UK - Following its successful launch of Green-GO Ethernet-based intercom and cuelight system at PLASA and LDI last year - where the system won new product awards at both shows - ELC Lighting will be showing an expanded range of Green-GO products at this year's PLASA.

Since its initial showing at PLASA 2011, the Green-GO Communications digital intercom system over Ethernet has been adopted throughout the world, with a growing population of national distributors taking on the brand. This fully-featured digital intercom system has all the performance of a matrix-style network, but without the complexity, hardware or cost of a central matrix 'exchange'. Each outstation mirrors a copy of the system's complete routing and setup parameters, which eliminates the need for a matrix and has

UK - Philips Entertainment Group brand Selecon is launching a new range of professional LED luminaires at PLASA 2012. Selecon will join Philips Entertainment brands Vari-Lite, Strand Lighting and new range - Showline - in Hall 1, stand BV 1-F50 to show off the latest developments in lighting and control technology.

Debuting at this year's show will be the Selecon PLFRESNEL-1 and the PLPROFILE-1.

Both fixtures are designed to complement Philips Entertainment's existing range of LED luminaires - the Selecon PL3, PL1, PLCYC1 and the Vari-Lite VLX ranges. Together, this comprehensive range of lighting tools will offer a higher level of creative expression to designers working in the theatre, small studio and display lighting sectors, says the company.

"The PLFRESNEL-1, which uses LED source technology combined with a traditional Fresnel lens, produces an adjustable cone of

USA - Nortek Inc has announced the formation of Core Brands, a new group that combines the product and marketing strengths of 10 of the company's formerly independent audio, power management and control brands operating within its Technology Solutions segment.

Including Nortek's Aton, BlueBOLT, Elan, Furman, Niles, Panamax, Proficient, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire and Xantech brands, Core Brands has more than 190 years of combined experience in the residential, commercial and professional markets and over 4,300 direct customer accounts in multiple distribution channels in the US and worldwide.

Core Brands will be based in Petaluma, Calif., with offices in Carlsbad and Riverside, Calif., and Marblehead, Mass. Bill Pollock, who has served as president of Panamax, will lead Core Brands. Dave Keller, vice president of sales and marketing for Panamax/Furman, will handle worldwide sales. K

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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

UK - Opened in 1879, Glasgow Central is Scotland's busiest railway station, with around 34m people passing through the station every year.

As part of a national programme of investment in infrastructure by Network Rail, who operate and are responsible for Glasgow Central, a new public address system was required as part of a wider renovation of this important transport hub. Previously, the station had a long-standing problem with intelligibility due to the cavernous nature of the iconic structure and its architecture, with expansive reflective floor surfaces, sandstone walls and a glass roof all contributing to a very lengthy reverberation time.

To handle the extensive audio upgrade, Network Rail and main contractor Babcock brought in respected UK-based sound and communications company TG Baker, having developed a strong working relationship with them over previous rail networ

UK - One of the first LDs in the world to get his hands on Martin Professional's new MAC Viper Profile moving head is UK lighting designer Matt Mawdsley who recently used the powerful 1000 W fixture on the Red Bull Badminton Super Final at Central Hall Westminster in London on 6 August.

Hailing the Viper Profile as the fixture he has been waiting for, Mawdsley covered the venue's dome ceiling and stage in images and patterns. Lighting rental company Stage Electrics supplied the Vipers and other lighting for the event.

"The MAC Viper Profile is really bright and produces perfect colours with really sharp image quality," he says. "I had many people ask what the lights were because of the gobo sharpness and brightness. I've never had that happen before."

Badminton England and Red Bull China hosted the special event, which showcased some of the best amateur b

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) has supplied a quantity of customised Anolis ArcPad Xtreme LED fixtures and Pharos architectural control, to illuminate the roof structure of the new Western Concourse at London's King's Cross railway station.

Part of a five-year programme to restore and improve the station, the Western Concourse delivers the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of the Grade-I listed station to date, marking the completion of yet another element of Network Rail's plans for the future of rail travel in the UK.

The stunning new roof structure has been cleverly blended with the station's heritage to create a space for passengers that is three times larger than the 1970's concourse, with improved transport links.

More than 47m passengers a year travelling through the Kings Cross interchange will benefit from a raft of improvements, including the new li

Australia - A state-of-the-art black box theatre, complete with retractable seats, motorised truss systems, operable walls, an impressive digital sound and lighting system, recording studio, dressing rooms, and box office are just a few of the features of Redcliffe State High School's new 260 seat blackbox theatre - The Bird's Nest.

The Queensland School will now be able to engage their students through the performing arts as well as through vocational education with students able to complete a Certificate II in live production theatre and events, as well as technical operations, and a Certificate II in set production and prop making.

As a blackbox theatre, The Bird's Nest has the flexibility to host any kind of performance, ranging from traditional theatre set up, theatre in the round, or they can run conferences.

The lighting installation was installed by Macrosphere. The

UK - Glasgow-based CUK Audio, has been appointed the UK distributor for Pan Beam, the advanced steerable audio specialist from Wolfenbüttel in Germany.

An established leader in beam steering, Pan Beam's range of self-powered, DSP controlled column loudspeakers are designed to provide solutions for speech and music even in the most difficult of surroundings, delivering optimum sound quality in halls and other reverberant spaces.

Stuart Thomson, MD of CUK Audio explained their choice of Pan Beam, "With steerable columns being established in the market place over the last 10+ years, many companies have engineered their own solutions as part of an existing range of products in an attempt to tap into the growing market. We have looked at the various solutions appearing in the market and all had their strengths and weaknesses. We were looking for a company that specialised in

UK - Midas is offering free one-hour, on-stand, training sessions covering its PRO Series of consoles at PLASA 2012.

And, in an 'icing on the cake' gesture, Midas is also generously offering free entry to the show for all those who pre-register for training on the Midas website before 5 September.

Midas's Jason Kelly will run two one-hour training sessions per day on a range of PRO consoles including: PRO2, PRO2C and the new PRO1. The daily sessions will take place in a purpose-built demo room on-stand (Hall 1-Stand F19) and will run from 1pm until 2pm and from 4pm to 5pm.

Midas is recommending early registration via the MIDAS website as the training slots are predicted to be heavily subscribed with room for just eight trainees per session.

Adding a further dimension to the Midas PLASA Show 'on Stand' experience will be respected FOH engineer Garry Brown, who has used the

UK - Avolites Ltd has appointed Koy Neminathan as Sales Director and JB Toby as Technical Director, effective immediately.

Since joining Avolites Ltd in February 2000 Neminathan has become an indispensable member of the core sales team and has been instrumental in energizing the company's longstanding sales success.

Neminathan, whose experience at Avolites encompasses the job of Business Development Manager from 2006 and then as Sales Manager from 2009, succeeds Steve Warren who will remain as an active Director of Avolites Ltd while also acting as Managing Director of fast-growing Avolites Media Ltd - a position he took on in September 2011.

As Sales Director of Avolites, Neminathan will continue to oversee and expand the vast International distribution network and also manage the UK sales team.

JB Toby has an equally strong and proven track record at Avolites Ltd having

USA - Over 100 Iluminarc exterior lighting solutions permanently light five landmark bridges over downtown Tampa's Hillsborough River. The project entitled Agua Luces or Water Lights is part of the Lights On Tampa arts initiative, a joint public and private partnership between the City of Tampa's Arts Division and Friends of Tampa Public Art. The completion of Agua Luces coincides with the Republican National Convention, which the city is hosting 28-30 August 28 -2012.

A few years in the making, the Agua Luces project complements The Tampa Riverwalk expansion with a paved walkway on the eastern side of the river that highlights specific vistas of the city, river and newly lit bridges. Designing the lighting aspect of Agua Luces is Tracey Dear of Chicago-based Dear Productions. Dear, known for illuminating Chicago's bridges, specified the outdoor-rated, LED-fitted I

UK - PLASA 2012 will see lighting solutions provider, Architainment Lighting Ltd, present its largest and broadest range of LED lighting technology to date.

On display at Architainment PLASA stand (1-E47) will be a selection of Philips Color Kinetics and Philips Entertainment Group LED technology - some brand new, some old favourites, and others that bridge the gap between the entertainment and architectural lighting markets.

Among the new fittings on show at Architainment Lighting's stand is Philips Color Kinetics ArchiPoint. iColor Powercore will also make its debut at PLASA. A versatile exterior LED, ArchiPoint has a high intensity output even visible in daylight, and is suited for direct-view applications within both entertainment and architectural installations. It can display large-scale video, graphics, and intricately designed effects, all of which can be managed by ei

UK - Software developers Stardraw.com have announced major changes to the company's structure and operation, starting with the announcement that Rob Robinson, currently marketing director, is to become CEO with immediate effect. David Snipp, founder of Stardraw.com and current CEO, remains a major shareholder at Stardraw.com and assumes a role of non-executive board director.

At the same time, Stardraw.com announced the acquisition of intellectual property rights associated with Stardraw Control, their award-winning universal control platform, by manufacturer of IP and WiFi-enabling products, Global Caché. As part of this arrangement, Snipp has been appointed CTO of the Jacksonville, Oregon, hardware provider.

The new structure will see Stardraw.com focusing on their core business of software tools and services for system design and documentation, and the development of

UK - ProPlex Devices are high-performance, tour-grade systems for data distribution over fibre/copper. Exclusively distributed by TMB, these signal management systems are built for the road, and suitable for all entertainment production and staging applications. The ProPlex Devices range includes: GBS gigabit Ethernet switches; IQ bidirectional Ethernet-DMX converters; Opto-Splitter isolated DMX/RDM splitters; and RMT remote media transceivers (coming soon).

ProPlex Devices Blue Box enclosures are available RackMount and PortableMount formats of various sizes - designed for desktop use or truss-mounting with optional yoke. RackMount kits are also available for some PortableMount units. Shock-mounted circuitry is designed to perform in extreme temperatures and conditions. Neutrik XLR, fibre and power connectors are featured, plus easily replaceable DVI connectors on the RMT units

UK - It's been 30 years since the first ever Vari-Lite luminaires hit the world's stages. This year, PLASA 2012 (Earls Court, 9-12 September) will see the Philips Entertainment brand Vari-Lite mark three decades of moving light development.

"Live entertainment has changed dramatically since Showco (the company set up by Rusty Brutsché and Jack Maxson in 1970 and which subsequently became Vari-Lite) pioneered the first moving and colour changing fixtures," explains vice president of worldwide sales & marketing for Philips Vari-Lite, Bob Schacherl. "It's hard to imagine that before Vari-Lite, concerts typically demanded up to 3,000 fixtures, each of which had to be manually focused and coloured."

It all began back in the 70s when Showco engineers looked to develop an integral colour changer for a lighting fixture. This resulted in the use of internal d

USA - Like most of New Jersey's seaside communities, life on resort island Brigantine near Atlantic City is affected by the seasons. In the summer months, the sun seekers and beach lovers help to swell the congregation at St. Thomas the Apostle from 1,000 to more than 3,000 - well beyond what their existing sanctuary can handle. As Bobby Harper, VP of Sales at Egg Harbor-based ACIR Professional explains, the church came up with a creative solution.

"It's an older structure, and it has some history, and they didn't want to just tear it down and build something bigger," says Harper. "So they opted to renovate the original building and also build an event centre, which could handle the overflow, as well as other functions."

Using the seasonal population shifts to their advantage, the project was carried out in two phases. "The first summer, they used the

UK - Manchester-based lighting and visuals rental company dbn has continued its work with ground-breaking theatre and arts companies with the supply of lighting equipment and design for the acclaimed recent production of Cycle Song in the grounds of Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe.

The new large-scale community opera was a collaboration between Huddersfield based theatre company Proper Job and Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir.

Directed by Jamie Beale, it told the emotional and compelling story of Albert 'Lal' White, Scunthorpe steelworker and winner of countless cycling trophies including an Olympic Silver medal in Antwerp in 1920.

dbn's Pete Robinson was asked to create a lighting scheme for the show which took place over two nights to completely sold out audiences. It featured a stark atmospheric distressed industrial set designed by Rhys Jarman, a cast of hundreds and t

UK - Since its inception four years ago, the Rewind festival has seen the 1980s reborn for two days every year in Henley-on-Thames, while its sister event - at Scone Palace in Scotland - made its debut in 2011. Both enjoy the benefits of great audio courtesy of Capital Sound.

Rewind attracts a wide demographic, from legwarmer-toting 40 and 50-somethings keen to recapture their Pac Man-inspired youth for a weekend, to their children and many younger people keen to discover if the music of the 1980s stands up to 21st century scrutiny.

Despite acts on this year's bill like OMD, Midge Ure and Big Country still commanding a fair amount of respect amongst fans, the festival's emphasis is very much on fun, with the likes of Right Said Fred, Village People, Chesney Hawkes, Sinitta, Jimmy Somerville and Five Star delivering the requisite amount of tongue-in-cheek cheese.

Capital Soun

UK - As part of its music and arts promotional campaign, coffee shop chain Caffè Nero is hosting an ongoing series of free live gigs by up-and-coming artists at its UK outlets. July has seen guitarist/singer-songwriter Jamie Abbott nominated as the retailer's Artist of the Month, accompanied by a compact K-array KB-1 audio system as he travelled across the UK.

Abbott's tour has visited 30 Caffè Nero outlets, tying many of them in with sets at local radio stations. This has meant that he was often playing two or three gigs in different towns or cities on the same day.

Accompanied by upright bass player Tom Kenrick, Abbott needed a high quality but portable system, which could be deployed and packed away again quickly.

Distributed in Britain by Sennheiser UK, the K-array Blueline KB-1 comprises of a 12" sub and eight 3.15" mid/high loudspeakers in line array format

USA - PLASA Events reports that momentum for PLASA Focus: Stamford 2012 is growing fast, with a host of new exhibitors choosing their positions on the show floor. The free two-day event takes place 12-13 November at the Stamford Marriott, Connecticut, and will showcase the very latest in theatre and event production technology.

Confirmed exhibitors already include; coolux, Elation, Rosco, BMI Supply, Clay Paky, acouStaCorp, LEX Products, Barbizon, Limelight Productions, ALPS, Ultratec, Drape Kings, iWeiss, LynTec, Navigator Systems, Production Advantage, AC Lighting, TMB, Syracuse Scenery, Applied Electronics, Robert Juliat, CAST, A.C.T. Lighting, MDG, Avolites, Wireless Solution, JB-lighting, Creative Stage Lighting, Thern Stage Equipment, and High End, with many more applications being processed.

The 'new style' of event is designed to bring the very best in new produ

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

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