitable medicines are then sent to health units in Africa. The children at the orphanage are among those that benefit from these medicines.

David Bulley, managing director of DB Systems, said, "We are fortunate to be in a country where if we fall ill there is medication available to help us recover. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many people in other parts of the world. Inter Care does an incredible job of providing medication to Africa and I'

USA - McDonald's founders Ray and Joan Kroc were known for supporting a variety of charitable causes, and their legacy continues with a multi-billion dollar donation to the Salvation Army for the construction of several community centres in cities across America.

The latest Kroc Centre, recently opened in North Philadelphia, is one of the largest facilities of its kind on the East Coast. Its 130,000sq.ft includes a world-class aquatics centre, fitness centre, worship and performing arts facilities, café and culinary education centre, as well as a wide range of programmes for kids, adults and senior citizens.

Powerful sound was a big part of the plan for the facility, explains RTS Unified Communications' Joe Zamborsky. RTS specified a selection of Community Professional Loudspeakers for the project, including R-Series, WET-Series and CLOUD6 in-ceiling systems to cover th

USA - In Indianapolis on the weekend of Super Bowl XLVI, over 135 Elation Platinum Beam 5R ACL beam effects were lighting the night sky over the city's downtown.

Dodd Technologies of Pendleton, IN used the Platinum Beams and Elation ELAR 108 PARs to create a dazzling lighting design that transformed Georgia Street into "a magical Super Bowl Village experience" for the many visitors that descended on the city for the big game.

All in all, over 600 Elation Fixtures were used in Super Bowl and Super Bowl related events over the weekend. In addition to the Platinum Beam 5Rs and ELARs, these included the ELED Tri 56, the Design Wash LED 60, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom, the TVL3000, the Flex Tape and the EPV 762MH moving head video panel.

"This was a very exciting weekend," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional who was in Indianapolis duri

France - Brittany-based lighting manufacturer, Chromlech, has been awarded a prestigious 'Etoiles du SIEL' (Stars of SIEL) award at the newly-revived SIEL show at the Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris.

The award, one of only four bestowed for lighting, went to Chromlech's new Gleamer low-voltage dimmer, which was chosen from nearly 30 contenders to receive the coveted silver star. Originally launched at PLASA 2011 where it received the PLASA Innovation Award, the Etoile du SIEL is the second award for Gleamer.

Gleamer is designed to control all low voltage lamps in professional lighting environments from theatre and large scale music tours to architectural and fixed installations.

"The arrival of Gleamer enables Chromlech to access and develop new markets such as architectural and theatre lighting," says newly appointed sales director, Lionel Garraud. "Chroml

USA - Portland-based Hollywood Lights have taken stock of the full Dirty Rigger Gloves range as part of a new Northwest U.S. distribution deal.

Dirty Rigger's product manager Steve Marshall says, "For more than 60 years Hollywood Lighting Services has been dedicated to providing the customer with exceptional service and superior equipment, for us to be working with them in the US is a great step forward."

As well as distributing the range, Hollywood Lights has also worked with the Dirty Rigger design and production team to specifically tailor the gloves for the US market. Enhancing the gloves to work better under the various environments they're subjected to and making subtle but hugely effective changes to their design.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Martin Professional will have "world premiere lighting and control products in its luggage" when it arrives at the inaugural PLASA Focus exhibition in Austin, Texas.

Showcasing for the first time will be Martin's new MAC III AirFX moving head along with two new lighting controllers in the M-series, the M2GO and M2PC.

Several other products will also be on display at Martin booth 707 including the award-winning MAC Aura and popular MAC 101™ moving heads, as well as Martin's high-performance EC-10 LED display panel and Jem K1 Hazer.

The new MAC III AirFX is a highly versatile beam, effects and wash luminaire in one and is the latest high-performance 1500-watt moving head in Martin's popular MAC III family. Capable of projecting a dense, hard-edge beam with stunning mid-air aerial effects, the MAC III AirFX's unique optical system allows it to adjust from a

USA - J. R. Clancy has announced the promotion of two of its top-performing employees: Bridget Cox is now the company's director of project management, and Patrick Finn has added product development to his responsibilities.

Bridget Cox joined Clancy in 2008 as a dealer project manager. In this position, she served as the project lead on some of the company's largest jobs, including the Palladium at the Carmel Centre for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, and the massive Civic, Cultural & Retail Complex (CCRC) in Singapore. In her new position, she will oversee both the contract and dealer sides of the business, working with a team of project managers to ensure the success of all of Clancy's major projects.

Patrick Finn joined Clancy in 2009 as a dealer project manager, handling projects including the renovation of the Paris Theatre in Las Vegas, the new Pirates Voyage att

USA - Lighting designer Trevor Ahlstrand has been using a Martin MAC touring rig supplied by Christie Lites to help set the slightly macabre mood on hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold's last tour, which wrapped up in December.

In August, Ahlstrand created a new design for the American band's latest outing, a tour that saw them hit many of the same cities as the previous tour. "That's why we needed to change the design," Ahlstrand explains, who first started working with the band in late 2008. "We wanted to keep the look fresh so we incorporated some new looks using some new gear like the MAC III Performance."

Central to set designer Jordan Coopersmith's setup is a larger-than-life set piece of the band's logo, a 56' wide x 18' tall Death Bat. "There is a lot of pyro throughout the show and the Death Bat also catches fire in every way you could possibly i

France - Robe's new Robin DLX Spot LED moving light has won an Award for Technical Innovation at the 2012 SIEL trade exhibition in Paris - France's leading international expo for the professional lighting, sound, video and entertainment technology industry.

The DLX Spot was entered into the 'Lighting' category by Robe's French distributor, Paris-based Axente.

The Awards were judged by an independent panel of industry experts, including lighting designers, technical and creative directors and representatives from top rental companies - who closely examined each nominated product, before conferring and making their final decisions.

(Jim Evans)

China - Barco was the primary visual equipment provider for CCTV's 2012 Lunar New Year Gala. Both the stage art design and the audio-visual technology were praised in reviews of this biggest TV show for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

The premier stage application was a huge LED screen, comprising 1,326 Barco 6 mm ILite 6 BK LED boxes and covering 273 m2. The show also used eight super-bright, 20,000 lumens FLM HD20 projectors. HD images were shot on a second supporting screen, coordinating with the programmes. Working in close cooperation with audio-video technology companies such as Raysee, CTV Technology, Garwin, HPCL, Really AV, Huelead and Bright, Barco was able to deliver a fully integrated installation for the show.

In addition, the show used a large number of high-definition video display sources, and these HD signals (HD/SDI and DVI) were generated by Barco's

UK - The reopened Islington Assembly Hall in London has selected an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system, comprising iDR-48 and iDR-32 MixRacks with two iLive-T112 Control Surfaces, to manage both FOH and monitors.

Originally opened in 1930, the fully refurbished 800-capacity Hall was reopened in 2010 having fallen into disuse for nearly 30 years. The venue now hosts a busy rota of live music, as well as a vast range of events from conferences and parties to vintage fashion events.

"We chose iLive for several reasons," explains Dan Turner, events operations manager at Islington Assembly Hall. "Firstly, it sounds great and much better than many other digital desks out there. Allen & Heath clearly spent a lot of time getting the preamps right. It is also an incredibly versatile system in the way it works, and pretty much any input or output can be configured

UK - St Catherine's school in the picturesque village of Bramley near Guildford, Surrey, has been an independent school for girls since 1885. In celebration of its 125th anniversary, the school has recently inaugurated the most ambitious building project in the history of St Catherine's.

The Anniversary Halls, now in full daily use, is a spectacular modern building housing a major new set of facilities for sport and the arts including a 320-seat auditorium for drama, music and dance productions. Consultancy firm Theatre Projects were called in to design the theatre systems for the main auditorium, for which TPC consultant John Riddell specified an EM Acoustics PA system.

The brief was to create a versatile space that can serve multiple uses efficiently, while being simple enough to be transformed and operated by just a couple of key staff members at the school. The auditorium

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