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UK - "Keeping ladder users safe now means protecting them from coronavirus as well as falls," says The Ladder Association, as they release new guidance for health and safety managers.
New guidance from the Ladder Association is helping managers keep ladder users safe during the coronavirus outbreak, whether they're attending a ladder training course or using ladders in the workplace.
The industry body has offered its advice on the challenges being faced by those responsible for the health and safety of ladder users as they plan a return to work. In a new guidance document released free-of-charge to the industry, the Ladder Association delves into issues such as how long the virus lasts on ladders, how rescue plans will be affected and how workers can minimise the risk of the virus spreading through proper cleaning of equipment and materials, particularly if they have

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France - As many countries slowly lift confinement restrictions, L-Acoustics will re-open in-person education programmes this month. Simultaneously, L-Acoustics is pre-launching a new Online Education Platform. The first programme on the platform is a complete, but remote, version of its renowned System Fundamentals training, a prerequisite for all other L-Acoustics training modules.
In 2019, L-Acoustics hosted training courses in 60 countries, completing 670 training days and awarding 6,000 certificates. Of these, 240 training days and 2,400 certificates were for the Systems Fundamentals course.
“This education platform will foster the creation of a learning community where participants can share questions and develop a useful network of L-Acoustics users, as well as benefitting from the expertise of the instructors and the other trainees,” explains
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UK - A new company specialising in immersive technologies for theatre, performance and live events has won funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. Copper Candle will use the funding to develop a platform to help the grassroots of the UK theatre and music industry, both in the short-term during the COVID-19 crisis and far beyond.
Copper Candle’s innovative Break A Leg platform will help community theatre, choirs and schools to continue collaborating while under pandemic restrictions. But that’s not all: it will also open possibilities for more widespread online collaborations among creative communities in the future.
“This funding enables us to build a platform which will allow anyone, but particularly community theatre groups, to easily navigate through technology to create collaborative performances and turn them into shareable content,” explai

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Austria - The advantages of LED as a tungsten replacement are many: greater efficiency with less power draw, less maintenance, reduced heat and more flexibility. Leading Austrian event production company Steinerlive is realising all those benefits with a recent purchase of Elation KL Fresnel LED wash luminaires, a bright, high-quality white light with output as beautiful as traditional tungsten halogen.
With over 35 years of industry experience, Steinerlive, based in Vienna, are specialists in the application of professional event technology for congresses, conferences, corporate meetings, virtual events, and exhibitions. Seeking an LED alternative to an aging inventory of tungsten Fresnel fixtures, Elation sales representative for Austria, Karl Lager, helped Steinerlive personnel scrutinise the KL Fresnel line. “He did a great job, answered all of our questions, and provi

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UK - The Association of Lighting Designers held its 2020 Annual General Meeting via video conference yesterday. As an inclusive association with widespread UK membership the ALD is ahead of the curve having previously held a Manchester-based satellite meeting to its 2019 AGM via video conference. The move, now timely, was introduced to enable ALD members from all parts of the country to contribute without the need to travel considerable distances to London.
This year, over 120 members attended individually. The AGM aims to inform and educate ALD members on a range of subjects relating directly to their professional career and to the further development of the ALD as an organisation.
The full-day agenda opened with the meeting itself. Follow on sessions comprised a series of smaller working groups open to all members, including Digital Networking in an entertainment

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Germany - Taking its first cautious steps out after the COVID-19 lockdown, ROE Visual will be showcasing some of its latest products at the AV Innovation Days.
The AV Innovation Days, as organized by Lang AG, offer an alternative event platform for the cancelled InfoComm show and are held at the Lang Academy location in Lindlar, Germany.
With ISE’s sister event InfoComm 2020 turning into a virtual experience event, held from 16-18 June, Lang sought to offer an alternative programme. The AV Innovation Days will see a virtual programme broadcasted during the InfoComm Connected, combined with an onsite live event for regional visitors. Apart from ROE Visual, other manufacturers such as Panasonic, Samsung and Barco will present their current technologies and innovations.
As part of InfoComm Connected, the AV Innovation Days will give visitors the chance to discove

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UK - With many designers and programmers looking for new challenges during the lockdown, the ChamSys Online Programming Competition offered a creative outlet: the chance to programme the power packed 200-plus fixture rig that Chauvet Professional had earmarked for the company’s stand at the 2020 ProLight + Sound exhibit before the show was ultimately cancelled.
Drawing over 200 entrants from around the world, the contest asked participants to create a three-minute or shorter show with the PL+S rig, using ChamSys MagicVis software. The large outpouring of creativity awed the panel of five judges, though it made their job of selecting three finalists more challenging.
After a careful evaluation, the judges named Amir Cohen of Tel Aviv, Israel the winner for his inspired two minute and thirty-eight second show. Cohen’s design flowed seamlessly in sync with dramatic mu

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Italy - With three decades of pro audio expertise under its belt, Funky Junk Italy has enjoyed a lengthy relationship with API Audio. Now, both companies are have announced that Funky Junk has been officially appointed as the exclusive Italian distributor for the US manufacturer's entire range of analogue consoles and signal processing equipment.
"Funky Junk is the place to go in Italy if you are looking for professional and high-end equipment, and for good advice when it comes to planning an investment in a music production setup," said Funky Junk Italy's managing director, Paolo Orizio. "The recording market has changed greatly over the years, especially combined with the introduction of new genres of music. Computers and virtual devices have become a typical choice for a generation of musicians and producers who have grown up in the digital era.
“At Funky Junk, we

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Europe/USA - The 2020 AES Spring Convention, AES Virtual Vienna, was presented in real time to a global audience, 2-5 June as the Audio Engineering Society hosted its first-ever completely online convention.
Despite being moved from its original, physical venue in Vienna, Austria, due to recent worldwide travel restrictions, organisers report that the AES Virtual Vienna Convention thrived, with attendees from 59 countries logging in to view and take part in over 200 presentations in live-stream and on-demand formats, many of which offered real-time Q&A discussion with the presenters and other attendees.
The entire AES Virtual Vienna Convention will remain online through 30 June, 2020, for those currently registered, and registration (for as low as $50) will remain open through that time for anyone wishing enjoy the AES Virtual Vienna Convention on their own time,

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South Africa - Digital signal processing technology specialist Xilica has appointed TOA Electronics Southern Africa, a subsidiary of TOA Group, as its distribution partner for Xilica DSP products in South Africa and select markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Headquartered in Johannesburg with regional offices in Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, TOA Electronics Southern Africa offers ‘a full-service approach that equally values sales, solutions engineering, training and pre/post-sales support’.
“Our reputation for reliability, coupled with our engineering calibre, go a long way toward allaying any fears of system failures and breakdowns,” commentsRalph Singer, director, sales and marketing at TOA Electronics Southern Africa. “Xilica’s product range meet the same standards we value, and their products are especially ideal for the many installations that are

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Germany - GLP is to launch a new series of short-form, fun, and informative interview videos with lighting designers from all over the industry.
The series will see videos released on a weekly basis with different designers facing the same 10 questions, covering their formative years, as well as career highs and even some of the moments they would rather forget. Partly informative, partly inspirational, and partly irreverent and amusing, the interviews have been designed to bring a little bit of everything to the viewer.
To keep them easy and fun, the interviews will be edited into 15-minute episodes. Given that some of the more elaborate stories could take a little longer, full-length versions of the interviews will be made available in the future. Episodes will be published every Wednesday on

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South Africa - #Feedourcrew, supported by DWR Distribution’s SOS Charity Fund, are hoping to give a final push to raise funds internationally for event industry freelancers and theatre technicians in South Africa. This very hardworking and dedicated group of people have struggled to put food on the table during the national lockdown due to COVID-19 lockdown. Nicole Barnes of DWR reports:
Over the past two months, the #FeedOurCrew initiative has been able to provide shopping vouchers for over 350 families, who’s primary breadwinners are no longer able to make a living due to the closing of the events industry.
“The #FeedOurCrew fund has raised R280 000. Originally each recipient was given a voucher for R1000. Due to dwindling funds and a huge increase in applications, we are now giving recipients vouchers of R500 each. This has helped just over 350 freelanc

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USA - Behind the Scenes reports that Concert Shop has become a Pledge-a-Product partner by pledging to donate a percentage of sales from their Blaklader Workwear line. Blaklader is Sweden’s leading producer of heavy working clothes.
Newly launched, Concert Shop is a boutique online store providing personal gear tailored to meet the demands of people who work. Their offerings include clothing, personal equipment, accessories, and supplies.
Upon announcing the pledge, founder Mike Aug comments: “At the Concert Shop, we believe in giving back to the industry that has supported our families for decades. We strongly believe in the work that the Behind the Scenes Foundation does to assist those in every facet of the entertainment industry. With that, the Concert Shop is proud to announce that we will contribute a portion of every Blaklader Workwear sale to the Behind t

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Australia - LED display and lighting solutions provider Unilumin has appointed Exertis ProAV Australia to distribute its product line of LED displays in Australia, according to an announcement made by Exertis ProAV Australia president and CEO, Kevin Kelly.
“Since its founding in 2004, Unilumin has grown to become a leading LED display provider with expertise in LED product development, manufacturing, sales and after-sales service in more than 100 countries,” Kelly said. “We look forward to bringing their industry-leading indoor and outdoor displays and lighting products to a broader range of customers across all of the verticals we serve.”
Unilumin Australia director of business development Bo Li,comments: “Unilumin Australia commenced operations in 2017 and in a remarkably short period of time we have earned the respect of customers who expect the very be

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Europe/USA - Yamaha Pro Audio has added an extended programme of webinars dedicated to the latest Rivage PM Series digital mixing systems.
Demand for in-depth information about the newly-introduced compact Rivage PM5 and PM3 systems has been high, says the company. Joining the established Rivage PM10 and PM7 systems, they allow a much wider range of applications and budgets to benefit from Yamaha’s flagship mixing technology.
Produced by, and co-ordinated between, Yamaha’s three main technical centres in the UK, Japan and the USA, all live Rivage PM Series webinars are streamed globally and many are presented twice, to ensure people in as many time zones as possible can take part.
Yamaha also runs online Q&A sessions, where people from all over the world can directly interface with the company’s experts to get answers to any technical enquiries.

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UK - Working to support government officials in understanding the unique issues facing the events industry due to COVID-19, PLASA has produced two infographics illustrating how the events supply chain will be impacted without further government support.
The graphics reflect the number of people it takes to deliver just one performance - on average 443 professionals, spanning planning, design, preparation, warehouse and venue staff. Additionally, the graphics show how valuable the sector is, delivering £100 billion to the UK economy and employing approx. 589,000 people.
It is hoped that information contained in the graphics will help highlight to government officials how many jobs are at risk in the events industry without support beyond October.
PLASA says in a statement: “Whilst many industries will be looking to return to some normality from July onwards, ex

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UK - ABTT Theatre Show organisers have released a seminar programme running across 10-11 June - the days when the postponed 2020 tradeshow would have taken place.
"In light of the postponement of the 42nd ABTT Theatre Show until 2021, the ABTT felt that it was necessary to mark the occasion and provide our usual attendees with something to commemorate this event during the current pandemic," say the organisers. "While we cannot recreate or replace the experience of the ABTT Theatre Show, we hope to enable some of the conversations and discussions that take place when theatre people come together."
The schedule comprises 10 seminars (five per day), each set to last no longer than 90 minutes including Q&A.

The schedule is as follows:

10 June (Wednesday)

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Arts Sector Exposed - A cut in public funding has left the arts sector more exposed to the threat of COVID-19, new figures suggest. The latest Arts Index, published annually, showed public investment in arts per head of the population fell by 35% in the last decade. However, earned income by arts organisations from things like box office ticket sales increased by 47%.
The Arts Index is published by The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA), and acts as a snapshot report of the health of England's arts and culture. It is published in partnership with the Creative Industries Federation and King's College London and compares year-on-year figures using 20 key indicators.
The latest index, published on Monday, puts the recent figures in the context of the last decade, which saw a UK recession prompt a shift in the income streams for arts organisations.
After the

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USA - Four draft standards have been posted for public review on ESTA's Technical Standards Programme website. Materially affected parties are invited to review them at http://estalink.us/pr.
BSR E1.6-1, Powered Rigging Systems. ANSI E1.6-1 – 2019 is being opened for limited revision, with the scope of revisions applying only to section 6.6 of the standard. The revisions are necessary to correct errata in that section only. No other revisions will be considered or made at this time. Comments are due no later than 28 June.
BSR E1.39, Entertainment Technology - Selection and Use of Personal Fall Arrest Systems on Portable Structures Used in the Entertainment Industry. This standard establishes minimum requirements for the selection and use of personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) on portable structures in the entertainment industry. In addition, the standar

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South Africa - Due to the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa all events and large gatherings have been put on hold. As a result, Theo Rood from MJ Event Gear is taking on extra work as a forklift driver and warehouse manager for Viral Armour Sanitiser based in Johannesburg. Viral Armour Sanitiser is also now also available for purchase at DWR Distribution.
“I was very fortunate as a good friend of mine owns Mad Giant Brewery, the makers of my favourite craft beer,” Theo explains. “I have been a fan of their product for a few years.” With a ban on alcohol sales in South Africa - which was only lifted at the start of June - the Mad Giant Brewery has ingeniously been converted into a sanitiser manufacturing plant. Not long after, Theo was offered a job to keep himself busy during the lockdown.
Meanwhile, DWR Distribution is now, thanks to Theo, also selling Viral A

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USA - Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has announced that Aldridge Marketing, Inc. (AMI) has been appointed as its manufacturer’s representative serving Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
“Aldridge Marketing’s stellar reputation and proven results made them an obvious choice to be EAW’s representative in the South-Central U.S. region,” says TJ Smith, president for EAW. “We selected Aldridge because of their customer service as well as the company’s history of brand-building. We look forward to working together with Aldridge in creating long lasting relationships with our existing as well as new customers in the area.”
Based in Austin Texas, Aldridge Marketing is an AVL sales and marketing firm that has been serving the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana since 1992. AMI offers more than just products, it assists its customers throughout

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Belarus - Ayrton has announced A17 Stage Systems as its new, exclusive distributor for Belarus with immediate effect.
A17 Stage Systems was established in 2019 with the mission to service its customers’ projects from concept to completion using only the best, most reliable brands in the industry. The company is composed of experienced technicians with many years of expertise in the lighting, sound, rigging, staging, conferencing and video markets. Its customer base includes VVIP and government organisations.
“From the very beginning, A17 Stage Systems has hunted out the best brands in all areas of its activity,” says A17’s engineering director, Vitaly Kazakevich. “We look for future leaders, not just current brands, and see that Ayrton is a fast-growing company with interesting new technologies, and a very good, professional team.
“The Ayrton product

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Europe - PEARLE and the European Festivals Association have published The sixth edition of the EFA RISE series, What you didn’t know about Europe - The Ultimate Cookbook for Cultural Managers, with an update on visa legislation.
Although mobility is on hold and live performance is coping with the challenges of reopening its physical doors to their artists and audiences, the sector will tour again, have residencies and co-productions as cross-border working is deeply rooted in the DNA of the live performance sector.
How we travel will be rethought. Considerations on more sustainable forms of touring are not new and have quite some supporters.
This booklet gives information on visas for the Schenghen Area, what types there are, who needs them, how and where to lodge your application as well as useful advice and tips to help visa applicants and performance

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UK/The Netherlands - Kinly, a specialist in video collaboration services, headquartered in Amsterdam, has announced the acquisition of AVMI – an AV-integrator and managed services provider, headquartered in London.
Says a statement, “Together, Kinly and AVMI will offer a compelling proposition in the virtual collaboration space to customers globally. Kinly and AVMI operate in over 20 locations throughout Europe, USA and APAC, serving clients in over 125 countries with over 1,200 talented and passionate employees.”
Robbert Bakker, CEO of Kinly comments: “We are very excited to announce that AVMI, a leading UK based global AV integrator, will join and strengthen the Kinly team. The combination of our businesses will support our strategy to expand our international presence. Together, we offer our clients a truly global service and holistic portfolio of high qua
  1. SSL offers Live console training courses
  2. Stage Electrics wins City Hub contract
  3. Polar’s Primacoustic principle comes home
  4. DWR training thrives under lockdown
  5. Ladder Association responds to £1.1m ladder fall fine
  6. The Week in Light & Sound
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