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UK / EMEA - Martin Professional has announced that industry professional Matt Hallard has joined the Martin EMEA sales organisation as Business Area Manager, Rental. Hallard brings with him a wealth of industry experience having worked as production manager for P&O Cruises Worldwide, as regional sales manager at PRG Distribution and most recently for Philips Vari-Lite as European sales manager.

Hallard's primary duties in the Martin EMEA organisation will focus on developing Martin's Global Alliance Program, as well as handling a number of key accounts. Furthermore, Martin plans to utilize Hallard's deep roots in the industry to strengthen as well as develop new relationships with LDs and important customers Europe-wide.

"Matt is just the kind of industry pro that can suppo

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Germany - The Rotmain Centre in Bayreuth is the commercial centre of the city in Franconia famous for its annual Wagner festival: around 80 businesses, shops and cafes make up the sprawling modern shopping mall. In addition to being a great place to shop, the Rotmain Centre is also used for a variety of other events, including concerts, fashion shows and performances of all kinds.

Since recent events had demonstrated that the existing sound reinforcement system was no longer adequate to the increasing demands being placed on it, those responsible decided to invest in a new audio system. For the design, planning and implementation of the new system, they brought in the Bayreuth firm of Schwankl Sound & Service.

In view of the diversity of uses to which it would be put, it was clear from the start that what was needed was a flexible sound reinforcement system: a system capable n

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UK - In partnership since 1970, one of the longest in the industry, Phil Brunker and Neil Rice, founding directors and shareholders of Optikinetics Ltd, have recently passed ownership of this world-renowned UK manufacturer to Rob Stitcher. Neil and Phil will continue to serve OPTI as consultants to ensure a smooth transition and customer continuity.

Neil Rice comments: "I am delighted we have found Rob, whose experience in business management will, I'm sure, reenergise and refocus our future. The recent introduction of LED projectors has revitalised that side of our business, whilst Trilite continues to be the de facto brand in the exhibition sector."

OPTI also added that they would like to ensure all customers of their continued support.

(Lee Baldock)

featured content

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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UK - Stage Electrics has announced a management buy-out (MBO) of the business from the estate of David Whitehead. The MBO was fully supported and agreed by David Whitehead prior to his stepping down from the role of managing director in May 2012 as a way to position Stage Electrics for future growth and security, the company says. David Whitehead sadly passed away in February 2013 after a courageous fight against cancer.

The new shareholders - Trevor Smallwood, Dan Aldridge, Bob Smith, James Irvine, Anna Western, Adam Blaxill, Adrian Searle and Ian Tregaskis - combine considerable business experience with a strong knowledge of the entertainment technology industry. Under the new ownership structure, Trevor Smallwood will continue as chairman of the board and the company's executive directors remain unchanged.

Dan Aldridge commented: "Stage Electrics is in a solid position

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USA - With less than two weeks until the doors open at PLASA Focus: Orlando 2013, taking place at the Wyndham Orlando Resort, on 15-16 May, 2013, exhibitors have been busy releasing details about the products they will have on display at their booths.

Robe Lighting will introduce four new additions to the Robin Series; the Robin Pointe, Robin MiniMe, Robin Cyclone and Robin CycFX. The Robin Pointe is a new dynamic beam, spot and wash fixture which features include a 5 to 20 degree zoom with full focus control, variable frost, two separate prism effects, a rotating and static gobo wheel, and built-in color wheel. The RobinMiniMe is an effects lighting luminaire with the addition of full video output, driven by a 20,000 hour lifetime source. The Robin Cyclone is an innovative effects moving head product that has an integrated fan in the center of the head surrounded by a ri

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China - Following a record year for sales in the Asia and Pacific regions, DPA Microphones is consolidating its success by opening a new regional office in Hong Kong.

Headed by Ken Kimura, DPA's general manager for the APAC region, the new office signals DPA's commitment to its partners and customers by acting as a hub for sales, marketing and after-sales service. It will also enable the company to expand its sales network and develop new business channels in market sectors that have yet to discover the benefit of DPA's microphone technology and products.

Kimura, who was previously based in Shanghai, says, "Establishing our new office in Hong Kong makes sound economic and geographic sense. By basing our office here we can significantly expand our reach as well as visibility within the entire region and thereby aim our ambitions much higher."

During the last trading

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UK - The specialist AV design, supply and installation company, Marquee Installations, has announced it is changing its name to Marquee AV to better reflect the company's business activities.

Director Mark Brown explained, "With our roots in the famous Marquee brand, our original name was based upon the sound 'installation' business section we had built, however as we grew we also became heavily involved in visual and lighting supply and design.

"Marquee Installations is well known in the industry, to our customers and for the reputation we've established, but we've grown substantially to now operate four divisions each serving different market sectors so feel it is appropriate to change the name of our Marquee Installations business to Marquee AV to better represent our operations. Also, as a great deal of opportunity now comes from the internet and its search facil

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USA - Visitors to PLASA Focus Orlando will be the first in the US to get an up-close look at the newest members of Martin Professional's award-winning MAC Viper Family, as well as the first fixtures in Martin's all-new range of affordable effect lights - RUSH.

Join Martin May 15-16 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort Booth 321 to check out these latest Martin innovations, network with industry professionals and enjoy a relaxing chat with Martin personnel.

A host of other Martin lighting products and control solutions will also be on display.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Lost and Sound, a feature-length documentary made by a partially deaf film-maker about music and hearing loss, will be screened as part of Deaf Awareness Week at Cambridge Picture House on Sunday 12 May and Thursday 16 May and Exeter on 13 May. All events will include special Q&As with the director/producer Lindsey Dryden as well as music writer Nick Coleman and Dr David Baguley, Head of Audiology at Cambridge University Hospital, who both appear in the film.

The film follows music critic Coleman, dancer Emily Thornton and pianist Holly Loach over two years, as they rediscover music after deafness strikes. It features a rich musical soundtrack, often manipulated to reveal what deafness sounds like, and insights from top neuroscientists about the human relationship with music. One in six people in the UK will experience hearing loss, and the film asks what would you d

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USA - Last month, Cirque du Soleil presented One Night for ONE DROP at the O Theatre, located in the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip. The one-night-only production, which combined talent and production expertise from seven other resident productions, was held on World Water Day on 22 March to help raise awareness on the increasing global water crisis.

Audio specialist Sennheiser, which has a longstanding relationship with Cirque du Soleil that extends over two decades, loaned several channels of wireless equipment through its Global Relations team to help ONE DROP realise its creatively and technically ambitious production.

Established by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, ONE DROP is a non-profit organization whose mission is to 'ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever'. According to some estimates, nearly one billion people in the

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The Netherlands - Alcons Audio ahas nnounced the start of its Launch Partner Programme for the LR24 pro-ribbon line-array system.

Designed specifically for the concert touring and large-scale installation market, and first shown at the Prolight+Sound in 2010, Alcons Audio has now concluded LR24s initial beta phase.

Since then, the Alcons' R&D team has worked very hard to produce what is seen as the holy grail of sound reinforcement: HiFi sound quality at concert sound pressure levels. This has now been achieved.

One of Alcons Audio's strengths is the development of its own acoustics, mid/high frequency transducers, amplified electronics and processing. The pièce de résistance of the LR24 is the newly developed, multiple-patented pro-ribbon transducer for the reproduction of mid and high frequencies.

Philip 'Dr. Phil' de Haan, co-founder and head of Alcons Audio R&D

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UK - Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star Cases is sponsoring British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) racing driver Jack Goff.

5 Star join a number of other high profile professional entertainment industry players including Robe, HSL, AC Entertainment Technologies, Green Hippo, J&C Joel and LS Live, who are enthusiastically supporting Goff's first season on the BTCC grid.

Goff is part of Tony Gilham's Team HARD / RCIB Insurance Racing - following his win of the 2012 AirAsia Renault Clio UK Championship.

5 Star's Keith Sykes comments, "It's really exciting to be involved with Jack's rapidly accelerating career. He is highly talented and completely dedicated as well as having a really great personality, and we wish him all the best for a great season ahead.

"Already with two race meetings under our belts it's proved to be a great day out and there is some serious camarad

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UK - Following the success of the theatre-related seminars at the ABTT Theatre Show last year, a key element in the expansion of the Association of British Theatre Technicians' event this year will be extra seminar space to accommodate over 100 people at a time and more than three times as many seminars as last year.

ABTT Seminars 2013 include a range of subjects ranging from advice on theatre training and practice to informative updates on recent regulations, and will run in two separate rooms within the exhibition over the two days of the Show in June.

Live entertainment, whether commercial or educational, must comply with regulations. Are you up to date? One seminar examines proposed changes in licensing legislation, which may have considerable impact on the way venues operate. Another seminar focuses on the latest news and advice from the HSE on relevant safety issues, and

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UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards now has a dedicated video hub on LSI Online.

KOI's new LSi portal, which launched this week, is designed to provide a one-stop-shop for news, videos, and imagery in the build up to this year's ceremony, which takes place in October.

"We launched the KOI Video Hub as an accessible destination for everyone in the industry to view the latest nominations for great lighting design, discover what's new for this year, and to hear what some previous winners are saying about the Awards," says Concert Touring and Events chairwoman Sarah Rushton-Read. "LSi has been a great supporter of KOI since it launched six years ago, and with 16,000+ unique visitors to their recently revamped website per month, this is a great opportunity to provide an inter

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Italy - The sound team at the Parco Della Musica Auditorium in Rome recently turned to DPA Microphones' Reference Standard 4017 Shotgun Microphones to record the audio for a specially commissioned double DVD of two operas that were being performed as part of the Santa Cecilia Opera Studio, a master programme devoted to Bel Canto.

With high quality audio a prerequisite - and with strict instructions from the director that no microphones were to be seen anywhere in the video footage - sound engineer Giacomo De Caterini was initially struggling to work out how he could comply with the director's brief.

"The director wanted to avoid any microphones that could be visible because he was determined to maintain strict focus on the performers," De Caterini explains. "Due to bad experiences in the past, especially on video productions where close-up shots revealed

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USA - Stage Technologies is once again supplying a hands-on Automation course for the 2013 USITT Elite Training Weekend in Las Vegas from 9-11 May. The Automation course will cover an introduction to automation, introduction to operating and programming the eChameleon software, and will also include a hands-on look at Stage Technologies winches and control systems.

The Elite Training Weekend, which takes place annually at the Cirque du Soleil training facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, includes classes in Automation, Rigging, Sound, and Projection for a limit of eight students each. Students, selected by application, spend days with trainers and evenings backstage at Cirque du Soleil shows. Applicants are USITT members who are studying at University.

Stage Technologies' VP of business development, Gemma Guy said, "We enjoy taking part in the USITT Elite Training Weekend becau

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UK - Audica Professional has announced it is expanding its MICROseries audio system capabilities with the launch of the MULTIzone. Applications include retail outlets, bars and restaurants, hotels, education facilities, museums, visitor centres and other public spaces requiring independent zone input and output control.

The MULTIzone is a four-zone control mixer with six music inputs, plus a microphone input for paging. Each of the four outputs can be independently configured to provide music from any one of the inputs plus the paging microphone and the relative levels are set by front panel controls. The music is automatically ducked to allow for announcements to be heard clearly. Up to 7 MULTIzone units can be linked for systems of up to 28 zones.

Zone outputs are individually switchable for flat response or Audica loudspeaker EQ, allowing for systems using Audica or any oth

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UK - Oval Space, a multi-use arts and events venue in Bethnal Green, has recently invested in an Allen & Heath GLD-80 digital console, supplied by LMC Audio London.

Dominic Gross, head engineer at Oval Space discusses the requirements of a console in an environment and venue such as Oval Space: "As a truly multi-use space, we knew that we needed a flexible and user-friendly console that still sounded great, for both seasoned engineers and those users with more limited experience. The GLD seemed to tick all of the boxes.

"The GLD just seems to work in all the right ways. Menus are where I would expect them to be, the touch screen is excellent, and most importantly, it sounds like an analogue desk. The stage box is a major plus for us too...I never want to see a 48-way multi-core ever again."

Feedback from other users has also been positive. "The response t

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USA - Elation will be showing a spread of new products at PLASA Focus: Orlando next week.

EZ6 LED Video Panel is a high-resolution 22.7" x 22.7" indoor video display panel, powered by premium Tri-Color 3528 SMD LEDs, that delivers a 6mm pixel pitch, 1,800-nit brightness and 960 Hz refresh rate, allowing it to produce sharp, clear high-definition graphics, text, logos and images. Yet it is also very affordably priced, light weight and easy to assemble, making it a suitable choice for nightclubs, concert venues, live stages and exhibit halls..

The smallest and fastest LED moving head ever created by Elation, the Rayzor 7 delivers "unsurpassed brightness for its size (11 lbs., 9.25" x 5.5" x 12.5"), a razor-sharp 7° beam angle, smooth Quad-Color RGBW color-mixing, and new high-speed 3-phase motor technology that makes its eye-popping beams litera

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Canada - ArKaos had one of its ArKaos A30 media servers in action with TEDxYorkU for a recent think tank event at York University, Toronto.

The A30 server was supplied by A.C. Lighting Inc., ArKaos' exclusive distributor in North America.

York University is one of Canada's leading interdisciplinary research and teaching universities, offering a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level. TEDx is a series of events which began as a conference to bring together people from the worlds of technology, entertainment, design. Since then its scope has become ever broader with events that include a suite of short, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations and performances on a wide range of subjects to foster learning.

TEDxYorkU included two pre-recorded talks from the acclaimed TEDTalk videos series to the University's alumni and members of the public.

The

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USA - Bandit Lites has announced the promotion of Jake Tickle to director of technical services. He will oversee all technical aspects of Bandit including support for road staff, research and development, training and repairs.

"Jake's tireless efforts to ensure that our technical department reflects the high standards our clients have come to expect has made Jake an integral part of Bandit for some time," said Pete Heffernan, Bandits' president. "We are proud to have him in such a position where he will continue to guarantee Bandits' success for years to come."

Tickle joined the Bandit family in 2006 and was promoted to tech service manager in 2007. He previously worked for Carnival Cruise Lines as an entertainment technical coordinator.

(Jim Evans)

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