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Australia - Juliusmedia college is offering one full time fully funded scholarship and two part funded scholarships available for the Advanced Diploma of Technical Production, a one year course starting 21 February in Sydney.

This is a new qualification which is nationally endorsed. It comprises entertainment technology management units including advanced OH&S and team leadership, along with electives in audio, lighting, vision and staging. It is conducted at Rydalmere college, with practicals at various venues across Sydney. The course includes internships and work placements during 2005.

The Advanced Diploma is a full time course, with an accelerated program delivery. The pre-requisite is normally completion of the leaving exam in Year 12, however there are entry exemptions for exceptionally motivated students.

The fully funded scholarship pays course fees and any college

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UK - Supporting Role Ltd, a specialist provider of support services to smaller companies within the entertainment technology industry, has moved to new offices In Chiswick, west London. The move. It says, will provide extra space for the expanding variety of projects currently under way or in the pipeline. The company also reports it is currently recruiting IT staff with production industry experience for its team.

Supporting Role, headed by Marco Van Beek, provides a range of specialist consultancy services to businesses operating in the entertainment industry, including project management, IT consultancy, technical and business consultancy, health and safety consultancy, PAT testing, CE marking consultancy and more.

The company can now be contacted at Grove Park Studios, 188-192 Sutton Court Rd, London W4 3HR, UK. The new contact numbers are tel: 0870 757 2824, fax: 0870 75

ISE 2026 - Banner - Oct 2025

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UK - The latest issue of British Harlequin house magazine Harlequinade carries stories from around the globe including the magnificent new Copenhagen Opera House, the impressive Centre de la Danse in Paris and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

From America news of Harlequin's largest ever installation of Liberty Sprung floors at Florida State University in Tallahassee, as well as a special installation at the Lincoln Center in New York. Elsewhere in the issue Rachel Rist, president of IADMS writes a timely warning on the risks of dancing on the 'wrong type' of dance floor, a subject also highlighted in a recent House of Commons Report.

Anyone involved in dance who would like to receive a free copy of Harlequinade can sign up via the contact details below.

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Australia - Nova Multimedia, Canberra's oldest and leading independent production house, and Specifics, a relatively young technical management and specialist audio equipment supplier, have merged. The merger, which took effect from Monday 10 January 2004 - sees Specifics cease trading and become part of Nova Multimedia - makes Nova Multimedia the largest supplier of event technical management, production and installation services in Canberra.

"We're thrilled and excited to be joining forces with Specifics," Nova director Nick Nonas says of the merger. "With Specifics joining us, we can offer our clients an even broader range of equipment and expertise."

"With the addition of Specifics' broadcast and boutique studio hire equipment, and our own recent upgrade to our Nexo Geo S and PS15 systems, we now have an inventory to be envied', says Nova directo

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UK - The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers (ISCE) has announced continued interest in the forthcoming ISCEx 2005 exhibition and conference, with another four companies - Allen & Heath, PC Werth, Sennheiser and Shure - signing up to the show. This brings to 24 the number of participating companies at the show, which takes place at the Watford Moat House Hotel on Tuesday, 22 February.

The full technical programme promises cutting-edge seminars from leading industry experts. Subjects covered include Audio over TCP/IP, Wireless Microphone RF Pitfalls, Test Instruments for Room Acoustical Analysis, Update on Induction Loop Systems and The Basics of Fibre Optics. Last year there was standing room only at several sessions, say the organizers.

Tickets, including free parking, refreshments and VAT, cost £5 for the exhibition alone and £50 (£60 for non-ISCE members)

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USA - The Entertainment Services & Technology Association (ESTA), has announced the creation of the ESTA Foundation, which aims to meet the need to provide entry-level entertainment technicians with the essential skills necessary to practice their craft. To further this purpose, the ESTA Board of Directors created the ESTA Foundation, to be established as a 501(c)3 organization. ESTA's Technical Education Committee and its subcommittees - Essential Skills, Publications and Assessments and Seminars & Training - have been moved under the auspices of the Foundation.

Members of the inaugural Board of Directors are: Chair, Bill Price - director of systems, Barbizon; Vice-Chair, Rick Rudolph - executive vice-president, Stage Equipment & Lighting; Secretary/Treasurer, Mark Heiser - managing director, New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center; and Directors Gavin Berger - director of Con

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Norway - Each December, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Consideration is given to a wide variety of work including 'advocacy of human rights, peace movements, mediation of international conflicts and arms control and disarmament'. This year's recipient is Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

Maathai had a busy schedule before her when she arrived in Oslo, including a series of meetings, the formal awards ceremony and a torchlight parade through downtown Oslo. Proceedings culminated in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. The concert, carried live in more than 100 countries to up to 450 million viewers, was held at Oslo Spektrum, where the 6,500-strong audience heard a stellar cast through a Meyer Sound system provided by Oslo's own AVAB CAC. Maathai was the guest of honour at t

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UK - Soundcraft has announced the dates for the next in its popular Going Live training course series, held in conjunction with Adlib Audio of Liverpool and some of the UK's top tour sound engineers. Going Live 05 takes place on March 21-23 at the Liverpool Community College. Monday 21st is 'Intro' day, essentially a precursor for the main event held over the 22nd and 23rd. This acts as a basics-of-live-sound refresher, ideal for people relatively new to live sound engineering as a career.

The main course covers all the main subjects of live sound, from microphone and loudspeaker placement to front-of-house and monitor mixing. As well as providing course tutoring, the engineers are on hand to answer questions and provide tips on how they mix live sound in the real world. Engineers planned to be tutoring include 'Big Mick' Hughes, perhaps most famous for his work wi

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USA - Shure Incorporated has announced the opening of two new locations in China: a manufacturing facility in Suzhou and a sales and marketing office in Shanghai. In preparation for the grand opening, the state-of-the-art Suzhou manufacturing facility has been conducting production trials. Full production of select product lines is expected in the spring.

"China is a very important market for our strategic growth goals," said Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure. "This expansion will strengthen our company's position by allowing us to respond to the growing global demand for our products. The transition of these product lines to our China facility will be transparent to our global distribution partners," he added.The Suzhou facility, a wholly-owned enterprise, has been equipped with the same calibre of testing equipment as in other Shure plants, includi

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Korea - Avix Tech Co Ltd, recently appointed Audient distributor in Korea, has secured two sales of the biggest Aztec desk yet, a 56-channel version of Audient's flagship console.

Audient's biggest Aztec to date is now being used by the EnCompass Corporation, a multi-entertainment company located in the Chung Cheung area. Introduced to Audient by Avix Tech, their managing director, Steve Kim, explained: "A host of cultural events takes place throughout the year in this part of Korea, so EnCompass Corp handles a lot of global events. The 56-channel console from Audient is currently being used for the concert of the Chung-Ju City Orchestra and Choir. They particularly like the fact that the AZTEC live console has such a large number of VCA groups and dedicated recording connectivity, which allows simple set up of recording equipment for both recording and mixdown." Avix

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UK - The UK entertainment ticketing industry's self-regulatory body, the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), has welcomed the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)'s announcement that it is to promote steps to clamp down on the resale and touting of show tickets. STAR is, with others, planning to lobby the Government for changes in the law and for the effective enforcement of existing laws to protect consumers, especially from so-called 'e-touts' who exploit web sites to resell tickets. STAR also welcomed moves by the OFT to ensure consumers get clear price information.

Many tickets are being offered for sale through Internet auction sites. Earlier this month there were some 8,378 separate listings of multiple tickets for sale on one leading site alone. There is evidence that large operations, as well as individual touts, are using sites to offer seats at major events at vastl

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USA - Phonic has named Scott Emmerman executive vice president of Phonic America Corporation. He will head up the company's Tampa operation and grow domestic sales. He comes to Phonic after 10 years at E-MU/ENSONIQ as vice president of sales and marketing, responsible for western hemisphere sales and, previously, a district sales manager for Roland.

The new appointment, says Phonic CEO Stephen Wang, is an important move for the company, with Emmerman bringing "the right blend of sales and merchandising expertise to execute Phonic's aggressive market expansion plan".

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Faithless' December UK dates, which culminated in two nights at the Brixton Academy, featured sound by Britannia Row including an InnovaSON Sy80 digital console for monitors. Monitor engineer Dave Davies has been a convert to InnovaSON since he first encountered their consoles on a David Gray tour three years ago. He's worked with most InnovaSON desks from the Grand Live up, and is a big fan of the Sy80.

"It's a very user-friendly console," says Davies. "It's easy to use, and I like the fact that there are no multiple layers, as this means it is very simple and fast, which is important on a show like this, which has lots of cues. I really like the ability to programme the desk before the show. And the sound is great: what goes in comes out sounding right." He runs around 50 inputs into 18 mixes, using separate pages for each song, and automation for the

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UK - TSC Music, a leading supplier of in-store music solutions, has recently signed to the 'i-ceilings Sound Systems Approved Installer Network' (iSSAIN), joining a shortlist of the UK's biggest and best audio system providers chosen to bring the i-ceilings brand to the market.

Armstrong i-ceilings, the latest generation of integrated loudspeakers, uses NXT flat panel loudspeaker technology to provide exceptional sound qualities, whilst providing a near-'invisible' solution for aesthetic consistency of the ceiling plane. The i-ceilings panel simply drops into the ceiling grid to provide a completely unidentifiable loudspeaker that also benefits from increased clarity and dispersion of music and voice messaging. The product is already finding enormous success in the retail, leisure, education, AV and public sectors, for names such as HSBC, IKEA, Holiday Inn, ASDA, McDonalds, HBOS

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USA - Michael Garl, president of James Thomas Engineering and current chair of ESTA's Rigging Working Group, is assuming the chair of its Technical Standards Committee and leaving the leadership of the Rigging Working group in the hands of Bill Sapsis, the current co-chair and president of Sapsis Rigging. The Technical Standards Committee will appoint a new co-chair to serve with Sapsis on the Rigging Working Group.

Mike's first meeting as TSC Chair will be the meeting at the USITT Conference in Toronto on March 16. The change in leadership is occasioned by Paul Vincent's stepping down after many years of service. "My first involvement with ESTA was as a founding member of the Theatrical Dealers Association," said Vincent. "After serving as vice-president, president, immediate past president, chair of the Ethics Committee, member of the BizEd Committee and chair o

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UK - 19" racking is one of those not very glamorous but nevertheless essential products. RaxX from MTR is a new, British-made rackmounting system with a fresh twist, using uprights that fix directly to a wall, and side arms which attach to the upright and the front panel of the rack units - an infinitely expandable concept. Designed for fixed installations, the RaxX system 'starter pack' consists of two 6U upright sections that are fixed to the wall using the screws and cavity fixing plugs supplied. Six 1U side arms complete the pack, and are fitted to the uprights with the supplied M6 bolts.

The two key advantages of this system, says MTR, are its cost-effectiveness and flexibility. It can be expanded vertically and indeed horizontally, since each upright has two rows of holes, able to take the right side of the first row of products and the left side of the next row along

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UK - PLASA's professional development programme starts off this year on 4 March 2005 with 'Essential Steps to Effective Strategy Development' and will be held at the DTI Conference Centre in Victoria, London. Aimed at anyone who has responsibility for the development of strategic/business planning, the seminar will cover:
The components of strategic planning, key models/tools and the application to a case study.
Reviewing and exploring types of market information and cost effective methods of data collection for successful planning.
Starting work on identifying possible market resources and the development of individual business plans with support/review by a specialist consultant.
Lunch will be provided and there will be the chance to network throughout the day. Please note that places are limited due to the practical aspect of this workshop.
The cost of the semi

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Luxembourg - With the whole of continental Europe, including Russia, served by Harlequin International, the Luxembourg-based operation can now offer information on its web site in six major languages. In order to assist customers with details of products and services, Harlequin recently completed a total translation of the web site into French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian, alongside the original English.

Linked to the expanded web site, Harlequin has launched an English language e-mail headline news service. Aimed at anyone involved in the dance community, dance education, stage and events productions and interested in keeping informed of new developments in dance floors, Harlequin's e-news allows readers to scan headlines and images and 'click through' to read the full story on the Harlequin web site.

(Mike Lethby)

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Germany - Messe Frankfurt has unveiled organisational and facility changes to this year's Musikmesse and Pro Light+Sound events on 6 to 9 April.

Among a series of new digital services for exhibitors and trade visitors are round-the-clock ticket sales with online registration, while a complete Wireless Local Area Network (W-LAN) will allow wireless internet and e-mail access from anywhere in the Exhibition Centre. PCs and handhelds must be equipped with a standard W-LAN card that supports the IEEE 802.11 b or g standard (Wi-Fi). Visitors can purchase W-LAN access cards with time credits of between 15 and 60 minutes for € 2.50 to €8.50. A special flat rate for exhibitors costs € 380 per terminal unit and includes W-LAN access for the duration of the fair, including the setting-up and dismantling phases.

Online trade visitor registration is now available from anywhere in the w

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Greece - A DiGiCo D1 Live has been specified by sound engineer Aris Koudouris for open air concerts, television shows and music club seasons in Greece. "Ypsilon Live, the rental company I usually work with, and I decided that time had come to switch from an analogue to a digital mixing console," says Koudouris. "We chose the DiGiCo D1 Live primarily because of the way it sounds. We'd tested other mixers, but they didn't completely satisfy us." At the moment, Koudouris is using his D1 for a 60-show season with Greek artist Yiannis Kotsiras at large clubs in Salonica and Athens.

"I'm using the D1 at Front of House with an SLS RLA-2 line array system, with a Lexicon 960 for reverb and a Focusrite compressor," continues Koudouris. "Just because this is the first time I've used the console, I have two D1s mirroring each other. Besides the safety iss

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UK - Computers Unlimited recently teamed up with the Central School of Speech and Drama in London to hold its first ever VectorWorks Spotlight event. The 2D drafting and 3D modelling software was shown using advanced lighting design and production tools, together with the complementary products, SketchUp and Piranesi.

The well-attended day started with an opening talk and demonstration by Mark Stephens, director of The Design Division, followed by a more in-depth demonstration by Alex Wardle, lighting designer and technical manager. Both demonstrated how easy and flexible the software was to use even for someone with no previous training and confirmed that VectorWorks Spotlight was compatible with other existing software. They also offered a special student package available at a fraction of the cost of the more commercial product.

After an interesting question and answer sess

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The Netherlands - In the last weeks of 2004, Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM), Meyer Sound's distributor in the Netherlands, opted to hold the first-ever Dutch training seminar for the Meyer Sound SIM 3 audio analyzer system on Spain's Gran Canaria, one of the sub-tropical Canary Islands. 14 engineers, including two AEM staff, headed for the sun, but Meyer Sound Technical Training Instructor Mauricio "Magu" Ramirez's intense program left the attendees with only the off-hours to actually enjoy the swimming pool. The course's final day focused on practical application of the SIM 3 system, during which the local theatre's audio system was optimized. All the attendees arrived on Gran Canaria either as certified SIM II engineers or having taken an earlier week-long, comprehensive "Compact Seminar," and all 14 left with SIM 3 certificates received at the swimming po

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USA - High End Systems customers have long benefited from equipment leases through FX Financial. Now, says High End, the rates have lowered even more with enhanced direct access to lower cost finance, now that FX Financial is a division of US Express Leasing.

"FX Financial has graded High End Systems lighting and control as 'excellent' collateral and offers monthly payments based in large part on the high resale value of the gear," says Alan Garretson of FX Financial. "This means we can offer High End Systems' U.S. clients the lowest monthly payment on any lighting gear in the industry." HES CFO Peter Duff commented, "We want to ensure our clients can afford the equipment they need. Offering lower monthly payments allows clients the flexibility at the outset to get the equipment needed quickly for that tour, theatre production or corporate show. Our par

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UK - Celestion has unveiled its newly-revamped website (www.celestion.com), which has now doubled in size and been extensively redesigned. The announcement, says the company, comes as a direct result of its ongoing commitment to its guitar and professional audio end users. The site has undergone a radical redesign, fuelled by what Celestion calls 'a massive increase in traffic over the past eighteen months, coupled with a desire to provide even more targeted and useful information'. The site now splits into two distinct sections - pro audio and guitar loudspeakers.

The pro audio area incorporates in-depth product information on professional components, including the recently introduced FTR range of chassis, and sound reinforcement systems such as the QXi range.

(Mike Lethby)

  1. Color Kinetics reports 2004 results
  2. Serapid forms UK company
  3. Martin appoints Architectural distributor for Saudi
  4. Showsec's winning team
  5. Eat to the Beat Score a Hat Trick
  6. Richmond Studios records the BRITs
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