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Germany - Dry hire company HELi Showequipment of Mainz provides lighting for events of all kinds and sizes and in December 2017 increased its inventory of weather-protected luminaires with the purchase of Elation Professional Proteus HybridIP65-rated moving heads, Elation’s award-winning beam/spot/wash that can be used under extreme conditions and in any type of weather.
HELi managing director Uwe Heinrich commented on his decision to stock the luminaire: “Some time ago, Elation made a comparison of luminaires with 440W Osram and 470W Philips bulbs. The result was clear to me. In comparison, the Proteus Hybrid is the brightest unit and has the narrowest beam. It has very good projection properties for a hybrid luminaire and several prisms complete the positive overall impression. When I heard that it was also IP65, the decision was made. I see many possibilities with thi

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Hungary - Event Production Forum East (EPFE) will once again attract event and venue professionals to Budapest for its second edition, 16 November 2018.
With interest already high, the organisers are keen to build on the success of the inaugural EPFE, November 2017, where over 60 delegates enjoyed discursive panels covering event security, the challenges dealing with different capacity venues, events cultural position in a city / country’s priorities, touring and labour movements.
Máté Horváth, EFPE founder and director at DDW Music comments: “The high level of attendees and discussions exceeded all of our expectations last November at the first EPFE. There was a real willingness to share information and help each other between the event professionals from across Eastern Europe we brought together.
“Positive feedback from delegates, speakers and our spon

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USA - A new touring roadshow featuring dozens of lighting, audio, staging and vision brands rolls out through selected US States in September. Using the highly popular Entech format from Australia, Entech Roadshow USA is a partnership between Cary, N.C.-based Production Media Inc, a popular entertainment media company, and Julius Media Group from Sydney Australia.
For 19 years, Entech has been a key event for exhibitors and visitors alike in Australia. In its Roadshow format it is popular with visitors because its ballroom-sized footprint avoids the miles of aisles of a big tradeshow, and the one-day format respects the time constraints of most A/V technicians, designers and integrators, allowing them to meet the key people from major brands, and see the latest technologies.
Major brands in Australia have come to rely on the Roadshow to ‘bring the show to the people

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France - Chauvet has announced the opening of Chauvet France, a wholly-owned subsidiary located in Paris. The new facility is responsible for directly distributing and supporting the company’s brands: Chauvet Professional, Chauvet DJ and Iluminarc in France.
For Chauvet, previously distributed by third parties in France for over a decade, the new facility demonstrates its commitment to the French market. “Many of our French customers have been buying our lights for years, so the time had come to support them by having a direct presence in France,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Having a local presence will make us more responsive to the specific needs of our customers.”
Chauvet France will be dedicated to lighting, a focus that the company believes will also enhance its level of service. “We are lighting people and we believe that lighting deserves

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UK - PLASA Focus Glasgow 2018 opened for business this morning at the Scottish Event Campus for the fourth consecutive year with a vibrant and friendly atmosphere. Leading brands are displaying their latest products, and the programme sees industry leaders giving inspiring talks, live demos, interactive workshops and panel discussions.
The latest in lighting is being featured by Ambersphere Solutions including the highly anticipated LED Ghibli spot fixture by Ayrton and Clay Paky’s compact Axcor 300 spot and beam. Robe is showcasing its all new MegaPointe, Chauvet is presenting the Maverick MK Pyxis and Maverick MK2 Profile, and Chroma-Q majors on the Color Force II, Color One 100X LED PAR, and Inspire XT.
Production services supplier, Adlib, is hosting a demo room, providing visitors with the opportunity to get hands-on with the latest audio products from leading br

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Actor-Musicianship - Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance is to launch a master’s in actor-musicianship. It will be rolled out in October this year and will add to the school’s existing BA (hons) in actor-musicianship. The drama school claims the course is the first of its kind in the world. It is being designed by Jeremy Harrison, author of the book Actor-Musicianship.
Following an initial year, the students will have the opportunity to progress to a master of fine arts qualification. This will be followed by an optional second year of study. “With actor-musicianship very much part of the established theatre scene, in the UK and America, it’s a natural step for professional theatre makers. They will see an intensive and in-depth exploration of how musical and acting processes can interrelate and feed each other,” Harrison said. Rose Bruford is ho

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UK - Cirro Lite (Europe) has added Dedolight DLED7 ‘Turbo’ bi-colour kits to its rental fleet. The 4-head kits are colour tuneable from 2700K to 6500K and come complete with four AC controllers plus one extra DC controller and V-Lok battery plate. Lighting stands and gel filter holders are also included in the hard roller kit cases.
Due to its active cooling system the DLED7 light sources have now nearly doubled in output when compared to the DLED4 (40W) units. Although these light heads provide significantly higher light output, the weight of these light heads is still identical with the original DLED4.
The DLED7 light heads are compatible with all the same imaging attachments as DLED4 and classic DLH4 which makes them extremely versatile, says the company. These compact and powerful lighting systems with remarkable focusing capabilities have already become one o

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UK - White Light has announced the signing of a five-year in-house supplier contract with The Mermaid London.
The contract, which begun on 1 January, will see WL work alongside The Mermaid London to improve existing equipment as well as introduce new lighting, audio, video, rigging and staging technical solutions and products to enhance the venue’s event production offering. To complement the supply of equipment WL will be appointing a specialist project manager to handle all enquiries and manage the day-to-day technical support required on events.
Richard Wilson, director at White Light, comments: “We are delighted to be working with The Mermaid London. Along with our expert technical teams, we will complement this fantastic venue with the installation of improved technical production equipment. Further technical support for clients will also be available from our

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UK - Martin Audio will be hosting three open days at their High Wycombe HQ between 13-15 March.
The company is inviting rental companies, FOH and monitor engineers and other members of the touring community to better understand its product range and enjoy extensive listening at its offices as it won’t be attending Prolight + Sound 2018 in April in Frankfurt.
The product selection will include many of the company’s solutions for a wide range of rental staging applications, including Wavefront Precision optimised line arrays, iKON amplifiers, XE and LE Series monitors, as well as the hugely popular CDD-LIVE and BlacklineX.
Martin Audio managing director, Dom Harter, says: “When we staged our first series of open days back in September we were overwhelmed by the response. Therefore when it came to scheduling a similar event in the Spring it was logical to ext

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Europe - In response to the news that the EU is once again contemplating banning the use of tungsten halogen light bulbs in entertainment lighting, the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) is co-ordinating a high-speed effort to gather reasons as to why this ban should not move forward, particularly from those who would be materially affected by such a ban, in time to create a formal response before the end of the proposal’s consultation period on 26th January 2018.
“The ban is not strictly new,” notes acclaimed, award-winning lighting designer Michael Hulls, who is leading the effort as a continuation of his earlier ‘Save Tungsten’ campaign. “The EU has been moving towards banning the use of all tungsten light sources for some years. However, theatre lighting has, until now, had an exemption from this ban. This exemption is what the EU is now proposing to end

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South Africa - Staging and set company Dream Sets has purchased the Vectorworks 2018 design software from DWR Distribution.
Mauritz Jacobs, lighting designer at Dream Sets, reports: “As a lighting designer, I have been using Vectorworks since 2014. Vectorworks has all the needed built-in features that I need to create and manipulate plans from start to finish (set and technical wise).”
Jacobs continues: “As you know, our industry is very fast-paced and time is not always on our side. With the new Vectorworks 2018 they have really gone out of their way to make it as easy and quick as possible to get designs out in limited time. Once you know your way around it, it’s easy to do large designs in a limited time period. Also, the set side of the programme has many new features like the event design which speeds designing up on another level.”
(Jim Evans)

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USA - Pennsylvania-based Anderson Audio recently added 24 Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) Anya modules to their Adaptive inventory, which comprises 28 Anna and 40 Otto subwoofers.
“When we invested in Adaptive almost two years ago, it gave us the opportunity to build on our existing client base and expand the business,” explains owner Chris Anderson. “It has worked extremely well. So much so that we decided to add the larger Anya system to further our growth.”
EAW Adaptive technology is designed for a wide range of applications that require exceptional sound quality, high output and precise coverage. Both the Anya and Anna modules can adapt coverage to any venue geometry in seconds. Because the arrays are made up of columns that hang straight, and are oftentimes more than one, they provide the ideal footprint for applications that require pristine coverage and c

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Italy - Pro audio solutions manufacturer K-array has scheduled four molule-based worshops in Q1 and Q2 of 2018. The sessions will take place at the company HQ in Scarperia e San Piero near Florence and comprise:
Installed Sound Overview and Applications: A complete overview of K-array's unique solutions and technologies dedicated to fixed installations, including project examples and sound design techniques.
Installed Sound Set-up and Optimisation: From the initial acoustic simulation to the final tuning, this advanced workshop covers all the aspects of the setup of a fixed K-array installation. Live Sound Overview and Applications: A complete overview of products in K-array's Concert Series and Portable Systems lines with a focus on the physics that drive them.
Live Sound Set-up and Optimisation: Applied practices of both a Concert Series sy

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Europe - Britannia Row Productions was one of the first companies globally to make an investment in Sennheiser’s new Digital 6000 series, instantly deploying it on Robbie Williams’ The Heavy Entertainment Show tour, which started in Europe last summer and continues with dates in New Zealand and Australia in February and March this year.
Robbie’s long-term FOH engineer Simon Hodge had used a Sennheiser SKM 5200 wireless microphone for the artist since 2013, but the continuing reduction in RF spectrum prompted a look at Sennheiser’s new Digital 6000 system, which offers the same audio quality as the company’s flagship Digital 9000 series microphones in a two-channel receiver.
“It seemed a very good idea to look at Sennheiser’s digital option as it helps with reducing spectrum usage which, with a show that has so much RF, really helps us,” says Brit

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USA - Dreamforce, Salesforce's tech conference that recently drew more than 170,000 people to San Francisco, took place on 6-9 November at the Moscone North, South and West.
The scope of the event – of which many parts were recorded, live-streamed, and broadcast – necessitated the use of a tremendous amount of wireless equipment including microphones, IEMs, IFBs, and wireless intercom.
The conference planners called on Orlando-based Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) to provide wireless frequency coordination for the multi-day event. This year there were six film crews covering the convention centre halls and other buildings in addition to all the wireless RF devices that were in use for each show segment in the Moscone Centre and hotels.
“We decided to coordinate the film crews first, since they would be roaming throughout every room and building, and t

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Spain - Clair Brothers’ Spanish distributor VTècnics has upgraded its touring PA to the new C12 system.
Since the upgrade, VTècnics used the C12 for concerts of popular Catalonian bands La Pegatina, Sopa de Cabra, Oques Grasses, and Doctor Prats, as well as at mass political events, a fashion show in Barcelona, and the MotoGP motorcycle event.
Josep Maria Serra, VTècnics production manager, says: “We are always looking for top-quality, distinctive products and at the time we were searching for a new PA system. The first brand that came to mind was Clair Brothers. It’s a company with a renowned name and heritage because of the great products they design.”
“At about the same time we began to evaluate the idea of approaching the Clair Brothers team about distribution,” continues Serra. “We had our first meeting with them at their headquarters in Man

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France - Elation Professional has appointed Best Audio & Lighting as its new distributor in France.
The agreement is set to go into effect on 15 February.
Marc Librecht, head of sales and marketing for Elation in Europe, says: “A partnership with Best Audio & Lighting was the next logical step for us to move forward in the French market. Establishing our brand in such an important European country is an important piece of our growth strategy and we are proud to have the opportunity to work with such a well-known and well-respected company that belongs to the Dushow Group.”
Best Audio & Lighting’s Sébastien Nicolas comments: “To better serve our business and existing customers it became very natural to offer not only sound but also light. We are very excited to be working side by side with Elation and feel it is a very important partnership fo

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Australia - Effective from 1 January, Jands has become L-Acoustics new certified distribution partner for Australia.
Jands will offer technical and design support to customers and product training for contractors and end users. The team comprises production and installed product specialists with decades of combined experience.
“My first introduction to L‑Acoustics was when, along with Peter Ratcliffe from JPS, I visited the factory in 2000,” says Paul Mulholland, Jands’ managing director. “It was clear from our first introduction to the V-DOSC speaker cabinet that L‑Acoustics was destined to become a dominant force in live sound. JPS became the L‑Acoustics rental network partner for Australia and I watched as the pioneers of line array continued to develop ever more innovative products. I am proud that Jands now represents L-Acoustics and excited that our

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USA - Lighting designer Herrick Goldman, principal of HG Lighting Design, announced last summer that he would be donating a portion of his design fees throughout the year to Behind the Scenes and he recently presented his first cheque to the charity.
HG Lighting Design is the first firm to make an ongoing pledge of a portion of design fees to the charity and Behind the Scenes applauds Herrick for his leadership. HG Lighting Design provides lighting services for a wide variety of markets including theatre, dance, and corporate events, as well as for permanent installations and museums.
Herrick Goldman stated, “HG Lighting Design is thrilled to be a Behind the Scenes Pledge-a-Service Partner and we are proud to be the first design team to do so. We hope that many other designers will choose to join us in this worthy cause. As HGLD grows and adds team members and collab

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UK - Britannia Row Productions Training (BRPT) has announced the dates of its 2018 live sound training courses.
The 16-week part-time Live Sound Fundamental and Live Sound intermediate courses will again be run twice in the year both commencing in January and September.
BRPT’s core 12-week full-time Live Sound Technology Course is commencing on 8 May.
The three-year BSc Hons Degree Course in Live Sound Production run with South Thames College and validated by the University of Northampton will be commencing in September primarily from the South Thames College Wandsworth, London campus.
Britannia Row Productions Training’s MD Mike Lowe said, “We are extremely proud that over 200 students from our 2013 - 2017 LSTC courses are now earning their living as live sound professionals around the world with sound companies, venues and as freelancers.

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Poland - One of the biggest New Year’s Eve 2017 celebration was held in the city of Zakopane, in the south of Poland. The team at Aram, an international full-service stage design and production company and a member of the PRG Alliance, worked alongside over 70 additional crew members led by production designer Giorgos Stylianou-Matsis and lightning designer Adam Tyszka, to deliver state-of-the-art video technology and lightning setup for the event.
Following three weeks of construction works, the stage was built at the foot of the Tatry Mountains, with a spectacular design that was fully complementary to the setting and weather conditions, providing a viewing experience to fans on-site and online alike.
This year’s celebration, broadcast on TVP2, was titled New Year’s Eve of Dreams, and it marked the second edition of a popular TV concert that welcomed a

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Italy/USA - Outline has announced the formation of Outline US. Newly created, owned and operated by Jeffrey Cox and Jason Farah, Outline US is now the sole representative of Outline Srl in the United States and Caribbean.
This announcement establishes an alliance between Outline Srl in Italy and renowned audio specialist Jeffrey Cox and Jason Farah, the technical and business authority of East Coast-based Special Event Services (SES), North Carolina.
“We insisted upon creating an operation in the US that had direct connection to the mothership in Brescia, Italy,” explains Farah. “When you are working with us in the States, you’re aligned with the factory, man/woman brainpower, technical resources and support of the worldwide Outline organisation.”
“We are taking a similar approach that Cox Audio Engineering utilised in 1993 when introducing L-Acoust

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PLASA has announced changes to its elected board including the appointment of Adam Blaxill as the new chair.
Blaxill joined the PLASA Board as the Professional Services Representative in 2012 and was elected as vice-chair in 2014. He has been voted as the new chair of PLASA through a simple majority vote.
Blaxill takes over from Ed Pagett who has served as chair for an extended seven years. During this time Pagett oversaw the de-merger with ESTA with the support of an executive committee which included Blaxill as vice-chair and Martin Hawthorn as treasurer. This valuable work enabled the survival and growth of PLASA.
Pagett will continue to serve as a non-executive director, contributing his extensive knowledge and expertise to advise and support the association as it continues its work in the industry.
As a director of Stage Electrics - one of the UK’s leading

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UK - PLASA has announced the final additions to the programme for PLASA Focus Glasgow 2018 taking place at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) 17-18 January. Free registration is still open for the show which offers inspiring seminars, technical workshops, and cutting-edge training sessions.
Funktion One founder, Tony Andrews will be hosting a seminar, in association with Steedsy.com, which will delve into the audio quality differences between file formats, file players, sound cards, and mixers using state-of-the-art Funktion One equipment. Observations and questions are welcome throughout the presentation.
KV2 are set to demonstrate their latest loudspeaker products which are already making impressions internationally within theatre, worship, corporate, and DJ sectors. With demonstrations running throughout the show, visitors can inspect the ultra-compact passi
  1. Allen & Heath schedules NAMM masterclasses
  2. 2017 Michael Northen Bursary Award winners
  3. ETC subsidiaries to distribute High End Systems
  4. TSL Lighting to acquire Blinding Light
  5. Venuetech looks to an AV over IP future
  6. Westview becomes Pledge-a-Service Partner
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