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UK - 5 Star Cases helped celebrate the making of the 500th SD8 digital console by donating the flightcase to DiGiCo for a very special occasion.

The audio console manufacturer is running a special game of skill, launched at PLASA09, with an SD8 digital mixing system as the winning prize. The proceeds of the competition will be donated to the families of two of the best-known and loved sound engineers in the business - John Roden and Jim Douglas. Sadly, both men are no longer with us.

5 Star Cases has been a one-source flightcase solution provider to DiGiCo from the launch of the flagship SD7 console case in 2007.

When the DiGiCo SD8 console was launched in September 2008, 5 Star was once again asked to provide the flightcase. Building on the success of the SD7 version, the 5 Star design team again produced a case to complement the lines of the new, smaller console. The first

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Europe - Projection specialist Christie is opening the doors of its EMEA head office in Wokingham, UK, and of its branch offices across Europe to host a series of events, entitled Envision Events, embracing a wide variety of AV subjects and offering, in conjunction, information and training around the company's latest innovations.

Vista Day launches the programme and will take place at Wokingham on 29 September, 2009 and also at Germany's branch office in Mönchengladbach on 27 October 2009.

Vista Day is an opportunity to get to know the latest additions to the Vista range, such as the New Vista Spyder X20, launched at IBC. Vista products cover a range of difference routers and switchers, all of which help create some of the world's most powerful video-processing systems. Providing the ability to mix copious numbers of sources in multiple windows through o

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UK - Artistic Licence celebrated its 21st Anniversary at one of its busiest and most successful PLASA shows to date.

Creative director Wayne Howell's seminar on Artistic Licence Art-Net: The Benefits in Large Scale Installations & Applications saw standing-room only, with candidates being turned away at the door. Subjects covered included how to maximise Art-Net's capabilities, the integration of Art-Net into large scale applications and a discussion on broadcast and unicast.

The content catered for the wide variety of attendees which included specifiers, designers, end users, who agreed that the discussion clarified points of use and brought people up to speed on the history of control and what Art-Net II, the latest version of Art-Net, could offer. Transcripts and video clips of the seminar and the Q&A session which followed can be found on the Artistic Licence websit

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UK - The second edition of the Knight of Illumination Awards, staged to coincide with the PLASA Show in London, was a great success, attended by leading figures from the world of entertainment lighting. Organised by Italian manufacturer Clay Paky, in collaboration with the trade associations ALD and STLD, the Knights of Illumination are the only international awards designed to provide public recognition to the deserving work of lighting designers in the theatre, touring and television sectors.

The presentation ceremony took place at the Hotel Ibis, Earls Court, London on 13 September 2009. Clay Paky - with support from equipment suppliers Hawthorn Theatrical and Richard Martin Lighting - set up a professional lighting rig in the Suite, mainly using the new Clay Paky Alpha 700 Spot HPE, Wash and Beam lights.

Almost 350 industry professionals attended the event, including light

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UK - Manchester-based lighting rental company DBN Lighting has enjoyed a summer of being involved in some of the top arts events of the region, including Manchester International Festival, Music & Art on the Waterfront in Liverpool, and rounding off with the Salford Proms in the Park.

DBN supplied lighting, rigging and lighting design services to six major events at the MIF, following on from their very successful work with the first MIF in 2007. Jack Thompson, technical director of the festival said: "I try to use locally based companies for the Manchester International Festival and DBN were my first port of call for all lighting and power needs. They have an excellent range of top quality equipment and a highly skilled and efficient crew."

MIF 2009's opening event at the Velodrome featured a concert by Kraftwerk and Steve Reich, for whic

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Australia - Sydney-based production company GUZ BOX design and audio were recently engaged to provide the audio systems for the 2009 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships held at a purpose-built mountain bike park in the Stromlo Forest Park near Canberra.

GUZ BOX provided audio system design, installation and operation for the duration of the event which included awards and presentations ceremonies, remote area audio systems covering key areas of the Stromlo Forest Park, FM radio broadcast and the media centre audio system.

This event catered to more than 500 of the world's best mountain bike and trials riders competing in cross country, downhill, four cross and observed trials. The last three days of racing attracted approximately 40,000 spectators with the elite cross country and downhill races broadcast to an estimated worldwide television and online audience of

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UK - With a little help from Stage One, a new multiplayer online role-playing game, Aion, developed by gaming company, NCsoft, has been launched at gamescom, Europe's largest interactive games and entertainment trade fair in Cologne. Stage One were brought in by Dylan Marks at Box Car Productions, to build the elaborate set for the launch.

"NCsoft really wanted the launch of Aion to make an impact and this was certainly achieved," said Simon Wood, sales and marketing director, Stage One. He continued, "by integrating fantasy elements of the game into the set and bringing two of the games characters to life, including the flying of them using Qtrack, our fly track system, we were able to engage the public in the story and deliver a real theatrical punch."

Each part of the vivid set, created by Mike Woodage, was designed to reflect the fantasy world in which

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UK - Working alongside key distribution partners and welcoming a cosmopolitan range of visitors onto the stand, LMC Audio reports that it enjoyed a lively PLASA09 exhibition, creating an opportunity for the team to build upon both current and new potential business across all markets.

Managing director Paul Hinkly says: "PLASA09 bucked the trend for LMC with both robust business and even social introductions. The whole LMC team enjoyed meeting our visitors from across all markets and, frankly, after the first half-year that this industry has endured, I cannot deny that I was very pleasantly surprised with the response to LMC and its partners."

The launch of LMC's UK distribution of Acustica Beyma loudspeakers at the show proved very positive for LMC, and John Ridley, financial director, has found the stream of new enquiries very encouraging. "We are looking forw

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Japan - Performances of Carmenwere staged recently at the Hyogo Performing Arts Centre, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and at the Aichi Art Theatre in Nagoya. Fabrice Kebour realised the lighting design for the performance (directed by Jean-Louis Martinoty), using a grandMA full-size console and grandMA onPC as backup, plus two MA NSPs (Network Signal Processors).

"The theatre owned several lighting boards, and as I planned on using their moving light system extensively, I chose the grandMA." said Kebour.

Kebour explained his design: "The concept was quite minimalist - an area with big windows and a wall that would move into different positions creating different spaces. Part of the concept was also to give a clear colour identity to each act. It was important to feel the space, and to light the full volume of the stage which was quite big. I took advantage of all th

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USA - Working with Wilson Butler Architects and acoustician Jaffe Holden, Theatre Projects has created a new home for the performing arts in downtown Richmond, Virginia. Their work includes the restoration and renovation of the Carpenter Theatre for large-scale productions and the adaptive reuse of a local icon, the Thalhimer's department store, into Dorothy Pauley Square, a home for local artists.

"We're thrilled that this is going to be a dynamic new hub for all kinds of local community arts programmes and a magnet for larger scale-touring productions," says Theatre Projects' project manager, Jules Lauve.

The centrepiece of this new complex is the newly renovated 1,800-seat Carpenter Theatre. The theatre has been restored and re-built to accommodate Broadway size and scale touring productions and to accommodate uses for symphony, dance, and opera.

Built in 1928 a

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UK - Sales, rental and production company London Light Production Services has announced the winners of its PLASA 09 competition to win a week's hire of an ETC Eos and Ion consoles.

At the show, visitors were encouraged to leave their details at London Light's stand and on the Wednesday afternoon, ETC regional sales manager for UK and Ireland, Mark White, drew the winners. Anton Prior, a technician from Salisbury City Hall, wins a week's hire of the Eos, while Ben Goodland, department tech from the Regis Centre, wins a week's hire of an Ion.

"This was our first PLASA show, and it was made possible by the organisers providing a new exhibitors area," says London Light's business development manager, Andy Vere, referring to PLASA's new initiative Small Business Pavilion. "We had a steady stream of visitors throughout the four days who were interested in finding out

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UK - Every year the InAVation Awards celebrates the best and the brightest professional AV projects within EMEA and technologies from around the world, culminating in a gala ceremony.

The entry deadline for the fourth annual EMEA InAVation Awards is fast approaching. Companies still have the opportunity to submit entries for both the technology and project categories. There are no associated entry costs, all that is required is their time.

Once nominated, technology winners will be chosen by the pro AV industry, which will vote online. Projects will undergo evaluation by an objective panel of experienced professionals taken from the commercial and residential AV integration, architectural, building facilities management and media industries. The Technology entry deadline is 18:00 (CET) on 1 October 2009; the Project entry deadline is 18:00 (CET) on 6 November 200

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The Netherlands - Ateis International has opened new office and warehouse premises in the Netherlands to offer customers a more efficient sales support and delivery service. The public address and voice alarm equipment manufacturer's headquarters are in Switzerland but it now has a base in northern Europe, where it is using modern technology to track shipments and offer a more personal service.

The 500sq.m warehouse in Rotterdam was chosen to satisfy Ateis International's delivery needs for years to come the company says. Barcode technology ensures that the right consignment goes to the right destination. Overseeing operations is an experienced team with specialist knowledge of customer support and logistics.

After-sales and field support engineer Hans den Hertog is an audio professional of long standing and previously worked with Ateis International's distributors in Holland,

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USA - The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced today that the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition has received its first entrant, a product from Philips Electronics. Philips has developed, manufactured and will bring to market an LED replacement for the common 60W incandescent light bulb. Philips developed this product in response to DOE's industry-wide challenge, and was today recognized by DOE as the first company to submit an entry.

DOE launched the L Prize initiative to spur development of high-quality, high-efficiency LED replacements for the common light bulb. Every year it is estimated that more than 425 million 60W incandescent light bulbs are sold in the United States alone, representing approximately 50% of the domestic incandescent light bulb market. According to DOE, an LED replacement for this could save 34 terawatt-hours of electricit

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The Netherlands - The De Flint Theatre in Amersfoort has chosen an XLD Electro-Voice line array system with NetMax DSP/IRIS-Net software control and supervision, placing it in the forefront of audio technology in the Netherlands.

De Flint formed a project team to aid in the decision making process of upgrading its audio system. Their main concern was to find a system that would deliver excellent audio quality to all areas of the theatre. The team consulted theatre management, technicians and product users for advice on choosing the right system. Several leading competitors presented their systems to the team and they were particularly impressed with the dynamic headroom, sonic performance and rider friendliness of the Electro-Voice system presented by E-audio Benelux.

Chief technical director Klaas Spoelstra notes the simplicity and versatility of the system: "The EV syst

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Corsica - French PA company, Powerlive, selected an Allen & Heath digital iLive system to manage FOH sound at the recent Calvi Jazz Festival on the island of Corsica.

Having already tested out iLive on a previous gig, Powerlive sound engineer, Pierre Angeli, was impressed by its capabilities, particularly the flexibility of operation offered by the iLive Editor software. The iLive system, comprising an iDR10 MixRack and iLive-144 Control Surface, was used as the main FOH mixer under the control of festival FOH engineer, Emmanuel Gagliano.

"It was a harsh climate test for iLive, which effortlessly managed the mixture of high temperatures and strong island winds, which also bought with it many acoustic problems. The high quality of the preamps, the effectiveness of the dynamic processing, the fine internal FX, and sonic quality of iLive's natural sound made it a joy

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UK - The annual Stage Electrics Welsh trade show returns for its sixth successive year at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff on 14 October from 11am - 4pm. This free event is for one day only and is open to anyone interested in technical theatre.

The show will feature the latest industry technology and exhibits from leading lighting and sound suppliers. Avolites, Doughty, ETC, Le Maitre, Lee, MA Lighting, Martin, Panasonic, Pulsar, RCF, RSS by Roland, Rosco, Philips Selecon, Yamaha and Zero 88 will be exhibiting their latest products, offering demonstrations and providing product advice.

Stage Electrics will be exhibiting and demonstrating a wealth of new products including: LED screens, QMAXZ QME700P moving lights, Prolyte truss, Arkaos A-Series Media Servers, Flamejettt and the Altair WBS200 Wireless Intercom System. Throughout the day website demonstrations

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USA - Located in the middle of a bean field in Ottawa, Kansas, just outside Kansas City, StagePro specialises in providing everything from sound and lights to staging and roofing to major festivals across the US. "We're a little under the conventional radar because traditionally the press follows the touring market," said owner Jay Waller." But in terms of festivals, we're clearly national, and definitely A-list."

With summer schedules that regularly include equipment for Lollapalooza, Country Jam, Rothbury, Langerado, All Good, as well as Austin City Limits and Rock Jam festivals, investing in two new mixing consoles was not a decision to be taken lightly.

As the 2009 summer season kicked off, StagePro decided it was time to purchase its first digital consoles. For Waller, the decision was based on sound bus

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USA - Tour Supply has announced the formation of TSI Distributing, a wholesale distribution company specialising in live performance products. The company has exclusive US distribution agreements with 3RD Power Amplification, G-LAB, Palmer and Microphome for its initial product portfolio, and has established a national network of rep firms to bring these products to retail.

"We're thrilled to be working with such a fine group of companies," states TSI Distributing president Lance Wascom. "These are all problem-solving products that are innovative and tour-proven. We're especially happy to help bring 3RD Power amps to the market. Their ability to produce killer tone at any volume promises to revolutionise the guitar world."

With headquarters in Nashville, TSI Distributing is headed by Lance Wascom and Larry Martin of Tour Supply, along with Jamie Scott, pres

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USA - The Wybron Mobile Showroom, a custom-built, state-of-the-art enclosure hits the road for its first leg of stops beginning the first week of October 2009.

While in the San Antonio, Houston and Dallas areas, the Mobile Showroom will provide hands-on demonstration of Wybron offerings and an opportunity for 'tΩte-à-tΩte' with lighting professionals, including their local dealers. Most importantly, however, the Mobile Showroom offers education on the general theory behind and mechanics of professional lighting to an audience who may be unfamiliar with either or both, says the company.

"The challenge of this industry is to actually get information to the people who will benefit from it," said Wybron CEO Keny Whitright. "A trade show is terrific, sure, but you're often lacking time to connect with all the folks you would like to."

"The e

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Reunion News - Seventies band The Faces are to reform for a one-off charity show at London's Royal Albert Hall next month. But frontman Rod Stewart will not take part, with a number of guest vocalists due to take his place. Ronnie Wood will be joined by former Faces Kenny Jones and Ian McLagan, with former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman filling in for the late Ronnie Lane. Other performers will include ex-Spice Girl Melanie C, Georgie Fame, Kiki Dee and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red.

Proceeds from the event, to be held on 25 October, will aid the PRS (Performing Right Society) for Music Members' Benevolent Fund. Lane's widow Katy is one of the many to receive assistance from the charity, which helps musicians, songwriters and their families in financial difficulties. "This will be so special for us, staging a reunion for such a wonderful and prestigious event," said Wood. &quo

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UK - Sales, rental and production company London Light Production Services has announced the winners of their PLASA 09 competition to win a week's hire of an ETC Eos and Ion consoles. At the show, visitors were encouraged to leave their details at London Light's stand and on the Wednesday afternoon, ETC regional sales manager for UK and Ireland, Mark White drew the winners.

Anton Prior, a technician from Salisbury City Hall, wins a week's hire of the Eos, while Ben Goodland, department tech from the Regis Centre wins a week's hire of an Ion.

"This was our first PLASA show and was made possible by the organisers providing a new exhibitors area," says London Light's business development manager Andy Vere. "We had a steady stream of visitors throughout the four days who were interested in finding out about the services we offer. It was also a great opportunity to m

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UK - During the summer recess, Digital Village put the finishing touches to a complex recording and broadcast studio (with editing facilities) for South Thames College, completing the first stage of a major project.

The company had already provided a JBL/Crown sound reinforcement infrastructure, for many of the College's other suites and studios in the building's new ultra-modern wing earlier this summer. This had sensitively been tied in to the College's original 1926 Grade II-listed building in Wandsworth by main building contractors BAM Construction.

JBL in-ceiling speakers and Crown amplification have been used throughout - but it is the complex switching and routing requirements of the 12 studios that have made the College a suitable environment for BSS Audio's new generation of Soundweb London DSP's.

The new wing represents part of an overall £100m investment by

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UK - Despite the ongoing global recession, specialist audio visual and project management provider PSP has continued to make substantial investments in its inventories of both skilled staff and equipment.

Fluent in English, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese, Oksana Koval has joined the company along with Steve Davis, previously head of production at Olive 360º.

"It is vital that we are always improving our service delivery and both Oksana and Steve bring excellent skill sets to our operation," says PSP's David Woodcock. "Their appointments are complemented by our continuing investment programme in new equipment, which means we can offer the very best event delivery, whatever the location and client budget."

These significant additional investments in the company's inventory of audio, lighting and video equipment include a Yamaha LS9-32 digital mixing conso

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