Business

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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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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 - 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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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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UK - Olly Murs is dancing his way around Britain's biggest arenas in the sharp focus of four shape-shifting Clay Paky Sharpys.

Multimillion-selling artist Olly Murs is benefitting from the high output Sharpys in a live show with lighting design by Peter Barnes.

"I needed a fixture I could mount on the trussing picture frames around the LED screens that was small enough to ensure that the body of the lamp remained within the dimensions of the truss. The fixtures also needed to be light enough that we could out-rig them from the face of the trussing without tipping the frame off balance," explains Barnes. "As well as being light and small they needed to deliver a brightness that could compete with all the LED in the set."

The Sharpys were supplied to Barnes by HSL, where project manager Mike Oates comments, "The Sharpys helped to create the bold and dy

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The Netherlands - On 30 April 2013, Prince Willem-Alexander became the Netherlands first king in more than a century after his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated following 33 years on the throne. Taking place in Dutch capital Amsterdam, Queen Beatrix signed the instrument of abdication in the Royal Palace, Amsterdam early in the morning.

Following a brief appearance on the Palace balcony, the investiture of the new King took place in the neighbouring Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, during a ceremony attended by members of royal families from dozens of countries around the world, government officials and key political figures.

During the afternoon, the new King Willem-Alexander and the new Queen Maxima boarded a boat for a two-hour ride, visiting a string of stages with performances and re-enactments of historical, cultural and sportive highlights in Dutch history.

With only around 1

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UK - As an industry leader in advanced technology flooring for dance, the performing arts and display, Harlequin also offers a range of accessories including portable, freestanding or wall-mounted ballet barres to suit every client's budget and demands.

The ballet barre is essential for warm-up and stretching exercises and plays a crucial part in a dancer's fitness regime. Both professional and amateurs can minimise the risk of injury by stretching properly to increase blood-flow to the muscles and improve flexibility whilst achieving an elegant stance.

"Whether you choose Harlequin's portable freestanding or permanent wall-mounted ballet barres, you'll realise they are almost a prerequisite for any dancer," says the company. "Comfortable and sturdy freestanding ballet barres are available in a beech or smooth silver aluminium finish and a range of sizes while s

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Australia - ENTECH has officially confirmed that Karl Ruling, PLASA's Technical Standards Manager will make his only Australian appearance at ENTECH 2013 this July.

Ruling has spoken at numerous international shows around the world and recently spoke at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, the USITT Conference in Milwaukee, and LDI in Las Vegas, to some of his largest audiences to date. Karl Ruling as an Industry guru administers the ANSI-accredited Technical Standards Program and writes about standards, legislation, technology, and trade shows for PLASA's members.

Ruling has developed his education seminar especially for ENTECH, entitled, International Standards in a Globalised but Not Homogenised Entertainment Industry: Reflections on Cooperation.

The session will talk about the various forms of international standards, how they are developed, how they serve or fail to se

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Sweden - Visualisation expert Barco has revealed the details of its impressive technical contribution to the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), from 14 to 18 May next. As an official technical event partner, Barco will have no fewer than 60 projectors and three Encore systems at the Malmö Arena, provided by a key rental partner. A main role will be reserved for the award-winning HDQ-2K40 projector.

A large number of the projectors used are from Barco's latest high-brightness range: 28 HDQ-2K40 projectors, 13 of which will be blended and warped into a spectacular back wall - the main feature of the stage design. Content will be fed from Green Hippo servers, via a Barco Encore system contacting five video processors, Matrix PRO DVI 8 x8, Matrix PRO II SDI 3G and a large controller. Other destinations are also fed by additional video processors. The proprietary BarcoLink tech

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UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light has helped English National Opera replace the dimming system at its London Coliseum home, supplying the company with a versatile new system using the ADB Eurodim Twin Tech modular dimming system.

"We knew the time to replace our dimmers had come when the only way to stop lights flickering uncontrollably was to physically pull dimmer modules out of the rack," explains ENO's head of lighting, Kevin Sleep. "We also knew that we wanted the new system be reliable, to last for a long time, and to be flexible enough to cope with the wide range of crazy light sources that we end up dealing with on shows here."

He discovered the ADB dimmers almost by accident. "Some of our team were at ADB learning how to service our Warp moving lights. They came back saying 'you have to look at these dimmers'. When we went to

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USA - Stampede Presentation Products has been appointed to serve as a North American distributor of the entire Philips Commercial Signage product line through MMD, the exclusive licensee for Philips Commercial Signage and Philips Monitors. The appointment was announced by Craig Rathbun, sales and marketing director for MMD, and Stampede president & COO Kevin Kelly.

"Our knowledge of the ProAV industry, along with our network of over 11,000 dealers, uniquely qualifies us to distribute the Philips commercial product line to the North American digital signage market," Kelly said. "Philips provides a digital signage solution for every imaginable commercial market, including hospitality, healthcare and education. We look forward to introducing the Philips line to all of our ProAV dealers."

Stampede will offer a variety of Philips Commercial Signage product solut

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South Africa - SA Fashion Week Spring/ Summer 2013 collections, coordinated by director Lucilla Booyzen, was held from 11-15 April at the Rosebank Hotel, Johannesburg. SA Fashion Week was launched in 1996 and Mauritz Jacobs from Dream Sets has worked on this fashion production for the past 12 years.

As the parking area at the Rosebank Hotel is transformed into a venue to showcase some of South Africa's finest designers, the street lamps in the enormous marquee are the only give-away that you are not, in fact, attending an international fashion event. Thick draping blocks out daylight and the ground is neatly covered with carpeting to create a clean cut looking event. Each show was sold out.

Two seasonal events are held annually in Johannesburg to introduce the Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter Collections of a given year. "Lucilla has amazing vision and leadership and every

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UK - IAG UK - parent company of Wharfedale Pro and SurgeX as well as a range of quality British HiFi brands including Audiolab, Castle, Mission , Quad and Wharfedale - is relocating its separate sales and service centres from their current buildings in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, to an all-new, purpose-built complex, incorporating UK operations, to be combined under one roof for the first time. Warehousing and distribution will continue to operate from the existing 59,000sq ft Bradford premises.

Wholly owned by IAG, the new facility is almost twice the size of the existing office and service buildings combined - 16,300sq ft, compared to 9,200sq ft. Its purpose is to enable greater efficiency and allow future expansion, illustrating IAG's commitment to Europe and in particular the UK. "All IAGUK customers benefit from localised stock availability, service and spare parts whi

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USA - Besides their corporate headquarters in southern California, MannKind Pharmaceuticals maintains two other campuses, including their technical operations team, located in Danbury, CT. It's a busy campus, hosting several hundred employees involved in the company's manufacturing, engineering, and quality assurance divisions.

The campus' central meeting point is a large, multipurpose room used for everything from lunches to corporate meetings and all types of presentations. It's a bright, airy, and welcoming space, but as Richard Trombitas of New York-based Cardone, Solomon and Associates explains, the room has long been an acoustical challenge.

"It's a really nice looking space, but not great for spoken word intelligibility," says Trombitas. "It's got a fairly high ceiling, a wall of windows, and lots of reflective surfaces."

Colortone AV's Joe Lemisch

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UK - The Royal Albert Hall played host to the Mountbatten Festival of Music last week. The three nights featured Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines and captured the versatility of some of the world's finest military musicians.

The Royal Albert Hall's Richard Thomas designed the lighting rig which was supplied by a number of lighting companies, including Richard Martin Lighting (RML) who provided 24 Sharpys.

All proceeds of the festival go to the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund and CLIC Sergeant.

(Jim Evans)

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The Netherlands - Dutch PA company, SoundWorks, supplied 28 ME-1 personal monitor mixers for iconic singer, Lee Towers, who recently hosted concerts over several nights at the New Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam.

Monitor engineer, Jens Koolwijk, managed audio design on the project, and tested several personal monitor systems before selecting ME.

van Koolwijk commented: "The decision was an easy one - ME just works like clockwork! There's no hassle, it's easy to set up, and the audio quality is sublime."

An iLive iDR-16 MixRack was employed as a system management hub for the multiple ME mixers, using the Rack's MADI interface to connect to the main monitor mixer. 40 channels of MADI fed the iDR-16 giving access to a full blown iLive DSP system if adjustments were needed to the MADI stream. The iDR-16 was controlled using iLive Editor leaving the ACE connection free to fe

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UK - For the third consecutive year, XL Video sponsored the OLivier Award for Best Set Design (won by Bunny Christie and Finn Ross for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime) as well as supplying video equipment for the awards ceremony.

At London's Royal Opera House, XL supplied the centre-stage LED screen, built from Pixled FX-11, 12 tiles wide by 7 tiles high, which linked up with the ITV broadcast feed and displayed live camera relay, VT clips and nomination packages.

The main screen was matched on either side by two dynamic portrait orientated screens measuring 5 x 6 tiles and 5 x 8 tiles respectively, which showed nominee logos, special guest awards and Olivier logos.

Content for the side LED screens was fed by XL's Catalyst media servers (main and 'hot' backup) programmed and operated by Dan Bond with the main screen fully operated by the ITV Broadcast

  1. Triple E's Unitrack on The Great Gatsby tour
  2. Clay Paky Sharpys on the Night Train Tour
  3. Robe rig for Miss Universe
  4. Chauvet on the road with Luke Bryan
  5. Lumonic adds Pacific Lighting as distributor
  6. Lighting Hospital expands and moves
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